Hi Laura! Yes, I do think the vocabulary gets in the way in elementary school with our non-fiction. The more readable books are simpler, with less meaningful content. What I really liked about this article was the description of the narrative non-fiction story and how much more readable and engaging those are. I read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which led me to want to meet the author, which led me to meeting some of the family members. It also led to discussions about medical ethics, racism, patient rights and medical practices and how they change.
I had the hardest time learning history as a student. I couldn't memorize dates or put events into chronological order, but after reading Citizens of London, I know more and will remember more about Roosevelt, Churchill, Murrow and London during wartime than I ever did before. Give me a good story any day and I'll learn my history. So, with a good narrative, for read alouds, I'm thinking that we'd be able to push that vocabulary envelope much more because kids will connect to the story. Just off the top of my head, I am thinking about Humphrey the Lost Whale for the younger set. On Nov 24, 2012, at 1:37 PM, Laura Rieben wrote: > Thanks Patty! If you think about it, thirty percent of a high school > senior's reading being fiction is hard to picture-most of the time they are > reading science, social studies, math texts, etc. Usually only one of six > or seven classes is English, right? And for most of us, college is > similar: lots of non-fiction texts with a smattering of fiction. I think > the idea that fifty percent of their reading in elementary school > (including read alouds) will be non-fiction is more daunting because the > vocabulary far exceeds their reading ability. What is your feeling? > > On Sat, Nov 24, 2012 at 10:31 AM, Patty Zorzi <[email protected]> wrote: > >> There is much discussion about how Common Core Standards will change our >> teaching and worry (or not) about the increase in non fiction reading. >> This article really made me think about text selection and the choices we >> can make for our students. >> >> >> http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/22/what-should-children-read/?emc=eta1 >> >> Patty >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Mosaic mailing list >> [email protected] >> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to >> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org >> >> Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive >> >> > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive
