Determining+Importance

Determining Importance
 * Establish purposes for reading selected texts based upon own or others’ desired outcome to enhance comprehension
 * Ask relevant questions, seek clarification, and locate facts and details about stories and other texts and support answers with evidence from text

__**Introducing Determinining Importance****:**__ “Determining Importance means picking out the most important information when you read, to highlight essential ideas, to isolate supporting details, and to read for specific information. Teachers need to help readers sift and sort information, and make decisions about what information they need to remember and what information they can disregard .” “Readers of nonfiction have to decide and remember what is important in the texts they read if they are going to learn anything from them.”

Objective: Students will merge their thinking on a FQR Chart to take notes during nonfiction reading. Understand that jotting down facts isn't enough to help understand the text.
 * Capture students attention with an engaging nonfiction article (could be about planets or the sun). Only read the first section of the article. Discuss the text features
 * Use FQR (Facts Questions and Response) Chart as a notetaking tool, make on chart paper
 * Model taking notes with the chart and explain you will record facts, questions and responses on the FQR chart
 * (Model: shortened version of facts when note taking, questions may be answered later on in the article, responding column is anything you are hearing in your inner conversations: thoughts, connections, reactions, inferences)
 * Read the next section of the article and have the students jot down facts, questions and responses
 * Focus on how facts can lead to questions
 * Jigsaw the rest of the article and the students try it in groups
 * Sum it up: When you are really thinking about reading...you can remember it better. Thinksheets like the FQR is great for taking notes. When you are researching using a think sheet might be helpful for you. This week when you are reading a nonfiction book, practice using it on your own.

Ex from a National Geographic Article on Whales: Reminds me of the white men wasting the buffalo. || __**Additional Resources:**__
 * Facts || Question || Response ||
 * Leaping out of the water is called breaching || Is all jumping called breaching? ||  ||
 * 30x more than in 1965 ||  || WOW! That is a lot. That was a good comeback. ||
 * Humpbacks were almost gone until a law was created to protect humpbacks ||  || I don’t like the hunters using only one part of the whale.

[|Non Fiction Text Features]

[|Teacher Background for Determining Importance]

**Determining Importance in Nonfiction**
Anchor Chart of Tips for Reading Nonfiction By Stephanie Harvey § Think of facts, questions and responses. Write these down as you read. § Reading nonfiction takes time. You may have to reread to make sure you understand. § Reread so you don’t forget what you are reading. § Reading fiction is like watching a movie. Nonfiction is more like a newscast or watching a slide show. § Stop often and ask yourself if what you are reading makes sense. § Important to abbreviate when you take notes. § Think before you write. § Nonfiction reading is reading to learn something.

[|Determine Importance Lesson Plan.doc]