I have found that my interest in non-fiction has grown tremendously over the years. As a child I do not remember reading a whole lot of non-fiction. As a 4th grader we had to do an animal report, I chose penguins, and I used mainly hefty encyclopedias to get my information. I hated this assignment, even though I loved penguins. Looking back now I don't remember using any of the great non-fiction books for this project that my students are able to use now. Maybe I did, but I don't really remember it. I just remember having the encyclopedias and trying to find information out of this huge boring (or so I thought) book. As I got older my source of non-fiction reading was in the form of a text book, for the most part. I'm not sure why I didn't read more of the non-fiction books available, as I'm sure our library was filled with great books, but I didn't. I'm not sure whether it was because my teachers really weren't introducing me to these great books, or was it that they tried but I just wasn't interested?
I do remember reading some great historical fiction and biographies that really helped me to step inside a certain time period. Reading about different places and times is something that I have always enjoyed, but we didn't do a lot of this at school. As I have gotten older I have really gotten into reading and researching local history. The local library, and the internet too of course, has wonderful first-hand historical archives of where we live. I am fascinated by old pictures of how things used to look when this area was just getting settled. I have found many first hand accounts of different events, such as the flood of 1927, that I have shared with previous classes. I even had a student bring in her grandmothers written account of the flood. It's great when history starts coming to life.
I am reading and looking at "real-world" books with the Kindergarteners and they love these books! Not only are there some wonderful non-fiction books for them to choose from, but non-fiction books speak directly to their natural curiosity about the world around them.
As an adult I find myself drawn to historical fiction books. I find it such an interesting genre. It is a great way to bring history to life. I think this why the Magic Tree House series is so popular with young readers. It is a pretty cool way to incorporate history and literature.
ReplyDeleteI like how you say "it came to life". That is very exciting. Having the ah-ha moments to look back on can help you as a teacher to find different teaching methods when you have students who may not really grasp the concept.
ReplyDeleteMy husband's great grandfather wrote a book about the 1927 flood which we have and I learned a lot about it through that book. Not being from Vermont it was interesting to me to look at the pictures and learn more about the area during that time. The connection to a relative certainly added to the interest.
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