Engaging students in nonfiction: Insights from an Accelerated Reader quiz writer

Renaissance’s annual What Kids Are Reading report highlights popular books from kindergarten through grade 12, using data from our Accelerated Reader and myON programs. In browsing the report’s grade-level book lists, you’ll find a number of well-known fiction titles, from The Very Hungry Caterpillar for early readers to 1984 for high schoolers.

You’ll also find engaging nonfiction titles. These begin in kindergarten and the early grades, with books such as Fast Cars and Where Butterflies Fill the Sky. Popular nonfiction titles then continue through middle and high school, with books such as Smile, I Remember, What Do We Know About the Solar System?, Mountains Beyond Mountains, Night, and more.

In this blog, we’ll explore the benefits of nonfiction reading for students—and interview an Accelerated Reader quiz writer about engaging nonfiction titles.

Benefits of nonfiction books for students: Building 21st century skills

The research is clear that reading nonfiction offers a number of benefits for K–12 students. For example, most children are naturally curious about the world around them. Nonfiction books present real information in engaging and interesting ways, helping to answer students’ questions and sparking new interests to explore through reading.

Also, nonfiction is often more information- and vocabulary-rich than fiction, which helps students to build essential background knowledge and vocabulary, and strengthens overall reading comprehension. As the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) points out, nonfiction can also:

• Introduce students to an array of topics across subject areas
• Present cutting-edge research and scientific discoveries
• Offer new perspectives on current and historical events
• Expose students to multiple subgenres, visual elements, and text features

In this way, nonfiction “supports students’ development as critically, visually, and informationally literate 21st century thinkers and creators,” the NCTE explains.

Motivating students to read more nonfiction

For more than 35 years, educators have used Accelerated Reader to motivate and monitor students’ reading practice. AR now supports more than 220,000 titles, nearly 50 percent of which are nonfiction. AR helps students to:

• Find engaging titles that match their interests and reading level
• Build background knowledge, expand vocabulary, and strengthen comprehension through independent reading
• Track progress toward individualized goals
• Show what they know through reading comprehension quizzes and regular check-ins with their teacher

Nonfiction books for students: An interview with an AR quiz writer

The talented people who write quizzes for Accelerated Reader have one thing in common—a love of reading and a commitment to literacy and learning. Ellen C., a quiz writer for 24 years, is no exception. We recently had the opportunity to discuss AR quizzes with Ellen, and we asked her to share some favorite nonfiction (and fiction) titles for students.

Q: How did your love of reading come about?

I learned to love to read in a one-room school, and also at home. It was just me in first grade, and I had the teacher’s sole attention for about 20–30 minutes each day. During this time, she focused on phonics. An eighth-grade girl would then read to me and draw on a blackboard with colored chalk. I would also listen to the older students discuss books.

This was in the 1960s, but our home didn’t have a TV. My parents subscribed to newspapers, magazines, and—for me—Walt Disney comics. I’d come home from school and read the newspaper comics right away. Today, I’m very fond of graphic novels.

Q: How does your background inform your work as an Accelerated Reader quiz writer?

I grew up on a farm, and books were my primary way of learning about the wider world. As a child, I was especially fascinated by a book about London, which showed before-and-after photos of St. Paul’s Cathedral and other sites that had been damaged in World War II. Those grainy black-and-white photos made a big impression on me, and really sparked my interest in history and travel.

In 1973, I went on a student trip to the Soviet Union, and I visited both Kiev and Odessa—a rare opportunity at that time. I later worked for a daily newspaper, and I lived in Turkey for two years in the 1980s. These experiences led me to learn more about the region’s history and geography, and I still read a lot of books about the Middle East and Russia.

In terms of AR quizzes, I tend to focus on nonfiction titles for the middle and upper grades. I consider myself a lifelong learner, and I’m always ready to explore new topics and ideas, and to expand my horizons.

Q: What are some of your favorite nonfiction titles for students from your work with Accelerated Reader?

Recently, I read an excellent graphic memoir, Muhammad Najem: War Reporter, about a Syrian boy who used social media to provide on-the-ground reporting during the Syrian Civil War. I also really enjoyed Seen and Unseen: What Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams’s Photographs Reveal About the Japanese American Incarceration—a short book with a very long title!

Both of these books convey a lot of information with a few words and powerful images. Some other nonfiction books I’ve recently enjoyed, and learned from, are:

• Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown by Steve Sheinkin, about the Cuban Missile Crisis. This book is written like a thriller novel and really had me turning pages. It shows how one man—a Soviet officer named Vasily Arkhipov—made a life-or-death decision that ultimately averted a nuclear war.
• Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinones, which is probably the best nonfiction title I’ve read for AR. The book focuses on the key factors—such as the loss of manufacturing jobs and aggressive marketing by pharmaceutical companies—that have led to the rapid growth in opioid addiction. It’s both complex and truly eye-opening.
• Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America by Candacy Taylor, about the challenges that Black Americans faced while traveling in the 1940s and 1950s. This was another eye-opening read, which also showed how Black veterans of World War II were often denied access to low-interest home loans and other veterans’ benefits.

Q: Turning to fiction for a moment, you wrote the AR quiz for Tales from a Not-so-Posh Paris Adventure—the second most requested title last school year. Why is this book so popular?

Tales from a Not-So-Posh Paris Adventure is one of the funniest and most enjoyable graphic novels I’ve read for AR. It’s part of the Dork Diaries series by Rachel Renée Russell, and it has a hilarious storyline with charming drawings. And, of course, it’s set in Paris!

Growing up, I was a huge fan of the Madeline series by Ludwig Bemelmans, which is also set in Paris and features memorable art and poetry. As one of my fellow AR quiz writers recently pointed out, book series are an excellent way to motivate more student reading, and there are plenty of fiction and nonfiction series to choose from.

Q: What are some other popular fiction titles for students that you’ve written AR quizzes for?

I Survived the Great Chicago Fire tells the story of a Minnesota farm boy who experiences the fire of 1871. It’s part of the I Survived series by Lauren Tarshis, and it’s filled with vivid images that make students feel the terrifying heat of the blaze and crackle of the flames.

While reading it, I looked at Chicago maps to see if the fire burned near Maxwell Street. I remember my grandmother talking about the vendors who hawked their wares from pushcarts there when she was a girl, so I wanted to see whether that street had been affected.

I also discovered that an even more deadly fire broke out on the same night in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, driven by the same strong winds and dry conditions. This is one example of how fiction can lead students to nonfiction titles to explore topics in greater depth, such as urbanization, lumbering practices, firefighting, and more.

Another wonderful fiction title is The One and Only Ruby. This is a bittersweet story about an elephant who is growing up and developing tusks, which will put her in danger from poachers. Her mother had been killed by poachers, and I think it has valuable lessons about life for middle-schoolers. It can also spark students’ interest in nonfiction about elephants and other wildlife—and the work that’s being done around the world to protect animals and their habitats.

Q: What’s your process for writing individual AR quiz questions?

I think about quizzes all the time when I’m in the middle of writing. I can be riding in the car, taking a walk, or trying to fall asleep at night, and I find myself thinking about quiz questions. Sometimes I’ll read a short book before going to bed, and during the night my subconscious (or unconscious?) comes up with ideas while I sleep—it’s like magic!

Q: Being a quiz writer is a tremendous skill. What’s the most challenging aspect of writing an Accelerated Reader quiz?

My first editor, who was brilliant and rather exacting, once told me that each line of a quiz is like a “mini term paper,” given the amount of thought involved. The quiz questions have to be challenging for students, but not tricky. Also, the incorrect responses—known as distractors—have to be false, but not ridiculously so. We write questions with four answer choices, and I’ve had to scrap questions simply because I couldn’t come up with a third plausible distractor.

Q: How has your process for writing AR quizzes changed over the years?

If I’m writing a standard ten-question quiz, my process has always been to divide the book into ten parts and take notes as I read. I list proper names and physical objects to use in the distractors. I’ve learned that it’s best to write questions as I read, especially with a longer book. Sometimes, though, the first questions turn out to be useless—especially in a mystery novel!

One major process change occurred in 2020, however. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were no longer able to visit the Renaissance office to pick up physical books, so the entire team began reading books electronically. This required changes to our processes, but we worked through them and continued to publish new AR quizzes for students throughout the pandemic.

I’m truly lucky to work with such a resilient and dedicated team of people.

Q: What’s the one thing you’d like educators and families to know about Accelerated Reader and the quiz writing process?

I’m repeating myself, but writing Accelerated Reader quizzes is hard work. Occasionally, a quiz will seem to “write itself,” but that’s rare for me. We have well over 200,000 AR quizzes, and they represent many hours of serious thinking to create the best experience for students.