| Our PK1 students are currently exploring how the two main categories of books, fiction and nonfiction/informational books differ. We are looking at how they are different in the way they look as well as how they differ in the way we use or choose them. Most of our young library users already know very well which of the two categories they prefer during check out. Each week we can observe that many students stick with either fiction or with nonfiction. Our goal is to make our students more aware of the kind of books they choose and the different purposes for which they are chosen. Further, we want our young inquirers to begin to identify and name these categories of books. This is a great time in the year to do this as our students have been exposed to both kinds of books since the beginning of the year. Further, it works well in connection with their upcoming unit of inquiry under the transdisciplinary theme Sharing the Planet, during which they will experience how we use nonfiction books to answer our wonderings. |  |
During their visits to the library each week, we will read and explore together pairs of fiction/nonfiction books about a particular animal. We began by reading Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar (fiction) in combination with a National Geographic (nonfiction) book on caterpillars and butterflies.
Next, we read and explored two books about giraffes, Giraffes Can't Dance (fiction) and a (nonfiction) giraffe book from the Animal Safari series. At this point, some students were already able to tell which book would be the one to tell us a story and which one would help us learn more about giraffes.
We will use the respective terminology more and more during their library visits, also during check out, helping students to identify what they have selected. We encourage you to do the same at home when your child shows you the library book they have chosen for the week. Learning about the difference between fiction and nonfiction is an important step for our young inquirers.
RSS Feed
