Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my!

Students NEED to learn how to navigate through the world of nonfiction literature. In a world dominated by informational text via sources like the internet, magazines, billboards, and advertisements, students need the skills necessary to comprehend the world around them. Fictional text allows for students to lose themselves in fantasy and whimsy, to read creative stories that engage and transport the reader to places like Avatar’s Pandora and The Wizard of Oz’s yellow brick road. Fictional text serve a purpose, expanding on students’ knowledge of story elements, sequence, and other important skills. Non-fiction text, however, allows them to learn lessons from history, comprehend science and the physical world around them, study culture and places beyond their community, learn about the movers and thinkers of the past and present. Non-fiction text is REAL, and REAL is exactly what students need to function in everyday society.

You may be thinking, “No problem, I’ll just trade out Harry Potter for a book on dogs once per week and we’ll be set.” WRONG! I hate to break it to you, readers, but it takes a completely different skill set to manipulate nonfiction text. Just think of all the things students see in a textbook compared to a novel.  Charts, graphs, diagrams, photographs with captions, labels, glossaries, a table of contents, headers, footers: the list is exhausting! Now, add all of these features to the ever-growing world of the internet, where you can add in advertisements, hyperlinks, page and section breaks, etc. The world of non-fiction text is a bit scary for adults, yet alone children! The only thing more exhausting is the idea of teaching each and every one of these crucial skills!

This is why the study of non-fiction text plays a crucial role in the classroom. Students need to be immersed in a sea of books. They need to learn to love non-fiction as much as they love fiction. You may be thinking, “Where does the madness begin?” Right away, readers, right away. Even the youngest students can benefit from reading nonfiction text; you may even be surprised how receptive young readers are to reading about animals and the world around them. Play off that exhausting curiosity they always have (you know what I’m talking about, the constant “What is that” and “Why” questions that drive you crazy). Fortunately, there is a growing amount of non-fiction resources for students of all ages! Before you know it, students will be spouting off facts and seeking out answers to their own questions. SUCCESS! The earlier we introduce students to multiple genres, the earlier they develop their own tastes, and the more likely we are to develop engaged readers who are intrinsically motivated to learn!

So the next time your student asks you where boogers come from, why tigers sleep most of the day, where birds go in the winter, why humans can’t fly, and where the dinosaurs went, give them a book. Encourage them to explore. Maybe you’ll be fostering a passion and developing the next rocket scientist, paleontologist, or doctor. Now, wouldn't that be something?

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