Another Reason For School Librarians

I knew it would happen sooner than later...My child would be taught that "non-fiction is a genre." Argh. Cough Cough. Grunt. 

Non-fiction isn't a genre; it's a section in the library. In Spanish it makes more sense "no ficción." Simply put, books that are non-fiction are books that are just that, not fiction.

 Fiction is one of many categories found in the library. 

Fiction: Fictitious literature; comprehensively, all works of imagination; specifically, novels and romances. The office of fiction as a vehicle of instruction and moral elevation has been recognized by most if not all great educators.

- Dict. of Education. (Websters, 1913)

Books that are fiction are stories with made up characters, setting, plot, and created or written by one or two authors. That's fiction. Of course there are many fiction books based on an event or an actual person such as Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko. 

In the Dewey system the books included in the non-fiction categories include more than books with information about people, animals, sports, arts, science, history  etc. Books that are "not fiction" also include joke books, myths and legends, books about horror and monsters, graphic novels, cartoon books, poetry books, and more. In many libraries, a book with a collection of stories written by a particular author, or book with a collection of fictional stories with a particular theme written by different authors are located in the non-fiction section.

So...do not teach kids that non-fiction is a genre. There's no such thing. If I only had a dollar for every child who I've heard say, "non-fiction is true." When students find "Red Riding Hood" in the non-fiction section they get confused because the wolf is not "real." How often have library staff get stuck in the adult discussion about fairy tales, folk-tales, and the tranmission of cultural norms, beliefs, and morals, through oral tradition trying to explain why La Llorona is in the non-fiction section. 

Teaching non-fiction as a genre confuses kids who are trying to figure out where things belong, how things can be categorized, and what makes something "true" or "false." Teach them about the different types of fiction, then help them to learn about all of the other types of exciting categories of books that are organized and easily located in print and online libraries.

Teach them where to find different topics and that information can be sorted into many different categories. Dewey Decimal is just one way books are sorted or categorized so we can find what we want quickly. 

Can you tell this is my pet peeve? 

Current Events

Read: Every Class Should Start with Current Events


What I would add to the great ideas in the article:
Yes the students can make connections with current events each day. The teacher can design questions to start the discussion but students need to do the "thinking work" by reviewing the lesson/learning experience/unit's exploration/questions for the day and then researching and/or making connections to their own knowledge and understandings.

For homework they can post empirical evidence, primary resources, quotes or stats from experts, URL's, articles or comments on a collaborative Google.doc or an online bulletin board thread.

Teachers can use the homework responses to open the class and debate/discuss/come to consensus on which resources/creators/authors are most authoritative, which connections are most relevant to the unit, questions, content, or students' lives.

You can also analyze which connections challenge current thinking, or how connections can lead further small group or independent inquiries. Challenge students to show a perspective that is counter to the unit or their personal knowledge or beliefs.

Use their comments as a formative assessment of their information and media literacy, transfer, and critical thinking skills. 

If you include your Librarian/Teacher Librarian in your plan ahead of time, he/she can create a pathfinder with links to high-quality international news sources, and can facilitate/co-teach and/or model information and media literacy skills to locate, evaluate, gather, organize/curate, analyze/question, produce/create, and share high quality information.

Each week students can volunteer, rotate, or be assigned to capture/curate and annotate the most relevant resources, evidence, discussion summaries and contribute to a an online legacy product to pass on to next year's students.

More ideas:
Facing History


50 Ways to Teach With Current Events - New York Times

Our Response...They are Waiting

Our students are looking to us to help them understand what's happening in today's political climate. We can take time, a time of fear and uncertainty for many, and see it as an opportunity to build stronger relationships with our students and families, to show that we can support one another and learn from each others' experiences by sharing ideas openly, and practice civil discourse when we don't, and we won't always agree. 

Here are some ideas that might help the tweens and teens in your library and classroom:

-Invite students to create and display books and resources representing their family's refugee or immigrant experience

-Post primary resource such as the Order or the (former) Attorney General's response and title the board "What do you think?"

-Create an "I Wonder" bulletin board where students and/or you can write a questions

-Journal: give students time to write down their feelings in class

-Reread the U.S. Constitution and discuss checks and balances that are in place to ensure balance and representation in our democracy

-Give students many opportunitied to practice academic and civil discourse. Provide sentence starters for students to use https://edtechknowledge.wordpress.com/tag/

and use https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/01/29/learning/lesson-plans/analyzing-trumps-immigration-ban-a-lesson-plan.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Flearning&action=click&contentCollection=learning&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&conte&_r=0&referer=

-Things aren't always yes/no, all/none, good/bad. Most of life is about negotiation, compromising, and living and working in the middle. Try this human continuum strategy to hit the idea home. http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/104014/chapters/Human-Continuum.aspx

-Listen to Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech and discuss ways that we want to be treated and how to treat others, whether we agree or disagree. http://www.teachertube.com/mobile/video/mlk-i-have-a-dream-speech-20916

-Research, interview and promote a variety of heroes in your community from a variety of backgrounds. Be sure to include individuals who were or work directly with refugees and/or immigrants 

-Review relaxation techniques and stress busters https://www.edutopia.org/sites/default/files/resources/stw-glenview-stress-reduction-activities.pdf

-Discuss the power of the media and taking charge to power off to take a break from the headlines

-Discuss and read about people http://choices.scholastic.com/story/unbreakable-4-teens-who-prove-power-resilience and characters who were and are resilient through trying and/or war-torn times. What would you add to this list? 

Homeless Bird; Outrun the Moon; What Elephants Know

-Read about characters who are complex and develop, change, and grow smarter and more open-minded over time: Every Falling Star; Touching Spirit Bear 

-Advise/Guide a group of students who've been asking to start a new club that fosters inclusion and acceptance: Interfaith Club; GSA https://gsanetwork.org/resources/building-your-gsa/10-steps-starting-gsa; Cesar Chavez Club http://www.chavezclubs.org/

Resources for Teacher Librarians, Classroom Educators, and School Leadership

-Share your story. What is happening in your school library following the anti-immigration order? https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevyEfPw1fEgRbgRhjPsQjwFQe1bU2L3qSY2kcnTW6oCWzNcg/viewform

-Read http://www.slj.com/2016/10/diversity/a-path-forward-how-libraries-support-refugee-children/

-Read: Responding to Hate and Violence at School http://www.tolerance.org/publication/responding-hate-and-bias-school

-Build literacy based, anti-biased lesson plans with Teaching Tolerance http://perspectives.tolerance.org/

-Read http://www.tolerance.org/blog/what-do-i-say-students-about-immigration-orders

What are you doing in your libraries and classrooms?