Nonfiction is a main genre, in it there are formats that fall under its umbrella. Sub-categories that fall under this genre are informational,biographies, autobiographies and memoirs, then narratives and expository.
Non-fiction is such a huge genre. A great Teacher Resource for this genre is "Nonfiction for young adults:From delight to wisdom" by Betty Carter and Richard F. Abrahamson. Nonfiction can cover so many different types of topics.
There are five basic criteria questions when evaluating Nonfiction for Children:
1.What are the qualifications of the author?When it comes to the qualifications of authors for nonfiction, it is important that they experential knowledge in the subject matter that they are writing about. It is important that the author is qualified, have they written on this specific matter before? Do they have credible sources? Those questions can assist a reader in regarding the author as credible.
Well-known authors with qualifications for Nonfiction are: Kathleen Krull, James Cross Giblin, Steve Jenkins and Seymour Simon.
2. Are the facts accurate?
It is important to rely on authors or perhaps reviews or one's background knowledge to check if the facts stated are accurate. There are activities like T-charts that you can have students research to compare and contrast facts. Use resources from lists and the Children's Book Council to find credible sources.
3. What is the purpose and scope of the book?
As an educator it is important to choose the specific pupose and scope; this depends if your subject matter calls for broad, narrow or specific information, the age group your are targeting, your targeted audience.
4. How does the organization of the book assist readers in locating information?
The table of contents of the books are key in knowing the organization of the book, so students can effectively find what they are looking for. Some books also have indexes. The indexes help you narrow your search when you are researching back-matter help you zoom in to resource like notes, sources, bibliographies, appendixes, and acknowledgements.
5. What role do visual play?
Visuals elaborate on the text, and help break up the text to make it visually pleasing for the reader. Visuals can include pictures, photographs, call-out boxex, paintings, ilustrations, graphic organizers, charts and maps).
What I learned from this chapter is that it is important to have a well balanced section of nonfiction in your library. One must offer a varitey of information on all topics and not be biased in one's beliefs. Furthermore, it is said that it is easier to define the genre of nonficiton by what it is not. The criteria questions are very informative and will come in handy when I have to evaluate this genre.
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