Students will recognize the difference between fiction and nonfiction while understanding that both can convey factual information. (Second-grade students will articulate the difference between fiction and nonfiction.)

Students will learn facts about snow and winter from nonfiction and fiction sources. (Students will recall 3-5 facts about snow and winter learned in either the nonfiction or fiction book.)

•  Snow Is Falling by Franklyn M. Branley, illus. by Holly Keller [0-06-027991-5]


• Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost, illus. Susan Jeffers [0-525-46734-3]

Another book pairing could easily be substituted as well.

Introduction (5 min.):

1. Librarian will lead students into the nonfiction section of the library and get them settled.


2. Librarian will ask students to recall the difference between fiction and nonfiction and introduce the idea that both can convey factual information.

Body (20 min.):

1. Librarian will read Snow Is Falling or another nonfiction text about winter, highlighting key information throughout the book and asking students to make predictions about the book.


2. Students will identify important facts about winter from the nonfiction book and discuss how these facts relate to what they already know.


3. Librarian will lead students to fiction section of the library and get them settled again.


4. Librarian will remind students that fiction and poetry books also use facts to convey information, even if the actual story is not true. Librarian will then read Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening or another fiction text about winter. (The poem is short enough to be read twice, once straight through for atmosphere and then once again to discuss the story.)


5. Students will discuss the plot of the poem and the ways in which winter affects the characters. Students will identify facts about winter that are important to the poem.

Conclusion (5 min.):

1. Librarian will ask students to recall the facts they learned from the nonfiction book and analyze how they appear also in the fiction book. Librarian will also remind students of the difference between fiction and nonfiction, stressing that both types of books can convey important information.

Librarian will use questioning to check students’ recall of facts about snow and winter, attentiveness, and prior knowledge.

Students will also engage in discussion about the differences between fiction and nonfiction throughout the lesson with the librarian and with each other.

The librarian will make sure each child has an opportunity to address the group.