Today
we hear from fourth grade teacher Kaitlin Alvine who I met on the
#classroombookaday Facebook group, created and maintained by uber-dedicated school
librarian Jillian Heise. I highly recommend this group!
Like
many educators, Kaitlin is just beginning to understand the power of nonfiction
to turn children into passionate readers. Thank you, Kaitlin, for sharing your
story.
Kids
need to be surrounded by text. We know reading books and being read to are
major predictors of student success. I’ve lived by the concept that I don’t get
rid of books; I just buy more shelves!
Now
that doesn’t mean quality doesn’t matter. It does. Periodically, I’ll find that
books in my collection no longer serve my readers, and I put great thought into
purchasing quality texts. However, until recently, most often, the books I
chose were fiction.
I
didn’t value the Weird But True! series
books (and the like) that my students checked out from the school
library. I let them read those books because, hey, it’s reading! But I didn’t
go out of my way to offer them in my own collection. I credit two realizations
with a shift in my mindset about books for my classroom.
The first was reading Melissa Stewart
and Marlene Correia’s book 5 Kinds of
Nonfiction. I decided to read it last summer because there was a push at my
school to use nonfiction texts for guided reading instruction in order to build
students’ background knowledge and increase comprehension.
I
was shocked by some of the research included in 5 Kinds of Nonfiction!
Educators, like myself, overwhelmingly prefer narrative texts. We assume
reading a story with deep character development and a profound theme is what
will engage young readers and inspire them to love reading. Some of that may be
true. Reading can take us anywhere and teach us a lot about others and
ourselves! However, the research shows that many children prefer expository
rather than narrative texts.
As
I read the book, I remember thinking, “Wow! If my goal is to surround students
with books that will entice them to love reading, I need to include more
expository texts—the books they already love!” Children enjoy nonfiction texts.
I want children to enjoy reading. The connection is clear.
The second factor that cemented my mind shift
was my own son, Boss. Last summer, when I was reading 5 Kinds of Nonfiction, he was in the beginning stages of learning
how to read. What was he drawn to? All things nonfiction.
Boss
chose books about dinosaurs and deep-sea creatures and Amazonian insects for
his bedtime reads. When I took him to the bookstore, he had a singular focus—scouring
the shelves for every Who Would Win series
(by Jerry Pallotta) book he didn’t already own.
He
sat beside me pointing at images in Little
Kids First Big Book of Dinosaurs by Catherine D. Hughes and asking me to
read him the captions. He’d help me read Safari
by Gail Tuchman by finding the word the and
then I, see, and go. After reading True or
False: Amphibians by Melvin and
Gilda Berger to him, he’d “read” the book back to his dad or me,
quizzing us on the facts he learned.
When Boss accompanied me to my
classroom, he began borrowing books such as What
If You Had Animal Teeth? by Sandra Markle and Deadliest Animals by Melissa Stewart to take home to read.
Then
Boss came home from preschool last fall and informed me that he didn’t like
reading. I was stunned! I reminded him how much he loved reading books at home.
I pointed out that he could sit and read books with me for an hour at a time.
That’s when he said something that clicked. “But Mom, they don’t have books I
like at school.”
That was it. That’s when I realized just how much of an impact the books offered to children in their classrooms can have on their attitude towards reading. I started sending Boss to school with books he wanted to read, while telling myself that I would not be the teacher that didn’t offer her students books they liked.
With help from 5 Kinds of Nonfiction,
I know now that I had previously shied away from what Melissa Stewart calls
browsable and active nonfiction in particular. I started buying these kinds of
books in spades! I asked students what topics they were interested in learning
about and then added texts on those topics. I taught kids the 5 kinds of
nonfiction and asked them to identify the books by their type when discussing them.
We
began to give book talks on nonfiction texts in addition to fiction. I now make
sure that half the books I display above my shelves are nonfiction. I have not
yet reached my goal of offering a classroom book collection that is half (or
nearly half) nonfiction, but I’m well on my way.
I’ve
heard from students how much they appreciate having so many interesting books
to choose from and from parents who shared that their children came home from
school excited about having books in our room they wanted to read.
It’s
evident when I check in with readers during independent reading that some have
found new books they enjoy. I’m happy to encourage and celebrate them for
finding a series they love. I will be the teacher I want Boss to have someday!
Kaitlin
Alvine
is a fourth grade teacher in Iowa. She began her career 12 years ago in
special education before landing in the classroom, where she is passionate
about encouraging reading and inquiry. Kaitlin is married to a fellow teacher
and coach, Dustin. They have a son, Boss (5), and a daughter, Scout (3). As a
family, they appreciate the perks of summers off together. For fun, Kaitlin
enjoys reading, hiking, and practicing yoga!
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