Nonfiction Text & Owl Pellets!


We have been talking about nonfiction text features and structure since the first week of school. Still, some students haven't made a strong connection between all the fancy words and what they mean. This week I have a great motivator for them :) We will be reviewing nonfiction text features and structures using the book "Owls" by Gail Gibbons and my own nonfiction text flip book.

What's the great motivator? After learning about owls through the wonderful book by Gail Gibbons, we will dissect owl pellets on Friday! My students are all super excited and eager to learn everything they can about owls. After our first lesson, I've had students come up to me and show me the non-fiction text features they've noticed in the books they're reading. Score!

How I set up my Reading Stations this week

I have 3 reading station this week: Teacher, Reading, Computer. Each station is about 20 minutes long. During the teacher station, we are working on the nonfiction flip book. We discuss nonfiction text features and structures found in the book "Owls" by Gail Gibbons.

During the reading station, students are reading nonfiction books of their choice. As they are reading, they are looking for nonfiction text features and structures that we discussed during our teacher station. Students get to share what they found at the end of reading stations.

Computer station doesn't change this week. Students are to go on iStation or iXL language. 


Nonfiction Text Features & Structures 


Below is a list of the nonfiction text features & structures we discuss. Click the image to download a free bookmark that students can use to keep track of the features & structures they find in their own reading.
  • captions
  • labels
  • diagrams
  • headings
  • comparisons 
  • table of contents
  • glossary and more!
  • cause and effect
  • compare and contrast
  • sequence
  • description
  • problem and solution
nonfiction text structures and text features printable bookmark

Dissecting Owl Pellets

Our owl pellets get here Thursday. We get to dissect them this Friday, so I will have to update this section with pictures! For now, I hope you consider completing this science lab in your classroom. Students are so excited and engaged that they truly remember everything they are learning.  Click on the image below to download an investigation recording sheet.



Online Resources

Virtual Pellet - I used this resource to show students what might be inside their owl pellet and how to organize the bones they find.
Owl Pellets Song - This is a silly song that kids enjoy :)
OBDK Resources - This is great website that has many videos. I plan to show them throughout the week before we dissect our owl pellets.
HomeTrainingTools - I ordered the owl pellets from this website, but there are other choices online.
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