The following excerpts are from the chapter "Show Children How to Write Nonfiction", reprinted from A Fresh Look at Writing by Donald H. Graves. Copyright ©1994 by Donald H. Graves. Published by Heinemann, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc., Portsmouth, NH. (Pages 317 - 324.)
Children of all ages need to experience informal reporting before attempting longer, more extensive formal reports. . . .
It is a good idea to have a selection of published materials on all kinds of subjects in science, social studies, or math so children can do one- or two-page informal reports. Older students can use the informal report as a way to get a quick overview of a subject for a more extensive piece. Include nonfiction sources on some of the following topics to interests children in the primary years:
Nature: frogs, crickets, worms, butterflies, chrysalis, plants, eagles, sharks, owls, weather, rocks, etc.
Pets: dogs, cats, gerbils, hamsters, turtles, parakeets, horses, etc.
Sports: specific players, hockey, baseball, football, basketball, soccer, gymnastics, stick ball, street hockey, etc.
. . .
Constructions: Some children like to put together directions to help others make things: puppet booth, model cars, instruments like the thermometer and barometer, small machines.
Of course, subjects for nonfiction in the primary years are limitless. I want children to include a number of elements in their one-page reports. Informal reports usually have a drawing of the main object or subject of the report. As much as possible, it is best that the child draw the object from direct observation. For example, I'd like Angie to draw the cricket by looking directly through the clear sides of her container. Admittedly, this is not easy for her to do because the cricket won't sit still, but she will notice details about the cricket that will give her a far greater appreciation of how the insect is put together.
Next, I want the child to include some facts that she feels are important for everyone to know. Sometimes this begins with a list, from which the writer needs particular items. The selection process is important. I want the child to be conscious of knowing more than she can include in a report and to make some value judgments about what readers need to "open" their interest in the subject. In some cases the child can refer the reader to other sources. One page of writing and art work is enough for young children, unless it is obvious that the child needs more space. Remember, the report is not exhaustive. Rather, it is meant to give the child practice in selecting information. "It's good if it's long," is a dictum waiting in the bushes to confuse the child into thinking length equals quality.
I've cited a number of nonfiction subjects for informal reports in the primary years. Many of these same areas appeal to the upper grades as well. (By "upper grades" I mean from grade four through middle school.) Virtually all the categories still apply. But if the informal report is final copy in the primary years, and is stored with the classroom's published collections, in the upper grades it is used to help students get into a subject, to view a larger study in shorter form.
Informal reports for older students follow the same guidelines as those for younger children. Students need to learn the process by reporting on something they know about in order to learn how to organize information and to discover their own voice. Older students often have a more difficult time finding a topic, since school experiences tend to remind them of what they don't know. . . .
I'll write a report right along with the children. I begin by showing how I explore a subject, speaking aloud as I work:
Don: I've chosen to do a report on bears. First, let me say why I've chosen bears. Last June we had a black bear come into our yard twice. The first time he got the suet I'd put out for the birds; the second time he came back to see if he could get more suet or bird seed. They say bears never forget where they got their last meal. Let me tell you, this was a good-sized black bear, one of the largest I've ever seen. Well, I've seen a bear but since there have been lots of reports about them coming to homes were I live, I figure I ought to know more about them. So, I've got some questions I need to answer if I'm going to know more. [Notice that I'm trying to bring in at the outset the sense that an experience may be connected with what I'm trying to learn, and that I know a little about the subject but need to learn more.]
Right away I know I have to answer this question: "What do they like to eat?" See, I'll put that question on one sheet of paper so when I get to reading or speaking with an expert I'll put information about food on just this sheet with the question on it.
I know that bears sleep in the winter and aren't so busy then but I don't really know when they sleep or wake up. I know that's called... Anyone know?
Child: Hibernation. Don: Right. And I wonder if they hibernate earlier where we live because it's so cold. That brings me to another question, doesn't it. Any ideas? Child: Where do they sleep? They say in caves. Don: Good question, so when I do some reading I'll look to see where they sleep and I'm also wondering if they have a place to go, like a special place, to sleep at night, say in the summertime. There's another that hits me right now. How do they grow up, have their young? Okay, I'm going to stop there. I'm satisfied for the minute. No, wait, one more is real important. What experiences have people had with bears? I've had a little but I need to speak with some people who have had different experiences. Remember, I've put each of these questions on a separate piece of paper. [If at all possible, have students speak to or interview someone who has experience in their area of interest. This is a great help to them in understanding the meaning of voice. At first, they adopt the voice of the person they interview; then they transform it into their own. See Investigate Nonfiction (Graves, 1989b) on how to help children learn how to interview.]
This demonstration didn't allow the children to ask questions as much as it should. I could have asked them to state what they were curious about and then gone back to show how I'd focus on about four basic questions from a longer list to begin my reading. Above all, find some way to include the kinds of questions to ask in interviews.
Help children to use trade books as part of the process of writing the informal report.
In recent years we have seen a plethora of good nonfiction picture books. . . . Picture books are useful for students of any age, from the primary grades through graduate school, because the authors have to study the field under scrutiny, identify essential information, and then organize that information in meaningful ways.
The next mini-lesson comprises two parts: using a picture book and note-taking. I'll talk about the book's organization, then look for information and demonstrate notetaking.
Don: I have a book here entitled Black Bear, by Daniel Cox. Cox is a photographer and naturalist who has spent a great deal of time with bears. First, I want to look through his chapter headings to see how he's decided to tell about bears. I'll go over the headings and you tell me what he had in mind in organizing the information:
- Bears
- Spring
- Summer
I don't know if this is helpful or not. There's only three obvious headings. Still, what can you make of his approach?
Child: Well, I don't know about the first one but it looks like he'll follow the bear from spring to summer. Don: Right, his organization is by time, first by spring, then summer. Makes me wonder why he didn't follow the bear through fall and winter to make it complete. Sometimes you discover things like this when you look at how it is put together.
Let me turn to the first part, "Bears," and see if there is any information to put on the sheets with our questions. I especially want to show you how to take notes, to put information down in a few words to go with your questions.
As I look through the picture book, I look under photos, drawings, and general illustrations. Usually the author takes key information, puts it into pictures, and then has a few words underneath to tell you what to look for. Look at this one:
A pair of young clubs explores the grasses for ants, grasshoppers, or anything else that may be edible.
What question does this go under?
Child: Food. Don: Right. Look how I take notes from this. I'll just list the foods. What are they? Child: Ants, grasshoppers. Or anything else. Don: I'll probably just put down the ants and grasshoppers. Let's look at another picture and what it says underneath:
A sow curls tightly into a ball to help protect her cubs from the winter's cold. Entering the den in the fall, the sow built the grass nest they now rest on. The den is very clean and smells like hay. This particular den (left) is beneath a sparsely covered brush pile that offers almost no protection from the frigid winter temperatures.
Look at the questions I have and read this section. What is this about?
Child: Oh, this one is about where he goes in winter. Where he sleeps. I think it is that one. Don: What's the den made out of? Child: Grass. It isn't a cave. Don: I always thought that the winter den of the bear was real solid, a cave or maybe a big hole the bear dug. Okay, I want to put down a few words under the question. Will someone come up here and underline what they think are the important words? [Child will take a marker and mark on the acetate with the quote from the book.] Someone has a question? Child: What's a sow? Don: Oh, that means the mother bear. See, bears come from the pig family. I didn't know that until last summer. They call a mother pig a sow too.
I'll take another book, Whales: Friendly Dolphins and Mighty Giants of the Sea by Jane Watson that will have more to look at for organization. One of my other interests is whales because my great, great-grandfather was a whaler and we have the letters he wrote home to his wife. Okay, let's look at it on the overhead. I'll just take the big headings:
- What Are Whales?
- The Baleen or Whalebone Whales
- Whales with Teeth
- Whales and Men
What do you see here? How is this author going to approach the subject?
Child: The author is going to tell us about all whales and then do different kinds? Don: Yes, there are two kinds of whales, one is obvious, those that have teeth, and then the baleen whale, which don't have them. And finally the author will tell us how people and whales and gotten along together. Actually, not too well.
This session is actually two mini-lessons in one. I recommend that you break this into three parts:
Help children to get their voice into the text.
Once children have finished posting their information beneath their questions, it is time for them to be interviewed about their topics. I find that interviews work best when children are in pairs or threesomes. One child talks and the other two children interview until all three have been interviewed. For example, once I had posted my information about the black bears, I'd have the children ask me questions about the bear. This allows me to get an "oral" feel for my content. I use my notes to share information, and the children get practice in asking questions to find out about the subject and the interviewee's relationship to it. This means that the children will try to find out about my interest in the topic, how I got started, what I learned along the way, and so on.
Once children are reasonably comfortable with the oral phase, I ask them to write a one-page piece without notes telling or teaching another person about their topic. Once again, this allows the child's own voice and sense of authority about the subject to get into the text. I don't want the child working from notes or examining encyclopedias. It is better to have him insert information he has forgotten rather than try to adopt the voices of others.
Line up several nonfiction books to read aloud to the children.
Children need to hear good nonfiction material read aloud to them. Find either picture books or nonfiction books that have a strong narrative bent in presenting the basic content. For example, Joanna Cole's Magic School Bus books combine the adventures of an elementary classroom with imaginative explorations of the human body, the water works, and the center of the earth.
Nonfiction is a neglected genre in most classrooms, especially in the elementary years. Fiction seems to push nonfiction to one side, since children wish to write in the same genre in which they are reading. But children also have an urge to learn more about their interests and have strong opinions about issues that confront them every day in the classroom and at home. We need to help children be aware of how nonfiction fits into their lives as narratives, letters, essays, and informal reports by providing demonstrations of these forms.
Nonfiction is the genre that will dominate most children's school and vocational careers. It is an important medium of thought in which children learn to discover how they feel and what they think about certain subjects and issues. Usually, it requires further reading or interviewing in order to learn about the subject. Once again, we need to do reporting assignments right along with the children, showing them how to look at a subject, read picture books, raise questions, take notes, and write a discovery draft.
Informal reporting is the best way to start to learn the more formal aspects of nonfiction. The child learns the genre through topics in which he is already knowledgeable. This allows him to maintain his own voice through first drafts and beyond.
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