non fiction Archives - Mary Kienstra

When Students Care

By: Mary Kienstra on: May 19, 2016  in: #tlap, non fiction

When students care, everything changes.  Fourth graders have a tremendous amount of compassion for animals.  What better way to hook them than to tap into that passion with the essential question, “Why should we care?” After studying the importance of sharks in the ocean, we continued the theme with more large mammals.  Timing is everything. […] Read more

Bringing Non-Fiction to Life

By: Mary Kienstra on: April 28, 2016  in: Engagement, non fiction, reading

When kids care, it changes everything.  Engaging kids in non-fiction reading is all about bringing the topic to life.  The trick is finding an issue to make them care.  Tracking sharks and learning about the ocean is just that issue.  And www.ocearch.org brings it to life. This week my students met Chris Fischer, the founder of Ocearch. […] Read more