Evaluating Non-fiction

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Into the Book's Evaluating Non-fiction Activity is a lesson geared toward developing and applying criteria for determining high-quality non-fiction books. This lesson is powerful for the fact that it poses a role reversal. The students are placed in the driver's seat and challenged to think critically about what makes a non-fiction book a strong piece of text or not. In doing so, the students go beyond simply identifying various text features. Instead, they can articulate the purpose and impact the feature has in aiding comprehension for a reader. To increase the rigor of this lesson a teacher may consider having students explain their evaluation in written form such as a book review versus a verbal response.