Reading and writing non-fiction

From the School Library Monthly blog :

http://blog.schoollibrarymedia.com/index.php/2009/10/27/inquiry-and-choice/

"I’ve just finished skimming the Stenhouse title A Place for Wonder: Reading and Writing Nonfiction in the Primary Grades, which you can read in full-text online here. It is full of great ideas that we could extrapolate from classroom-only environments and into classroom-and-library environments.

Among my key takeaways:

• Consider starting a wonder center where kids can write wonderings on Post-Its and others can answer them.
• Have a place where kids can deposit wonder items for others to enjoy.
• When planning a non-fiction piece of writing, have kids use a table of contents page as a way to organize the order of their thoughts.
• Distinguish between heart questions that can be answered with your inner knowledge (e.g., “What makes a great friend?”) and research questions (e.g., “How do whales breathe?”).

Check out the rest of the post - questioning how the library can capitalise on the wonder children bring, maximise the use of non-fiction, and be partners with the classroom in fostering wonderment and curiosity...