Today I'm delighted to be presenting a keynote address for the Utah
Valley University
Forum on Engaged Reading. This post has my notes as
well as links referenced in
Information Options: A variety of ways to present nonfiction topics in picture books. The links for my breakout sessions are included also.
NOTES
How do people get information? How do children get information?
From prehistoric times, humans have observed the world around them, and wanted to tell somebody about it.
Kids
are told many things by adults including parents, relatives, neighbors,
and teachers. Children also find things out by first-hand experience,
by doing things.
Long distance and mass communication:
Town crier, carrier pigeon, letters, (now emails or texts,) newspapers,
magazines, radio, telephones, TV, movies. Then computers, Internet,
smart phones, search engines
Today's focus: The kind of information children can find in picture books and the multiple ways it can be presented.
What
can nonfiction books look like? The bad old days of long paragraphs of
text with a few rectangular photos...are they really gone?
Some general categories of nonfiction books:
Just facts
Information + Context to make it more meaningful
Information + Process: how X is built
Information + Activity: make a craft, do a science experiment
Information + Argument: why X is good or bad
Solving for X: key elements to consider when creating an informational picture book
Main Idea; Facts; Age level; Title; Setting; Characters; Plot or Sequence; Writing options; Image options
Some of the combinations found in my books (links go to the book's page on my web site):
Symmetry + Many Examples + Line & Rotational symmetry + realistic images =
Seeing Symmetry
Sequence: “What is symmetry?”...starts with Line then Rotational
Mars + Photographs + Kids + Writing =
Messages From Mars
Plot: group of kids that win a trip to Mars, write home about what they learn
Animal sayings + Meanings + Comical animals + Antique art =
There’s a Frog in My Throat
The groupings are based on where animals live, e.g. On the Farm; In the Wild
Similes + Story + Comical Animals + Transformations =
Crazy Like a Fox: A Simile Story
Plot: Fox acts “crazy,” provokes sheep to follow him, leads her to surprise party
Prehistoric + Chronological + Realistic art + Playful =
My Teacher Is a Dinosaur and Other Prehistoric Poems, Jokes, Riddles, & Amazing Facts
Chronological overview, realistic artwork, playful presentation
Math + Delete Numbers + Problems + Fantasy =
Missing Math: A Number Mystery
A way to show the value of math by removing it, detective story
Energy + Types + Step-by-step + Characters =
The Shocking Truth about Energy
Major types, Steps of energy production, characters come to life with energy
MyPlate + Big food images + Read aloud + Fairy tale =
Jack & the Hungry Giant
Large images of food, story for context, Jack & the Beanstalk
Diverse ways of presenting information in books is important, because READERS are diverse.
ALL LINKS
All Loreen Leedy picture books are
on this page of
my website. There are links to individual book pages that have a summary, the ISBN numbers, activity ideas, trailers, and more.
This is a blog post with
ideas for introducing Seeing Symmetry including using hands-on foldables and the words to a symmetry chant.
I've made several free activities for my books including the ones shown below:
 |
| Click image to go to activities download page on TpT |
 |
| Click image to download |
Download my
free book activities
in
my Teachers Pay Teachers shop. More are under construction and
will be in my shop as they are created. Be sure to "follow me" to be notified.
Other activities
are downloadable from this page of my web site.
The
Nonfiction Reading Response Cards shown on the left will be free during the conference.
My
Pinterest boards are mostly full of teaching ideas on various topics such as Making Math Fun,
Kids + Nonfiction, and Eating My Plate. C
lick to view them all and follow the ones that interest you. A collaborative board I contribute to called
Learn to Read has over half a million followers!
ClipArt Etc. has thousands of
antique images that are free for educators to use in the classroom. Additional images can be found on a sister site,
Presentations Etc.
Holiday House Books for Young People has a page of
books categorized by themes such as character education, cultural diversity, math, science and nature, and many more. They also have Teachers guides, Activity pages, and other freebies
on this page. Here are
all my Holiday House books that are in print.
Life Changing Nonfiction Series: during
the month of September, I.N.K. bloggers are writing about nonfiction
books that inspired them as children and comparable books that are
available today:
I.N.K. (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids)
Nonfiction Monday is a weekly roundup of blog posts about nonfiction books. It's hosted on a different blog every week, so
check the schedule here.
Here is a
free template for kids to make a map of their bedrooms using
Mapping Penny's World as a mentor text on the School is a Happy Place blog.
See a class
writing their own simile story using
Crazy Like a Fox as a mentor text on the 4th Grade Frolics blog.
Why should kids read nonfiction?
Beyond Once Upon a Time by Nell K Duke.
Whew...hope this post is useful...if so, please leave a comment!
Loreen
My web site
