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Fiction and nonfiction are two main kinds of reading, and knowing the difference helps students understand what they are reading. Fiction tells made up stories with imaginary characters, settings, or events. Nonfiction gives true information about real people, places, animals, or ideas. Readers use clues in the text to decide which kind of book they have.
Fiction often has story parts like characters, problem, setting, and solution. Nonfiction often has text features like headings, captions, labels, diagrams, and photographs that help explain facts. Readers also use different strategies for each type of text. In fiction, they follow the plot and think about characters, while in nonfiction, they look for main ideas, details, and evidence.
Key Facts
- Fiction = made up stories created to entertain, though they may also teach a lesson.
- Nonfiction = true information written to inform, explain, or describe real topics.
- Fiction often includes characters + setting + problem + solution.
- Nonfiction often includes main idea + facts + details + text features.
- Fiction examples: fairy tales, chapter books, fantasy stories, realistic stories.
- Nonfiction examples: biographies, science books, history articles, how to books.
Vocabulary
- Fiction
- Writing that tells an invented story with made up characters or events.
- Nonfiction
- Writing that gives true facts and information about real topics.
- Character
- A person, animal, or creature in a story.
- Text feature
- A part of nonfiction text, such as a heading or caption, that helps readers understand information.
- Main idea
- The most important point the author wants the reader to learn about a topic.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Thinking every book with pictures is fiction, because pictures can also appear in nonfiction books to teach facts. Look at whether the information is true and whether text features are used to explain it.
- Assuming fiction cannot teach anything, because many stories include lessons, themes, or real life ideas. A text can entertain and still help readers learn.
- Calling all nonfiction books biographies, because biography is only one kind of nonfiction. Nonfiction also includes science, history, and how to texts.
- Reading fiction and nonfiction the same way, because each type needs different strategies. In fiction, track story events and characters, while in nonfiction, search for facts, main ideas, and supporting details.
Practice Questions
- 1 A book tells about a dragon who lives in a castle and goes on an adventure with two children. Is this fiction or nonfiction? Write two clues that support your answer.
- 2 A nonfiction article has 4 headings, 6 captions, and 3 labeled diagrams. How many text features are shown in all?
- 3 Why might a reader pay close attention to headings and captions in nonfiction but pay closer attention to characters and plot in fiction? Explain your reasoning.