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animal, and planets books will remain a facet of nonfiction students will be exposed to during their academic career. However, the implementation of the CCSS affords us all the opportunity to enhance students’ experience with nonfiction. As I increase students’ exposure to informational texts, as warranted by the CCSS, I want my students’ view of nonfiction to change. I want them to see nonfiction not as a resource to be skimmed through to complete a project, but rather as a vast genre that requires the same attention to detail as reading a Harry Potter novel. By revising my practices to regularly incorporate thoughtfully selected informational texts, increasing my explicit instruction of text structure and features, and applying close reading strategies, my third grade students will begin to build the skills required of them as adult readers. The implementation of the CCSS and the development of my unit plan represent the beginning of an era where fiction and nonfiction are on an equal playing field in my classroom. Bibliography Cummins, Sunday. 2013. Close Reading of Informational Texts: Assessment-Driven Instruction in Grades 3-8. New York, NY: The Guilford Press. Evenson, Amber, Monette McIver. Susan Ryan, Amitra Schwols and John Kendall. 2013. Common Core Standards for Elementary Grades 3-5 Math & English Language Arts: A Quick Start Guide. Denver, CO: Mid-Continent Research for Educational and Learning. Glaser, Linda. No Buzz to Be Found: Insects in the Winter. 2011. Millbrook Press Scholastic News April 2013, Edition 1 Vol. 69 No.7 (accessible online at http://sni.scholastic.com/SN1/04_04_13_SN1/book#/2) Shanahan, Timothy. “The Common Core Ate My Baby and Other Urban Legends.” Educational Leadership. 70.4 (2012/2013): 10-16. Print. Silver, Harvey F., R. Thomas Dewing, and Matthew J. Perini. 2012. The Core Six: Essential Strategies for Achieving Excellence with the Common Core. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Adrienne Darreff Reilly has been an elementary teacher in Central Bucks School District for seven years, teaching at both the primary and intermediate levels. In addition to her work in the classroom, Adrienne teaches staff development workshops on best practices for small group instruction and literature circles in reading. She has also obtained her reading specialist certification and became a PAWLP fellow in 2012. areilly@cbsd.org