Children's Literature Strategies
Course
Nonfiction Strategies [10:24]
Let's talk about nonfiction as a genre, particularly in the intermediate grades, when kids are starting to do more of their own independent research. Boys in particular, studies tell us, really enjoy reading true and factual books about things they're interested in.
Nonfiction has come a long way. And it's so much more interesting. So we can really use that as a way to get kids talking about the world and what they're seeing and research and the role of research. And now that the Common Core Standards have really highlighted this genre it's become even more important that we equip kids with understanding the genre and how to use it and understand and comprehend it.
So the first piece is this role of research because that's one of the things that separates nonfiction from fiction, is that typically--now there are exceptions, there are some fiction works that have a lot of research in them--but typically nonfiction is very much built on the author's research. And it's an opportunity to talk with kids about how writing works and how a nonfiction book is built upon an author's interest in an area and how he or she does a lot of research in creating that book.
It's an opportunity to talk about primary sources versus secondary sources, to use the bibliography and author notes in the back of the book, to demonstrate where that author went for the information that he or she gathered to write the book. And to even consult some of the sources that the author consulted. So that young readers and young future writers can see this is how it works, this is where it begins, this is the process an author uses, reading widely, taking notes, gathering research and information to create a book.
And one of the best ways of doing this, is to compare and contrast a couple of books on the same subject. For example, dinosaurs is a very popular topic and there are many excellent nonfiction books about dinosaurs available, actually for all ages. So you can use dinosaur books with kindergarten or first, for some very preliminary sort of research work, but you can also find quite a few books about dinosaurs for older kids, too.
And one of the beauties of this topic is that our knowledge about dinosaurs is continually evolving. So that kids will see that writers who write a book ten years ago might have different findings on dinosaurs in contrast with writers today because we're finding out, finding more bones and more nuances about which species they were and what they're related to and what their lives were like. So compare and contrast, two books with younger kids, maybe more books with older kids, on the same subject will show you how the author approached the subject and what tools he or she used to write it and that even the organization of the book is something that they can look at and consider.
I love that. I love that kids who are going to be writing because they'll all have to write some expository or research kind of writing, report writing at some point in their schooling. They can use the models from their reading. And we have to show them how that works, it doesn't just happen through osmosis.
Second, I'd also like to focus on biographies because I think that's an important subset of nonfiction that we often neglect. Biographies are true stories of a person's life, typically their whole lives but sometimes just a snapshot of their lives. And there are actually many wonderful biographies being written for kids nowadays, not just your President. And presidents are wonderful and worth reading about but for a long time those dominated biographies for kids, just white presidents. Thank goodness that's changing and we're seeing biographies for kids that do lots of other things.
We're looking at women, we're looking at minorities, we're looking at people from outside the United States, all kinds of interesting people who've made a difference in the world. What's really useful as a strategy is helping kids separate the fact from the fiction. And reading a biography out loud or comparing biographies of the same subject or taking a biography book and then doing internet based research with databases that the librarian can recommend is a great way to help the kids see, okay, this is documentable fact but this is something the author guesses might have happened or the subject might have said. And it's important for kids to see fact from non-fact and how any author is limited by the resources that he or she has available but also needs to be very careful in anything he or she makes up. So biographies are a great way to demonstrate the fact from non-fact distinction.
A third strategy for sharing nonfiction is to really dig deep and help kids see what are called the Access Features of nonfiction. This is something that you don't see in fiction. And so when kids encounter it nonfiction, they're not always sure what to make of it. In fact a lot of kids just ignore it and that's a shame because it's a really useful tool, actually for the rest of their lives. Here, we're talking about things like the Table of Contents, the Index, the Glossary, the Diagrams, the Illustrations and Maps and Tables. All those things, beyond just the words. All those sort of tools that are used to organize information in a work of nonfiction. Those are all very purposeful and the author and book designer take a lot of care in deciding what they're going to feature and where it goes on the page.
So just explaining those things to kids and using a book as a demo and walking them through where the table of contents is--it's usually at the beginning, it usually has titles of the chapters, it enables you to flip through the book and find what you want quickly without reading the whole book--that's something that a lot of kids just don't know and they think they have to read a book from beginning to end. And with nonfiction, that's typically not true, we often just dip in and read what we'd like and get what we need.
Same thing with the index. That's a tool at the back of the book that helps you flip through to find exactly what you need on a certain page. Or how to interpret a diagram or a table, using the sidebars in a book, to just read those, read the captions and photos and sidebars and that's all, and talk about those. So those kinds of access features which seem like extras are not, they're an essential component of sharing information and we need to introduce kids to what they're called and how they work.
And it's especially important in the testing climate we find ourselves in, because these things are often part of the tests that students will take. But that aside, it's a useful thing to know about for any of our reading, as we read books, newspapers, magazines, and websites. We need to know how to sift through all the information that's provided there and where to tune in, and what's important and what's secondary. That takes some teaching and some demonstrating.
Fourth, I also think it's important to focus on the visual aspect of nonfiction. Especially for kids who are learning English as a new language or for kids who are not super adept at reading yet. They are tuning into the visuals first anyway. They're looking at the pictures flip, flip, flipping and just looking at the images. So you start with that and you get them then to read captions and then you talk about that. This can be a great tool after reading and researching and studying nonfiction to create their own display or a Did You Know bulletin board where they glean their favorite facts from a nonfiction book everyone's read or shared. And they deduce. Okay, what did you think what's most important, what was the author's focus in this book? They can make a Glog for example which is a kind of a visual collage on a computer. They can make a display, a bulletin board. They can create their own visuals that help them synthesize what it is they're reading. Not just words but images. Especially for kids who are more artistically inclined or technologically inclined, that's a great way for them to report on what they're reading and understanding and learning. And then finally, taking that a step further and talking about actual objects related to nonfiction. It's like the Brown Bag Book Report idea that I've talked about elsewhere. But in reading nonfiction, it's a great opportunity to talk about the actual physical world and make connections with guest speakers who might be experts in a particular area or looking at community and museum resources related to the book you're reading. I'll go back to the topic of dinosaurs, for example.
So right here where I live, we actually do have a science museum with lots of great dinosaur bones to look at. There are dinosaur artifacts available in the Natural History Museum as well and there are things that can be loaned out to classrooms their facsimiles and whatnot, you can't borrow actual dinosaur bones. But there are guest speakers as well who will come to the class. Why not take advantage of your community and the things that are available there related to the nonfiction books that you're reading and make it come alive with an expert who will talk about his or her research or work in the field or artifacts that are related to the book that you're reading and studying. That's a great way to show, not just the topic but career possibilities for young people who are thinking about, "I really like this area. I didn't know I could have a job in this area." And then turn that into a writing experience as well.
In this lesson, Vardell offers activities for engaging students with nonfiction books. Nonfiction is an increasingly popular genre of children's literature due to factors that include high student interest, expanding formats, and nonfiction's inclusion in the Common Core State Standards. Five sets of activities are suggested: (1) compare and contrast multiple books on one topic for content, organization, and other features; (2) analyze biographies for verifiable facts versus author opinion; (3) explore "access features" (or "text tools") in works of nonfiction, e.g., index, table of contents, glossary, etc.; (4) examine visuals in text and student production of original images; and (5) investigate objects, exhibits, or other realia pertaining to nonfiction topics.
For this exercise, we will focus on Strategies 1, 2, and 3 from the lesson, which are all aimed at helping students understand how nonfiction books work. First you will identify learning objectives related to characteristics of nonfiction books. Then, to help students attain these objectives, you will construct a graphic organizer to guide students' interaction with nonfiction texts. It may be helpful to begin by selecting a grade level or student age range. Note that this exercise doesn't involve writing a full lesson plan, only the design of a graphic organizer to align with an objective.
1. If you were to consider what you want your selected group of students to know about nonfiction, you might list questions like these: How are nonfiction books organized within the book itself? What characteristics are common across nonfiction titles? What are unique features of some books? What are some sub-types or categories of nonfiction? How is a nonfiction print book different from information found online?
What other questions would help shape a lesson about what nonfiction books are and how they work? Create a list from these suggestions and your own ideas. Note that for the steps that follow here, you probably won't address all the questions from your list, but this preparation will support your instruction and discussion with students, as well as the planning of any additional lessons.
2. Building from your questions, write a lesson objective to guide a grade-level appropriate, introductory learning activity about nonfiction books. Select an objective that can be realistically accomplished in a class period, and that would be supported by the use of a graphic organizer. To write your objective, think: what do you want students to know and do? Use a learning objective template or prompt from your school, or a starter such as, "the student(s) will be able to…" Remember to phrase the student learning actions in measurable and/or observable terms. If possible, embed the activity in a specific subject area topic in the grade level curriculum.
3. As a tool for learning and assessment, create a graphic organizer for students to use in an investigation of a nonfiction book or books. As you create this product, check to see that the student's work provides evidence that the learning objective has been attained. An example is provided.
Selection of nonfiction books
Sample objective, Grade 4: Working with 3-4 librarian-selected nonfiction books about Canada and Canadian people (e.g., one "country book," one collective biography or biography, a book about one specific topic such as natural resources or government, and one literary nonfiction) the student will be able to identify characteristics of organization, text tools, and content for each book.
(Note that a second lesson or step would probably be to make comparisons across the books. This topic is based on fourth grade content from Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Frameworks, http://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/hss/final.pdf).
| Investigating Nonfiction Books About Canada | ||
Book Title |
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Checklist of text tools: ___Table of contents ___Text boxes or pull-outs ___Diagrams ___Maps ___Index ___Glossary |
What topic or topics are covered in this book? |
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What other tools are provided, if any? |
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MLA Citation
Morris, Rebecca J. "Children's Literature Strategies: Investigating Nonfiction Texts." School Library Connection, November 2024, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2063937?learningModuleId=2063931&topicCenterId=2247903.
Entry ID: 2122879
Additional Resources
About the Author
MLA Citation
Vardell, Sylvia M. "Children's Literature Strategies. Nonfiction Strategies [10:24]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, May 2017, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2063937?learningModuleId=2063931&topicCenterId=2247903.
https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2063937?learningModuleId=2063931&topicCenterId=2247903
Entry ID: 2063937