Is That a Fact?

* Reviews *

Is That a Fact? Teaching Nonfiction Writing K-3 by Tony Stead gives me hope. Stead actually believes that primary students can compose a variety of nonfiction texts including recipes, reports, scientific explanations, and even persuasive arguments. Stead addresses barriers many teachers face when teaching nonfiction forms, including the difficulties of helping children locate, access, interpret, record, publish, and share information. He also considers another obstacle: getting young children to write independently. Is That a Fact? Teaching Nonfiction Writing K-3 is a resource that respects young students and their teachers. Kim Douillard, National Writing Project, The Quarterly, Volume 24, No. 4Why wait until middle school to teach children informational writing? Stead provides lessons, bibliographies of nonfiction books, and detailed rubrics for teaching primary students to write a variety of nonfiction genres, including instructions, reports, scientific explanations, persuasive writing, and nonfiction narratives.Kathleen Cali, LEARN NC, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education