Fiction and Non-Fiction texts
Discipline: Education
Type of Paper: Coursework
Academic Level: High school
Paper Format: APA
Question
This assignment will have you look at the differences between fiction and non-fiction books you might select for use in your classroom. Fiction books typically have a beginning, middle and end, have plots and characters that develop. Non-fiction books are subject organized, have fact boxes, sidebars, graphs, table of contents, illustrations and captions and an index. Naturally, with preschool children, their level of reading either genre will be limited but this is where the teacher can be extremely effective in creating a good disposition towards reading material. Some web sites to use when you are researching good titles are:
http://www.nsta.org/publications/ostb/ostb2016.aspx
https://shop.nationalgeographic.com/category/books/kids-books
Try also NAEYC, NSTA, TCTM. Each of these professional associations has reference materials dedicated to children's book titles. I will also use Amazon with subject titles for a list and search Pinterest.
For this assignment, you will choose a non-fiction book related to your topic of study that you have been working with during this course and the topic you submitted in unit 1. The topic I chose to study was pets.
Name the title, author and genre. It would help to add the picture.
Discuss why you chose this title and where you found it.
Record how you will present the book to the class and what the children will do with this information from your selected title. Please think of the questions you might pose to the child or children that would help them focus on the STEM material that might have caused you to select this book. Does this book have any print formats that make this selection especially desirable?
an example of this assignment :
In keeping with my rocks theme, I will select the book Rocks Hard, Soft, Smooth and Rough by Natalie M. Rosinsky. It is a non-fiction book. I chose this book because it fits my topic, has a table of contents, glossary and index. I searched Amazon for rock children's books and came across this selection which contained points that I wanted to introduce the children namely functions of a non-fiction book. I wanted to introduce why we need a table of contents and as I looked at the book it was organized with the three classifications of rocks, which is part of a lesson I was planning. It had a simple chart which sorted the rocks into groups like color, feels like and uses which had pictures and descriptive words that I would use to build their vocabulary. The book had facts on every page that worked well with the illustrations and large print for easy reading.
I will have this book on the reading rug with several other rock books. I will sit in with the group of children on the rug and inquire about what they see on the pages. I will ask probing questions about what they see on each page. They will respond with ideas from their own background knowledge. I will use this to further their experiences with sorting and classification.
VERSION I:
The Kindle or the Nook? - --Lue Kernes
Twenty—or
even ten—years ago, a novel reader could simply curl up in a cozy recliner
near the fireplace or a beach chair beside the ocean with a paperback or
hardback version of the his or her choice. Today such readers can still curl
up in that recliner or beach chair to read, but more and more often they are
reading from an e-reader rather than a physical book. The two most popular
e-readers, each of which has gone through more than one version, are the
Kindle and the Nook. To date, the latest comparable versions of these
e-readers are Kindle’s 3G Wireless |
1
|
Barnes
and Noble is the creator and distributor of the Nook 1.5 version. This device
is about the size of a paperback book, and the text even replicates that of a
book. With a six-inch diagonal screen, it is 7.7 inches high, 4.9 inches
wide, and 0.5 inches thick. It comes in white, with a gray back panel for the
3G model, but the back panel is also available to users in an assortment of
other colors. The text is produced with E-ink on a non-glare, paper-like
background that, unlike LCD models (such as the Nook color version), allows
reading in bright sunlight. Sixteen shades of gray provide strong contrast
and easy readability. The Nook, like the Kindle 3, provides 3G plus wireless
capability so users can purchase and download books directly to the device
and use a basic browser (and a built-in dictionary) without having to go
through a computer. Users can also download free samples (chapters) of books
they are considering for purchase and, for up to fourteen days, can “lend”
books they have purchased to other Nook users. These features are free not
only at home or at AT&T hotspots but also at Barnes and Noble stores.
Other services, such as personal e-mail capability, can be added for a fee. A
feature unique to the Nook is its small color LCD touch screen at the bottom
of the reader. Users navigate this panel to shop for books, select samples,
organize books on “My Shelves,” and even play a limited number of games.
Through Barnes and Noble, the Nook has made available more than two million
titles, including more than a million free books. It stores up to 1,500
books, newspapers, and magazines and allows additional storage on a memory
card. The Nook battery takes 3 ½ hours to charge and allows up to 10 days of
reading time without using the wireless. When the Nook’s battery needs to be
replaced, users can replace it for themselves at a fairly low cost. |
2 |
The
Kindle 3 is designed and marketed by Amazon.
Like the Nook, it has a six-inch diagonal screen, but it corresponds
to an even smaller paperback book than does the Nook 1.5. Weighing only 8.7
ounces, it is also three ounces lighter than its competitor. The Kindle 3 is
7.5 inches high, 4.8 inches wide, and 0.335 inches thick. Kindle 3 buyers can
select from the white or graphite models. The text is produced in sixteen
shades of gray with advanced |
3 |
Actually,
I think that I would be pleased with either the Kindle 3 or the Nook 1.5.
There are, however, particular features that I like about each. Based on the
number of titles and the internal storage available, the Kindle 3 is clearly
superior to the Nook 1.5. Also, I really like the Speech-to-Text feature and
the ability to change fonts on the Kindle. However, even though my books
would be saved in Amazon’s archive, I am concerned that I would have to
return “my” Kindle 3 for a battery replacement and would be send another
refurbished Kindle in place of it. If the Kindle 3 were upgraded so that I
could replace the battery myself and could save certain books on an external
disk—both features available on the Nook 1.5, I would buy the Kindle
tomorrow. As it is, after carefully studying these two admittedly remarkable
reading devices, I think I’ll wait a few months more to see if the best of
both of these products becomes available on one super e-reader. |
4 |
Discussion Questions on “The
Kindle or the Nook?”: Version I
Use the annotations you made during and after reading Lue
Kernes’s essay to answer the following questions.
1.
What are the two subjects
of the essay?
Are
these two subjects primarily compared or contrasted?
2. What
is the thesis of the essay?
3. Write
the topic sentence, or main idea, of each body paragraph in the space provided.
Paragraph 2:________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 3:________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 4:________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 5:_______________________________________________________________
4. What
organizational pattern does the essay follow: point-by-point (alternating) or
subject-by-subject (block)?
5. Write
below several of the transition words used in this essay and include where they
are used.
6. What
conclusion does the writer draw about the two subjects she is
comparing/contrasting?
VERSION II:
The Kindle or the Nook?
Twenty—or
even ten—years ago, a novel reader would simply curl up in a cozy recliner
near the fireplace or a beach chair beside the ocean with a paperback or
hardback version of his or her choice. Today such readers can still curl up
in that recliner or beach chair to read, but more and more often they are
reading from an e-reader rather than a physical book. The two most popular
e-readers, each of which has gone through more than one version, are the
Kindle (Amazon) and the Nook (Barnes and Noble). To date, the latest
comparable versions of these e-readers are Kindle’s 3G Wireless |
1
|
Although
both of these e-readers have six-inch diagonal screens, there are other
significant differences in physical appearance. At 8.7 ounces, the Kindle 3
is about three ounces lighter than the 12.1 ounce Nook 1.5. The Kindle—which
is 7.5 inches high, 4.8 inches wide, and 0.335 inches deep—is also slightly
smaller than the Nook—which is 7.7 inches high, 4.9 inches wide, and 0.5
inches deep. Kindle 3 buyers can select from the white or graphite models.
The Nook 1.5 version comes in white, with a gray back panel for the 3G model,
but the back panel is also available to users in an assortment of other
colors. For both models, the text is produced with E-ink on a non-glare,
paper-like background that, unlike LCD models (such as the Nook color
version), allows reading in bright sunlight. Sixteen shades of gray provide
strong contrast and easy readability on both models. However, advertisements
for the Kindle 3 claim that the device’s high-contrast ink screen produces
50% better contrast than other models, and some readers do say that the text
on the Kindle 3 is visibly sharper. Both readers also provide adjustable font
size, but the Kindle also provides a choice of fonts. |
2 |
Both
of these models provide 3G plus wireless capability so that users can
purchase and download books directly to the device and use a basic browser
without having to go through a computer. Users can also download free samples
(chapters) of books they are considering for purchase and, for up to fourteen
days, can “lend” books they have purchased to readers who have the same brand
of e-reader. For both readers these features are free at home or at AT&T
hotspots and, for the Nook, at Barnes and Noble stores. Other services, such
as personal e-mail capability, can be added for a fee. |
3 |
Each
of these readers has unique features not found in the other device. The Nook
includes a small color LCD touch screen at the bottom of the reader. Users
navigate this panel to shop for books, select samples, organize books on “My
Shelves,” and even play a limited number of games. Kindle 3 users choose and
organize their book selections—and even music and audio book downloads—and
navigate the screen with a 5-way controller that can even highlight or look
up words. (Both devices have a built-in dictionary.) One of the Kindle 3’s
most unique features is the Text-To-Speech feature, through which the device
can read English books, newspapers, and magazines aloud (if not prohibited by
copyright), thus making it an audio reader as well as a text reader. |
4 |
The
number of books available for these e-readers and their storage capacities
are astounding. Through Barnes and Noble, the Nook has available more than
two million titles, including more than a million free books. This device
stores up to 1,500 books, newspapers, and magazines and allows additional
storage on a memory card. Through Amazon, the Kindle 3 offers for free over
1.8 million out-of-copyright books published before 1923 and makes available
775,000 copyrighted books, including “107 of 111 New York Times Best Sellers.” Purchase prices are comparable at
$9.99 or less. |
5 |
Actually,
I think that I would be pleased with either the Kindle 3 or the Nook 1.5.
There are, however, particular features that I like about each. Based on the
number of titles and the internal storage available, the Kindle 3 is clearly
superior to the Nook 1.5. Also, I really like the Speech-to-Text feature and
the ability to change fonts on the Kindle. However, even though my books
would be saved in Amazon’s archive, I am concerned that I would have to
return “my” Kindle 3 for a battery replacement and would be sent another
refurbished Kindle in place of it. If the Kindle 3 were upgraded so that I
could replace the battery myself and could save certain books on an external
disk—both features available on the Nook 1.5, I would buy the Kindle tomorrow.
As it is, after carefully studying these two admittedly remarkable reading
devices, I think I’ll wait a few months more to see if the best of both of
these products becomes available on one super e-reader. |
6 |
Discussion Questions on “The
Kindle or the Nook?”: Version II
Use the annotations you made during and after reading Lue
Kernes’s essay to answer the following questions.
1. What
are the two subjects of the essay?
Are
these two subjects primarily compared or contrasted?
2.
What is the thesis of the essay?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Write
the topic sentence, or main idea, of each body paragraph in the space provided.
Paragraph 2:________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 3:________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 4: _________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 5:
_________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 6:
__________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3.
What organizational pattern does the
essay follow: point-by point (alternating) or subject-by-subject (block)?
_______________________________________________________________________
4.
Write below several of the transition
words used in this essay and include where they are used.
5.
What conclusion does the writer draw
about the two subjects she is comparing/contrasting?