Family and Homeschool Activities: Reading Nonfiction

These family and homeschool activities are designed to complement the Reading Nonfiction topic on BrainPOP Jr.

Classify Your Home Library

Have your child organize the books in your home into fiction and nonfiction books. Have him or her label each book and alphabetize the collection. As your child labels each book, ask him or her to explain how they know it is fiction or nonfiction. If the book is nonfiction, have your child look through the book and describe each part.

Reading Goal

Because most children prefer to read fiction, it is important to foster a love of nonfiction. Together with your child, visit your local library and browse the nonfiction section. Pick out nonfiction book to read together. Set up a goal to read five nonfiction books a month and keep track of how many books your child read. If he or she meets the goal, reward your child with more free choices. They may start to choose nonfiction!

Reading List

Have your child put together a nonfiction reading list. He or she can ask friends, family members, librarians, and his or her teacher to collect nonfiction titles. Even book clubs have recommended nonfiction reading lists. Have your child write the titles down and whenever he or she is in need of a book to read, they can consult their list.

Dear Diary

Journals and diaries are examples of nonfiction writing. Encourage your child to keep a journal or diary and write in it everyday. Not only will this help your child improve his or her writing skills, but also it will give an opportunity for your child to look back and see how he or she has grown personally. Diaries and journals allow children to see their progress and record important experiences. Think of different topics for your child to write about, such as their daily activities, their hopes and dreams, what they would like to do when they grow up, etc.