We are beginning our unit on non-fiction text. To begin the unit, I like to do some lessons and practice with schema. As students read more informational text and gain new knowledge on a variety of topics, they will keep track of their growing schema.
Luckily, I found some FANTASTIC items on TPT to introduce schema to my students.
The first mini-lesson and activity centered around a Schema booklet.
For the mini-lesson, we discussed everything we knew about the topic of spiders. We defined schema as everything we already know about a topic- in this case, spiders. Then, we read a few informational texts about spiders. Students shared how their schema changed; how new information was added, and incorrect information was discarded. We recorded all of this on an anchor chart.
Next, students used their schema booklets to practice on their own. Informational texts were selected by each student. The first page of the book was used to record known information about the topic. The next page was new schema added about the topic, and the back page was information that was wrong and discarded.
The following day, students created their Schema File Folders that they will use throughout this entire non-fiction unit. They were super easy to construct, and best of all they are FREE on TPT! Students will use these folders to show how their schema increases and changes as they read about new information.
You can find the Schema File in A Teacher on a Mission's TPT HERE.
