Nonfiction texts are everywhere—Newspapers, encyclopedias, documentaries, even podcasts! Getting students to engage with nonfiction texts can be hard. Compared to the exciting plots and characters of their favourite novels, reading nonfiction can be pretty boring and at times overwhelming for many students. Many students won’t know where to start when you first introduce nonfiction texts, although it might not be the most exciting, it is super important!
Nonfiction comprehension skills help students build real-world knowledge, think critically, and set them up to easily navigate the informational reading they’ll do down the line. The trick is to make it as approachable and engaging as possible, here are a few of my tips for making nonfiction easier and more interesting.
1. Reading Like Detectives
Reading nonfiction texts is different from reading a novel. For starters, readers need to use a more active approach to understand and connect with the text. A great way to get your students engaged and change their mindset on nonfiction is encouraging them to act like a detective and investigate the text.
The first step to investigating is to ask questions before, during, and after reading nonfiction texts. Asking questions like the 5 W’s are a great way to get students used to reading this way and help them to organize their thoughts. Coming up with questions beforehand is an especially great way to get students into their active thinking mode.
Another key element of active reading is highlighting key information and annotating the text, this is a great skill that will set your students up for life. Tell your students highlighters are their version of a detective’s flashlight or magnifying glass, a tool to help them in their investigation. Instead of a notepad, they can use the margins to write down quick notes.
To help students get the hang of highlighting and annotating, try modeling it on the board or projector. Ask them to suggest key details to highlight and important notes to jot down, turning it into a collaborative learning experience.
Graphic organizers are another great way to help your students break down big ideas and keep track of the questions they have and have answered while they read. Organizers are a great tool to help your students organize their thoughts and avoid being overwhelmed.
📌 If you don’t know where to begin, using a structured resource like Seminars is a perfect place to start. This resource gives students specific roles like facilitator, connector, photographer, interviewer, and investigator, that help them learn how to analyze nonfiction texts in an engaging way! Similar to literature circles, but with articles instead.
2. Make Nonfiction Relevant and Engaging
One of the best ways to engage students with nonfiction texts is by choosing topics they’re actually interested in. Choosing topics specific to current events or your students’ favourite things makes the process more enjoyable and increases the chances that they’ll have some pre-existing knowledge on the topic.
- Relevant Articles:
The Seminars resource makes this easy since you can grab fresh, relevant news articles that might spark interest for your students. You can even kick off the unit by doing a class brainstorm of topics they are interested in and find articles that align (e.g., student-friendly articles about video games, pop culture, current events, etc. can be found on websites like Newsela) - Themed Monthly Units:
Monthly units that tie into specific themes and holidays are a great way to get your students to engage with nonfiction. For example, reading about real “spooky” stories in October is always a hit! These monthly reading comprehension units also include some fiction texts for a more dynamic and balanced reading experience for your classroom. - Videos & Podcasts:
Incorporating different types of media such as videos and podcasts can be a great way to kick off a unit and get students excited about nonfiction texts!
3. Focus on Text Features and Structure
One of the major differences between fiction and nonfiction is the structure, which can initially be overwhelming for students.
Start with introducing them to key text features like headings, captions, and charts and explain how they can be helpful for finding key information, then move into text structures like cause and effect, compare and contrast and problem and solution. Structures can be a bit trickier, but are key for reading comprehension as they give clues about how ideas are connected.
Try modeling an example on the board or projector and ask your students to call out the various text features and structures on a few different sources. This will get them comfortable with the language and how it helps their reading comprehension, as well as identifying them within different sources. Make sure to provide them with a variety of texts for practice so they can get used to this type of reading.
You can also mix reading and writing! This Informational Writing Unit helps students apply what they’ve learned by writing their own nonfiction texts and is a fun activity to get them comfortable with their writing skills.
This unit includes 10 mentor texts on universally popular topics like Basketball and Taylor Swift, and cover sequence, problem and solution, compare and contrast, cause and effect & include a description for each. It also teaches students how to write their own informative texts through a variety of structured lessons.
4. Build Background Knowledge and Vocabulary
Nonfiction comprehension can be tricky for many students, especially if the topic of the text is new to them. When they aren’t familiar with or understand the topic this is when they start to check out, so it is important to keep them engaged even with unfamiliar information.
A great way to keep them engaged and make them feel prepared is to introduce key concepts and any tricky words before they read the text. You can keep a word bank or word wall of the trickier words on the board as a reminder and to help them feel confident as they read. Another great way to encourage their reading comprehension is to have them come up with their own vocabulary journal with words that are helpful/important to them.
To help them build some background knowledge on the topic of their text, encourage them to make connections to the new information in any way they can. Building connections to previous knowledge or a personal experience helps students enjoy the text and get comfortable with new topics.
5. Use Discussion and Writing to Deepen Understanding
Reading is just step one, talking and writing about nonfiction is a great way to engage with nonfiction texts and help students better understand what they read. Peer discussion is a great tool, sometimes just bouncing ideas off each other allows readers a whole new perspective.
Seminars are great for facilitating well-structured discussions for your students. Open-ended discussions can be intimidating, so starting with structure gives your students confidence in their skills and comfortability to share their ideas.
Nonfiction doesn’t have to be boring or difficult! By making it engaging, relevant, and structured in a way that interests your class, students can actually enjoy learning from nonfiction texts and develop their reading comprehension skills.
Looking for ready-to-go resources to make this happen? Check out the Article of the Week Nonfiction Comprehension Seminars and Monthly Reading Comprehension Units for easy, engaging ways to teach nonfiction in your classroom! If you want more information on this topic, check out these related blog posts:
