Thursday, March 27, 2008
Non-Fiction Texts in the Classroom
The think that I find interesting about these upcoming topics, biographies and non-fiction, is how important these genres are in using literacy across the curriculum and in incorporating reading throughout the curriculum. Not only are they great ways to use children's literature in all subjects, but they also are beneficial learning tools in helping kids learn by using different teaching methods. These books can also provide references to go along with fictional texts. Non-fiction and biographies can clarify facts from fictional stories. I also think its important to use a broad set of non-fiction texts. I often find myself using more social studies and historical non-fiction books, however, using non-fiction books in science and math can be very important and allow students who are more language based a way to understand science. Does anybody know any really good science non-fiction books for upper elementary?
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I read "A Wrinkle in Time" in the seventh grade. It's a series of books, too, so if kids like it, they can keep reading. Although I don't really like science fiction, it was a pretty good book. I know that our textbook recommended it too.
It would be interesting to talk about possible overlaps in science and science fiction.
I was just looking at an article in Scientific American that talked about how sometimes science fiction imagines what will later become reality and, in turn, how scientific knowledge inspires science fiction. (The article was about how if there is vegetation on other planets the plants might be different colors depending on the quality of light they use for photosynthesis.)
I think it's very important to use a wide range of genres in the classroom. I would have been so incredibly bored in elementary and middle school especially if all we read were biographies and non-fiction books. Don't get me wrong now a days I love to curl up with any type of book. But when children are little, teachers need to use different types of books to spark their imagination, and encourage them to read. If teachers only use one type, I believe theres a good chance that kids aren't going to want to read because they aren't interested. When I was in elementary school, I always liked The Magic School Bus. I liked the characters but the information was still presented accurately.
I found this website from a library in Indiana. It has different categories of books and then gives you a list of books in each category. Science fiction was one of them. The books are also categorized by level. I don’t know if this would help you or if it is what you were looking for, but I thought it did a pretty good job of giving a list of science fiction books. I have heard of some of them too and I think you could look into the books to find ones you liked and see if these are the types of books you were thinking of. If nothing else it might be able to give you a place to start.
Here is the website:
http://www.monroe.lib.in.us/childrens/booklists/science_fiction.html
Another tip is to do a subject search by genre and age. I just went to the East Lansing Public library site and types in "science fiction" and "young adult". It showed 210 results. (As I glanced through them it seemed that some were more YA and some were more adolescent lit.).
I honestly never thought about how important biographies and non-fiction books could be inside the classroom...
Now that I think about it, why wouldnt it be?!
It gives kids the real deal facts about people, life, the world, the past. All of that is such a huge deal that makes up our lives - past, present, and future. I cant wait to get started on my library collection for my classroom.
I honestly never thought about how important biographies and non-fiction books could be inside the classroom...
Now that I think about it, why wouldnt it be?!
It gives kids the real deal facts about people, life, the world, the past. All of that is such a huge deal that makes up our lives - past, present, and future. I cant wait to get started on my library collection for my classroom.
-by Emily Francis
I think non-fiction is very important. Some people may think of it as separate from other genres of books because so many non-fiction books are like textbooks. This distinction creates a bad stigma about them as being boring and forced at you. Choosing non-fiction books about what kids are interested in and want to learn about can show them that non-fiction books can be fun and interesting. Non-fiction is just as important as any other genre and should be just as enthusiastically presented.
I feel that all genres should be presented to children as early as elementary school. Although younger children may enjoy reading more about fairytales and fictional characters, there is always a fun way of teaching facts to children. For my book review I used the book "what do you do with a tail like this?" this book was an entertaining way for children to learn about different animals and how they use their different senses. sci-fi books are also very appealing to all ages, especially younger ages, because children find outerspace to be such a cool place and reading about it and imagining what could be out there is very entertaining for readers.
I totally agree that non fiction is very important to the classroom. It seems like it would be so easy to incorporate picture books about MLK, Rosa Parks, etc while teaching students about the Civil Rights Movement, for example.
Until this class, I didn't really understand the importance of picture books--except to spark young children's imagination. The learning opportunities through these stories are exponential. And what could be more fun than reading a picture book in order to understand the life of Ben Franklin?
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