I too did my research as a child using encyclopedias and the dewey decimal system at the library. I remember enjoying non fiction as a child. I am, and always have been an animal lover. I loved reading about the different kinds of animals around the world. Sea turtles were a favorite of mine. I was also always intrigued with biographies. I have always had a fascination for JFK and Abe Lincoln.
As a adult, I do not read as much non fiction as I use to. I read a lot to my students. I like the fact that their books now have colorful pictures that accompany the text. This is very helpful. It helps some students get hooked. It is also helpful to our lower level students.
I used to love reading non-fiction about animals as well. My favorite was horses. JFK was fun to read about, Lincoln not so much fun for me. Pictures in the non-fiction books now are amazing and what pulls kids to the book
ReplyDeleteIsn't it funny how kids' tastes and preferences don't change all that much over the years? My fifth graders still enjoy reading nonfiction about animals - just like so many of us used to, as well. I wonder if the nonfiction books I read when I was in elementary school had as many text features or interesting pictures as they do now, if I would have enjoyed nonfiction reading as much as I did fiction?
ReplyDeleteWhen my son was young he was given a 28 book set of Readers Digests All About Animals. I remember his favorite being the books on dogs and cheetahs. Now, whenever we go into our local bookstore, he is drawn to the Guinness Book of World Records. This makes me think about the books I buy for myself and for him, I am drawn to more fiction and I think I might push him toward fiction when choosing books.
ReplyDeleteMy parents recently moved and in cleaning out the attic my mom found a huge stash of National Geographic magazines. It was like finding my childhood time capsule. For me, National Geographic was the ultimate nonfiction read! My favorite articles were the ones about animals. As an elementary age student the text was too difficult to understand but I got a lot of information from the pictures and captions. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I started reading the text.
ReplyDeleteBack when I was a child, I didn't really care if the books had great pictures or not. I always made the pictures in my head.
ReplyDeleteI like that you had specific topics that you were interested in reading nonfiction texts about. Engagement in the text was also necessary for me to access it, and the pictures were the perfect resource to help my comprehension. This year I've looked into using student magazines in class to help kids access nonfiction they're interested in, with the awesome photography to match.
ReplyDelete