Scavenger Hunt for Nonfiction Books

As a teacher and parent, I notice that most kids gravitate to fiction books. But, it’s important for children to be reading and comprehending nonfiction books, too. (Expository text.) Because reading for meaning in informational texts will be a big factor in educational success in the upper grades and life.

Kids use different reading comprehension strategies with expository text than with narrative text. It helps to consider text structure to understand the organization of the text.

How do you get kids to read nonfiction books? Start with nonfiction picture books when children are young and continue to provide access to a wide variety of nonfiction books.

I’ve made this fun nonfiction scavenger hunt to help entice your kids back into nonfiction. (If they’re not currently reading it already.)

Of course, some kids do prefer informational books. I had a 5th grader who would ONLY read the encyclopedia and it was a challenge to get her to read a chapter book. She’s a lawyer now so I guess it all worked out.

DOWNLOAD THE SCAVENGER HUNT HERE

Scavenger Hunt for Nonfiction Books

If you don’t have nonfiction books at home, visit the library (when it’s open) and peruse the shelves. It’s fun to get acquainted with the nonfiction sections! Grab a lot of books, fill a book bag, and explore new and favorite topics from animals to the water cycle.

Teachers, you can use this scavenger hunt to reinforce common elements of expository text. This hunt works best with traditional nonfiction book format, not nonfiction picture books.

What should kids notice about nonfiction books? Things like the title, table of contents, illustrations, key words, and so forth–in other words, the elements I’ve listed in this scavenger hunt.