A SHORT TEXT SET AT YOUR FINGERTIPS: CHOOSE A TOPIC & RUN WITH IT

Written by Julie Wright & Elizabeth Keim

One way to create a short text set is to explore a particular topic.  We recommend picking something you, or your students (or both!), are particularly interested in.  Once you start looking for resources, you will be surprised by how many things there are to find.  By using short texts, you can expose your students to a variety of text types all in the name of learning about something fascinating.

Elizabeth is a birder and she spends most of the Spring in Central Park being amazed by the migrating warblers.  In the winter she has been known to be on the lookout for Snowy Owls.  Once she walked a long way on a beach in Eastern Long Island with some friends toward something that looked like a bleach bottle and eventually, as she got closer, discovered it was actually a Snowy Owl snoozing on a log.   You may have read about or seen the post last year when a Snowy Owl was spotted in Central Park.  It was the first one recorded in NYC in 130 years!

When students and teachers inquire about a topic, then spend time curating resources to fuel that curiosity or interest, there’s a good chance that new knowledge and understanding about that topic will grow. In addition, reading, writing and talking volume will increase too.

If you liked our Short Texts at Your Fingertips: Field Guides we think you’ll appreciate this connection we’re making to a topic that we enjoy —> OWLS! It’s so much fun to take a topic and text you love and expanding it into a short text set.

TRY THIS

Step 1

We start this text set with the NYTimes article about the first Snowy Owl to be seen in Central Park in 130 years.  This could be read independently by upper elementary children and read aloud to younger ones.  What’s fun about this NYTimes Article about Snowy Owls is that there are other short texts tucked all across the article including photos and captions that showcase the snowy owl’s adventures.  Dive into the article and consider:

• Orienting students to the features of a news article

  • Byline

  • Date

  • Structure of a news article 

• Asking some questions that could get students talking about the article and about snowy owls

  • What is this article about?  Why is it being written?  Who is the intended audience?

  • Is there a photo, caption, graphic, or link to other information that helps you read, interpret and comprehend the text?  

  • What important details (data, facts, information) are shared in the article?

Step 2

Talk to students about some vocabulary words associated with birds, specifically the Snowy Owl.  Some to consider are:

• Migration and migratory

• Nocturnal versus diurnal

• Mammal

• Wing, wing span, flight, and range

Take a look at a map of the Snowy Owl’s range.  Here’s a Snowy Owl Range Map which is a nice example with lots of great bird information.  You could use this resource to:

• Define range

• Teach students about map features

FURTHER STEPS

After digging into all of these sources, you and your students might want to learn more about Snowy Owls.  There are some great resources to explore such as:

• National Geographic for Kids – Snowy Owl

• Animal Fact Files

• Snowy Owl Fact Sheet

And now that everyone knows a bit more about Snowy Owls, maybe you explore some beautiful picture books that explore different types of owls.  Start by reading both of these books aloud, noting that one is fiction and the other is nonfiction.  Create a two-column anchor chart or give students a chance to draw a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the two short texts.   Ask:

• What are the differences between fiction and non-fiction?

• How did Jane Yolan build suspense in Owl Moon?

Note: The owl in Owl Moon, by Jane Yolan, is a Great Horned Owl.

GOING DEEP & WIDE

Looking for more titles and short text types that add to and expand your text set?  Check out these titles: 

STAY TUNED!

More about short texts and short text sets coming soon!

Short Texts at Your Fingertips: Field Guides

We offer you Short Texts at Your Fingertips. Twice each week, we provide teaching ideas around a different type of short text that is easily found in the home, so that no family feels under-resourced. These ideas can integrate into virtually any curriculum and pedagogy, from Workshop to basal. If you are a caregiver, teacher, or curriculum director, these brief but mighty texts and lessons are our way of saying thanks. And our way of giving children authentic and enjoyable reading and writing engagements each day. 

Written by Julie Wright & Elizabeth Keim

SHORT TEXTS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS: FIELD GUIDES

Field guides are generally used to identify something in nature.  There are field guides available for endless subjects: birds, butterflies, trees, mushrooms, rocks and minerals- we could go on and on.  A field guide presents lots of  information and facts to help teach how to identify a particular species or type within a group.  Many of us have at least one field guide on our bookshelf and this is the perfect opportunity to dust it off and use it as a short text!  If you don’t have a field guide of your own, there are plenty of online resources to access.

VIDEO 

If you’d like to see a short video on how to use field guides to entertain, inform, and inspire watch here.

TRY THIS!

Step 1

Take a look at your bookshelf.  Maybe there is a field guide waiting there.  If there is more than one, pick the one about the subject most interesting to you.   If you don’t have a physical field guide, find one online (see the resource list below).  Thumb through the guide and orient yourself to its structure and features.  Field guides are designed to be used as a quick reference (possibly in the field).   Decide which entry/entries  you want to look at more closely.   

Some things to consider:

• How is this particular guidebook set-up?

  • Are there sections? 

  • Are the entries organized by type, by color, by region?

• Look through the first part of the book.  This is usually where the structure of the book is explained and some important facts are provided.

• Think about how you might use the guide if you were outside. 

  • Would you want to mark particular pages for easy reference?

• Consider how this book is meant to be used.  

  • Does the author intend for it to be read cover to cover?

Step 2

Take a closer look at a specific entry in your field guide.

Here are two different examples:

Here’s what we noticed:

• The bird guide on the left uses bold headings to identify characteristics about a bird.  It includes a map and it is organized by color (see the oval on the top right).

• The bird guide on the right shows similar species together on the same page.  Arrows show the most distinguishing marks.  On the opposing page there is information about each bird.

• Both examples give distinguishing characteristics of the object featured.

• Some guides have photographs, some use illustrations.

Step 3

Look for other reading, writing and talking opportunities using this short text type:

Reading  Ideas  

• Compare entries in two different field guides (see above). How are they the same?  How are they different?

• Look at  field guides about two different things (for example birds and mushrooms). What is included in both?  What features are particular to the thing being studied? 

• Explore new vocabulary words.  Are there words you have never seen or heard before?  How can you find what they mean?

• Learn how to use other text features including the Table of Contents, Index and Glossary.

Writing  Ideas  

• Write your own field guide entry for the guide you have.  Use the features and structure of the guide to help you.

• Write your own field guide about a subject you know well.

  • You could write about a habitat you know well (e.g., your bedroom, the kitchen).

  • You could write about a category of things (e.g., your stuffed animals, tools used to draw and write).

• Use the field guide to add details to another piece of writing (e.g., include a more detailed description of what a character sees).

• Start a “Life List” for the subject in the field guide (e.g., record your personal sightings).

 Talking  Ideas 

• Consider who wrote this field guide?  How did the author prepare to write this book?  How is the preparation different than it would be to write a fiction picture book?

• Compare the illustrations to a photograph.  What are the advantages to a photograph?  What can the illustration show that a photograph cannot?

• Discuss who uses field guides and when?  

• Compare field guides and think about what background knowledge a reader needs to use the guide.  Are different guides written for people with different background knowledge?

Step 4

Look for other field guides and explore those too!

FOR MORE RESOURCES, CHECK THESE OUT!

To find a field guide about virtually anything, go online and type “free online field guide about_______”. Here are some examples you might enjoy.

• Trees

• Mushrooms

• Insects

To find more general information about field guides, check this out.

Check this out if you are interested in some fun, simple printable field guides for kids.

For more ideas about creating your own field guide, check this out.

CO-AUTHOR: ELIZABETH KEIM

Elizabeth Keim is a New York City based educator with more than 25 years of experience. She is currently an AIS Reading Teacher/Reading Recovery teacher for a school in Mamaroneck, New York. Previously she taught in District 2 in Manhattan,  serving as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, and library teacher. In each of these roles,  she knows that, "it is all about finding a text that truly captures a particular reader."  She has taught Undergraduate and Graduate level courses at  New York University and Bank Street College of Education, as well as workshops for teachers and parents.  An avid birder, Elizabeth enjoys her time in Central Park every spring and fall. Her most thrilling sightings to date are: A rare Kirtland's warbler and the tutti frutti colored Summer Tanager.