Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction

Leslie Blauman has been teaching reading and literacy in the Colorado public schools for over 30 years. Leslie's classroom is a working model for child/staff development in reading, writing, and critical thinking. Partnering with the Denver-based Public Education and Business Coalition (PEBC), her classroom is frequently the subject of professional workshops, classroom reading enhancement films, and education journals. While she works with teachers and students in a majority of the states and internationally as a consultant, her heart is in the classroom and she brings this to both her writing and her consulting. She speaks regularly at teacher/literacy conferences and workshops.

VIDEO CLIPS WRITE-ABOUT-READING TEMPLATES EXCERPTS TO WRITE ABOUT DYNAMIC DUOS: ADDITIONAL IDEAS FOR TEACHING WITH THE TEXTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION Section 1. Evidence Lesson 1. Ask and Answer Questions Write-About-Reading Template: Ask and Answer Questions Excerpt to Write About: "Where Do Tornadoes Come From?" From How Come? Every Kid's Science Questions Explained by Kathy Wollard Lesson 2. Cite Evidence Write-About-Reading Template: Prove It! Excerpt to Write About: "The Storm Factory" From Hurricane Force: In the Path of America's Deadliest Storms by Joseph B. Treaster Lesson 3. Use Quotes to Summarize Text Write-About-Reading Template: Build My Summary Excerpt to Write About: "Saving Cheetahs" by Suzanne Zimbler Lesson 4. Cite and Analyze Write-About-Reading Template: Analyze and Cite Evidence Excerpt to Write About: "The Computer" From What a Great Idea! Inventions That Changed the World by Stephen M. Tomecek Section 2. Relationships Lesson 5. Explain Events, Procedures, or Concepts Write-About-Reading Template: Important Events and Ideas Excerpts to Write About: "Enemy at the Gates" From Science Warriors: The Battle Against Invasive Species by Sneed B. Collard III Lesson 6. Analyze How Authors Introduce, Illustrate, and Elaborate Write-About-Reading Template: Introduce, Illustrate, and Elaborate Excerpts to Write About: Albert Einstein Biographies: Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein by Don Brown; On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne; Who Was Albert Einstein? by Jess Brallier; Giants of Science: Albert Einstein by Kathl Lesson 7. Describe Relationships and Interactions Write-About-Reading Template: It's All About Connections Excerpt to Write About: "Opening Doors for Others" From Jackie Robinson: Strong Inside and Out by Denise Lewis Patrick Lesson 8. Analyze the Connections Between People, Events, and Ideas Write-About-Reading Template: Events, Individuals, and Ideas: How Do They Influence? Excerpts to Write About: Influential Speeches: "The Gettysburg Address" by Abraham Lincoln; "I Have a Dream" Speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. Section 3. Main Idea/Central Idea Lesson 9. Identify Main Idea and Details Write-About-Reading Template: Main Idea Excerpts to Write About: "A Hurricane Arrives" From Violent Skies: Hurricanes by Chris Oxlade Lesson 10. Understand Topics and Subtopics Write-About-Reading Template: Topic Sentences Excerpts to Write About: "White Death" From Avalanche! The Deadly Slide by Jane Duden Lesson 11. Determine Central Ideas: Details Write-About-Reading Template: Think About the Central Idea Excerpt to Write About: "How Does a Chameleon Change Its Color?" From How Come? Planet Earth by Kathy Wollard Lesson 12. Determine Multiple Ideas in a Text Write-About-Reading Template: State the Central Idea Excerpt to Write About: Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl by Albert Marrin Section 4. Point of View Lesson 13. What Is the Author's Purpose? Write-About-Reading Template: Author's Point of View Excerpt to Write About: Foreword by Jane Goodall From Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall by Anita Silvey Lesson 14. Determine Author's Purpose and Point of View Write-About-Reading Template: Notice Perspective Excerpts to Write About: "Students Lead the Way" and "Retaliation and Intimidation" From The Split History of the Civil Rights Movement by Nadia Higgins Lesson 15. Compare and Contrast Accounts Write-About-Reading Template: Analyze Firsthand and Secondhand Accounts Excerpts to Write About: Freedom's Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories by Ellen Levine Lesson 16. Explore Same Topic, Many Points of View Write-About-Reading Template: Analyze Different Perspectives Excerpts to Write About: Rosa Parks: Rosa by Nikki Giovanni; Rosa Parks: Civil Rights Pioneer by Karen Kelleher; Rosa Parks: My Story by Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins Section 5. Visuals Lesson 17. Mine Maps, Charts, and Other Visuals Write-About-Reading Template: Visuals + Text = Better Understanding Excerpt to Write About: "A Hot Topic" From Everything Volcanoes and Earthquakes by Kathy Furgang Lesson 18. Read Digital and Print Efficiently Write-About-Reading Template: On the Search! Excerpt to Write About: "Drought in the Plains" From The Dust Bowl by Rebecca Langston-George Section 6. Words and Structure Lesson 19. Determine the Meaning of Specialized Words Write-About-Reading Templates: Word Attack!; What Does This Word Mean? Excerpt to Write About: Weather! by Rebecca Rupp Lesson 20. Spot Words That Signal Text Structure Write-About-Reading Template: Dig Into the Structure of the Text Excerpt to Write About: "Death Valley's Super Bloom" by Kio Herrera Lesson 21. Identify Text Structure Write-About-Reading Templates: Look at Structure Across a Text (for Use With Short Texts); Look at Structure Across a Text (for Grades 6-8) Excerpts to Write About: Volcano Facts: "What Is a Volcano?" From Violent Volcanoes by Louise and Richard Spilsbury; Volcanoes by Seymour Simon; "The Volcano Wakes" From Volcano: The Eruption and Healing of Mount St. Helens by Patricia Lauber Lesson 22. Compare and Contrast Overall Structure of Two or More Texts Write-About-Reading Template: Compare and Contrast Text Structure Excerpts to Write About: The Hindenburg Disaster: What Was the Hindenburg? by Janet B. Pascal; You Wouldn't Want to Be on the Hindenburg! A Transatlantic Trip You'd Rather Skip by Ian Graham Lesson 23. Evaluate the Reasoning, Relevance, and Sufficiency of Evidence Write-About-Reading Template: Author's Point Excerpt to Write About: "How Octopuses Change Color" From The Octopus Scientists: Exploring the Mind of a Mollusk by Sy Montgomery Lesson 24. Delineate the Argument and Specific Claims Write-About-Reading Template: Map the Argument Excerpts to Write About: Fatal Fever: Tracking Down Typhoid Mary by Gail Jarrow REFERENCES