Summary
It is hard to settle on a definition of nonfiction because it encompasses so much, from narrative to expository, biography, autobiography, memoir and so on. There is not just one template that nonfiction can fit into.
The video about nonfiction with Dr. Lesesne and Dr. Perry covered a wide range of topics about the genre. They talked about how nonfiction is often defined by what it is not. The book Nonfiction for Young Adults was brought up as a great resource for any library to have, especially at the middle school level. The two then talked about what you should look for in nonfiction books.
- Qualifications of the author? Have they written noted works before and are well thought of? Do they include notes/research in their books? Some examples were Steve Skeinkin for such books as Bomb and Benedict Arnold, Kathleen Krull for America’s Book of Rights, James Cross Gilbin’s Life and Death of Adolf Hitler, Eye to Eye by Steve Jenkins, Aaron and Alexander by Don Brown, Loree Griffin Burns’ Beetle Busters, and all of Seymour Simon’s books just to name a few.:)
- Are the facts accurate? It is so hard for you to be the fact checker and expert, and you need to rely on the authors, or even the students. You can have them do such activities as compare different books about the same topic, such as with sharks and The Great White Shark Scientist. They can find ways the books agree, disagree and what the research says. You can also look at the different Notable Book Lists that are published, because those books have been vetted for accuracy.
- What is the purpose and the scope? They can be broad vs. specific depending on what you are looking for. Some examples that were mentioned were It’s Perfectly Normal and It’s So Amazing, also Animals that Make Me Say Ewww!
- What is the organization of the book? Can it assist kids in finding the answers they need? Look for Table of Contents, glossaries and indexes in some of the books, as well as other text features.
- What role do the visuals play? Some of them are elaborate and break up the text when needed. Graphic organizers and maps bring a lot to the texts, as well as real-life photographs. A book mentioned was the Smithsonian’s Star-Spangled Banner.
Carter and Abrahamson had some great questions to ask students about nonfiction :
- How would the book be different if it was written 50 years earlier? 50 years later?
- What are your favorite illustrations in the book and why?
- Would the book make a good documentary?
- How did the author research and write the book?
- How would the book be different if it was written for an adult? For a kindergarten student?
- What kind of teacher do you think the author would be?
- What type of questions would you want to ask the author?
- What are 3 facts or themes from the book that you found interesting and why?
- Are the title and jacket of the book fair representations of what the book was about?
- Was the book well-written? If a company wanted to publish it what would you tell them about the value of the book?
Reflection
Nonfiction books are so important in your library, because they tend to be the books that a lot of the students flock to, from elementary to YA levels. Because of this, it is important that your library have a wide range of nonfiction topics that could cover almost any interest.
From my Children’s Literature class I have been introduced to a lot of the criteria for evaluating nonfiction text, except from this chapter I learned even more details. I found the part about scope/purpose interesting, because I hadn’t really thought about broad vs. specific topics with nonfiction in that way before. As always, I loved the examples of text that were brought up, and added them to my ever growing list of books to read. As a librarian, I need to be sure that I have some of those noted nonfiction authors’ books available in the library, as well as remember their names for books to recommend to students.
I also found the questions to ask students about YA literature a great resource. Questions such as how this book would be different if it had been written 50 years in the past or 50 years in the future would promote great higher order thinking skills that I think the students would enjoy!
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