Entry #9 Choose samples of both fiction and non-fiction texts age appropriate to the students you work with. (Suggestions might be a grade level textbook or leveled reader). Create a graphic organizer to illustrate salient differences in each genre. Which features will support students learning to speak English? Which features will serve to be challenging?

The following graphic organizer is designed to help students distinguish between fiction and non-fiction, seeing the features that are unique to each type of text. The fiction side is meant to help students discover the elements of story including setting, characters, and plot. The non-fiction side is designed to help students recognize that there is a central topic that is explored and explained through a variety of features like diagrams, captions, pictures, glossaries, sub headings, and text. More of the features in non-fiction will support ELL’s in learning content such as the captions, which give information and a picture. The labeled diagrams will also be important to ELL’s since they usually provide a picture with labels (the labels usually being key vocabulary words).Additionally, non-fiction texts include bolded words and glossaries that provide support for ELL’s in terms of drawing their attention to key words and vocabulary and then also providing their definitions. Non-fiction texts also usually have other features like timelines and maps that provide important information in a visual form. Fiction, on the other hand, besides the pictures (if there are any) does not provide as much support to ELLs. The features of the text may be more challenging since they are not always text explicit to students. Either way, students should be encouraged to use graphic organizers and mind maps to help support their comprehension of both narrative and expository texts.