Premium
Using and Sharing Ideas from Information Books in the Context of a Primary School Project
Author(s) -
Mallett Margaret
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
british educational research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.171
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1469-3518
pISSN - 0141-1926
DOI - 10.1080/0141192920180105
Subject(s) - nature versus nurture , narrative , reading (process) , context (archaeology) , pedagogy , sociology , mathematics education , epistemology , psychology , linguistics , paleontology , philosophy , anthropology , biology
This article aims to bring together understandings about how children learn and to apply them to their reading of information books, particularly those organised on a non‐narrative principle. First, the nature of the challenge non‐narrative writing poses is considered. There follows an attempt to draw, from what is known in theory about how children learn, some factors which may help teachers nurture this kind of reading. Features of the texts which link with children's ability to learn from them are also examined. An analysis of a case study, project work on ‘Squirrels’, suggests how factors which appear to be important in making progress in this kind of reading might be built into everyday practice. It is argued throughout that it is spoken language which can reinforce a sense of purpose and audience in the context of children's collaborative effort to make sense of ideas in books.