The Lowdown on the Smackdown by Renae Nichols
For the last couple of years, I’ve invited educators to share reflections of their students’ experiences during the Sibert Smackdown. After all, teachers and librarians loved hearing directly from their colleagues. Today’s post comes from school librarian Renae Nichols. Thanks so much for sharing Renae! I first heard about the Sibert Smackdown 2 years ago, […]
Narrative & Expository: Two Nonfiction Writing Styles
Over the holiday break, I spent some time thinking about what I’d share on this blog over the next few months and decided to take a look at my most popular post of all time. The answer surprised me, so I’m sharing it again for folks who might have missed it. Should I write about […]
15 Favorite STEM Books of 2023
Today I’m finishing up my posts for 2023 with my annual list of favorite STEM books. I usually try to limit it to 10 titles, but this year’s list includes an astonishing 15 books because I just couldn’t narrow it down. It was a stellar year for nonfiction, and for STEM titles in particular. Six of […]
Is Memoir Nonfiction?
Now that state standards for ELA dictate that students to read and write more nonfiction than ever before, many middle school and high school English teachers are leaning heavily on memoir to satisfy this curricular requirement. Because memoir has characters, settings, dialog, and a strong narrative arc, it feels familiar and comfortable to fiction lovers. […]
Using Text Trios to Nurture STEM Curiosity
Recently, award-winning STEM author Jennifer Swanson let me know about an innovative idea that she’s working on—Text Trios. She’s pairing a book with a narrative writing style and a book with an expository writing style with episodes of her popular podcast Solve It for Kids. I was so excited about how these trios could appeal to […]
Sibert Book Club Shines a Light on Nonfiction by Jessica Fries-Gaither
In the past, I’ve written a #SibertSmackdown Wrap-up post with tidbits from some of the schools that participated. But last year, I decided to invite educators to share their experiences directly. And it was a great decision—teachers and librarians loved hearing from their colleagues. So this year, I’m doing it again. Most of these posts […]
Reading Nonfiction Aloud
As I was adding the read aloud guide for Whale Fall to my website, I realized that I hadn’t blogged about nonfiction read alouds for a while, and, well, there’s no time like the present. When it comes to read alouds, most teachers and librarians turn to fiction, but nonfiction read alouds can be just as […]
Children’s Fiction vs. Nonfiction Sales Figures
In November, I spoke at the For the Love of Reading conference in Midway, UT. I was excited by how enthusiastic attendees were about my keynote session “Creating Passionate Nonfiction Readers.” During the presentation, I saw many nodding heads in the audience. And afterward, educators and librarians shared amazing anecdotes about their own experiences with students […]
15 Favorites: STEM Books of 2022
Each year at this time, I post a list of my favorite STEM books of the year. I try to limit it to ten, but there are usually a few extras. This year, something AMAZING happened. In November, I was invited to share my top picks on Science Friday. The show was recorded on Zoom with […]
Sibert Smackdown! There’s Still Time!
The American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards are about 7 weeks away. I can’t wait to find who the winners will be, can you? As a nonfiction lover, the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal is my favorite award of all. And that’s why I started the Sibert Smackdown seven years ago. It’s a fun activity for students […]