Non Fiction Reading

Posted by Debbie DeSpirt Jul 30, 2007

Reading comprehension for non fiction text could be written in a different language for most students. If the student is seeing the information for the first time, they are learning to read again and will be unable to retain much information because they are deciphering the new vocabulary. If a student struggles with more than five words on a page they are learning to read and not reading to learn.

Often, students are to make notes on unfamiliar non fiction text and notable they struggle. Students are unable to decipher what is important because everything seems important. Give a student a highlighter and a paragraph of unknown text,with no support from the teacher, and many students will highlight 90% of the the passage.

Activating prior knowledge, making connections, and important words are a few comprehension strategies to assist students to learn non fiction text. Strategies for reading non fiction text should be just as compelling as reading fiction. Non fiction does not have to be boring if a few strategies are implemented that allows the students to be active in their learning.