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During a professional development workshop, the facilitator asks participants to reflect on all the texts we've read in the past two weeks. That's easy; I've read a few chapters in a mystery novel and part of a young adult fiction book that is required reading for my teenage daughter. Oh, and of course, I've read the newspaper, e-mails, a recipe, and text messages. I've read information on the Internet, articles in professional journals, and a chapter in a new teacher resource book. And then I consider the types of texts I read to the kindergartners in my classroom. Interestingly, most of the books are fiction. This sudden enlightenment leads to a question: Why don't I expose the children to more nonfiction and informational texts?
Nonaction is "the literature of fact - or the product of an author's inquiry, research, and writing" (Kristo & Bamford 2004, 12). Informational texts include books as well as text in other formats such as magazines, newspapers, and online articles. The primary purpose of informational text is to provide information about the natural and social world (Duke et al. 2006).
Literacy research cites many reasons why nonfiction/informational texts should be included in primary classrooms. The availability of nonfiction texts can motivate some children to read (Kletzien & Dreher 2004). Also, incorporating nonfiction texts in the early grades helps children develop the literacy skills they need to read and write informational texts in later grades (Duke 2007; Kristo & Bamford 2004; Gill 2009). The 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Reading Framework calls for 50 percent of the assessment's reading passages to be informational text by fourth grade (National Assessment Governing Board 2008). The inclusion of more informational passages in the NAEP Reading Assessment helps makes the case that "informational reading ability is arguably more important now than it ever has been" (Duke 2010, 68).
Informational text supports children's overall literacy development by expanding vocabulary and background knowledge, while also exposing them to the language and structure of expository texts (Kristo & Bamford 2004; Webster 2009). Finally, state and widely adopted national standards, such as the Common Core State Standards (CCSSO & NGA Center 2010), are calling for children to read and write informational text: "The evidence is compelling: We...