Nonfiction

When we think about Nonfiction, what comes to mind?

Kids always answer with their loud complaints. When redirected to answer the question with real answers we get the "boring" answers: biographies, autobiographies, textbooks, and newspapers. 

I open up with my read aloud and tell them that I will be reading nonfiction books for read aloud, they all make a face as I am reaching into the bookcase for my book. Their face of disgust is then transformed to a face of surprise as they see the book in my hand. 

 Because of An Acorn by Lola M. Schaefer & Adan Schaefer is a great little book on the simplified life cycle of an acorn. With 4 and 3 word pages we were able to discuss the life cycle of an acorn, a forest food chain, and create food webs. The students were shocked that this "baby" book was so informative.




Of course not all my read aloud books were going to be as "baby-ish" as Becasue of an Acorn. We continued our Nonfiction introduction week with a Literary Nonfiction book, a biography, an autobiography, and ended with a documentary. In order to really compare and contrast the genres I chose all three books over teh same subject. In this case, a person I thought could inspire my kids; a person who they could look up to; a person they could probably relate to; a person that will get them excited for not only Nonfiction, but also reading and writing in general. Naturally, I chose, Malala Yousafzai.

Malala's Magic Pencil 

by Malala Yousafzai

           

 

This book is full of wonderful illustrations. The metalic contrast of her magical pencil strokes compared to the plain colors of the images, creates a since of magical powers when it comes to writing. At the end we discover that writing and standing for what you believe is where the truest magic is found. My students really enjoyed the book and even got interested in her story. They formed questions and begged me to give them more details about her life.
The book teased us a bit by informing us that something bad had happened, but did not give any specifics in the words. The picture in the other hand, hides a small detail that sparked curiosity in my students (really, any reader).

Can you spot the hint? 

My students saw her bracelet and wondered what was it that the "dangerous men" did to silence her. When I challenged the idea that she was in the hospital, they all rebutted by pointing out more details, such as the knots on the back of her gown (hospital robe), the ac unit under the window, and the plants outside (every hospital has lots of plants). With those small details in the image and the lack of information in the text, my kids were hooked on her story. 

The next read was two chapters of a biography, Who Is Malala, from the Who Is/Was series.   

             

The who was/Is series are my favorites. The life events are described in detail and some images are incorporated but do not distract the reader from the words. In this series, the focus is on the writing. My students loved the fact that they were able to learn more about Malalal's life story.

The next read we had was the autobiography, I Am Malala. Being that my students are young in age and reading ability, I only provided a book preview (talking about the cover and reading the blur). I also read part of the introduction. My students immediately noticed how much more detail they were able to get. Their conversations included things like, "I can hear her thoughts," and "I can not only see but feel what she was going through." Those are the connections we want our students to make.
The book itself is a higher reading level but Malala did a great job incorporating all of her insight thoughts and conversations.