Showing Students that Their Opinions Matter

I spent last week visiting three schools in Upstate New York, and I was blown away with all the terrific nonfiction reading and writing projects they’ve been doing this year. Their classroom teachers and teacher-librarians Camelia Moses and Ann Morosini are full of great ideas. To get ready for my visit, first graders at Carthage Elementary made […]

A Great New Resource

On Wednesday morning, this Tweet from uber-talented author Betsy Partridge alerted me to a great new resource for educators who want help adding nonfiction to their classroom or library collections.   Thanks to Jennifer Wharton, the youth services librarian at the Matheson Memorial Library in Elkhorn, WI, Selecting and Promoting Nonfiction in Your Library is […]

Reading Nonfiction Aloud

Educators frequently ask me for strategies for reading nonfiction aloud. It can be tricky. If a spread is bursting with text features, which should you read first? At what point should you read the main text? What about the captions? Should you discuss the photos or illustrations? How much time should you spend on each […]

Sibert Smackdown!

A few weeks ago, I blogged about the Nonfiction Smackdown, a great idea developed by teacher-librarian Judi Paradis who works at Plympton School in Waltham, MA. Now that the kidlit community is starting to buzz about contenders for the ALA Youth Media Awards, I’ve decided to modify Judi’s idea a bit to create the Sibert Smackdown. Here’s […]

Nonfiction Smackdown!

A few weeks ago I attended a fantastic EdCamp at Dedham Middle School in Dedham, MA. The event was organized by the MA School Library Association’s Professional Learning Committee, chaired by the uber-talented Laura D’Elia. It was a great day of learning and sharing. One of my favorite ideas of the day was the Nonfiction […]

Behind the Books: The Nonfiction Book Review-Persuasive Writing Link

According to state ELA standards, students should know how to write persuasive texts. Writing and orally presenting book reviews is one way for them to practice this style of nonfiction writing AND learn to summarize and synthesize the nonfiction (or fiction) books they’ve read. In the early elementary grades, children can focus on the topic […]

Behind the Books: Nonfiction Booktalking

Booktalking can be a great way to get students excited about the books available in a library or classroom collection. When booktalking a fiction title, you might begin by saying something like “it’s a paranormal romance presented from multiple points of view” or “it’s a contemporary realistic novel with an unreliable narrator.” These descriptions give […]