Reading Nonfiction

Today I SLOWED kids way down...

It is very normal for kids to pick up nonfiction books, be fascinated by the pictures, yet never read a caption or put the picture together with the information that is being talked about in the text.

Today I taught them how to LOOK, EXAMINE, CRITICALLY THINK, AND INFER about pictures. We spent a lot of time on each and every picture and READ EVERY CAPTION.

I made it a mandate that they read captions NO MATTER WHAT (you must think I have caps lock on, but I am really emphasizing this for a reason).

It is common for kids to skim through or not read the captions at all and have several misconceptions and misunderstandings before they even begin to read.

I taught them how pictures should be a source of information, but also a springboard to lots of good questions to guide them in their reading.

I told them that each picture and caption is placed there for a reason: to help them understand.

Skimming or skipping this information would be tragic.

So ask your kids, require your kids, to look, read, examine. It will amaze them how much easier the text reading will be, and how many interesting things they will learn!