About the Book

"General reading strategies and teacher-developed questions will only take our students so far—with our approach, students gain astounding independence because they engage directly with the nonfiction author, and with how that author used specific details (moves) and structures to communicate meanings and effects."
—Wilhelm and Smith

All nonfiction is a conversation between the writer and the reader, an invitation to agree or disagree with compelling and often provocative ideas about some aspect of the world we live in. At the end of the day, it’s our responsibility to decide if the argument is sound. With Diving Deep Into Nonfiction, Jeffrey D. Wilhelm and Michael W. Smith deliver a revolutionary teaching framework that helps students read well by noticing the rules and conventions of this dynamic exchange.

The classroom-tested lessons include engaging short excerpts and teach students to be powerful readers who know both how authors signal what’s worth noticing in a text and how readers connect and make meaning of what they have noticed.

No matter what they are reading, students learn to be on high alert, and highly curious about how texts work and what they mean, as they learn to notice direct statements of principle, calls to attention, ruptures, and readers’ rules of notice:

• Notice the topics and the textual conversation: Who is speaking and how might he or she be responding to another’s ideas? What is the idea that gives "heat" to this text?
• Notice key details: What attracts my attention? How does the author signal both direct and implicit statements of meaning? How does the author use the unexpected? How can I interpret patterns of key details to see overall meanings?
• Notice varied nonfiction genres: What are the essential features of this kind of text? How does the author employ them? What effects are they designed to have on the reader?
• Notice text structure: How does the author structure the text to connect details and ideas? What patterns of thought does the author use along the way?

With Diving Deep Into Nonfiction, Wilhelm and Smith upend current practices, and it’s high time. Once your students engage with these lessons, you’ll never go back to the same old tired approach— and reading across content areas enters a whole new era.

Table of Contents:
LIST OF VIDEOS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 1. Reader’s Rules of Notice What Skilled Readers Do What This Noticing Means for Us as Teachers Principles of Effective Instruction The Current Educational Climate How This Book Works How to Use This Book 2. Noticing the Conversation Lesson 1. Noticing the Conversation: Reading Visual Texts Handout 2.1. Beer Street and Gin Lane Handout 2.2. Two Views of Children’s Play Lesson 2. Noticing the Conversation: Thinking Aloud Handout 2.3. Intelligence: A Brief History (Excerpt) by Anna T. Cianciolo and Robert J. Sternberg Lesson 3. Noticing the Conversation: Practice in Miniature Handout 2.4. Noticing the Conversation Handout 2.5. More Practice Noticing the Conversation Lesson 4. Noticing the Conversation: Questioning Handout 2.6. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself (Excerpt) Lesson 5. Noticing the Conversation: Writing and Responding Lesson 6. Noticing the Conversation: Search and Find Lesson 7. Noticing the Conversation: Putting It All Together Handout 2.7. The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln 3. Noticing Key Details Lesson 1. Noticing Key Details: Reading Visual Texts Lesson 2. Noticing Key Details: Thinking Aloud Handout 3.1. The Great Fire (Excerpt) by Jim Murphy Lesson 3. Noticing Key Details: Practice in Miniature Handout 3.2. Movie Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Excerpt) by Cary Darling Handout 3.3. Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself (Excerpts) Lesson 4. Noticing Key Details: Questioning Lesson 5. Noticing Key Details: Writing and Responding Handout 3.4. Mentor Sentences Based on The Great Fire (Excerpt) by Jim Murphy Lesson 6. Noticing Key Details: Search and Find Lesson 7. Noticing Key Details: Putting It All Together 4. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres Lesson 1. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Reading Visual Texts Handout 4.1. Thinking About Photographic Portrait Genres Lesson 2. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Thinking Aloud Handout 4.2. Sample Abstract: “Which AA Battery Maintains Its Voltage for the Longest Period of Time?” by Student Author Lesson 3. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Practice in Miniature Lesson 4. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Questioning Handout 4.3. Letters to the Editor Handout 4.4. Letters of Recommendation Handout 4.5. Using Genre Knowledge to Evaluate a Text Lesson 5. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Writing and Responding Lesson 6. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Search and Find Lesson 7. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Putting It All Together Handout 4.6. Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address Handout 4.7. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address 5. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts Lesson 1. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Reading Visual Texts Lesson 2. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Thinking Aloud Handout 5.1. Noticing Comparisons: Camping Handout 5.2. Noticing Comparisons: Class Election Handout 5.3. Noticing Comparisons: Spring Dance Lesson 3. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Practice in Miniature Handout 5.4. Noticing Comparisons: More Practice Lesson 4. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Questioning Lesson 5. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Writing and Responding Handout 5.5. Cuing Comparisons Lesson 6. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Search and Find Lesson 7. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Putting It All Together Handout 5.6. “Troposphere” (Excerpt) by Bill Bryson Handout 5.7. Hillocks Hierarchy Questions 6. Why This Method Works Motivating Deep Learning Developing Cultural, Critical, and Identity Literacies A Final Word APPENDIX: GENERAL READER’S RULES OF NOTICE FOR NONFICTION WORKS CITED INDEX