Becoming Nonfiction Authors: Engaging in Science Inquiry

Abstract

This article describes how second-grade students’ literacy learning was enhanced as they used their developing knowledge of nonfiction in an integrated English language arts/science unit toward the creation of multimodal nonfiction science books. After explaining the Common Core State Standards that guided the unit, the author outlines the theoretical practices of project-based learning that informed the teacher's instruction. Then, the author explores how the teacher guided her students to an understanding of the genre and positioned her students as authors of nonfiction, taking readers through an outline of the students’ process of creating research questions, writing in their own words, establishing a purpose for their writing, and conveying scientific information through multiple modes. As a result, students had a deeper understanding of the genre of nonfiction and were engaged in scientific inquiry, learning how to convey and share nonfiction information through multimodal books.