Reading Non-Fiction Aloud by Ben Harris
Ben is the English lead and a Year 6 teacher at an Essex primary school. In today’s piece, he describes the excitement and engagement that can result from reading non-fiction aloud in the classroom and suggests some great ‘read-aloud’ books to look out for. For more recommendations follow him on Twitter @one_to_read or visit https://afewtoread.blogspot.com
Reading Non-Fiction Aloud
Those who read aloud to their classes will undoubtedly read primarily fiction – novels, short stories, poems. Children enjoy listening and talking about these very much and I have also been struck by how they seem to enjoy writing stories for themselves above all other kinds of text. In fact, it was this ‘noticing’ that led me to explore the idea of reading more
non-fiction to my class this year: would they enjoy it as much as getting into a good novel? Would their enjoyment of writing information texts for pleasure be enhanced too? Would the Book Chat be any different to that
when discussing fiction or poetry? I have in the past always read from non-fiction books to my classes but I
have never read whole books of this kind to the children – why, I really don’t know. There is so much high quality non-fiction out there at the moment that it seems silly not to do so! So this half term, I have experimented with reading aloud much more regularly from the same non-fiction book, purely for pleasure, just like a class novel. It hasn’t been
non-fiction every day; in fact, I have asked the class from time to time to vote if they would like to hear from our fiction or non-fiction read. It varies, as with all our reading habits.
Let me know if you try out some non-fiction read aloud with your class – I’d love to know how it goes!
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Ten Suggested ‘Read-aloud’ Non-Fiction Books*
(*The following have been tried out with Year 6 children, and the content of these is more suited
to Upper-Junior-aged children.)
1. Dr Nick Crumpton and Gavin Scott: Everything you know about Dinosaurs is WRONG
A marvellously ‘dippable’ book, each double page spread debunks a myth that children (and many adults, including myself) may have previously believed to be true: Dinosaurs could roar: WRONG! Dinosaurs were all big:
WRONG! Dinosaurs are all extinct: WRONG! Excited book chat is an understatement for this one!
2. Rob Sears and Tom Sears: The Biggest Footprint
Take the utterly brilliant idea of ‘smooshing’ all the existing humans into one ‘mega-human’ and compare its size to similarly smooshed creatures. Then once you’ve got the idea, start to explore the impact this mega-human is
having. A stylish picture book with lots to read out loud – perfect for sharing together as the illustrations add SOOOO much to the concept.
3. Helaine Becker and Dow Phumiruk: Counting on Katherine
The Hidden Figures of the Space Race are at last getting their justified recognition and this book, winner of the Information category of the UKLA award in 2020 is a beautifully illustrated and super-clear non-fiction
narrative of Katherine’s life. The illustrations repay very close attention -there’s lots of ‘hidden’ mathematical references – so once it has been read aloud, I’m sure many children will want to go on to explore the book much
more closely.
4. Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson: The Undefeated
This extraordinary book was the winner of the Information Book category of the UKLA prize last year. It is an inspiring and intensely thought-provoking text, equally challenging in its words and in its pictures, and has been the
starting point of some of the deepest and most sensitive and questioning discussion I have ever experienced with my Year 6s. The poet reads the book here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cHIWtl8PNk, a clip I will
always show every one of my classes.
5. Susan Martineau and Vicky Barker: Real Life Mysteries
A bit like a modern-day Mysteries of the Unknown (see No. 6 below), this book riffs on many children’s fascination with the esoteric: the Bermuda Triangle, UFOs, spontaneous combustion…and more. The tales are so
bizarre that any reading is always accompanied by exclamations of ‘No way!’. The structure of the book is perfect with two double-page spreads for each ‘mystery’: one, an introduction to the mystery itself and its attendant
tales, and the second an exploration of two sides arguing whether each phenomenon is fact or fiction. A great book to pick up again and again, it won the Blue Peter Award for Best Book With Facts.
6. Carey Miller: Monsters
My very first full blog was about the effect that the Usborne classic ‘Ghosts’ had on me as a boy. There is something universally fascinating and inspiring about this series, thankfully re-released by Usborne. Now all three
are back in print and this, the third in the series, focuses on everything monstrous, from the Loch Ness Monster and T-Rex to Medusa and the Yeti. The illustrations are pretty horrific and gory, so of course this automatically
makes it a winner with most older children!
7. Michelle Li: A Very Asian Guide to Korean Food
What I love about the best non-fiction is how, by taking a unique focus on a subject (here food), one that no other book has done (here a children’s text on Korean cuisine), we are invited to explore something new and learn
something new too – the world gets a little bigger! Michelle Li does this with passion and panache in this bright, engaging book which, when I read it to my class, received the highest accolade: “I want to know what these foods
taste like now I’ve read about them!”
8. Michael Hearst and Jelmer Noordeman: Unusual Creatures
This book that was sitting in my class bookshelves was one that was requested by one of my class to be read aloud to everyone: their amazement at the peculiarities of the beasts described between the covers
simply had to be shared. Each page describes a different ‘unusual creature’ from around the world and the information is couched in quirky structural and linguistic choices: there’s True or False quizzes (which engaged
everyone!), but also a ‘True or True’ quiz, for example! I am fairly hardy but the hagfish page, read just after lunch, certainly gave my stomach a bit of a turn. Maybe best read at a different time of day…
9.Christine Dorion and Gosia Herba: Invented by Animals
Like Unusual Creatures, this book has fascinated the children I have taught. An original concept for a book on animals, it explores the concept of biomimicry, specifically how humans are looking to animals and their
incredible construction, disguise and communication methods (amongst many other things!) to inspire our own technologies. The page about the mimic octopus led to requests to actually see the creature via a video clip
and I particularly love how this book acts as a vehicle for natural further exploration and developed learning.
10. Markus Motum: Curiosity
The reader-aloud becomes the voice of the Mars Rover, Curiosity, in this complex but beautifully clear picture book aimed at KS2. Throughout, there is a driving sense of wonder and potential making this is the perfect book to
inspire the next generation of space explorers, scientists and programmers.