NONFICTION 4TH & 5TH GRADE GENRE

Fiction vs. Nonfiction

• Real and factual

• Read to learn
• Not real • Photos, charts,
• Read for entertainment diagrams, and other text
• Illustrations features
• Dialogue • Table of contents, index,
• Characters, setting, glossary
problem, solution • Bold print, italics
• Beginning, middle, end • Different text structures
• Read in sequential including sequential,
order cause and effect,
• Includes fantasy, compare and contrast,
realistic, and other problem and solution,
types of fiction and descriptive
• Can sometimes be read
out of order
• Includes “How to”,
historical, scientific texts
Cover Sort
Directions: Sort the book covers into the fiction or nonfiction column.

fiction nonfiction
Journey to Chinese New Problem on the
Greece Year Playground

My Super Mary Poppins Bumble the All About

Nanny Life Busy Bee Bees

Treyton’s Mount Helen Keller Ella and Lucy’s

Tantrum Rushmore Kindness
Project

How to Make Ben Becomes Types of Little Monster

Big Brother Gets Scared
S’mores Sharks
Excerpt Sort
Directions: Sort the book excerpts into the fiction or nonfiction column.

fiction nonfiction
“Princess Fiona “Anne Sullivan “Black widow “Bentley the bulldog
turned to the ogre taught Helen Keller spiders are searched high and
and professed her how to communicate venomous spiders. low for his bone. He
love for him. She by spelling words If a person is could not find it in
confessed that she into her hand.” bitten, they need to any of his usual
was actually an seek medical places.”
ogre too.” attention
immediately.”
“To make scrambled “Shaniya apologized “The Republic of “Casey heard a
eggs, first crack to her friend for the Sudan is a mysterious shriek
two eggs into a being dishonest. She country in coming out of the
bowl. Add ¼ cup of learned the lesson northeastern woods. It sounded
milk and whisk that honesty is the Africa. It is like someone was in
together. Meanwhile, best policy.” bordered by Egypt, trouble!”
heat a frying pan…” Libya, and Chad.”

“Ava was happy being “Fred Rogers was “The American civil “Brady walked up to
the only child. She had an American rights movement the queue of the
her parents all to television was a time period in rollercoaster towering
herself and got over him. He was
personality who which African
everything she shaking in his boots,
wanted… that was created and hosted Americans fought to wondering if he should
before everything the preschool show end legalized racial turn back before it
changed.” Mister Rogers’ discrimination.” was too late.”
Neighborhood.”
“Matter is anything “Mary stood up tall “The hare was “A monarchy is a form
that is made up of with her sign, proud confident he would of government in
atoms. All matter to join the fight. She win the race. He which the king or
queen is the head of
can be classified wanted to help was already miles
state until death or
into a solid, liquid, or make the law fair ahead of the abdication. The
gas.” and just for tortoise. He stopped succession of
everyone.” to take a nap in the monarchies is typically
bushes.” hereditary.”
Fiction Nonfiction

Not real Real and Factual

Read for Read to learn

Entertainment

Illustrations Photos,
charts,
diagrams, and
glossary
Characters,
Different text
Setting,
structures
Problem,
Solution
Read in sequential Can sometimes be
Order read out of order
1. 2. 3. 2. 1. 3.
©Julie Bochese
Fiction vs. Nonfiction Name: _______________________________________ Date: ________________
880L
Cairo Grows Up
Cairo lived happily with his
mother, aunts, and cousins on the
savanna in Botswana. He spent most
of his day roaming across large
distances to forage for grasses,
fruits, roots, and bark. Many days he
and the other members of his herd
would travel as far as 50 miles in one
day, spending 12-18 hours feeding. He
wasn’t the largest member of the
herd, but at twelve years old, he was
one of the older male elephants in
the group. He was not yet full grown,
but he was tall enough to reach the
tender leaves in the two-ball nitta
trees.
Cairo loved to play games with the other calves. On the warm days, Cairo and the herd would
venture out to the delta and splash in the water. Cairo liked to put his whole body in the water. The
elephants sometimes took water in their trunks and sprayed themselves and each other. Then, they used
their trunks to cover themselves with dirt and dust, not just to be dirty, but to help keep away insects
and as a sunscreen. Cairo couldn’t have been happier than he was when he was with his herd.
One day, as Cairo relaxed under the hazy, early-morning sun, his mother called to him. “Cairo,” she
said, “the time has come for you to blossom and emerge into a bull.”
“A bull?” Cairo asked.
“Yes, a bull. A bull is a full-grown male elephant. You must settle here or journey out on your own
to discover who you are. The rest of the herd will depart tomorrow at dusk, but Cairo you mustn’t
come with us. It’s just the way it has always been,” she expressed in a sorrowful voice.
“But why, Mama?” cried Cairo. Big, burly tears came thundering down Cairo’s dusty cheeks. His
oversized ears thrashed back and forth fretfully as his wrinkled, gray face looked even more wrinkled
than usual. “I want to stay here with you. I love you, Mama,” he sobbed.
“I love you too, dear; however, you are almost grown now. As the matriarch of this herd, my job
is to lead the other females and to care for the other children. You must go with the older males. Our
herd has only females and young males. I will always love you, son, but you must grow up and you cannot
do that if you remain in this herd,” Cairo’s mother explained.
©Julie Bochese
That night at dusk, Cairo’s mother and the rest of the herd prepared to venture out
to search for more food. Cairo grievously approached his mom as he glared into her sunken
eyes. “Do you really have to go?” he asked.
“Yes, my little Cairo, it’s the only way,” she replied as tears welled up in her eyes. She
hesitantly turned and walked away, leaving Cairo in the uncertainty of the night.
Full of despair, but alone on the savanna, Cairo set out to find the other male
elephants. He spied two young males who had left the herd the previous year. Although he
was still upset about what his mother had told him, he was excited to see some familiar
faces. He asked them if he could join them and they agreed. Quickly, the three became
inseparable and began to forage for food together, play in the water, and throw dirt on
each other. It reminded him of the times he had with his mother. It gave him great comfort
to now have a new herd to roam with.
Cairo gradually became content with living on his own. He eventually grew to be six
tons, a full-grown African elephant. One day while out, he passed a herd of mothers and
young elephants. Faintly in the distance, he saw a large mother elephant. He instantly
recognized her. It was his mother. They locked eyes for several minutes and then with a
gentle nod of the head, Cairo continued on his way.

©Julie Bochese
Fiction vs. Nonfiction Name: _______________________________________ Date: ________________
980L
From Calf to Bull
What animal weighs about 6 tons (12000 pounds) and
measures up to 10 feet tall at its shoulder? The male African
elephant! The male African elephant is the largest land
mammal in the world. Male elephants, or bulls, take a long time
to become full grown. Baby elephants, or calves, usually weigh
between 200-250 pounds. They reach the majority of their
full-grown size between ages 12-15 years old. Most continue to
grow in size and weight until they are about 25 years old.
During this time of growth, the young male elephants travel Female elephant and calf
together in a group called a herd. The herd also includes female elephants, or cows, and other young
calves. They work together to find food and protect each other from any dangers that lie in the savanna.

Having a herd is great, especially for female elephants. Female elephants remain in a herd for their
whole 70 years of life. For the male elephants, life is very different. They must journey out on their own
around the age of 12. This makes it very important for them to learn, grow, and develop their most
recognizable features while in the herd.

Elephant Trunks
At birth, a male calf’s trunk is not fully developed. It usually has a small amount of muscle tone
and hardly any coordination. It takes months of practice for a calf to gain full control of its trunk, which
is a combination of an upper lip and nose. The trunk becomes increasingly important as the male grows.
The tip of the trunk is made up of two opposite parts that work like fingers to allow the elephant to use
it with ease. Elephants use their trunk to smell, breathe, suckle water, clean themselves, cover
themselves with dirt for protection, and grasp food.

Elephants use their trunks to drink water. Elephants use their trunks to forage for food.
©Julie Bochese
Elephant Tusks
The male elephant’s tusks are made of a material
called ivory. Ivory is similar to human teeth. Human children’s
baby teeth fall out after a certain number of years and are
then replaced with permanent teeth. Similarly, an elephant
calf is born with tusks that fall out after about a year and
are then replaced with permanent ones. These tusks will
continue to grow throughout the elephant’s life. Elephant
An Asian elephant using its tusks to peel tree bark.
tusks are utilized in a wide range of activities. They use their
tusk for digging, foraging, and sometimes, fighting for
territory.
Elephant Ears
The male elephant’s large ears serve many purposes.
The ear’s large surface area helps lessen the effect of
extreme heat under the harsh African sun. Similar to sign
language, the ears are also often used to communicate visually.
Flapping their ears can signify aggression or joy. The oversized
ears are also used to hear over long distances as far as 2.5
miles away. This helps them to communicate with other
elephants through sounds called “rumbling.” This allows them
to judge the distance from other herds or nearby elephants.
The elephant’s hearing abilities help to keep them safe from
any impending dangers and to not bother another elephant’s
territory.

Survival
Perfecting the use of their fascinating body is key to
their survival as the male calf transitions to a bull. These
An African elephant’s ears are easily mighty beasts adapt perfectly to withstand the hot, arid
identifiable because they are shaped like conditions on the savanna. Although they spend most of their
the continent, Africa.
adult lives alone, the African bulls are seen as a dominant
force in the wild.

Elephants have many special features that help them

live in their unique habitats.

©Julie Bochese
Fiction vs. Nonfiction
Answer the following questions. Underline the text evidence in the color shown.
1. One way the two selections are similar is that both the selections-
a. explain that young male elephants leave their herds.
b. explain how elephants use their trunks in many different ways.
c. describe how an elephant's tusks are similar to human teeth.
d. focus on Cairo leaving his herd to become a full-grown elephant.

2. How are the two selections different?

a. One is told from the perspective of an outside narrator’s point of view, and the
other is told from the point of view of a mother elephant.
b. One passage includes only facts about elephants, and the other includes only
opinions about elephants.
c. One is written to entertain by telling a story of an elephant that ventures out on
his own, and the other is written to inform about elephants in Africa.
d. One describes what life is like for male elephants in Africa, and the other describes
what life is like for female elephants in Africa.

3. Unlike “Cairo Grows Up,” “From Calf to Bull” includes-

a. a description of how an elephant uses its tusks and ears to survive in the wild.
b. details of how a mother elephant feels when the young male calves leave the herd.
c. a true account of a male elephant that left his herd to become an adult bull.
d. information about the number of African elephants that exist today.

4. In both passages, male African elephants are described as-

a. very aggressive and deadly predators to other animals.
b. too small to survive on their own in the wild.
c. weak and dependent on their mothers for most of their lives.
d. strong and independent enough to live on their own at an early age.

5. What fact is given only in “From Calf to Bull”?

a. Male calves live with their herd at an early age as they transition from calf to bull.
b. Elephants use their trunk to drink water and gather food.
c. Elephants use their ears to hear sounds as far as 2.5 miles away.
d. An elephant can travel as far as 50 miles in one day.

©Julie Bochese
Fiction vs. Nonfiction Name: _______________________________________ Date: ___________________

Cairo Grows Up vs. From Calf to Bull

Directions: Sort the excerpts from the two passages below.

fiction nonfiction
What is the purpose? What is the purpose?

What are the images? What are the images?

How is the text organized? How is the text organized?

• Who are the characters? What topic is the author discussing?

• What is the setting?

• What is the problem?

• What is the solution?

Fiction vs. Nonfiction Name: _______________________________________ Date: ___________________

Cairo Grows Up vs. From Calf to Bull

Which passage is fiction and which passage is nonfiction? Use evidence from the
previous organizer to support your response.
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