Super Simple Center {Fiction/Non-Fiction}

Hello and Happy December! It's Allison from Stuckey in Second! Today I want to share a super simple center that I've used in my 2nd grade classroom! I hope that it can help get you through your busy teaching days!

One of the first standards of the year that I teach in 2nd grade is distinguishing between fiction and non-fiction (fantasy and reality). We work for a few weeks on different activities including:

• Sorting a variety of books between fiction and non-fiction
• Exploring various books to determine what features each genre has
• Creating a Venn Diagram including the characteristics of each genre
• Completing a quick assessment where each student is given a book at random and asked to determine whether it is fiction or non-fiction, then list the reasons for their choice (from the class Venn Diagram)

After students are assessed, I find it important to continue to explore and assess this concept. So, I add an activity to explore the differences between fiction and non-fiction text to a workstation titled "Fiction/Non-Fiction Sort":

In this workstation, I change out the selection of books weekly. (I try to choose a fairly equal amount of fiction and non-fiction books for the station.) I put the selection of 10-12 books in the workstation basket and two "header" cards labeled FICTION and NON-FICTION.

Students are to:

• Sort all of the books under each header by looking through each book and using it's characteristics at a glance to determine if the book is fiction or non-fiction. Students shouldn't have to actually read the book in its entirety to determine this.
• Choose one book from each genre (one from fiction, one from non-fiction) that they'd like to investigate further.
• Complete the form below that includes listing the title of the book, genre, and characteristics that make that book fiction or non-fiction.  (Students are encouraged to use the class-created Venn Diagram that hangs up all year long.)

Additional Resource:
Graphic Organizer pictured above
Fiction/NonFiction Bookmarks
FCRR Comprehension Fiction and Nonfiction Review and other activities


Create your own chart like the one above quick and easy! You can laminate the sorting pieces and have students do this for a center.  Click on the picture below for a freebie! Please, please leave feedback if you download it! I appreciate all of your support!!