Last March, uber-talented school librarian Tom Bober shared this terrific lesson idea for exploring active nonfiction with students. Now he’s back to describe his
school’s experience incorporating the teaching strategies and author essays
from Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep: 50 Award-winning Children’s
Book Authors Share the Secret of Engaging Writing into nonfiction reading and writing instruction
across the grade levels. Thanks so much, Tom!
I started reading Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep (NWDD) soon after it was released. The author essays sharing how and why they write instantly
resonated with me. Much of our elementary students’ nonfiction reading and
writing instruction has focused on traditional nonfiction. With little choice,
students’ voices as nonfiction writers weren’t developing as they could. I
thought a book study could encourage teachers to question existing practices and
show them what’s possible.
Setting the Stage
I spoke with my principal, building literacy coach, district
ELA coordinator, and assistant superintendent of teaching and learning to see
if there was support for my idea. After making my case, the answer was yes
across the board.
I wrote a proposal for a summer offering for the district
and fall offering in my building, and it was approved. I chose to make the book
study optional, so the process could be a tool for teachers who wanted to make
a change or try something new with a resource to guide them. I believe this
kind of grassroots approach can have more impact over time. Even though the groups
were moderately sized (something expected with other stresses on classroom teachers), the discussion and possibility for change
exceeded my expectations.
Beginning the Book Study
We started the first session of our book study with a look
at what students’ nonfiction reading and writing instruction looked like at the
time. This gave teachers an opportunity to discuss the changes they wanted and
why.
The conversation moved between four areas:
—students’ choices in nonfiction reading,
—nonfiction reading in the curriculum,
—nonfiction writing in the curriculum,
—research projects that included nonfiction writing.
It was easy to see disconnects between students’
choices in their nonfiction writing and the curricular focus. Multiple teachers
shared that student enthusiasm often waned when it came time for nonfiction
writing.
I was hopeful. There were so many areas where
change could take place.
To give the group some common vocabulary, I shared Melissa’s 2018 article for SLJ, “The Five Kinds of Nonfiction,” which
has now been expanded into a book with the same title. Teachers read it and immediately began restating earlier thoughts.
“Expository literature and narrative nonfiction
may be more helpful instructionally.”
“It seems like reluctant readers…all readers really…like
browsable nonfiction.”
“Teaching [students] about those styles becomes
important.”
We ended our first session by preparing to read
essays from the first chapter of NWDD: Choosing
a Topic. I also provided almost all of the children’s books mentioned in the NWDD
author essays. I already held most in my library’s collection. Titles from our
public library rounded out the offerings.
Continuing the Conversation
Each of the following three sessions of the book study
revolved around one of the three main chapters of the book: Choosing a Topic, Finding a Focus, and Making it Personal. We continued to
rely heavily on whole-group discussion and a predictable format.
We began with a reflection, looking back on
quotes and ideas that I had captured during the previous discussion and organized between sessions.
Question prompts invited discussion:
- What did we notice when
exploring the authors’ essays and their accompanying books? - How has this encouraged new thinking about students’
interactions with nonfiction? - How does our new thinking impact our previous areas of
focus: student nonfiction choice reading, nonfiction writing and reading
instruction, and research?
The discussion was rich and revealing. Teachers
shared what resonated with them and began to envision how engaging and vibrant
nonfiction could fit into their students’ reading and learning lives.
Positive changes in the perception of nonfiction
became evident. Some teachers began to see places where they could use nonfiction texts in their
instruction that they hadn’t anticipated.
“It’s fun to look at different text structures
and think about how to mimic one of those.”
“The assumption of reading the book is that
the author is curious and creative. I’m wondering if we have that same idea
when we read a kid’s piece of writing.”
“The NF piece could be a cool place to let go
of control of the structure and make it a true writers workshop.”
We ended each session gathering more
nonfiction titles and looking
ahead to the next section of essays.
Moving Toward Change
The teachers ended their time together talking
about the first steps of change. What could they see changing in their
instruction? How did they want their students’ interactions with nonfiction to
be different moving forward?
Changes are taking place as I write this.
- In the library, nonfiction
titles are receiving extra color labels so that students can tell at a
glance what type of nonfiction it is.
- A fifth-grade classroom has completely
overhauled its nonfiction writing unit. Nonfiction authors, including Heather L. Montgomery (l), Chris Barton (c), and Kirsten W. Larson (r) have been visiting
virtually to talk about their craft. Students are given much more freedom
when deciding what they write about and how they creatively share their
nonfiction writing. Other classes plan to join next year.
- Second-grade
students will research topics and then practice writing different types of
nonfiction. They will be incorporating craft moves that they’ve only used
in their fiction writing units in the past.
- Third-grade students have been exposed to a wide range
of mentor texts that go well beyond the traditional nonfiction they’ve
focused on in previous years. Passages from NWDD give insight into the how
and why of writing from the authors’ perspectives.
Most importantly, engagement appears higher, students are
exploring nonfiction mentor texts for enjoyment and purpose, student writing shows
evidence of thoughtful, craft-driven choices, and teachers are talking with
each other within and between grade levels about how their students interact
with nonfiction. As we’ve implemented these changes, NWDD has serve as an invaluable
resource.
Tom
Bober is a school
librarian, 2018 Library Journal Mover and Shaker, former Teacher in Residence
at the Library of Congress, and author of the book Building
News Literacy: Lessons for Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in Elementary and
Middle Schools as well as his earlier title Elementary
Educator’s Guide to Primary Sources: Strategies for Teaching. He writes
the Picture Book and Primary Sources blog posts for AASL’s KQ blog and
hosts The
Primary Source Podcast.
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2 Responses
Thank you, Tom, for providing schools with an outline of what some serious NF PD can look like. I hope more will bring in authors who are passionate about NF and the 5 Kinds of NF. This sounds like it's been incredible for your teachers and students. And that's what we want!
Bravo, Captain Librarian! I am so glad you could get the buy-in from teachers and now students are reaping the benefits of what NF writer have known all along – how amazing good NF is to research, read and write.