Teaching students to distinguish among fiction and nonfiction genres, then, and to understand the strategies used in nonfiction, would help them understand the ‘constructedness,’ in Bruce Pirie’s terminology, of both fiction and nonfiction” [1]. This article discusses the importance of teaching students about the “constructedness” of both fiction and nonfiction texts, and suggests that helping students understand the strategies used in nonfiction can be especially helpful
Evan-Moor’s teacher blog provides a helpful overview of why reading nonfiction is important and how to teach it [2]. This post includes information about how reading nonfiction can help build knowledge, connect children from different cultures, and teach important vocabulary.
A research paper on ResearchGate titled “Teaching Nonfiction through Rhetorical Reading” provides information on how rhetorical reading can be adapted for non-fiction text teaching [3]. The paper discusses how rhetorical reading can be used to help students analyze the purpose, audience, and context of nonfiction texts, and provides examples of how rhetorical reading can be applied in the classroom.