Non Fiction Signpost

Non Fiction Signpost

Let's see if you know your Non Fiction Signposts

Why Non Fiction Signposts?

The purposes of the signposts are to help us to ask or answer the big questions and to clarify confusions while we are reading.

The signposts "...alert us to some significant moments in most nonfiction, the moments in which we need to think critically about claims an author makes"

Multiple Select

The purpose of NonFiction Signposts are to (check all that apply)

• help us to ask or answer the big questions

• to clarify confusions

• alert us to some significant moments

Contrast and Contradictions

• AUTHOR SHOWS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT YOU KNOW AND WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE TEXT. 

  
  

• We should ask ourselves: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE AND WHY DOES IT MATTER? 

  
  

Word Gaps

• THE AUTHOR USES A WORD OR PHRASE YOU DON’T KNOW. 

  
  

• We should be asking ourselves: DO I KNOW THIS WORD FROM SOMEPLACE ELSE? IS THIS WORD TECHNICAL TALK FOR EXPERTS? CAN I FIND CLUES IN THE SENTENCE TO HELP ME UNDERSTAND THIS WORD? 

  
  

Multiple Choice

It may seem like an unlikely environmental hero. But the dung beetle, with its sordid habit of laying eggs in and eating cow poo might just be a weapon in the battle against global warming. If you didn't know what SORDID meant and paused to reflective and search for content clues you would be using which signpost? (P.S. Sordid means dirty or filthy)

• Contrast and Contradictions

• Word Gaps

Numbers and Stats

• THE AUTHOR USES SPECIFIC NUMBERS, NUMBER WORDS, OR AMOUNTS.

  
  

• We should ask ourselves: WHY DID THE AUTHOR USE THOSE NUMBERS OR AMOUNTS? 

  
  

Multiple Choice

Even though the temperature dipped below 32 degrees, the water did not freeze. Which signpost might you be using to pause and reflect.

• Contrast and Contradictions

• Word Gaps

• Numbers and Stats

Quoted Words

• THE AUTHOR QUOTES A VOICE OF AUTHORITY, A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE, OR CITES OTHER’S WORDS. 

• We should ask ourselves: WHY DID THE AUTHOR QUOTE OR CITE THIS PERSON?

• People usually quoted are:

• Expert: Scientist or Researcher

• Witness: Saw the event

• Participant: Is part of the event

Extreme / Absolute Language

• THE AUTHOR USES LANGUAGE THAT

• We should ask ourselves: WHY DID THE AUTHOR SAY IT LIKE THAT? 

• Signal words: EVERY, ALL, ALWAYS, INARGUABLY, NEVER, NONE, UNCONDITIONALLY, UNQUESTIONABLY, ENTIRELY, COMPLETELY, EXCLUSIVELY

  
  

Multiple Choice

It’s freezing.

I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.

That was the best movie ever!

*These are an example of which NonFiction Signpost

• Contrast and Contradictions

• Word Gaps

• Numbers and Stats

• Quoted Words

• Extreme / Absolute Language

Who is being quoted?

Multiple Choice

The person being "quoted" in the last slide would be

• An expert (scientist or researcher)

• Witness (saw the event)

• Participant (part of the event)