Textbook Reflections: Chapter 10-13
Realistic Fiction
Contemporary and modern realistic fiction encompasses stories that are consistent with the real world today. I explain it to fourth graders as stories that could really happen. Characters, settings, and events could all occur in today’s world and are written in a way that they may happen. Due to this fact, contemporary and modern realistic fiction may be the sub genre that students are most easily able to make connections with and will often tackle difficult topics creating a gateway for conversation. The best realistic fiction with have more that one theme and they will emerge throughout the course of the story (versus slapping you in the face). The author’s messages will reveal themselves gradually with all the dots connecting at the end.
Nonfiction
Nonfiction is much more broad genre because it contains so many different sub genres and formats. We evaluate nonfiction differently as well. One of the most important things to consider when selecting nonfiction text regardless of format is the credibility of the author. Nonfiction text can absolutely be enjoyable, but when reading nonfiction we also expect to learn something, so it is vital that we use authors who do their research. Additionally it is vital that students have an understanding of the way the information/text is organized. Are they able to access and absorb the information? Are their visuals to support their understanding? What is the purpose of the book and for their reading? Questioning students about nonfiction text will also look very different than questioning students about fiction text. Fiction text will generally focus on plot and character relationships/interactions and the changes they undergo. With nonfiction, Carter and Abrahamson provide us with some great evaluative type questioning to lead students through deeper understanding of nonfiction. I plan to keep this list as a reference for when we cover different types of nonfiction during the school year.
Fantasy/Science Fiction
I honestly didn’t realize there were so many different types of books in the fantasy realm. It has never really been a genre I gravitate towards, but many of the titles shared in the video sound like something I would enjoy. Of all the genres thus far, I feel like fantasy/science fiction is an area I need to read more of due it being the area I am least familiar with. I had never even heard of steampunk as a type of book. As a librarian for the upper grades, it would be vital to be familiar with all genres in order to be able to more easily match students with books. Though fantasy, there should still be rules present and characters should still behave in ways that are believable. To me, it seems that themes would be more challenging to pick out in this genre, but they should still explore truths that are universal. However this may be due to my lack of familiarity with this genre. My biggest takeaway from this chapter of the text is how much more there is for me to explore in fantasy/science fiction.
Graphic Novels
The graphic novel format can be seen across all genres/sub genres within fiction and nonfiction. The look is similar to a picture book or comic book (illustration boxes, speech bubbles, etc.), the major difference being the complexity of the content. The fiction variety will tell entire stories and nonfiction will convey information. Graphic novels also vary greatly in their level of difficulty and can be enjoyed by readers of all ages and levels. Students may need some guidance in knowing how to read a graphic novel and correctly track from box to box. Graphic novels can be used in the classroom to support comprehension as they follow the same literary elements present in traditional literature. I have enjoyed the graphic novels I have read thus far for this and other classes, but did not realize there were so many different elements to consider within this format. Dr. Lesesne’s article for Random House shed some particularly bright light on furthering my understanding on the depth and complexity of this type of book. I tweeted out a link to this article due to the wealth of information it provides on graphic novels and their usefulness in the classroom to support and deepen student learning.
Questions to Ask About a Novel from Richard Peck
This list of questions would be ideal to use in any classroom of library to spark quality conversation about novels. It would also be a great source to use for a novel study or in place of any traditional book report. These questions cause deeper thinking and would be a much more quality product than the majority of “projects” or responses we are accustomed to seeing. I plan on incorporating these into my read aloud novels I use with my students.
The final link is to a spreadsheet of middle school authors. This is a useful resource as a starting place for further exploration of what books are out there for students. As a librarian, it is vital to be well read in all genres and formats so as to be able to match books with readers.
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