Playing with non-fiction

"Playing with non-fiction." It sounds so unlike non-fiction. Many of us likely remember having to read dull textbooks about historical people and, probably, do not recall much of what we read. María Paula Ghiso challenges the boring use of non-fiction texts in her article "Playing with/through non-fiction texts: Young children authoring their relationships with history." When I came across the article, I was curious as to what she had to say. I am passionate about history, having had the opportunity to visit many historical landmarks and having heard many stories from family members as I grew up. Hearing that "history is boring" or "I only like fiction" is difficult for me because history is so fascinating to me and there is so much to be learned from it.

The study was conducted with a first grade classroom in an urban setting and explored the use of "writing time", specifically with regard to non-fiction. From the description of classroom activities, I could tell that the manner was that of constructivism. The "writerly life" was explored "to see the world as a source of inspiration for writing and to immerse oneself in the ongoing process of gathering ideas and drafting, revising and editing pieces." It was under these conditions that Blanche was teaching and introduced genres to her students. Through play, genres were co-constructed between students and teacher and were something to be discovered rather than rules to follow.

Using non-fiction in the classroom has recently become a concern because of a growing lack of informational reading that is being observed in adults. As a result, Ghiso decided to observe the use of non-fiction writing in this first grade class. The classroom was diverse, consisting of students who were of African-American, African, Native American, and European American descent. The first 15 minutes of class time was a time for students to spend writing stories because, as Blanche related, her students always came to class full of stories and this provided them a way to get the stories out. After this free-writing time, genres or "types of writing" were discussed and explored. 

Memoir, biographies, and persuasive arguments were among the considered genres and were worked on for six week periods, ending with writing celebrations where friends and family could come listen to the young authors' work. When it came to using non-fiction in the class, whether reading or writing it, students had an excitement for their genre explorations. In addition to reading about Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King, Jr., students learned about the non-fiction genre and developed ideas on how to change the world. Read-alouds acquainted students with historical figures and made them part of their everyday lives. 

This familiarity with historical figures was strengthened when students were given the opportunity to write biographies on people they found important. Some students chose to write about historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, Harriet Tubman, and Helen Keller while others chose to write about personal heroes such as family members or famous athletes. The freedom to choose about whom to write opened up questions about the non-fiction genre including: reliability of sources, how someone's life impacted world, what are topics worth noting, and, in general, that genres such as non-fiction/biographies are writing tools or methods to express a point rather than the way to write. 

What Ghiso found was that students began incorporating the historical figures into their play (after the class shared their published writing pieces), even students who had not written on the figures themselves. Several of the students who had not published their initial piece on a historical figure decided to do their own research on some of the individuals later on and wrote about them. Figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Benjamin Franklin seemed to become old friends as the children were observed drawing friendly pictures of the individuals. 

 

Writing included factual information but also parts of the individuals lives that the children found important. For example, when writing about Benjamin Franklin, Franklin's children were important to note:

Through this playful use of non-fiction in the classroom, Ghiso points out that students not only learned about genres and historical fiction but also discovered a delight in learning about the past, allowed their imaginations to play with the figures of the past, and learned to see non-fiction texts and writing as another useful tool in their writing journey. 

I believe that this sort of introduction to non-fiction texts can be very beneficial to students. Introducing history and historical figures to young students in an engaging way will help develop a love for the material as they grow. Having a positive first interaction with non-fiction texts may help promote further reading of non-fiction and help bring out the explorer and detective in students as they begin to research and discover information on their own. 

Source: Ghiso, Maria Paula. (2011). Playing with/through non-fiction texts: Young children authoring their relationships with history. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 13, 26-51.