Comments on: Deconstructing Nonfiction | On Common Core

By: Isabel Thomas

Isabel Thomas — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 18:58:29 +0000

As a children’s nonfiction author, I thought this post was very interesting and will be ordering the book discussed. Particularly the insight into why children might assume that every nonfiction book is similar. I was discussing today that many children (and parents) do not think about reading nonfiction for pleasure, because they think of survey texts and associate it with project work. They may not have easy access to the vast range of recreational nonfiction produced by educational and trade publishers, with topics chosen for excitement and fun rather than explicitly linked to the curriculum.

By: Update: Diigo in Education group (weekly) | ChalkTech

Update: Diigo in Education group (weekly) | ChalkTech — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 00:52:35 +0000

[...] Deconstructing Nonfiction | On Common Core | School Library Journal [...]

By: Mary Ann Cappiello

Mary Ann Cappiello — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:58:13 +0000

Thank you, Myra, for suggesting TEACHING WITH TEXT SETS. Christine, I also want to add that there are very few resources out there that talk about the books themselves at the level that we think is necessary. There are books about using nonfiction to do research, teach reading strategies, and explore content. But there are very few books (and most of them early 2000s) that discuss how nonfiction operates, how to understand the field of nonfiction literature for children, the different ways that form and shape impact meaning-making, etc. While I understand your surprise at the older title, your reaction is spot-on in that we need to continue writing about nonfiction in order to better understand how we can use it in the classroom for multiple purposes (teaching reading, literary analysis, writing, and content, to name a few).

By: Myra Zarnowski

Myra Zarnowski — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 01:09:16 +0000

Christine, the reason for discussing the book CHECKING OUT NONFICTION K-8 is that in my opinion this book has the best available explanation of nonfiction features. True, it is ten years old, but it is still valuable and still valid. The authors are experts in nonfiction children’s literature. The fact that the two comments on our piece describe the information it contains as “great” and “exceptional” shows me how valuable this information is. Still, if you are looking for a current book on nonfiction, I highly recommend TEACHING WITH TEXT SETS by Mary Ann Cappiello and Erika Thulin Dawes. it is brand new and very useful.
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By: Christine Thomka

Christine Thomka — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:50:02 +0000

Wonderful article with great information. I was greatly disappointed to discover that the book being discussed was more than 10 years old, long before Common Core Curriculum Standards and even several years before NCLB. Although the topic is current, why are the authors writing about this book now? Couldn’t they find a more recently published book to talk about?

By: Ann Landers

Ann Landers — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 19:15:09 +0000

Great article! Exceptional information with share with teachers who struggle to teach reading at the high school level!