nonfiction Archives - Page 620 of 620

Trapped! A Whale’s Rescue
by Robert Burleigh (Author) and Wendell Minor (Illustrator)

Booktalk: In the icy waters of the Pacific, a massive humpback whale unexpectedly finds herself tangled in a net abandoned by fishermen. When a rescue boat and a convoy of divers arrive to help the struggling humpback, a realistic and moving encounter bridges the human and aquatic worlds.

Snippet:
The chug-chug of a motor fills the air.
Rescuers. Are they too late?
Divers drop cautiously into the frigid water.

They know the whale is wild.
One quick roll of her immense body can crush.
One blow from her gigantic tail can kill.

TrappedSpread

Six Traits Mini Lesson

Trait: Organization The title of the book, Trapped! A Whale’s Rescue, sets up the way the book will be organized. We know what will happen just by reading the title. The whale will be trapped and then rescued.

This excerpt appears on the page after the whale becomes trapped in the forgotten fishing net. Notice how the events unfold in chronological order.

The sound comes first.

The chug-chug of a motor fills the air.

Then we find out more about that sound.

Rescuers.

At the end of the second line comes that essential, emotional question.

Are they too late?

And then the rescue begins . . .

Divers drop cautiously into the frigid water.

Trait: Organization There is another organization pattern at work in this book. Notice how the text is organized into three line units.

The chug-chug of a motor fills the air.
Rescuers. Are they too late?
Divers drop cautiously into the frigid water.

They know the whale is wild.
One quick roll of her immense body can crush.
One blow from her gigantic tail can kill.

Organizing text into a predetermined number of lines is a poetic device. The Poetry Foundation Glossary defines it this way:
Tercet
“A poetic unit of three lines, rhymed or unrhymed.”

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Keri Recommends.

Space: The Whole Whizz-Bang Story
by Glenn Murphy (Author)

Booktalk: What is a black hole? How do we know that stars and galaxies are billions of years old? What is the difference between stars and planets? Find the answers to these and other space-related questions in this funny and informative book.

Snippet:
Hang on a Minute — What Is the Universe?

That is a very, very good question. One that most people don’t bother to ask.

The Universe is all there is.
Literally.

EVERYTHING. All of it.
It contains everything from vast galaxies, stars, black holes, planets, moons, oceans, rivers, lakes, land masses . . . plus every single life-form that lives on (or in) them.

Six Traits Mini Lesson

Trait: Voice Use this nonfiction middle grade book as a mentor text for voice. No stuffy lists of facts here! This is not a classroom lecture. The informal tone makes it feel like a conversation.

Trait: Organization The conversational tone is also seen in the way the information in the book is organized. How? The book is organized like a conversation. A question (in bold) is followed by an answer. And that answer leads to the next question. The next page of the book begins like this:

Snippet:
All there is? Like, EVERYTHING?

Yep. Everything. The word ‘universe’ comes from the Greek, meaning ‘all together’ or ‘turned into one’.

It’s Nonfiction Monday!