Non-Fiction Insert for Reading Journals

While I would love to share this, I don't feel quite comfortable doing that, as it is very closely based on this pin on Pinterest. It is something that the pinner purchased. Although it covered all the types of non-fiction I need to touch upon, there were things I needed to change to make it work for my classroom. First, I included "The Internet" instead of "digital media." Really, this was more for the familiarity/vernacular of my students than anything. Next, the definitions came out of the dictionary I use in my classroom; this way, the information is kept at a higher level for my older students. Additionally, although I included images, I wanted the written info to be the focus and the images a supporting piece. I also included a few items we discuss in my classroom that were not on the original, such as subtitles and subheadings. Finally, I made sure there was a place along the middle for folding. I will have my students glue this into their reading composition books. The page is too large, but I did not want to reduce it. There is a lot of info here, and it needs to be easy to access. They'll be able to fold it where the crease won't interfere with reading the words. Still, for younger grades, purchasing the preexisting one makes sense, and thus, I don't feel right about sharing mine for free. However, if you want to make your own, I can tell you what I did. The "books" are simple shape and line art. The definitions come from a source my class uses and trusts; I highly suggest that the definitions take into consideration the age of your students. If the wording is too high, the kids won't get what they need from it, and if it is too low, it talks down to them and lessens its perceived value. The images are from Microsoft--the ones that come with the Office software. I built my page in power point, as it gives me the most freedom to manipulate things; all I had to do was click 'insert clipart,' and search for images using keywords. I reduced their size to fit and gray-scaled the images for copying.