Week 5 – Discussion 2 Nonfiction Text
In Section 10.3 of the course text, the following authors are listed as the superstars in the world of children?s nonfiction (Coats, 2013):
- Nic Bishop
- Joanna Cole
- Penny Colman
- Russell Freedman
- Gail Gibbons
- Sy Montgomery
- Jim Murphy
- Seymour Simon
- Melissa??Sweet
Go to your local library or bookstore and read a nonfiction book by one of these authors. Please make sure that the book you choose is non-fiction as several of these authors also writes fictional stories. Using the guidelines listed in Section 10.3 of our text, critique the book to determine the characteristics that make the author a superstar. Also, share at least one idea you have for how you could use this piece of literature in your classroom.
Jonathan Auxier
10
Young Readers: Visual, Gestural,
Tactile, and Spatial Literacies
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, readers will be able to
? Select quality nonfiction texts that vary in style and format to highlight multiliteracies and multiple intelligences.
? Understand how to incorporate classroom drama to enhance literacy instruction and engagement
with literature.
? Analyze and evaluate, and teach children how to analyze and evaluate, multimedia productions.
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Section 10.1? Working With the Developmental Needs of Young Readers
CHAPTER 10
A
s young readers achieve fluency, they move from learning to read to reading to
learn. This is an exciting time for children; their world is enlarging and they are
beginning to take a keen interest in how things work. In terms of multiliteracy
development, we could say that children of 6?8 years of age have developed to the point
where they can use visual, gestural, tactile, and spatial literacies more intentionally to
understand the way the world works. In addition, as children in this age group become
more confident in their physical abilities, they begin to experiment with more structured
activities such as team sports and more intensive dance and music lessons. Some discover
a love for drawing or a particular kind of visual art, such as that found in comics or sculpture (such as model making). In this period that Erikson referred to as a time focused on
industry, children are seeking out something that they are good at and that holds their
interest.
Their expanded interests often draw them away from certain kinds of children?s literature, and many are even tagged as ?reluctant readers? at this stage, because they seem
to have lost interest in stories. However, to say that someone is reluctant to read at this
stage is tantamount to saying that such a student is a reluctant learner, and clearly, that is
not typical of children of this age. If you spend time talking to students who seem to have
stalled in their reading development, what you will likely find are children who simply
aren?t interested in what?s on offer. Find out what does interest these students, and I can
guarantee you that there?s a book for whatever it is. Moreover, there?s a book with a format that will catch and hold those readers? interest and attention. In this chapter you will
see how visual, gestural, tactile, and spatial literacies can be developed through quality
nonfiction literature, art, drama, and visual media.
10.1? Working With the Developmental Needs of Young Readers
O
ftentimes, children at this age transfer their faith in their parents? abilities to explain
things to their teacher?s seemingly superior knowledge of all things. They are
looking for heroes, and children?s books can provide a huge supply, from historical figures in all walks of life to fantasy superheroes. In addition, they are newly aware of
the range of possible subjects to explore. Partly this is because their brains have reached a
stage of development where they can organize information into more complex categories
and coordinate physical and mental planning and operations, as we noted in Chapter 1.
Piaget called this time of development the concrete operational stage.
While Piaget?s theory as well as the growth and development of the brain seem to suggest that children will learn and develop these attributes of more complex thinking without any outside intervention, Russian child psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896?1834) and
American psychologist Jerome Bruner (born 1915) both challenge this view. Vygotsky
(1978) emphasizes the importance of social interaction in learning, particularly the presence of an MKO (more knowledgeable other) to guide children from what they know to
a new level of understanding or performance. Bruner (1966) suggests that knowledge is
gained through the use of three modes of representation: the enactive mode, where information is acquired through doing and stored as muscle memory; the iconic mode, where
information is distilled into mental pictures of the information, object, or action; and the
symbolic mode, where the information is stored as some sort of symbol or code, such
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Section 10.2? The Range and Appeal of Nonfiction
CHAPTER 10
as language or numbers, which can be sorted into categories, and ordered and manipulated to produce new patterns and innovative structures. In terms of instructional design,
Bruner advocates that new material be presented in order from an enactive to an iconic to
a symbolic mode, and that children can learn anything if it is presented in a clear, organized way that responds to each of these modes, regardless of whether they have achieved
a particular level on Piaget?s model.
Though Piaget, Vygotsky, and Bruner disagree about abilities and emphasis, taken
together, they suggest that biological development and readiness, combined with knowledgeable, carefully planned instruction that engages students on physical, social, emotional, and intellectual levels, will result in the best possible learning environment for
all children. The emphasis on multiliteracies that we have been developing throughout
this book sets the stage for developing an instructional program that attends to Bruner?s
modes of representation as well as Piaget?s stage model with its emphasis on concrete
operations and Vygotsky?s emphasis on an MKO who helps children pay conscious attention to the way language, sound, gesture, and space interact to create a meaningful environment. In addition, the books themselves act as MKOs for children as they explore the
nature of the world.
10.2? The Range and Appeal of Nonfiction
N
onfiction, or informational books, is a huge category that is often frayed at the
edges. Clearly, books that provide only factual information about a topic fit the
category neatly. But what about books like Joanna Cole?s Magic School Bus series,
or Heather Lynn Miller?s antic This Is Your Life Cycle (2008)? These books are chock full of
facts and information, but they are framed in storied fantasy. Joyce Sidman?s luminous
books about nature feature fact-filled poems as well as prose notes about the subjects
she depicts; could these be categorized as informational texts? Indeed, many books that
provide factual information for children do so in a narrative or poetic format, teasing out
the story of the water cycle, for instance, in moving free verse, as does Thomas Locker in
Water Dance (2002) (which, incidentally, is classified as fiction by the Library of Congress).
On the other hand, folktales and fables are classified as nonfiction, but are they considered
informational texts?
When children are younger, the blur between fantasy and reality in informational texts
can be a concern, but when children are 6 and older, they have a much firmer grasp of
the difference between things that are possible and things that aren?t. They know, for
instance, that a school bus can?t fly given current technology, but they are still young
enough to appreciate the ruse and also even to entertain the possibility that someday flying cars might be possible, and they themselves might be the ones to design and engineer
them. The impetus behind storying nonfiction is the idea that nonfiction concepts such as
hydrology or life cycles are boring and must somehow be made appealing, but for many
children, such efforts are really unnecessary and can be distracting. Figuring out how the
world works through scientific principles is inherently appealing for some children, so
they reject efforts to jazz it up with fantastic storylines. Be aware that this may be what?s
behind a perceived reluctance to read; ask questions about reading and learning preferences, and be prepared to offer alternatives that are more suited to individual styles.
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Section 10.3? Criteria for Selecting Nonfiction
CHAPTER 10
How do you prefer to learn new facts about the
world? Through stories? Documentaries? Handson experimentation? Straightforward presentations with accompanying charts and graphs?
Let?s take the example of hydrology, for instance.
There are many books that introduce children
to the water cycle, and their presentations are
all very different. Children who enjoy narrative may gravitate to The Magic School Bus Wet
All Over: A Book About the Water Cycle (1996) or
Neil Waldman?s The Snowflake: A Water Cycle
Story (2003). Comparing just those two books
illustrates a range of possibilities for presenting
similar information to children of similar ages
and reading abilities. The Magic Schoolbus text
features cartoon illustrations of child characters The Snowflake: A Water Cycle Story by
whose bodies distort as they themselves turn into Neil Waldman is just one of many ways to
water droplets that evaporate and condense. The present the water cycle to children.
presentation is energetic and funny. Waldman?s
The Snowflake by Neil Waldman. Text copyright ? 2003
text, on the other hand, features serene, beautiful
by Neil Waldman. Reprinted with the permission of
paintings that depict the journey of a single drop
Millbrook Press, Inc., a division of Lerner Publishing
Group, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this text
of water through the year. The text is lyrical and
excerpt may be used or reproduced in any manner
poetic with lots of alliteration and vivid vocabuwhatsoever without the prior written permission of
lary that enhances the art by creating word picLerner Publishing Group, Inc.
tures and inviting children to imagine a history
for the water they drink. Compared to the frenetic
energy of the Magic School Bus book, this presentation is decidedly quieter and may strike
some readers as slow, while others will appreciate the invitation to use their imagination
in a gentler capacity. Even readers who like receiving their science instruction in stories
like different kinds of stories.
10.3? Criteria for Selecting Nonfiction
B
y this point in their schooling, children will have started to demonstrate distinct
preferences and needs when it comes to multiliteracies. Some children will be highly
visual, while others will require gestural and tactile experiences to facilitate their
learning. Readers who are more pragmatic or hands-on in their approach will appreciate Walter Wick?s A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder (1997). In this book, Wick
recreates simple experiments with water that he read about in old science books, and photographed the results. The photographs themselves will motivate children to want to try
the experiments, some of which are described in the back, but the text will likely require
further explanations and research for students to fully understand the concepts. Students
interested in further exploration and follow-up can be directed to the many leveled readers that focus on the water cycle. For children who are more attuned to linguistic literacy,
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Section 10.3? Criteria for Selecting Nonfiction
CHAPTER 10
however, poetic treatments of the water cycle are
found in books like Thomas Locker?s Water Dance
(2002) and Cloud Dance (2003), and George Ella
Lyon?s All the Water in the World (2011).
Consult with librarians to find a range of
books with different styles and formats
that treat a particular topic.
Comstock/Thinkstock
The point here is that nonfiction comes in many
varieties that engage readers in different multiliteracies, reading levels, and pedagogical goals. In fact,
the sheer volume of possibilities can be overwhelming. In order to create a classroom collection or unit
around a particular topic, think through what you
have learned about Gardner?s theory of multiple
intelligences and the New London Group?s (NLG)
multiliteracies, and then access your resources.
You might start by doing a web search to compile
a list of possibilities, remembering that you want
a range of books that will appeal to children who
like stories, poetry, artwork, and hands-on projects. You will also want books for a range of independent reading levels, as well as books that you
can share that will stretch vocabulary and concept
formation through dialogic read-alouds. Take your
list to your school and public libraries, and consult
with the librarians to see what resources they have
and what other books they can recommend that
you may have missed in your search.
The successful presentation of information for children depends on the effective interaction of four basic features, regardless of reading level and type of appeal:
?
?
?
?
accuracy,
organization,
visual design, and
style.
These four criteria are considered by the National Council of Teachers of English selection
committee for the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction and, with some elaboration, by the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award given by the Association for Library
Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association (see Chapter 1 for more
information on these awards). The one drawback to these awards is that the committees
do not consider books according to their developmental level, so many of the award winners, honor books, and recommended books are not best suited for young children. It is
worthwhile for teachers to keep up with the awards, however, and determine whether or
not they would make appropriate read-alouds for the age group they are teaching.
Accuracy
In terms of the criteria, though, the four areas used to determine award winners are useful
to consider as you choose books for classroom use and recommended reading for your
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Section 10.3? Criteria for Selecting Nonfiction
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students. Accuracy is sometimes difficult to determine if you are not an expert in the field.
However, there are certain things to look for. Copyright date is one. New discoveries are
made all the time. The work of paleontologist Robert T. Bakker, for instance, completely
changed the way we think about dinosaurs. Although he began publishing his theories
about dinosaurs being warm-blooded, intelligent, fast, and adaptable creatures in the late
1960s, it wasn?t until the late 1980s that his theories really began to take hold and be disseminated as fact in schools. Now it is widely understood that dinosaurs are more closely
related to modern-day birds than reptiles, and that is reflected in both nonfiction and fiction for children written since the 1990s. Generally speaking, then, the newer the book, the
more likely it is to have the most up-to-date information.
Another way to judge the likely accuracy of a text is to check the credentials of the author.
Usually an author?s note explains the way the book was researched and who helped with
the research. Authors who are scientists themselves, such as Nicola Davies, or who work
with scientists, such as Sy Montgomery, can generally be trusted to provide accurate information, as can those who provide extensive source notes or detail their research process.
Gail Gibbons, for instance, travels extensively when researching a book to ensure accuracy and authenticity in the presentation of her material. Accuracy can also be determined
by writing style: Does the author clearly distinguish between fact (what is known to be
true) and theory (what is assumed to be true based on the available facts)? If authors are
clear and straightforward about what is not yet known for sure about a topic, then they
are probably trustworthy in their presentation of what is known.
While you will be selecting a range of books by a range of authors, there are some current
superstars in the world of children?s nonfiction. These authors are Nic Bishop, Joanna
Cole, Penny Colman, Russell Freedman, Gail Gibbons, Sy Montgomery, Jim Murphy,
Seymour Simon, and Melissa Sweet. Their books are readily available, widely reviewed
and trusted, critically acclaimed, and often honored with prestigious awards. Moreover,
their books meet the approval of their intended audiences. Bishop, Gibbons, Montgomery,
Murphy, Simon, and Sweet all have informative websites that children can visit to find
out more information about their books and their research processes (see Websites to Save
and Explore). As children find books that they especially like, encourage them to seek out
other books by the same author, and do author studies.
Organization
Organizational strategies vary in nonfiction books, but the strategy should be clear and
consistent. For instance, in the example of The Snowflake: A Story of the Water Cycle given
earlier in the chapter, the organization pattern follows a chronology based on the months
of the year in the Northern hemisphere. Temperature change causes the water to take
different forms. This allows the writer to explain the various aspects of the water cycle
in a logical progression that readers can understand. This sort of sequential organization
works well for things that grow, decay, or otherwise change over time or move through
cycles. Obviously, biographies and autobiographies work best when organized chronologically as well, although they may start with an important or well-known life event as a
narrative hook and then go back and pick up the subject?s childhood.
Other organizational strategies include comparison/contrast, cause/effect, problem/
solution, and question/answer, and thematically organized formats. There are benefits to
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Section 10.3? Criteria for Selecting Nonfiction
CHAPTER 10
all of these strategies for helping children organize information as they read. As children
encounter these strategies, draw attention to them as different ways to organize information that they might want to use as they compose their own texts. Have them record the
name of the strategy and an example or two in their daybooks (see Teaching Ideas at the
end of this chapter for an explanation of the student daybook) for future reference.
Design
Visual design features in children?s nonfiction trade books assist in meaning making from
a multiliteracies standpoint (Pappas, 2006; Unsworth, 2001). Images can depict actions
(such as a butterfly extracting pollen with its proboscis), classify information, show relationships (such as through tree or Venn diagrams, graphs, tables, flow charts, or size comparisons), or indicate events on a timeline. These elements in trade books are a prelude
to the kinds of reading that will be required of students using textbooks in later grades.
For instance, in textbooks, nearly every important concept in a chapter is accompanied by
a picture or a diagram that illustrates the concept. These visual elements and their captions focus attention, reinforce the learning, and provide a study aid when children go
back through the information to study for a test. In trade books, the visual elements are
even more important, because they need to entice the reader. Trade books are not required
reading; they have no guaranteed market. The more vivid and appealing the pictures, the
more likely potential readers (and buyers) will be attracted to the book.
Books such as Steve Jenkins?s Actual Size offer irresistible invitations to children through
the art alone. Children are drawn to compare the size of their hand with a gorilla?s hand
and the size of their morning egg with an ostrich egg. His other books are similarly inviting and guide children into explorations of how animals eat, sleep, bathe, and interact
with each other in sibling relationships and other kinds of animal symbiosis. He has books
on animal defense mechanisms, habitats, movement, and skeletal structures. He also has a
book that helps children understand time and duration, as well as one that focuses on the
life forms that live at various depths of the world?s oceans. Follow-up activities are scaffolded by the very nature of the artwork itself: stunning collage art that invites close observation and imitation. Jenkins?s books invite touch and facilitate a greater understanding
of spatial relationships in the natural world. An in-depth author study is facilitated by an
informative website (http:/
/www.stevejenkinsbooks.com/) that includes information on
Jenkins?s many award-winning books, biographical information, a short video that shows
his process of making books, and a gallery of images that children have made and sent in
response to reading his books (see Teaching Ideas for more on author studies).
Placement of the pictures is as important as quality. As in storybooks, pictures in informational texts complement the words; unlike some storybook illustrations, however, the
pictures should not be used for ironic intent in informational books. Instead, they should
always reinforce and add clarity to the text. If the picture?s placement or even inclusion
makes its relationship to the text unclear, this is a design flaw because it interferes with
the book?s purpose to inform. Captions, labels, and highlights should also be spatially
positioned so as to aid comprehension.
Clearly illustrated and numbered steps are crucial in books that feature processes or projects for young readers. Mollie Katzen?s Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes: A Cookbook for
Preschoolers and Up (1994), Salad People and More Real Recipes: A Cookbook for Preschoolers
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Section 10.3? Criteria for Selecting Nonfiction
CHAPTER 10
and Up (2005) and Honest Pretzels: And 64 Other Amazing Recipes for Cooks Ages 8 and Up
(2009) present healthy, delicious vegetarian recipes in both written and visual format
using Katzen?s own step-by-step drawings. A sample recipe can be found here: http:/
/
www.molliekatzen.com/kids.php?recipe=number_salad. You?ll notice that her approach
facilitates visual and linguistic learning as well as producing a nice tactile payoff! DK
Publishing also features cookbooks with step-by-step visuals of the more complicated
steps. Other children?s cookbooks on the market are less helpful precisely because they
don?t use visuals as effectively; instead of providing step-by-step drawings, they crowd
the page with color and images that deter from the steps needed to accomplish the recipe.
Science fair projects are found in the 507s of the Dewey Decimal System, and crafts can be
found between 745 and 749. As you browse these sections for possible texts, pay attention
to whether or not the steps and materials needed are pictured clearly enough for young
readers to follow.
Explore and Reflect: Effective Organization of Visual Instructions
Test this for yourself. Go to a bookstore or library and look at cookbooks for children. Compare and
contrast the format, considering how cooking from a recipe works: You read the instructions, turn
away to complete a step, go back to the cookbook for the next set of instructions, turn away again,
and so forth. What design features are most helpful in keeping the project on track? What design
features interfere or may prove confusing?
Other design elements?or what Richard Kerper (2003) refers to as access features or
?iconographic materials? (p. 54)?that help organize texts and aid readers in their ability
to find information quickly include tables of contents, maps, glossaries, indexes, subheadings, bibliographies, and resource lists that direct students to further reading on the topic.
Good nonfiction books highlight glossary terms and may even provide pronunciation
guides. Textboxes separate out information that, while important and interesting, may
impede the flow of the text. ?Pull quotes? are sentences taken from the text itself and
placed in a larger, distinctive font to draw attention to important points. All of these elements should be explicitly pointed out to students as they read and their purposes and
potential uses discussed. Remember that this may be the first time they have encountered
these elements, as they are not typically used in fiction. As structural features of most nonfiction, though, children need to understand their function and importance.
Writing Style
Finally, writing style matters in assessing the quality and age appropriateness of informational texts. Amy McClure (2003) argues that ?well-written nonfiction goes beyond facts
to present eloquent, informed and well-crafted discussion? (p. 79), and Russell Freedman
(1992) is even more insistent on the importance of style:
Certainly the basic purpose of nonfiction is to inform, to instruct, hopefully
to enlighten. But that?s not enough. An effective nonfiction book must animate its subjects, infuse it with life. It must create a vivid and believable
world that the reader will enter willingly and leave only with reluctance. A
good nonfiction book should be a pleasure to read. (p. 3)
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Section 10.3…