NON FICTION

1. Patterns for Reporting Research
A. Mystery Report.
10 clues, one must be a give-away clue.

B. Fact and Fiction Book
(Make a statement on one page, support or deny on the next.)

C. If I had the ___ of a ___,
I would ___ and ___ and ___
but I wouldn't ___
because ___ does that.

D. The Fortunately/Unfortunately Report
(From Fortunately/Unfortunately by Remy Charlip)

E. Bio Poem:
Name, Four traits, Related to, Who has, Who needs, Who fears, Who gives, Who would like to see, Resident of.

F. To Test the Truth Show
There are 3 people who pretend to be the same famous person. Only one tells the truth. The class votes on the real person.
HOSTESS: LORETTA BORE Welcome everyone to our show. Only one eyewitness is telling the complete truth. It is up to you to guess which it is. Now let's meet our guests.

EYEWITNESS #1:: My name is Molly Brown and I was an eyewitness to the sinking of the Titanic. I was reading in my stateroom when I felt a terrible jolt. We had hit an iceberg.
EYEWITNESS #2:: My name is Molly Brown I was traveling with my husband, James when there was this terrible crash. James pushed people aside so I could get into a boat.
EYEWITNESS #3:: My name is Mrs. James J Brown and I was a passenger on the Titanic when it began to sink. I made it to a lifeboat manned by a drunken sailor.
BORE:: What else can you tell us?
EYEWITNESS #1:: There was such panic and since I had never learned to read, I could not read the instructions given us as to what to do in an emergency. I was so frightened.
EYEWITNESS #2:: I had no one to depend on but myself so I grabbed my mink coat and made it to a lifeboat before the Titanic went under
EYEWITNESS THREE:: The sailor in our boat did nothing to help the frightened people so I took charge. I got them to rowing and singing to keep their spirits up.
BORE:: Now it is time to decide who is the real eyewitness to the sinking of the Titanic. We will vote by a show of hands. Is it #1? (Wait for show of hands) Is it #2? (Wait for show of hands) Is it #3? (Wait for show of hands). Now for the moment you have all been waiting for. Will the real Molly Brown step forward.

G. The Interview Report
The student takes the role of a person he/she had read about. Using notes, the student (in character) answers questions from classmates who try to find out as much about the person as they can.
A good book: Trouble at the Mines by Doreen Rappaport (Crowell 87).

H. The Associative Letter Report
How many Bs can you connect with pirate? How many Cs with the Middle Ages?

I. The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown.
The important thing about _____ is_______ . Add 4-8 details. Repeat first sentence.

J. Challenging Literal Fact
Put WHY in front of a fact - require a one half page report. Example: Why was George Washington the first president of the United States?

K The Scrapbook:
See A New England Scrapbook by Loretta Krupinski. Harper, 1995.

L. Reporting with Free Verse
You are changing, changing.
You feel: describe the atmosphere
You are: two adjectives
You: two verbs or verb phrases
You are: color the color of: name an object the same color
You are: give size and shape
and are: use participle and prepositional phrase
You do not walk upright anymore as you: three verb phrases
It is: adjective to move like this so: one adjective and one simile

You are: name.
You are changing, changing.
You feel a harsh cold wind whip across your face, but you don't mind because.
You are strong and furry.
You sing to the moon and roam through the Arctic wilderness without fear and without a map
You are gray, the color of fog.
You are six feet long from nose to tail tip and are trotting across the Polar Ice Pack toward a distant herd of caribou on shore, your claws clicking with each step you take.
You do not walk upright anymore, as you hunt for snow-white rabbits, lope silently past Polar bears sniffing the air, and crawl into your home beneath an outcropping of rocks.
It is wild to move like this so free and so secret like a dream.
You are an Arctic wolf.

Note: See also the annotated lists of the best new non fiction titles for children on this web site.