Celebrate Nonfiction

Exploring the Joy of Nonfiction Reading and Writing

Nonfiction Smackdown!

Since 2019 marks the
10th Anniversary of this blog, on Fridays this year, I’m updating and
re-running past posts that sparked conversation or that I think still have a
lot to offer people teaching or writing nonfiction. The original version of today’s
post appeared on October 30, 2015.

I’ve attended a lot of nErD camps and EdCamps in recent
years, but one of my favorites was held at Dedham Middle School in Dedham, MA,
in 2015. It was sponsored by the Massachusetts School Library Association and
organized by a committee led by teacher-librarian Laura D’Elia. I came away with so many amazing ideas. One of my
favorites was the
Nonfiction Smackdown!, brainchild of beloved teacher-librarian
Judi Paradis, who worked at
Plympton School in Waltham, MA, until her untimely death earlier this year.

In this activity, students in grades 3-8 read two nonfiction
books on the same topic. They can be two narrative titles, two expository
titles, or one of each. Students evaluate, classify, and compare the titles,
recording their thinking on a Nonfiction
Smackdown! worksheet like this one:

Note: You can find a more
printable version of the Nonfiction Smackdown! worksheet on my pinterest Reading Nonfiction
Board


When students are done, they can share their responses with classmates.
Or the worksheets can be hung around the room or
placed in a folder, so that other students can use the information to help them
select books in the future.


The fun activity gets kids reading and thinking and sharing. It’s great!

Here are some possible book pairings:

For Intermediate
Readers

Bone by Bone:
Comparing Animal Skeletons by Sara Levine

and

Who Owns These Bones? by Henri Cap,
Raphael Martin, and Renauld Vigourt

Flying Deep: Climb Inside
Deep-Sea Submersible ALVIN by Michelle Cusolito

and

Otis and Will
Discover the Deep: The Record-setting Dive of the Bathysphere by Barb Rosenstock

A Seed Is the Start by Melissa Stewart

and
Seeds Move by Robin Page

For Middle
School Readers

Death Eaters: Meet
Nature’s Scavengers
by Kelly Milner Halls

and

Rotten: Vultures,
Beetles, Slime and Nature’s Other Decomposers by Anita Sanchez

Dog Days of History:
The Incredible Story of Our Best Friends by Sarah Albee

and

Made for Each Other:
Why Dogs and People Are the Perfect Partners by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent

Eye Spy: Wild Ways
Animals See the World by Guillaume Duprat

and

What If You Had
Animal Eyes? by
Sandra Markle

3 Responses

  2. I do this on my own and with my kids when we homeschooled but not as fun and as systematic as your method…love it and will save this to recommend to others.

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