Nonfiction Reading Fair Project Guidelines
Recommended Elements of Nonfiction Projects:
1. Title
2. Author
3. Publisher and Publication Date
4. Structure of the Text
5. Student Prediction
6. Student Connection
7. Author’s Purpose
8. Plot Summary
9. Follow-up Question to the author
Examples provided below
correlate with the book,
Johnny Reb and Billy Yank.
Title and Author
- The TITLE is the name of the book.
- The AUTHOR is the person who wrote the book.
Publisher and Publication Date
- The NAME OF THE PUBLISHER can be found on the verso page, also known as the copyright page. (The
verso page is the back of the title page.)
- The DATE OF THE BOOK WAS PUBLISHED can also be found on the verso page.
Structure of the Text
- What genre does the book fall into?
- Instructional: teach you how to do
- Explanatory: tell you about something
- Discussion: give you different POVs
- Opinion: try to persuade you
Student Prediction
Before reading, what did you think the book would be about?
Example: I predict this book will be about soldiers and fighting during the Civil War.
Student Connection
How did you connect with the book?
- Text to self: My dad is in the military.
- Text to text: It reminds me of “Civil War on Sunday.”
- Text to world: It reminds me of the war in Afghanistan.
Plot Summary
A brief description of the order of events in the story.
Example: This book is about the differences and likeness between the north and the south during the Civil
War. The focus is on the military and the life in the military...
Author’s Purpose
Why did the author write the book?
- Entertain: To amuse you?
- Inform: To teach you something
- Persuade: To make you think a certain way?
Follow-up Questions to Author
If you could ask the author a question, what would it be?
Example: Did being from the north or the south affect
your viewpoint in the book?
Nonfiction Reading Fair Project
Examples
Category H-