The Educator Collaborative FREE Online PD
This Saturday morning, I had the pleasure to participate in a free online conference sponsored by The Educator Collaborative. (If you haven't already, become a member--it's free!)
To watch the archived sessions, go to their website!! Also, learn more #TheEdCollabGathering
One of my hero's, Donalyn Miller, was the keynote speaker and inspired everyone to use more non-fiction in their teaching for both classrooms and libraries.
To watch the archived sessions, go to their website!! Also, learn more #TheEdCollabGathering
One of my hero's, Donalyn Miller, was the keynote speaker and inspired everyone to use more non-fiction in their teaching for both classrooms and libraries.
Here are some of the suggestions she gave to engage more students with non-fiction texts:
- Connect the non-fiction to students' personal interests. Show they are ALREADY consumers of non-fiction. Some examples include gaming (Minecraft and Gameformer), programming (Scratch), or jewelery design (Totally Awesome Rubber Band Jewelry: Make Bracelets, Rings, Belts & More with Rainbow Loom(R), Cra-Z-Loom(TM), or FunLoom(TM).
- Add more non-fiction titles to your daily book hooks.
- Introduce students to more nonfiction authors and considering shelving them by those authors! When nonfiction is solely shelved by topic/subject, it is difficult for students to make connections between the author and his/her books. Some of my favorites are shown below! (I will add more as I remember them~I need to walk around my library!)
- Pair nonfiction with fiction. This is a great way to help students see the connections and provide an engaging way to connect their reading! An example that Donalyn gave was to recommend that students who are reading Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson and Lori Earley also read "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 (Newbery Honor Book) by Jim Murphy
Some of my favorite nonfiction authors...
Additional Resources for Using Non-Fiction in the Classroom
iNK (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids) Think Tank The award-winning authors of iNK (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids) promote the use of nonfiction in classrooms through programs that help teachers use real books to teach to curriculum standards in ways that excite and inspire students. You can register for free to see all their cool resources. I haven't fully explored their page, but I really loved the page of video trailers (see below). Book Trailers from iNK I LOVE the one about "Poop Happened: A History of the World from the Bottom Up" by Sarah Albee Interesting Articles from iNK This section includes multiple articles that explain, support, and validate the use of nonfiction in your classroom. A great resource for both teachers and parents! |