Today,
Marlene Correia will be discussing the fourth item on the 5 Ways
to Share Expository Nonfiction with Students—making expository nonfiction reading relevant to students.
Thanks so much for your thoughts on this topic, Marlene.
In their
2016 book, Reading Nonfiction:
Notice & Note Stances, Signposts, and Strategies, Kylene Beers and
Robert E. Probst say:
“Relevance is about what matters
to you. It starts with observing something in the world, but then it shifts to
a thought or a feeling inside you.” Here
are three ways to incorporate that kind of experience into our classrooms.
Connect to Current Events
With the popularity of social media, students
of all ages are exposed to events happening locally, nationally, and
internationally. Sharing nonfiction related to these current events, helps
bring relevance to what is happening in the world around us.
Recently, I
listened in as a classroom of third graders discussed the story of Koko the
gorilla’s death. Koko became famous for his use of sign language as well as his
fascination with pet cats. Recognizing the relevance this news story had for
the children, their teacher tracked down Koko’s
Kitten by Francine Patterson and read it with the class.
next few weeks, some of the students asked the school librarian for additional books
about gorillas. They wanted to know more about a gorilla’s habits and life
expectancy. They were also curious about other famous gorillas.
similar experience with your students, hunt for age-appropriate nonfiction
books and articles related to news stories that your hear students discussing.
These websites offer short nonfiction pieces connected to current events:
News
ELA (https://newsela.com)
ReadWorks
(www.readworks.org)
The
Nonfiction Minute (https://www.nonfictionminute.org/)
Connect to Topics of Study
Think about the topics of study throughout
your school year. How can you tie-in expository nonfiction books and articles to
supplement the content in your textbook? How can you make the topics more
relevant to students’ lives and experiences?
In the
article “Motivating and Engaging Students in Reading,” which was published in The New England Reading Association Journal
in 2010, Jenna Cambria and John Guthrie shared an anecdote about a teacher who
had her students doing an
investigation with owl pellets during science class. The students were so
intrigued when they found the skeletal remains of a mouse in a pellet that this
topic of study immediately became relevant to them.
videos, experiments, guest speakers, are all great ways to captivate students,
and once they are engaged, it’s the perfect time to introduce nonfiction texts
that can supplement and broaden their learning experience.
To prepare
for this opportunity, curate text sets about key curriculum topics in advance. Teaching with Text Sets by Mary Ann
Cappiello and Erika Thulin Dawes can help you get started. After sharing text
sets as a class, showcase them in your classroom library for students to choose
independently.
Connect to Student Interests
Students
learn best when a topic of study or a specific text connects to them in some
way. It is intrinsically motivating to read something that you enjoy knowing
about.
Through individual reading conferences,
interest surveys, and just being with your students, you can begin to pinpoint
their specific interests. Seek out expository nonfiction books that appeal to
your learners. Personally hand these titles to your students or put a sticky note
on the book with a message like, “I thought of you when I found this text.” Children
will appreciate the effort.
An interested student reads because it’s an enjoyable
experience. And when the child is motivated, he/she will dig deeper into the
text and strive to comprehend material that is above their reading level.
That’s how they become better readers.
Dr.
Marlene Correia
is the Director of Curriculum and Assessment for the Freetown-Lakeville
Regional School District in Lakeville, MA. Marlene has 15 years of experience
in K-8 education as a classroom teacher and special educator. Dr. Correia has
also taught undergraduate and graduate education courses at Framingham State
and Bridgewater State University. She is the co-author of Informational Texts in Pre-Kindergarten through Grade-Three Classrooms.
Dr. Correia is a past-president of the Massachusetts Reading Association.
Most Popular Posts
Resignation
Re-thinking “E” Is for Everyone
We Need Diverse Nonfiction
The 5 Kinds of Nonfiction
Behind the Books: Does Story Appeal to Everyone?
10 STEM Picture Books
Nonfiction Authors Dig Deep by Melissa Stewart
Nonfiction Authors Dig Deep by Deborah Heiligman
Is It Fiction or Nonfiction? A Twitterchat
5 Kinds of Nonfiction, Book Lists
Topics