In our groups, we have read a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts about autumn. Animals in Fall and Time to Sleep both outline the ways animals get ready for cold weather. The children were very good at determining which book was factual and which was make believe based on a variety of criteria: The non-fiction book had real photos, while the fictional story had illustrations painted by an artist. The non-fiction book had a Table of Contents and provided factual information, while the fictional story contained events that could never happen. “Animals don’t talk, Madame!” It is fun to read different types of material for a variety of purposes.
I often invite one of the children to hold the book at the front of the class and “be the teacher.” They are very good at retelling familiar stories and using clues from the pictures to predict the meaning behind the words. From my spot on the carpet, I can see that the “readers” have clearly mastered several conventions of print: They hold the book upright, turn pages from front to back, and scan their eyes from left to right. These are excellent pre-reading skills!