Every year, our non-fiction reading unit seems to be the biggest hit of all the reading units. Students love non-fiction, particularly because they’ve read so many fiction picture books by this time, whether through read-alouds, with caretakers growing up, etc. Here’s a list of my 5 favorite non-fiction series for kindergarten, first, and second graders.
#1: Fly Guy Presents Series
My first grade students always loved the Fly Guy series. So, when Fly Guy Presents books came out, they were a huge hit. These books are unique because it’s a fiction character teaching non-fiction content. Some of the different books include: weather, monster trucks, castles, bats, police officers, firefighters, etc. Check out the Fly Guy Series here.
#2: National Geographic Kids Readers
The National Geographic Kids Readers are leveled non-fiction texts about topics students will enjoy. They have clear, real-life photographs and you can find many non-fiction text features throughout these texts. They have many topics to choose from, like animals, vehicles, places, space, and more.
#3: What If You Had Animal… Series
The “What If You Had Animal…” series is so much fun because it shows fictional characters with the animal part. One page with have an informative page about the animal while the neighboring page has a fictional child with the part like the animal. Students always get a kick out of the pictures and find the information so interesting!
#4: Who Would Win? Series
These texts are fun for compare and contrast, as well as teaching non-fiction. Students will love learning about all the animals that are “battling” it out. The whole series is full of real photos, interesting facts, and realistic illustrations that your students will love.
#5: Gail Gibbons
The non-fiction books by Gail Gibbons are a great addition to any classroom library. Her texts are full of rich information with beautiful illustrations. Her topics range from spiders to pumpkins to planets to the plant life cycle to how a house is built and more!
Grab A Non-Fiction Freebie
If you’re looking for more resources to teach and review non-fiction books and text features, make sure to check out our non-fiction bingo boards! Click here to get them sent directly to your inbox!
Make sure to check out our non-fiction reading unit as well! It includes:
- 21 anchor charts for each text feature
- reading passages
- small group activities
- reading centers
- scavenger hunt booklet
- write the room
- and much more!
You can see more either on Teachers Pay Teachers or our Missing Tooth Grins Store!
Other blog posts you may enjoy:
