Rethinking the Study of Nonfiction in the 21st Century
(BEYOND GADGETS SERIES)
Franki Sibberson
I have always found that reflecting on my own literacy helps me to think about how to best meet the needs of my students. As a media specialist, much of my work is teaching research and nonfiction literacy skills.
Years ago, I attended a workshop in which Regie Routman asked us to list all of the reading that we did over the last week. As we all worked and then reflected, we realized that most of the reading that we did on a day-to-day basis was nonfiction. So much of what was read in the classroom at that time was fiction. The workshop was powerful, and made me realize how much nonfiction reading mattered.
Later, Stephanie Harvey's Nonfiction Matters extended my thinking about nonfiction texts and the kinds of strategies kids needed when reading and writing nonfiction. Since those two key experiences, I've worked hard to make sure that nonfiction has a bigger part in the classroom.
I was reflecting on these experiences recently as I found myself viewing an online video tutorial. It was a tutorial I needed to watch for a class and the format was new for me. It took lots for me to understand the content because the format was so new. I realized that while nonfiction is still a huge part of my daily life, the definition of nonfiction has expanded incredibly over the last few years. I thought about my nonfiction reading and the ways in which I gather information now. As I had done with Regie Routman years ago, I reflected on a week of reading-this time focusing only on nonfiction.
In one week, my experiences with nonfiction text/informational reading included:
- Viewing a video tutorial in class about how to use web Dewey tool
- Viewing a video tutorial on how to use Kindle
- Reading the Kindle handbook - electronically, right on the Kindle
- Reading information to book airline tickets on Travelocity
- Browsing dozens of websites
- Viewing a video tour of a school library at the Science Leadership Academy
- Reading posts on various blogs
- Reading Twitter links
- Viewing Twitpic photos
- Watching Youtube and other online videos
- Analyzing Google Analytics to tell me the stats on our blog
- Reading emails
- Viewing a slide show that was posted online
- Participating in a webinar
- Reading a pdf file of my daughter's graduation party menu sent via email
- Reading profile of Twitter members to decide who I want to follow
- Using the urban dictionary to comprehend a few acronymns
- Using Mapquest to find a store on vacation
- Reading an online menu to decide on restaurant choice
- Reading an online book review
- Viewing online book trailer
- Reading text messages
- Reading online information and reviews on which camera to buy for school library
- Viewing a Ted Talk by Ken Robinson (I decided to buy his book The Element)
- Watching video demonstrations of Smartboards to get ideas
- Listening to a video of President Obama on White House site inviting us to ask economy questions
- Asking questions on Twitter to get information
- Reading online directions throughout the process of creating a personalized JibJab video
- Browsing the calendar on the Columbus Metropolitan Library site
- Using a GPS system for driving directions
This list definitely does not cover all of the ways that we gather information in 2009. These were just the things I jotted down in one week's time. My husband finds updated sports scores with his iPhone. My oldest daughter has made most of her decisions about colleges from online information, including virtual tours and chatrooms. The list is almost endless, and there are more options for gathering information every day.
What Does This Mean for My Teaching?
So much has changed since our profession started realizing the importance of nonfiction literacy. If we are really going to prepare our students to be engaged citizens in our world today, they must learn to be effective gatherers, communicators, and creators of information. I think it might be time for us to revisit the teaching of nonfiction reading and writing and to expand our thinking a bit.
Often I find kids who can name all of the nonfiction text features, but they don't necessarily combine text and visuals to gain new information. As nonfiction becomes more complex and information is gathered in so many different ways, nonfiction text features are not necessarily as predictable. For example, you don't often find a glossary on a webpage - instead you can often get an immediate definition of an unknown word by merely clicking on the word.
I won't be able to teach students about every feature they might encounter - technology is rapidly expanding the ways text is presented and manipulated. Instead, I am going to have to work to help students think through each piece of information they encounter and to match the strategies they have to understanding it. I'll talk to them about text features, but in a much broader sense because the features are changing as text is changing.
When I think about the impact of my reflection on nonfiction writing, I know that it is another area that I have to rethink. The best way for students to understand what they read is almost always to create and write their own pieces. For nonfiction, that means expanding my concept of school projects. The 21st Century technology tools have quickly expanded our options. Even though there are so many ways to communicate information, I am still amazed at the number of posters, trifold board displays, and reports being assigned in schools. Not that these shouldn't be options, but we need to offer so many more choices for our students to communicate their learning.
Next year, I will do more with many kinds of nonfiction reading, not just text with the typical features. I will expose my kids to the possibilities of nonfiction - watching book trailers, visiting websites, discussing videos, watching online tutorials. I know that my students won't start creating award-winning documentaries overnight. I see my role as one to opening up the invitations I give to kids - letting them see lots of possibilities for gathering and communicating information. If I can make sure that my students have in-school nonfiction experiences that are as broad as the nonfiction experiences I have, it will be a good first step.
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About
Jennifer Allen
