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Reading and Exploring Nonfiction Texts
The District Administrator article "Making Reading Count" in the News section above describes how students and teachers are using more "informational texts" in their reading instruction. The resources listed below suggests ways that you can include more nonfiction texts in your classroom.
Elementary students explore a range of informational texts in the ReadWriteThink lesson plan Searching for Gold: A Collaborative Inquiry Project (E). In the lesson students work in small groups to research one aspect of the Gold Rush and teach that topic to the rest of the class. While this lesson plan uses the Gold Rush as an example, any event or geographical area could be substituted.
The ReadWriteThink lesson plan Finding the Science Behind Science Fiction through Paired Readings (M) invites students to read nonfiction texts and resources to learn more about the ideas in science fiction texts that they read. The pairings have the potential to spark lively discussions while inviting students to extrapolate from their own working knowledge of scientific principles.
The English Journal article "Nonfiction Books in the Classroom: Undervalued, Underused, and Oversimplified" (S) examines the value
of nonfiction, explores a sampling of recent titles, and suggests how creative teachers can incorporate books
like these into their classrooms.
The article includes details on over a dozen books that work well in the classroom.
"Naming Nonfiction (a Polyptych)" (C) from College English explores the complexity of naming nonfiction as a class of written works. Teachers can use the ideas in the article as a starting point for discussion and reading of nonfiction in the classroom.
For additional nonfiction books to share with students, check out the Orbis Pictus Nonfiction Book Awards and the NCTE publication Best in Children's Nonfiction, The: Reading, Writing, & Teaching Orbis Pictus Award Books (E-M).
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