Nonfiction Reading & Debating: Grades 5-7

About this course

Nonfiction Reading is a course designed to give students the opportunity to engage with several different forms and publications of nonfiction texts, including articles, essays and biographies. Throughout the course, students will read several different materials while developing their critical thinking skills through written responses.

What you'll learn

Throughout this course, students will examine nonfiction writing pieces which will benefit them in the following areas of focus:

• Comprehension & Research: reading strategies, citing proper sources  
• Critical Thinking & Analysis: language analysis, vocabulary, tone  
• Response Writing: sentence and paragraph structure, grammar, expression of ideas  

‍Each month, we will look at a different source or form of nonfiction text. In the first week, we will look at the form itself and discuss how it appeals to their audiences. We will then look at an example from the form and have an in-class discussion or debate the following week. After this, students will choose their own text to respond to and begin formulating their responses for their final project due next lesson.  

• January: Biography.com
• February: National Geographic
• March: Print Advertisement
• April: The New York Times
• May: Canadian Newspapers

Materials & Homework

- All students should be fully literate in the English language at the appropriate curriculum level for their current academic year.  

- All students must use a word processor such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs and be able to submit their homework in .doc or .docx format to Teams.