development, but writing development as well. As
Camp (2006) states, “Reading and writing go hand in
hand” (p. 8). If students are to be expected to write in
expository form, exposure to this genre is vital.
Routman (2005) offers a circular view in stating
“Teaching kids how to write expository text improves
their overall writing skill and their reading
comprehension” (p. 127). Exposing students to
nonfiction literature in the early grades will provide
them with knowledge of text features they will need
for writing in later grades. Hall, Sabey, and McClellan
(2005) state, “deficits due to inadequate exposure to
these texts and structures spill over from reading to
writing (p. 214).
To motivate and captivate
Duke (2000) contends that not only do students
need to be exposed to nonfiction in the early grades to
help reduce problems later in their schooling, but “not
doing so constitutes a missed opportunity to turn on
as many students as possible to literacy” (p. 205).
Nonfiction books serve to motivate and engage even
the youngest students. Motivation plays an integral
role in literacy education. “Teachers may have a
wealth of knowledge” (p. 226) and may be
implementing research based best practices in their
classrooms, but if the students are not motivated to
read “then there is virtually nothing that teachers can
do” (Applegate & Applegate, 2010, p. 226).
According to Dreher (2003), information books are
powerful tools for igniting interest and curiosity in
young students.
Struggling readers will benefit from nonfiction
literature instruction as well. Research has shown that
reluctant readers can not only become motivated
through the use of nonfiction literature but it can also
provide a bridge into other literacies (Palmer &
Stewart, 2003). Unfortunately, many of these readers
do not have access to just the books that motivate
them to read--nonfiction books. In order to improve
reading skills, struggling readers must read more
(Routman, 2003). Readers who are met with
adversity can get caught in a vicious circle whereby
they experience difficulty with reading, therefore they
avoid reading and practice in reading is minimal.
Eventually they “fall further behind their peers”
(Dreher, p. 25). Providing these students with
nonfiction books has the potential to stop the cycle.
Strategies for integrating nonfiction
A number of teaching strategies are available to
facilitate the incorporation of nonfiction literature in
the early elementary classroom.
Choosing texts
In recent years, publishers have responded to the
need for more nonfiction texts written for the
primary-grade audience with a tremendous increase in
the publishing of high quality, visually a X[[