Why Your Child Should Read Nonfiction

When my oldest daughter was about five years old, she told me she wanted a book about dinosaurs. Utilizing my keen reference interview skills I asked her if she wanted a made-up story about dinosaurs or a book that contained facts about dinosaurs.  "Mommy," she said, using her hands to punctuate each word, "I want information!"

It has been my observation in the intervening years that most children prefer informational texts to the stories most adults choose to read to them.  Children are naturally curious about the world they inhabit and want to learn as much as they can about multiple topics.  We all should support them in their quests to be self-directed, lifelong learners, especially as reading for information is essential to life in a post k-12 environment.  National assessments have indicated that students in the United States are particularly weak in understanding informational texts.

The Common Core Standards, which have been adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia, will be fully implemented by the state of West Virginia in the next few years.  These standards recognize and address documented deficiencies in reading comprehension, particularly in the realm of informational sources. The text below outlines the expectations for students in grades k-12 according to these standards.

• The standards establish a “staircase” of increasing complexity in what students must be able to read so that all students are ready for the demands of college- and career-level reading no later than the end of high school. The standards also require the progressive development of reading comprehension so that students advancing through the grades are able to gain more from whatever they read.
• Through reading a diverse array of classic and contemporary literature as well as challenging informational texts in a range of subjects, students are expected to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspective. Because the standards are building blocks for successful classrooms, but recognize that teachers, school districts and states need to decide on appropriate curriculum, they intentionally do not offer a reading list. Instead, they offer numerous sample texts to help teachers prepare for the school year and allow parents and students to know what to expect at the beginning of the year.
• The standards mandate certain critical types of content for all students, including classic myths and stories from around the world, foundational U.S. documents, seminal works of American literature, and the writings of Shakespeare. The standards appropriately defer the many remaining decisions about what and how to teach to states, districts, and schools.

(Source:  Common Core State Standards Initiative: Key Points in English Language Arts,  accessed February 27, 2011.

Recommendations suggest that as children are younger, they will read more narrative (fiction) texts than informational texts.  However by the time children are in fourth grade the ratio on informational to fiction texts should be about 50-50.  By the time students are in high school, the ratio should should shift to 70 percent informational texts to 30 percent fiction.

For our library program, this means that informational texts will need to be provided on a wide spectrum of interest and reading levels.  The challenge will be to find books on dinosaurs that are developmentally appropriate and on varying levels of complexity for all students, grades pre-K to 5.  This is a challenge I can fully embrace!