Nonfiction Storytime, Part 3

Step 1: The first step is your selec­tion of non­fic­tion books. You can select books that con­nect to the theme of your pro­gram, top­ics that are pop­u­lar with this age group, and/or books that are new to the library.

Step 2: The sec­ond step is the design of the immer­sive learn­ing expe­ri­ence. Read through the text and focus on a few facts to high­light in sto­ry­time. Read a non­fic­tion book dur­ing sto­ry­time. Look at the images and devel­op an immer­sive activity(ies). Immer­sive learn­ing should enhance the read­ers’ expe­ri­ence. You might include sounds such as ani­mals or rain, hands-on sen­so­ry activ­i­ties, vir­tu­al expe­ri­ences such as ani­mals in their nat­ur­al habi­tat, or include cul­tur­al­ly-focused activities.

Step 3:  The third step is to think about part­ner­ship oppor­tu­ni­ties. In my expe­ri­ence, reach­ing out to local part­ners ele­vates the read­ing expe­ri­ence. Spe­cif­ic to immer­sive learn­ing, some com­mu­ni­ty part­ners to con­sid­er reach­ing out to include a farmer, a gar­den club, emer­gency respon­ders, a com­mu­ni­ty learn­ing exten­sion office, a con­ser­va­tion­ist, a musi­cian, a den­tist, and a vet­eri­nar­i­an. A local part­ner can cre­ate immer­sive expe­ri­ences for fam­i­lies such as demon­strat­ing the use of musi­cal instru­ments, allow­ing nature explo­ration, explor­ing an emer­gency vehi­cle, or learn­ing about a new cul­ture. The activ­i­ties that are devel­oped by part­ners should ele­vate the non­fic­tion books you select­ed for your program.