How often do you read non-fiction texts in school? In recent years, there has been a shift towards whole-class reading lessons in the primary sector and a drive towards all children Reading for pleasure. This has led to reading lessons focussing on a high-quality class text; usually a novel or picture book. Recent discussions and social media surveys with teachers show that many classes do not use this time (or any other time) to read non-fiction texts and if they do then it is quite rare.
In one online survey with 120 primary school teacher respondents, just 12% of classes read non-fiction texts 3 or more times per week. Just over half (51%) read non-fiction texts once or twice per week and 37% of classes read non-fiction texts less than once per week or rarely. The respondents in this survey were in a Facebook group for year 5 and 6 teachers. A survey carried out in other year groups could have varying outcomes however, a similar-sized poll on the X platform garnered similar results with 58% of classes reading non-fiction texts less than once per week and just 12% of classes reading non-fiction more than three times per week.
The Reading Framework suggests that non-fiction books offer “opportunities to broaden children’s experiences beyond the immediate and the local” and that they are “a rich source of vocabulary and background knowledge”. Most teachers are familiar with Scarborough’s Reading Rope and its various strands. Sitting on the Language Comprehension side are the strands ‘Background Knowledge’ and ‘Vocabulary.’
Vocabulary acquisition leads to a greater knowledge and understanding of the text, genre and topic. When reading the class novel, children will read and access the vocabulary around the themes of the book, yet they may not take in and retain all the new words they encounter. It is important that children are exposed to a repetition of the vocabulary to start to put it in their long-term memory. One way to ensure children are exposed to the vocabulary in the novel is to read some linked texts based on the themes in the novel.
Linked Texts can be further novels around the same theme; non-fiction texts or extracts thereof. Reading further novels can be quite time-consuming and it can be confusing if children were to be reading multiple fiction texts at once. High-quality non-fiction texts can be expensive and to have a wide range of them for each class in a school is often prohibitive due to funding. Extracts of non-fiction texts are readily available, they be copied and pasted from a range of online sources such as BBC or Wikipedia, but these are not always suitable for younger students. At Literacy Shed, we have 1000s of non-fiction texts linked to all aspects of the curriculum raging from 150 – 600 words in our Comprehension Plus resource. These texts allow teachers to give children short, daily extracts based around a theme. In the texts, children will be repeatedly exposed to a range of vocabulary. They will then begin to piece together the words which come with that content area and build a vocabulary-based knowledge schema. A child may read an initial text, for example on bears, they may hear about them catching fish, and then they read about paws, snorkelling, ambush, pinning, stalking and clawing. Thus, building up knowledge of the process and piecing together words that come within a content area. Repeated reading of the vocabulary allows the student to retain the learning and then store it in their long-term memory.
Background Knowledge
All writers omit information and assume that the reader will be able to fill in the gaps from their own knowledge base. Read this simple passage adapted from Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo.
Captain Wilkes is meticulous about tidiness and cleanliness, “because of rats,” he says. We find out soon enough he’s right again. I am the first to find them. I am shoring up a dilapidated trench wall. I plunge my shovel in and open up an entire nest of them.
The author has omitted much information – that rats are scavengers and will be attracted to the mess left by soldiers. That rats are a problem to soldiers because they’re unsanitary animals which can spread diseases leading to illness and death. The reader of the novel will have to bring this information with them to the story in order to understand why the rats would be such a big problem to the soldiers. Having background knowledge here of rats supports the reader in inference-making. The more we know as a reader, then the more likely we can complete the inference gaps left in the texts by the author. More knowledge means that a reader can complete the inference gaps more quickly and in time this can become automatic. When inference is happening automatically, then this frees up space in the cognitive load to make deeper inferences across paragraphs and the entire text which is often a more difficult skill for younger readers. As teachers (and expert readers) we sometimes forget the difficulties that children can have comprehending text due to their lack of knowledge and life experiences. Daniel Willingham (2012) states that “once kids can decode fluently, reading comprehension depends heavily on knowledge.” He explains that the gap between being a ‘good’ reader, and a ‘bad’ reader is due to how wide a range of knowledge the reader has and that anyone will do better on a reading test that is on a familiar subject than one they know nothing about.1
Without checking the entire National Curriculum for England, I am sure there is no section on the disease-spreading ability of rats. (I could be incorrect.) However, even if there is a ‘rat section’ in the National Curriculum, there simply is not enough time to teach children everything they will need to know about everything that they will read in order to create rapid inferences.
Knowledge Building
Reading non-fiction texts linked directly to themes and topics within the fiction texts will allow children to develop a knowledge base quickly. As stated earlier, Literacy Shed Plus has 1000s of texts linked to all areas of the curriculum. These texts range in length from 150 – 600 words so that if children are reading at 90-140 words per minute as expected in primary schools, then they can read these knowledge-boosting texts in under 5 mins. The short nature of these texts means that they are easy to fit into the daily timetable of most classes – as early morning reads, introductions to a whole class reading session or as part of foundation subject learning.
In the example shown ‘Life in the Trenches’ children are exposed to vocabulary such as ‘no man’s land,’ ‘enemy fire,’ ‘attack,’ ‘injuries,’ ‘artillery,’ and many more tier 3 or subject-specific examples.
There are another four texts focusing on World War One in this comprehension pack (covering multiple aspects of the war).
The second paragraph talks about some of the conditions and could reinforce the information in Private Peaceful about the rats.
“Conditions in the trenches were appalling. Toilets often overflowed, and the ground was often covered in inches of water or wet mud. Medical conditions such as trench foot were rife. Rats were common; they often stole food and chewed through clothing. They spread disease amongst the soldiers. Some rats grew as big as cats, and dogs were used for hunting them and keeping their numbers down.”
Literacy Shed Plus also has 100s of micro-comprehension texts which are on average 150-200 words. So, should be read by fluent readers in 2-3 minutes.
Linked vocabulary in this text ‘trenches,’ ‘no man’s land,’ ‘front line,’ ‘enemy,’ and further examples.
Reading these multiple texts alongside the class novel will build a deepened knowledge schema to improve reading around the subject.
In summary, non-fiction texts are underutilised in primary classrooms despite their vital role in enhancing students’ vocabulary, background knowledge and reading comprehension.
We need to link non-fiction texts with class novels regularly to deepen students’ thematic knowledge and build knowledge schema to aid long-term memory retention and inference skills. By pairing fiction with non-fiction, educators and bridge knowledge gaps and help students become better, more confident readers.
Browse Literacy Shed Plus comprehension resources here: https://www.literacyshedplus.com/en-gb/browse/comprehension-plus
References:
- School time, knowledge, and reading comprehension
http://www.danielwillingham.com/daniel-willingham-science-and-education-blog/school-
time-knowledge-and-reading-comprehension