Comments on: The Two Big Challenges http://blogs.slj.com/nonfictionmatters/2011/08/12/the-two-big-challenges/ A School Library Journal Blog Sun, 05 Aug 2012 22:26:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: Marc Aronson http://blogs.slj.com/nonfictionmatters/2011/08/12/the-two-big-challenges/comment-page-1/#comment-30623 Marc Aronson Sun, 14 Aug 2011 20:58:05 +0000 http://blogs.slj.com/nonfictionmatters/?p=1125#comment-30623 I agree completely on the CC starndards -- there have been a number of threads on it here and I will return to it again in the fal.. I agree completely on the CC starndards — there have been a number of threads on it here and I will return to it again in the fal..

]]> By: Liz Dejean http://blogs.slj.com/nonfictionmatters/2011/08/12/the-two-big-challenges/comment-page-1/#comment-30609 Liz Dejean Sun, 14 Aug 2011 15:15:27 +0000 http://blogs.slj.com/nonfictionmatters/?p=1125#comment-30609 To context and engagement I would add academic language - which can be part of engagement. A great deal of what most people read for recreation is fiction, and fiction has become more and more like speech over the past century. The complex language that best explains the connections at the heart of most nonfiction has become foreign to not only young people but even many young teachers. The good news (I hope it is good) is that the Common Core Standards (http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards and for NYC http://schools.nyc.gov/Academics/CommonCoreLibrary/default.htm) are slowly making their way into the classrooms. These standards demand a greater focus on nonfiction. They also emphasize the importance of exposing students to more complex language. In the next few years I expect to see more nonfiction used in the classrooms of my school. To context and engagement I would add academic language – which can be part of engagement. A great deal of what most people read for recreation is fiction, and fiction has become more and more like speech over the past century. The complex language that best explains the connections at the heart of most nonfiction has become foreign to not only young people but even many young teachers.

The good news (I hope it is good) is that the Common Core Standards (http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards and for NYC http://schools.nyc.gov/Academics/CommonCoreLibrary/default.htm) are slowly making their way into the classrooms. These standards demand a greater focus on nonfiction. They also emphasize the importance of exposing students to more complex language. In the next few years I expect to see more nonfiction used in the classrooms of my school.

]]> By: Myra Zarnowski http://blogs.slj.com/nonfictionmatters/2011/08/12/the-two-big-challenges/comment-page-1/#comment-30585 Myra Zarnowski Sun, 14 Aug 2011 01:06:01 +0000 http://blogs.slj.com/nonfictionmatters/?p=1125#comment-30585 The challenges you mention sound alot like teaching. We, too, provide backgound information about topics, generate interest in them, and teach essential vocabulary needed to understand them. If only we teachers were thought of as the passers-on of wisdom! The challenges you mention sound alot like teaching. We, too, provide backgound information about topics, generate interest in them, and teach essential vocabulary needed to understand them. If only we teachers were thought of as the passers-on of wisdom!

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