Summary of William Hogarth
Best remembered for his intricate and satirical prints, Hogarth was a varied and prolific artist who mastered a range of styles and genres ranging from conversation pieces and realistic portraiture to grotesque caricature. He was the most significant artist of his generation and the first English-born artist to attract attention abroad. Hogarth invented the idea of a narrative series of prints, which told a story through a number of images, and he produced a significant number on "modern moral subjects" from prostitution to politics. In doing so he provided a visceral social commentary, highlighting and lampooning corruption and presenting images of the seedy underbelly of London, which had rarely been portrayed before. It was these unique prints that brought him wealth and fame in his own lifetime and beyond, as well as influencing the work of 18th century novelists in their subject matter and focus on individual narratives. The prints can also be seen as the forerunner of cartoons and comic strips.
- Hogarth drew readily on the scenes of everyday life that he had witnessed growing up in relative poverty as a child. His engravings often depict those trying to survive on the fringes of society and his prints are characterized by an incredible eye for detail (including many subtle puns and references), an often bawdy and ribald humor, and an ability to render striking and individual faces.
- After witnessing the widescale plagiarism of his first series of prints, A Harlot's Progress (1732) by competing engravers who produced cheap and inferior copies, Hogarth lobbied for the introduction of copyright protection for engravers. This was enacted in 1735, and became known as Hogarth's Law - it was one of the first of its kind in the world.
- Hogarth is viewed as the founding member of The English School, the dominant school of painting in the UK throughout the late 18th and early 19th centuries and the first distinctly native style that the country produced. His paintings drew on the French Rococo aesthetic but Hogarth added a layer of realism to his work which was innovative. This coupled with his ambition, popularity, and storytelling ability went on to influence the works of Reynolds and Gainsborough amongst others.
Important Art by William Hogarth
A Harlot's Progress - Plate III
This plate was the third in a series of six engravings (based on paintings of the same name) that charts young Moll Hackabout's life in London. The fictional character came to the capital from the country in the hope of finding work in service. Instead she is taken advantage of and becomes a high-class prostitute, before falling on the hard times depicted in plate III. By plate IV she is dying, toothless and pockmarked by venereal disease, while the final plate shows her funeral wake with her young illegitimate son sitting by her coffin.
In this composition, Hogarth mimics the very common religious depiction of the Annunciation, to satirically highlight the fall of the young woman. Moll is in shabby room in Drury Lane, getting out of bed after a leisurely lie-in. The witch's hat and switch on the wall communicate to the viewer that her current position necessitate her to indulge in flagellation and black magic. Above her bed is a box belonging to the famous highwayman James Dalton, suggesting that he is now her principal lover. She is less well dressed than in the previous plate and she dangles a watch from her fingers, no doubt obtained illegally from the previous night's customer. The piece is full of pictorial puns and detailed references including the domestic cat at Moll's feet which hints at her profession.
Moll's ultimate downfall is foreshadowed by the serving woman at her side, who has lost part of her nose to syphilis, and has a sore on her face. While Moll looks smiling and suggestively at the viewer, behind her a magistrate and officers enter to arrest her. As writer Susan Elizabeth Benenson writes: "Like his great predecessor, the 16th-century Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Hogarth wanted to extract entertaining and instructive incidents from life. In telling the story of a young country girl's corruption in London and her consequent miseries, he not only ridiculed the viciousness and follies of society but painted an obvious moral."
This work was instrumental in securing Hogarth's reputation as the great moral and satirical artist of his time. The use of multiple scenes in his work allowed him a more complex narrative, and led to his reception as a "literary artist". 18th century essayist and poet Charles Lamb wrote: "His graphic representations are indeed books: they have the teeming, fruitful, suggestive meaning of words. Other pictures we look at - his prints, we read." The original paintings were destroyed in a fire in 1755. In 2006 the works were taken as inspiration for the film A Harlot's Progress, directed by Justin Hardy.
Etching and engraving - Andrew Edmunds, London
A Rake's Progress
The Tavern Scene, plate III of the Rake's Progress Series, shows a debauched and lively evening of drinking at the heart of which is Tom Rakewell, the anti-hero of the work. Another fictional character, Tom, like Moll, came to the city to build a life, only to succumb to its temptations. The previous two plates show Tom returning from University to learn his wealthy father has died, leaving him everything. He immediately shuns his pregnant girlfriend, and by plate III we find him drunk in the early hours at a brothel. At his side is a prostitute with a face pock-marked by venereal disease, reaching under his shirt, probably to rob him. Surrounding him are other fallen characters; a stripper undresses in the foreground, a tradesman to the rear fondles a prostitute, and two women prepare for a spitting contest.
Before he produced engravings of the series of paintings, Hogarth exhibited the oils in his home, as a preview. They acted as an advert for the prints which he later sold on subscription. In the work we see Hogarth's expertise in creating a claustrophobic intimacy that forces us to look at the subjects, and therefore our own experience, as they gamble, cheat, and ultimately fail. The rake in this case ends up being arrested and ends his days in Bedlam, a London asylum.
As Christine Riding explains: "Hogarth in a masterly way presented each scene with a realism and intimacy that established his artistic identity as the roving satirist who observes with an unflinching eye the seedier side of London life." Ultimately, it was his skill in doing this, his eye for detail, and his ability to create comedy and caricature, that made him famous.
Oil on canvas - Sir John Soane's Museum, London
Marriage à la Mode: I The Marriage Settlement
Another of Hogarth's series, Marriage à la Mode tells the story of a disastrous union of convenience, between a profligate aristocrat's son and the daughter of an aspiring middle-class merchant - the sole purpose of which is the exchange of wealth for social status. This first scene The Marriage Settlement sets the stage, making it clear that this is a business arrangement, rather than a union of love. This is echoed in the dark and somber room in which the couple themselves have been pushed to the side of the canvas. The bride, dressed in white is almost doubled over in sadness as she grips at her handkerchief, indicating tears shed. She faces away from her foppish betrothed who, caught in his own reverie as he stares at his reflection, is completely oblivious to the business dealings going on around them.
The groom's father can be seen on the right of the canvas, gesturing to himself proudly while he rests his gout-ridden and bandaged foot on a stool. With his other hand he points to a family tree, indicating an unlikely lineage that goes back to the Normans. The message is clear; he is selling his son for cash. Meanwhile, the rich merchant on the other end of the transaction is flanked by his lawyer. The house framed in the window encapsulates the symbolism of the work; it is all for show, like the marriage.
The work has its origins in Dutch and French group portraiture, but in Hogarth's conversation piece, he uses satire to take it to another level. Historian Professor Amanda Vickery described the work as a "vicious depiction of aristocratic culture and marriage as barter and sale. The fact that this will be utterly loveless marriage is signified by two chained dogs - it will be a prison." This series was one of Hogarth's most popular and both the original paintings and the later engravings exemplify his skill in composition and in rendering individual characters. The work inspired James McNeil Whistler when he saw it exhibited at the National Gallery.
Oil on canvas - The National Gallery
The Painter and his Pug
Although finished in 1745, Hogarth actually began this painting around a decade before and X-rays show that he made various alterations over the period. He had originally painted himself in a wig and formally attired, but at some point he decided rather than a gentleman painter, he wanted to present himself as an artisan and introduced the hat and banyan (an informal robe). At the front of the work is Trump, Hogarth's pet pug. This is a very personal touch and possibly a reference to his pugnacious personality. Hogarth's image is displayed on an oval canvas which rests on three books by well-known English authors; Shakespeare, representing drama, Milton, representing epic poetry and Swift, for satire, the three tropes on which Hogarth built his oeuvre. In the foreground is a palette, emphasizing Hogarth's career in painting. The palette bears an s-shaped curve and the words "the line of beauty". In introducing these elements, Hogarth pre-empts his later treatise on The Analysis of Beauty and shows that he was already formulating the ideas that he presented in it.
Biographer Jenny Uglow wrote that the work should "be labelled a still life not a self-portrait - nature morte - not vivant. It is a painting of a painting, an oval stretched on the canvas with the nails still showing. In these receding dimensions, the pug who sits in front of the painting is more 'real; than his 'painted' master." This reflects Hogarth's lively sense of humor, as his beloved pet dog becomes a focal point of his own self portrait. In this same humorous vein, Trump appears in a number of Hogarth's other paintings, including as a puppy in The Fountaine Family (1730) and in Captain Lord George Graham in his Cabin (1746) in which he is portrayed wearing Graham's wig. The painting demonstrates both Hogarth's professional ambition as a painter and his skill in portraiture, evident in the use of color and tone and his assured brushstrokes.
Oil on canvas - Collection of the Tate, United Kingdom
The Analysis of Beauty - Plate II [The Country Dance]
This engraving, taken from Hogarth's book on beauty, acts as a demonstration of his key tenets. He employs the serpentine line throughout in an assertion of his belief that it was both beautiful and graceful. The artist wanted to propose a counter-argument to conventional teaching in art, an "alternative to the classicising aesthetic of the connoisseurs". The heart of his argument, according to art historian Christine Riding, was that the serpentine line was the essence of beauty, "as opposed to the straight lines that were emblematic of classism and the vulgar, exaggerated curve, both of which lacked 'variety'."
The scene shows a country dance and is characteristically busy with human activity. Curving lines can be seen in the dynamism of the dancers, the ruffles of their clothes in movement, the candelabra, and even the overall shape of the dance line. Framing the work on all sides are sketches that illustrate Hogarth's teachings. Elsewhere in the text Hogarth focuses on the real female form as a source of beauty, rather than inert marble busts from antiquity. A reference to this can be spotted in figure 74 in which a woman dressed in a toga comes alive, as if stepping off her plinth and into the dance. Whilst Hogarth's theories were predominantly well received, there were some dissenting voices who satirized and ridiculed the publication. Nevertheless, Riding notes that The Analysis of Beauty was a "complex, innovative and thoroughly modern theory on art, beauty and life. The concept reverberates even today, and is explored in Alan Hollinghurst's Booker-winning novel of 2005 The Line of Beauty.
Etching and engraving - Andrew Edmunds, London
Hogarth produced this engraving as a counter to the gin-craze that he could see gripping London. In the foreground of this urban dystopia, are instances of infanticide (committed by a half-naked women covered in syphilitic sores) and starvation caused by the spirit, while behind a rabble causes chaos, destitute tradesmen sell their tools to buy more gin and a woman pours alcohol into an infant's mouth. There are also instances of suicide, madness, and murder. These activities are seen as foreshadowing wider societal breakdown, symbolized by the collapsing building in the distance.
The work was produced in tandem with the writing of Henry Fielding, a judge and one of Hogarth's friends. Fielding published influential writings examining the rise of crime and social unrest that accompanied mass urban migration into the capital during the first half of the 18th century. These problems were caused, in part, by a 1689 Act of Parliament that banned the import of French wine and spirits. As a result, gin, originally a foreign spirit, began to be produced in England. It was cheap and addictive and was seen to have an impact on health, productivity and crime. Gin Lane formed part of the campaign in support of the 1751 Gin Act, which aimed to reduce drinking in a bid to curb social disorder.
As art historian, Mark Hallett notes this work acted as a "horrific social satire in which anonymous, poverty-stricken alcoholics, their features depicted in the boldest of engraved lines, sprawl, fight and die among the ruins of a collapsing city". The prints were aimed to shock the working classes into reformation and would have sold for a cheaper price than Hogarth's previous prints. This ensured a larger circulation, but the cost would still have been prohibitive for many. The print was, however, displayed in shop windows, workshops, coffee houses, and taverns increasing its impact.
The piece forms one of a pair with Beer Street and the two were created to be viewed in unison. Unlike Gin Lane, Beer Street celebrates the traditionally British brewed drink, linking it to prosperity, health, and happiness and positing it as an alternative to gin. There are numerous links between the two pictures, for instance the pawnbrokers seen as so active in Gin Lane is dilapidated and run down in Beer Street as no one has need of it. These two pieces, along with works such as The Four Stages of Cruelty (1751), mark Hogarth's move away from satirizing fashionable high society to presenting a biting commentary on crime and poverty.
Etching and engraving - Collection of the Tate, United Kingdom
Biography of William Hogarth
Childhood and Early Training
William Hogarth was born on November 10th, 1697 in London. His father, Richard, was a classical scholar, but although well-educated, was not wealthy, making a precarious living as a schoolmaster, from writing Latin and Greek textbooks and, later, as a coffee house proprietor. The Hogarth family moved a number of times during Hogarth's early years, but always remained within the bustling East End of the city, near to Smithfield Market.
In 1705, William's older brother (also named Richard) died at the age of ten. Infant mortality rates were high and an older brother and two sisters had already died before Hogarth was born; only William and his sisters Mary and Ann survived to adulthood. Hogarth biographer, Jenny Uglow writes: "In those days, children were not kept away when sickness struck. Rooms were darkened, parents wept, and local women came in to lay out small bodies. Bereft of his older brother, [William] had to adjust to the new role as the eldest child."
Around 1708, the Hogarth coffee house failed and Hogarth's father fell into debt, resulting in him being detained in Fleet prison. The family moved to cramped rooms nearby in Black and White Court and Richard was allowed to join them at this address in 1709, the property being within the bounds of the wider prison jurisdiction. It is probable that his mother Anne and Wiliam himself, as the eldest son, worked to maintain the family during the four years that his father was imprisoned. Both London's East End and the area around Fleet Prison was impoverished and crime-ridden at the time, and it is probable that Hogarth's birthplace and childhood homes had a significant impact on his later career and choice of subjects.
During his father's incarceration, Hogarth is unlikely to have attended school as this cost money, but it is probable, given his competence in Latin and French, that his father tutored him in these subjects. At the age of 16, Hogarth was apprenticed to a silver engraver, engraving items such as watch cases, plates and cutlery, usually with heraldic designs. Although he quickly became bored by his work, Hogarth was a sociable and convivial character, and during his days as an apprentice enjoyed the hubbub of London life. He would visit coffee houses and theaters, befriending writers, musicians and actors and his love of the theater can be seen the theatricality of many of his later works. He also liked to walk, and would explore the city streets, sketching the characters that he saw around him.
In 1720, Hogarth left his apprenticeship early and, at the age of 23, successfully set up his own shop offering silver engraving as well as copper etched plates for printing business cards and book illustrations. It is not clear where he learnt this skill, but he was clearly adept at it by this date when he produced his own shop card by way of advertisement.
Eager to develop his drawing and painting, he started attending classes in St Martin's Lane and in 1724 he joined a drawing school at the home of history painter Sir James Thornhill, an artist he had long admired. At the age of 30, Hogarth began his painting career in earnest, and found success producing "conversation pieces" for wealthy patrons. These paintings showed groups of men and women at leisure and were rooted in the Rococo work of Antoine Watteau. He sometimes found these paintings tedious, however, and as a way of alleviating the boredom he also began to produce sketches and engravings of humorous everyday scenes, pieces that would pave the way for his later works of commentary on contemporary life.
In March 1729 Hogarth eloped with Thornhill's daughter Jane. They did not have any children, but had a long and happy marriage living in between London and the Essex countryside. The following year he began his work on his groundbreaking A Harlot's Progress, a series of six paintings (which he copied and circulated widely as prints) that told a story of a young women's corruption and subsequent decline in London. It was a critical and commercial success, bringing him recognition, and financial and artistic independence. The money generated by the work also allowed Hogarth and his wife to move to London's more fashionable West End.
The series became so popular that it was widely copied and produced as cheap, inferior engravings for the mass market by Hogarth's competitors. As Hogarth received no payment for these copies and the poor nature of the artwork damaged his reputation, Hogarth lobbied parliament to provide legal copyright protection for engravers such as himself. This was passed in 1735 as The Engraving Copyright Act, also known as Hogarth's Law, and was one of the first of its kind in the world. Although he had completed The Rake's Progress, his second series of images, he waited to publish until the law was fully passed.
Hogarth continued to socialize with other artists and designers, frequenting the well-known Old Slaughter's Coffee House on St Martin's Lane, a haunt for intellectuals. From here he set up the St Martin's Lane Academy in 1735, a precursor to the Royal Academy, which was not formally established until more than three decades later.
Hogarth followed the same pattern for a number of his later works, producing a series of paintings, and then selling the prints of them at a price that targeted the new, moneyed middle classes. He saw real success from his series Marriage A-la-Mode (1745) which was aimed specifically at a middle-class audience in that it poked fun at the aristocracy. The six-part series told the story of the fictional aristocratic family The Squanderfields who had fallen on hard times. Their solution was to marry their son into a wealthy merchant family, but this marriage of convenience ended in disaster, as the final plate demonstrated.
Hogarth also continued to produce paintings and was a skilled portrait painter and colorist, but the success of his prints eclipsed public appetite for his painting. Around 1740 he produced a full-length portrait of philanthropist and founder of the Foundling Hospital, Captain Thomas Coram, which was widely praised and imitated. By 1751, however, Hogarth had become disillusioned by the disappointing amount of money his paintings made at auction. As writer Susan Elizabeth Benenson says: "Hogarth, in anger and mortification, retreated into aggrieved isolation, pursuing his philanthropic interests but adopting, in public, a defiant and defensive pose that involved him in increasingly rancorous debate on artistic matters." He took on a number of charitable roles and began to produce prints that were more focused on poverty and social issues.
In 1753 he wrote The Analysis of Beauty, an aesthetic treatise in which he rejected the formal style and proportions of the Italian Old Masters, expressed the importance of variety in art, and pro-posed that the serpentine line was central to all forms of beauty. The book sold well, but also opened him up to criticism from the establishment and most prominently by the young artist, Paul Sandby who created a number of satirical prints directly targeting Hogarth and his work. The book was heavily influenced by Hogarth's own practices and it had limited impact on the work of other contemporary painters. In his enthusiasm for the serpentine line, however, Hogarth reflected the art and design of the Rococo and preempted its importance in the later Art Nouveau movement.
In 1759 Hogarth produced a work entitled Sigismunda Mourning over the Heart of Guiscardo, which he had hoped would establish him as a respected history painter, but the wealthy patron who had commissioned it, Sir Richard Grosvenor, rejected it. It also received a number of poor re-views. Hogarth was furious and humiliated and in response to criticism, he removed it from exhibi-tion.
Hogarth returned to prints in 1762, producing The Times, a series of elaborate political allegories which shocked and divided the public. Offending right-leaning journalists, a counter attack was launched and Hogarth himself, again, became the subject of satire. Journalists and activists, John Wilkes and Charles Churchill accused Hogarth of falling into moral, mental and physical decline. A feud was born that lasted the rest of the artist's life. Hogarth died at home on October 25, 1764 from a ruptured artery and was buried near his second home in the countryside of Chiswick.
The Legacy of William Hogarth
Hogarth had been controversial among his peers. As Stephen Deuchar noted, when he was director of Tate Britain: "Hogarth's contemporaries found him always 'ingenious', variously zealous, flamboyant and self-righteous - a consummate operator and occasionally naive...His art was rarely considered to lie amidst the realms of greatness occupied by the Old Masters, whose uncritical devotees he so readily mocked."
This statement is supported by the writings of Joshua Reynolds, first president of the Royal Academy, who rejected Hogarth's attempts at history painting. In 1788, Reynolds said Hogarth should be celebrated for inventing "a species of dramatic painting" and for his ability "to explain and illustrate the domestic and familiar scenes of common life", but that his ambitions in the "great historical style" were not only impudent but presumptuous.
Hogarth's work, however, did lay the foundations for the English School of Art, a movement which marked the emergence of a national artistic tradition. As art critic Jonathan Jones says: "Before Hogarth, there was not really any such thing as British art. There was art made in Britain, by such great European masters as Rubens and Van Dyck. But it was Hogarth who created the idea of a British school."
Though the artist was praised and remembered after his death - especially in terms of the variety of work he produced, Hogarth's legacy wasn't fully appreciated in his lifetime. As John Constable said: "Hogarth has no school, nor has he ever been imitated with tolerable success." Hogarth later found following in the Romanticism movement especially in literature. His series led the way in the exploration of individual experience, which became a key motif of 18th century novels.
Hogarth's work was also hugely important in promoting British painting and engravings abroad. He had a profound influence on James McNeill Whistler, who in 1901 campaigned for Hogarth's Chiswick home to be preserved for future generations, writing angrily that "I am told that nothing official has been done, either by the Government, or The Royal Academy, to keep in respect the memory of [the nation's] one 'Master' who, outside of England, still is 'Great'." Whistler had been given a book of Hogarth's engravings as a child, and was inspired by the artists' paintings - specifically his brushwork and use of color. His multi-focal compositions can also be seen as inspirations in the work of David Wilkie (who was celebrated as "the Hogarth of his day"), William Powell and Ford Madox Brown.
Today Hogarth is best recognized as a satirist, who, as art historian Mark Hallett notes "offered an acidic and sometimes comic vision of a society mired in corruption and hypocrisy, and who told remarkable pictorial stories about the flawed and ill-fated individuals - prostitutes, rakes, alcoholics, yokels, thieves and murderers - who lived and died outside the boundaries of respectable society".
Influences and Connections
Useful Resources on William Hogarth
- The Analysis of BeautyBy William Hogarth
- HogarthOur PickBy Mark Hallett and Christine Riding
- Hogarth (Art and Ideas)By Mark Hallett
- William Hogarth: A Life and a WorldOur PickBy Jenny Uglow


What Teachers Need to Know About the "New" Nonfiction
Children's nonfiction picture books is a genre that is exploding in both quality and quantity. Recent nonfiction books reveal an emphasis on the visual, an emphasis on accuracy, and an engaging writing style. Suggestions are included for choosing and using nonfiction picture books in the classroom.
"Hey, kids! Did you know that in the 1930s most Americans did not own TVs? But you know what they did have? The radio!" So begins the text of Aliens Are Coming! The True Account of the 1938 War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast (McCarthy, 2006). In these few words, author and illustrator Meghan McCarthy invites young readers into the book by using a reader-friendly tone, asking a question to make the reading interactive, and helping readers make connections between their experiences with television and the way people in the 1930s experienced radio. Even before they begin to read the text, however, children are attracted to this book by the cover, end papers, and title page. Illustrated in cartoon style, the cover features two green aliens with eyes on stalks and octopus-like appendages. The title is done in a childlike font, and the word Coming looks like it is written in oozing green goo. The endpapers show cartoon spaceships and flying saucers, while on the title page a cartoon alien points toward the earth. The title, with its exclamation point and colorful block letters, is reminiscent of an old-time movie poster. Together these features give the book a light-hearted tone and invite children inside.
Written with only a few lines per page, the book tells the story of Orson Welles's famous radio broadcast that caused widespread fear and panic. Illustrations in black and white depict scenes of the 1930s, while bright colors are used to show how people imagined the scenes being described on the radio. Excerpts from the text of the radio broadcast help readers understand the impact of the broadcast on radio listeners. Detailed endnotes give more information about the story of the broadcast and include a sidebar about H.G. Wells and a bibliography.
Aliens Are Coming! is just one of many recent nonfiction books that have features that attract young readers, help them learn about a topic, and invite further thinking and exploration. The purpose of this article is to help teachers understand and share the features of these new nonfiction picture books, a genre that is exploding in both quantity and quality.
The rise of nonfiction
Although teachers today use many trade books in their classrooms, most of these are fiction (Duke, 2000). For years, fictional stories were thought to be more appropriate for young children, and few nonfiction books were written for younger readers. Nonfiction was virtually ignored by children's literature experts and teachers alike (Moss, 2003). In recent years, however, we have come to realize that young children delight in learning about the world. In addition, there has been a growing realization of the importance of helping children learn strategies for reading the nonfiction texts they will increasingly be faced with in the upper grades. Moss (2003) asserted that "early exposure to the language of nonfiction can help enhance children's understanding of exposition and may prevent the difficulties many students encounter with these texts later on" (p. 9).
At the same time, recent years have seen "an explosion of this genre in terms of availability, variety, and excellence for all ages" (Bamford & Kristo, 2000, p. 50). No other genre of children's literature "has changed as radically in recent years as nonfiction" (Moss, 2003, p. 10). Although many of the award- winning books in this genre have been lengthy chapter books that required advanced reading skills, I have found a number of recent nonfiction books in picture book format that are absolutely enchanting. This "new" genre-the nonfiction picture book-will delight teachers and students alike.
What are the features of today's nonfiction picture books? To find out, I began by reviewing recent award-winning and honor books from three children's books awards: the Sibert Medal winners for 2008, given by the American Library Association to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in English each year; the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children given by the National Council of Teachers of English in 2008; and nonfiction books from the Children's Choices list for 2007. Although many of the books on the Children's Choices list were not winners of other awards, I included books from this list because I wanted to see what features appealed to children, as well as to adult reviewers.
Although not all of the books winning these awards were picture books (which I defined for this study as books with no more than 48 pages, in which pictures and text were equally important in conveying information), many of them were, especially those on the Children's Choices list. Using interlibrary loan at my university, I did my best to obtain copies of all of the Sibert and Orbis Pictus winners for 2008, along with nonfiction books on the Children's Choices list for 2007. In my analysis of these books, I found several outstanding features: an emphasis on the visual, including illustrations and design layouts; an emphasis on accuracy; and engaging writing styles, including formats that invite interaction. In the following sections, I discuss and give examples of these features, which teachers use to help them select nonfiction books. See below to find criteria for selecting nonfiction picture books.
Criteria for selecting nonfiction picture books
Is the book visually appealing?
- Are the front and back covers appealing?
- Are the endpapers appealing? Do they contribute to the topic, theme, or tone of the book?
- Do the title page, dedication page, table of contents, and other pages contain illustrations?
- Is the typeface easy to read? Does the book use typefaces or text layout to highlight information? Does the choice of typeface contribute to the topic, theme, or tone of the book?
- Are the illustrations appealing?
- Is the text broken up with illustrations, sidebars, headings, white space, and other features?
- Are the illustrations and book design colorful? Do the colors contribute to the topic, theme, or tone of the book?
- Are borders used?
Is the book accurate and authoritative?
- Are consultants listed?
- Is information about the research process provided in introductory or endnotes, source notes, or bibliographies?
- Are there suggestions for further reading?
- Are supplemental materials such as glossaries and tables of important dates included?
- Do illustrations accurately depict the text?
- Are animals depicted accurately without anthropomorphism?
- Is the book a blend of fact and fiction? If so, is it clear which parts of the book are fact and which are fiction?
Is the writing style engaging?
- Does the author draw the reader in with an engaging lead?
- Are ideas logically ordered?
- Is the background knowledge of the reader considered? Are new ideas connected to what children already know?
- Is the language appropriate for the audience?
- Does the author write without condescension?
- Is the author able to explain difficult concepts clearly and simply?
- Does the author use an appropriate tone?
- Are there interactive elements that help involve the reader?
- Are new terms clearly explained, highlighted, and defined in a glossary?
Features of nonfiction picture books
One radical change in recent children's nonfiction has been the emphasis on visually attractive design layouts (Giblin, 2000). Carter (2000) said that
Forty years ago, children read nonfiction books with small type and limited illustrations… Today, they encounter books with carefully designed illustrations that partner with the text to contribute to their thinking… Illustrations introduce core concepts necessary for understanding a topic and serve as integral portions of each book. (p. 707)
Every book I reviewed contained illustrations or other visual features on almost every page. Although all of the books are visually appealing, many also use the visual elements to convey information. Illustrations appear on the covers, endpapers, copyright pages, and title pages, as well as in tables of contents and end matter such as notes from the authors. Many nonfiction books now contain sidebars, use different typefaces to emphasize text, have additional information in the margins, and include captioned photos.
In Sled Dogs (Haskins, 2006), two-page spreads provide information in the form of large and small captioned photographs, sidebars, and text. Design elements such as the black background, blue frames around photographs and other features, and even the blue shape around the page number, contribute to a whole that is visually pleasing.
In another well-designed book, Why Do Dogs Have Wet Noses? (Coren, 2006), each page has a subtle background print with a dog-bone pattern, a border of dog bones across the top, and a dog bone over the page number at the bottom of the page. Photographs of varying sizes, some in frames and other with text wrapping around them, help break up the text, as do the headings written in a playful, uneven typeface. The same typeface is used on the cover, which features a photograph of a cute puppy with his head tilted inquisitively.
Stunning, high-quality, glossy photographs by wildlife photographers dominate the book Slippery, Slimy Baby Frogs (Markle, 2006b), providing information in visual form that is as important as the information in the text. Nic Bishop's Spiders (2007) combines beautiful photographs, colorful backgrounds, and typefaces that change in size and color to emphasize important or interesting points.
A unique and creative approach to illustration can be found in What Athletes Are Made Of (Piven, 2006), in which portraits of famous athletes are composed of simple painted shapes and everyday objects chosen to convey something about the athlete. Muhammad Ali's portrait, for example, includes a bell for a nose and tiny microphones for eyebrows. A hot dog on a bun makes Babe Ruth's mouth, golf tees make up Tiger Woods's eyebrows, and Michael Jordan's tongue is a piece of basketball skin!
Clearly, visual elements play an important role in today's children's nonfiction books. Moss (2003) asserted that today's nonfiction books are "designed to engage today's visually oriented learners" (p. 12). Information is conveyed in both text and illustrations; in addition, the visual elements often enhance the reading experience in more subtle ways. For example, kids will enjoy reading about the largest and smallest dogs in the world and learning about how dogs communicate in Why Do Dogs Have Wet Noses? (Coren, 2006), just as they'll enjoy and learn from the photographs of the dogs. Other features, too, such as the subtle dog-bone print in the background and dog-bone borders, are a part of the pleasure of this experience.
Another feature in recent children's nonfiction books is the emphasis on accuracy. Many books now include information about the research process, which might be found in introductory comments or endnotes, as well as source notes, bibliographies, and suggestions for further reading (Bamford & Kristo, 2000; Giblin, 2000; Hepler, 2003). Often, expert consultants are acknowledged. Glossaries, tables of important dates, indexes, and other kinds of supplemental materials provide further information for the reader.
Many of the books reviewed showed this kind of concern for providing accurate and authoritative information. For example, Aliens Are Coming! The True Account of the 1938 War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast (McCarthy, 2006), Sled Dogs (Haskins, 2006), Little Lost Bat (Markle, 2006a), Sporting Events: From Baseball to Skateboarding (Kaufman, 2006), Spiders (Bishop, 2007), and Slippery, Slimy Baby Frogs (Markle, 2006b), all contain author's notes and other features that provide more information, describe the research process, or acknowledge the contribution of experts. The author of Extreme Animals: The Toughest Creatures on Earth (Davies, 2006) has a degree in zoology. Author Sarah L. Thomson added authority to her books Amazing Dolphins! (2006a) and Amazing Snakes! (2006b) by teaming up with the Wildlife Conservation Society, which provided the photographs for the books. Many of the books contain bibliographies and suggestions for further reading, including online resources. Such features not only "help readers evaluate a book's accuracy" (Bamford & Kristo, 2000, p. 50); they "honor young readers by giving them entry into processes of writing" as they learn "how writers of nonfiction think and work" (Wilson, 2006, p. 62).
Although accuracy and authority may be a trend in recent nonfiction, not all books reflect this trend. Wilson (2006) described how members of the Orbis Pictus Award Committee are interested in "the presence of back matter, the bibliographies or reference lists, endnotes, author notes about the references and quotations included in the book, the photo credits, and the acknowledgements of people connected with the research and writing of the book" (p. 56), but they are concerned that a number of books they review, especially those for younger readers, do not have such features. Although not all of the nonfiction books reviewed have all of these features, the vast majority had at least a consultant listed. Even so, there are some problems with accuracy in several of the books I reviewed.
Extreme Animals: The Toughest Creatures on Earth (Davies, 2006), is engagingly and authoritatively written by zoologist Nicola Davies. The author's expertise is clearly evident in her descriptions of animals that can survive extreme temperatures and pressures (and one animal that can be put in a blender, and when placed back in seawater, will pull itself back together- it's a sponge!). Unfortunately, the illustrations for this book, childlike drawings by Neal Layton, do not always convey accurate information. An illustration showing how penguins keep heat from escaping from their feet does not match the explanation in the text (pp. 14-15). On page 16, the text says that some birds sleep huddled together to keep warm, but the illustration is an anthropomorphic depiction of birds sleeping in a row of beds.
Accuracy is also a problem in The Adventures of Pelican Pete: Annie the River Otter (Keiser & Keiser, 2006). This book is obviously intended to be an informational children's book. Six different experts from the North American River Otter Liaison and elsewhere are acknowledged; supplemental features include a bulleted list of information about otters and a feature showing readers how "To Learn More" about woodland fires and wildlife rehabilitators. In the "About the Author and Illustrator" section, the book is described as "an accurate and educational depiction of nature" (n.p.). In the story, Annie the river otter tells Pelican Pete the story of growing up with her family and then being separated from them by a fire. Pelican Pete then tells Annie about an animal rescue center, which is described by Pelican Pete as "a wonderful place I'll lead you to./They rescue animals and heal them quick-/Orphaned, strained, injured or sick./When we're in need, we hurry there/ For wildlife rescue and animal care" (n.p.). The book does not show how wildlife are found or taken care of; in fact, no people appear in the text or illustrations. Children are led to believe that animals make their own way to rescue centers, and they are given no information about the kind of care animals receive there. The blending of fiction and nonfiction in this book has caused the facts to be distorted out of all reality. (The book is understandably classified as fiction by the Library of Congress.)
The fictionalization of children's nonfiction seems to be a recurring trend. Giblin (2000) noted that before 1960,
many nonfiction authors and editors thought the best way to interest youngsters in science was to surround the facts with a fictional framework… The Let's Read and Find Out series and others like it put an end to this particular brand of nonfiction hybrid, which usually succeeded neither as fiction nor as nonfiction. (p. 419)
More recently, however, this trend toward fictionalization has reemerged. Zarnowski (2001) noted that although some authors and critics have argued for strict accuracy in children's nonfiction, "there are several strong proponents of intermingling fiction and nonfiction" (p. 16). For example, Avery (2003) argued that the use of narrative "captures the hearts and the minds of readers of all ages" and that narrative stories have "opened nonfiction to many more young readers" (p. 241). Avery referred to books that blend fiction and nonfiction, such as those that present factual information from the perspective of a fictional character, as "faction," and asserted that they "qualify as nonfiction in our classrooms" (p. 242). Yet Smith (2001) asserted that "while they may be interesting to read, 'factions' are at best deceptive, and they are unacceptable to those seeking accurate interpretations of events, issues, and phenomena" (p. 32). Similarly, Bamford, Kristo, and Lyon (2002) wondered "if this kind of book sends a distorted message to young readers about what nonfiction is. High quality nonfiction doesn't preclude an author from using personal narrative but, in doing so, the writing should never mask the truth or the facts to be clever or cute" (p. 9).
Bamford and Kristo (2000) used the term informational picture storybook to describe books like the popular Magic School Bus series, which "look and read like picture storybooks because information is carried within the narrative by invented characters or situations. However, these books are supported by facts because the primary purpose is to provide information" (p. 13). They asserted that problems with informational picture storybooks arise "when it is not clear to the reader what is fact and what is fiction" and suggested that teachers should "help readers separate fiction from nonfiction by highlighting text notes, afterwards, and acknowledgments" (p. 13).
Colman (2007) argued for strict accuracy in children's nonfiction, yet she added that simple definitions, such as fiction is made up and nonfiction is true, fiction is narrative and nonfiction is expository, fiction is for pleasure and nonfiction is for information, are misleading and inadequate. She pointed out that "fiction and nonfiction can have many similar and overlapping characteristics" (p. 267) including the use of both narrative and expository writing.
Little Lost Bat (Markle, 2006a) used a narrative structure to tell the story of a baby Mexican freetailed bat. In Look What Whiskers Can Do (Souza, 2006), the author used both expository and narrative text. To give general information, an expository style is used. Sometimes, however, a more narrative style is used: "An animal is sleeping high in a tree. Its legs are wrapped around a branch. Its tail covers its eyes" (p. 14).
McClure (2003) described elements of style that authors of the best children's nonfiction books use to make their work appealing. She explained that good nonfiction books are clear and coherent; they are "carefully organized, using logically ordered ideas and understandable language along with examples that account for the background knowledge of readers" (p. 80). She added that good nonfiction authors communicate their passion for the subject and write in a tone that does not condescend to children. They use language appropriate for the intended age level of the reader, but must be able to explain difficult vocabulary and concepts. They draw their readers in with engaging leads and write conclusions that "leave the reader either feeling satisfied or wanting to know more" (p. 92).
In the excerpt from Aliens Are Coming! The True Account of the 1938 War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast (McCarthy, 2006) that began this article, author Meghan McCarthy draws readers into the story with her reader-friendly style and a thoughtprovoking question: "Hey, kids! Did you know that in the 1930s most Americans did not own TVs?" Authors of nonfiction picture books use many elements of style and organization to make their writing both engaging and informative.
Author Lori Haskins (2006) grabs the reader's attention with the first line of Sled Dogs: "The people of Nome, Alaska were in trouble." In Extreme Animals: The Toughest Creatures on Earth, Nicola Davies (2006) presents fascinating information in a lighthearted tone:
Polar bears can keep warm in conditions that would kill a human, but in one important way, a polar bear is just as much of a wimp as we are: if its body temperature drops by more than a few degrees, it can die. The Truly Tough Animals are the ones that can let their bodies get really cold right through and still survive. (p. 19)
Author Hanoch Piven (2006), in What Athletes Are Made Of, gains readers' interest and communicates his enthusiasm for his subject in an author's note at the beginning of the book:
Do you know how many home runs Babe Ruth hit in his career? Do you know how many soccer goals Mia Hamm scored in her first year on the U.S. National Team? Lots of people know scores and records about their favorite athletes. But sometimes we don't know as much about what great athletes are like as people.... There are many great athletes in the world, and I could not include all of them in this book. Instead I have selected athletes whose stories have a personal meaning for me. Some were chosen because of their undisputed greatness, and some because they have an inspiring or interesting story to tell. (n.p.)
A number of nonfiction picture books engage readers with an interactive format. Food Creations: From Hot Dogs to Ice Cream Cones (Ball, 2006) and Sporting Events: From Baseball to Skateboarding (Kaufman, 2006), ask readers to guess "Which Came First?" Readers are given information about a pair such as hot dogs and hamburgers or basketball and golf, are asked to predict which came first, and must turn the page to find out if they were correct. Venom (Singer, 2007) keeps readers actively involved through a variety of activities such as quizzes and a matching exercise in which pictures of venomous animals are to be matched with the venom delivery system they use.
Sarah L. Thomson's (2006a) Amazing Dolphins!, an easy reader written with short sentences, is still informative and thought-provoking: "Dolphins whistle and squeak. They chirp and pop. They make noises that sound like clicks or claps. Why do dolphins make all these sounds?" (pp. 4-5). Thomson relates new information to what children already know:
Dolphins live underwater, but they are not fish. They are small whales. Whales are mammals. People are mammals, too. All mammals need to breathe air. You use your mouth to breathe, to eat, and to make sounds. A dolphin uses it mouth to eat. It uses the blowhole on top of its head to breathe and to make sounds. (pp. 10-11)
Similarly, Look What Whiskers Can Do (Souza, 2006) begins with what kids already know. "Have you ever noticed a cat's whiskers? The hairs are long and stiff. Each one is two to three times thicker than the animal's other hairs" (p. 7). Headings appear in large print, and words in bold in the text are defined in the glossary. Author D.M. Souza explains new vocabulary extremely well: "Scientist call whiskers vibrissae. The word once meant to shake or vibrate. Whiskers let many animals called mammals feel movements or vibrations in both air and water" (p. 8).
Sandra Markle's (2006b) photo-essay Slippery, Slimy Baby Frogs is well organized into sections that follow one other in a logical, cohesive manner. For example, the "On Their Own" section begins, "Because most adult frogs leave their eggs once they are laid, most baby frogs grow up without parents (n.p.)". The next section, "Taking Care of Baby," follows logically from the previous one: "Some baby frogs do get special care from their parents while they're growing up" (n.p.).
In contrast, two books I reviewed had some problems with style and organization. Horses, a photo- essay by prolific and award-winning children's nonfiction author Seymour Simon (2006), has beautiful glossy photos on the cover, endpapers, title page, and each page throughout the book, yet the text seems to present a succession of unrelated facts in no order, with photos that don't always support the text. On one page, Simon discusses the names for horses of different colors; the accompanying photograph, however, does not show the kinds of horses discussed. There is also a discussion of breeds of horses that includes the terms hotbloods, coldbloods, and warmbloods. Unfortunately Simon doesn't explain that these terms have nothing to do with being warm or coldblooded as the terms are normally used, which makes this highly confusing for the reader.
Lukens (2003) has said that nonfiction authors sometimes condescend to children by "oversimplifying, thinking of the readers as dear little things, or guarding their ears from the whole truth" (p. 290), and that "condescension often takes the form of anthropomorphism, an attitude that suggests a lack of interesting qualities in the animals themselves" (p. 292). In addition to its use of anthropomorphism, The Adventures of Pelican Pete: Annie the River Otter (Keiser & Keiser, 2006) uses a sappy, condescending tone: "For all the children good and sweet:/ I'll tell a tale of Pelican Pete: And for all who were bad today:/ I'll tell the story anyway" (n.p.).
Choosing and sharing nonfiction picture books
Sources of Information About Nonfiction Picture Books
Teachers who want to discover the possibilities of nonfiction picture books may start by browsing local libraries and bookstores. Book awards are another source for good nonfiction picture books. In addition to the Children's Choices list (www.reading.org/ resources/booklists/childrenschoices.aspx), the Orbis Pictus Award (www.ncte.org/awards/orbispictus), and the Sibert Medal (www.ala.org), there are other nonfiction book awards that teachers may want to consult. The National Science Teachers' Association and the Children's Book Council publishes a yearly list of Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12 (www.nsta.org/publications/ostb), and the Children's Book Council also teams up with the National Council for the Social Studies to create an annual list of Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People (www.socialstudies.org/resources/ notable). The Caldecott Medal and its Honor List (www.ala.org) may also include nonfiction picture books, and the Boston Globe-The Horn Book Awards (www.hbook.com) include a category for nonfiction. The Horn Book also publishes a list of best picture books, fiction books, and nonfiction books each year in its "Fanfare" list.
In addition, many nonfiction authors have their own webpages, like Steve Jenkins, author of Caldecott Honor Book What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? (Jenkins, 2004) and many other beautifully illustrated books (www.stevejenkinsbooks.com).
Choosing Nonfiction Picture Books
Teachers can use the three features of nonfiction picture books discussed herein to help them choose books for their classrooms.
- Are the books visually appealing? Look for books with attractive and accurate illustrations, page layouts that break up text, borders and other interesting design features, attractive and readable typefaces, and appropriate use of color for page backgrounds, text, and other features.
- Do the books provide accurate, authoritative information? Look for books with consultants listed and source notes or other features that contain information about the research process. In addition, choose books in which the illustrations accurately depict the content, and in which the information is presently realistically, without anthropomorphism.
- Are they engagingly written? Look for books that make good teachers! Good nonfiction books should be well organized, should grab readers' attention, take readers' likely background knowledge into consideration, and clearly explain new terms. In addition, look for books that present information in creative ways, and that encourage reader interaction with the text.
Sharing Nonfiction Picture Books With Children
Because today's nonfiction children's books provide new ways to convey information, teachers need to learn new ways to share these books with children. Nonfiction picture books convey information not only in the text, but also in endpapers, supplemental materials such as tables of important dates, and so on. On each page of the text, they may convey information with illustrations, sidebars, typefaces, boxed information on outside margins, captioned photos, and other features. Instead of reading from top to bottom and front to back, these kinds of features can be viewed in any order; they "permit, and actually invite, nonlinear, nonsequential exploration" (Kerper, 2001, p. 27). Teachers can demonstrate such nonsequential exploration, showing students the many different ways they can learn about the topic. Teachers can also help students notice the features of nonfiction picture books by asking students, "How does this page help you understand this topic?" They can point out text in bold or unusual typefaces and ask why they are used. They can draw students' attention to information gained in illustrations, captions, and sidebars.
In another lesson, teachers may want to focus on the accuracy of the book. By asking, "Who wrote this book? How did he or she find out this information?" teachers can interest students in the author's notes, source notes, or other information provided, and help them understand what writers do.
In particular, teachers will want to think carefully about the types of books they present as "nonfiction," and help students notice when some books blend fact and fiction. When using blended books, teachers should help students understand what is factual and what has been fictionalized, and why the author may have chosen to blend the two.
Finally, teachers may want to invite students to study nonfiction picture books as they write and design their own books. Asking questions such as, what features make this book fun to read? What helped you learn about the topic? may help students think about the various tasks of writing, illustrating, and designing a nonfiction book.
The nonfiction picture book is a genre that is exploding in both quality and quantity. By sharing and filling their classrooms with good nonfiction picture books, teachers can help children learn about the world and get them started on a lifetime of reading and learning.
Click the "References" link above to hide these references.
Avery, C. (2003). Nonfiction books: Natural for the primary level. In R.A. Bamford & J.V. Kristo (Eds.), Making facts come alive: Choosing and using nonfiction literature K-8 (2nd ed., pp. 235-246). Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon.
Bamford, R.A., & Kristo, J.V. (2000). A decade of nonfiction: Ten books with unique features. Journal of Children's Literature, 26(2), 50-54.
Bamford, R.A., Kristo, J.V., & Lyon, A. (2002). Facing facts: Nonfiction in the primary classroom. The New England Reading Association Journal, 38(2), 8-15.
Carter, B. (2000). A universe of information: The future of nonfiction. The Horn Book, 76(6), 697-707.
Colman, P. (2007). A new way to look at literature: A visual model for analyzing fiction and nonfiction texts. Language Arts, 84(3), 257-268.
Duke, N.K. (2000). 3.6 minutes per day: The scarcity of informational texts in first grade. Reading Research Quarterly, 35(2), 202-224. doi:10.1598/RRQ.35.2.1
Giblin, J.C. (2000). More than just the facts: A hundred years of children's nonfiction. The Horn Book, 76(4), 413-424.
Hepler, S. (2003). Nonfiction books for children: New directions, new challenges. In R.A. Bamford & J.V. Kristo (Eds.), Making facts come alive: Choosing and using nonfiction literature K-8 (2nd ed., pp. 3-20). Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon.
Kerper, R.M. (2001). Nonfiction book design in a digital age. In M. Zarnowski, R.M. Kerper, & J.M. Jensen (Eds.), The best in children's nonfiction (pp. 22-31). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
Lukens, R.J. (2003). A critical handbook of children's literature (7th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
McClure, A. (2003). Choosing quality nonfiction literature: Examining aspects of writing style. In R.A. Bamford & J.V. Kristo (Eds.), Making facts come alive: Choosing and using nonfiction literature K-8 (2nd ed., pp. 79-96). Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon.
Moss, B. (2003). Exploring the literature of fact: Children's nonfiction trade books in the elementary classroom. New York: Guilford.
Smith, K.P. (2001). Acknowledging, citing, going beyond: Issues of documentation in nonfiction literature. In M. Zarnowski, R.M. Kerper, & J.M. Jensen (Eds.), The best in children's nonfiction (pp. 32-41). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
Wilson, S. (2006). Getting down to facts in children's nonfiction literature: A case for the importance of sources. Journal of Children's Literature, 32(1), 56-63.
Zarnowski, M. (2001). Intermingling fact and fiction. In M. Zarnowski, R.M. Kerper, & J.M. Jensen (Eds.), The best in children's nonfiction (pp. 13-21). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
Ball, J.A. (2006). Food creations: From hot dogs to ice cream cones. New York: Bearport.
Bishop, N. (2007). Spiders. New York: Scholastic.
Coren, S. (2006). Why do dogs have wet noses? Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can.
Davies, N. (2006). Extreme animals: The toughest creatures on earth. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.
Haskins, L. (2006). Sled dogs. New York: Bearport.
Jenkins, S. (2004). What do you do with a tail like this? Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Kaufman, G. (2006). Sporting events: From baseball to skateboarding. New York: Bearport.
Keiser, F., & Keiser, H. (2006). The adventures of Pelican Pete: Annie the river otter. St. Augustine, FL: Sagaponack.
Markle, S. (2006a). Little lost bat. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.
Markle, S. (2006b). Slippery, slimy baby frogs. New York: Walker & Company.
McCarthy, M. (2006). Aliens are coming! The true account of the 1938 War of the Worlds radio broadcast. New York: Knopf.
Piven, H. (2006). What athletes are made of. New York: Atheneum.
Simon, S. (2006). Horses. New York: HarperCollins.
Singer, M. (2007). Venom. Plain Cit y, OH: Darby Creek Publishing.
Souza, D.M. (2006). Look what whiskers can do. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner.
Thomson, S.L. (2006a). Amazing dolphins! New York: HarperCollins.
Thoms on, S.L. (2006b). Amazing snakes! New York: HarperCollins.


Fourth Grade Curriculum
Our fourth grade curriculum helps to prepare students for the independence of Middle School through subject area teachers for all classes. Students begin their day with a homeroom teacher and then transition with their homeroom classmates from class to class. Additionally, students in fourth and fifth grade use lockers to hold their materials. Organization and responsibility are key components of the fourth grade curriculum as well as multiple opportunities for cross curricular learning, student lead presentations, and a science based overnight field trip that is a culminating opportunity for fourth grade students to enjoy multiple experiential learning opportunities that directly correlate with the learning that has taken place in the classroom.
- Language Arts
- Social Studies
- Foreign Language
- Performing Arts Electives
- Physical Education
The Language Arts program utilizes a balanced approach to literacy. Within the Language Arts block are the components of reading workshop, writing workshop, and word study.
CSN's approach to reading instruction enables children to build and hone skills they need to succeed in becoming independent readers. Explicit reading strategies are taught in a mini-lesson format, followed by both small group and individual instruction. We assess each child individually in order to determine his/her instructional reading level at various times throughout the year to provide continued differentiated instruction. Genre libraries are organized in each classroom. Children choose texts to gain stamina both at home and school.
In the fourth grade reading workshop students word independently, in book clubs, and in small groups to build stamina, discuss reading, and understand a variety of texts.
- Students learn to understand, interpret and analyze a range of written texts, both fiction and non-fiction.
- Students learn to use explicit information to identify the main idea or primary purpose of a text or part of a text as well as explicit details from a passage to understand it fully on a literal level.
- Students learn how to use implicit information from a passage to make inferences about the moods and motivations of characters in order to understand their shifts and development over the course of the book. They learn also to make inferences about events, understanding their importance and meaning within the context of the book.
- Students learn how to determine whether information consists of fact or opinion. Within fiction, they will learn whether or not a narrator is trustworthy.
- Students recognize cause-and-effect relationships among elements in a text.
- Students categorize and combine the layers of implicit information to make predictions, draw conclusions, and/or formulate hypotheses.
- Students will employ comprehension strategies to interpret, analyze, and evaluate what they have read.
- Students will be able to discuss texts well, demonstrating their understanding and growing each other’s ideas.
Fourth grade teachers have a firm commitment to the value of reading aloud to students. Our goal is to use novels, above grade level, to “broaden the scope” of understanding. Reading aloud helps students build background knowledge, increase vocabulary, make more meaningful connections to thoughts and ideas as well as associate reading with pleasure (Bank Street College of Education). “Research indicates that motivation, interest, and engagement are often advanced when teachers read aloud to students (Albright and Ariail)." Not only does reading aloud have benefits educationally, but also emotionally. Through a character’s fictional or real-life experiences, students learn strategies for dealing with social situations and conflicts; this can only increase their self-confidence. Most importantly, reading aloud gives students fond memories of their experiences, and creates a greater love for the written word.
Art and Literacy
Art engages children’s senses in open-ended play and develops cognitive, social-emotional and multi-sensory skills. Meaningful art experiences provide children with authentic self-expression- the freedom of choice, thought, and feeling. Brain researchers tell us that children retain much better when hands-on activities go along with the learning. Art provides pre-writing experiences when the children can touch, talk, and move. Using art to teach comprehension strategies allows children to use multiple modalities to learn and most importantly, apply these strategies in a text-free environment before applying the strategies to text. Art teaches these literacy concepts: self-expression (great for planning in writing), narrative story development, spatial relations, visual literacy, and strong book knowledge with true appreciation. Teachers find it important to use art to enhance literacy strategies.
In the fourth grade writing workshop, students continue to grow their understanding of the writing process. Using the 6+1 traits, writing students learn immersion, collecting, choosing, developing, revising, editing and publishing techniques. Sentence technique and paragraph construction are at the core of the curriculum with students writing through a range of genres. An essential part of the writing curriculum is proper grammar usage and sentence structure.
Grammar and sentence development are a part of the writing process. Students will have direct teaching in this area using The Write Source program. These skills will be developed and used within a piece of writing.
Students begin to develop a growing understanding of writing and the writing process. Using works of art, and art activities, students learn how art and writing are firmly linked. With this knowledge, students gain a deeper understanding of process writing and the importance of each step in the process.
- Students learn to recognize the role of the audience, and can determine the information included, style, and tone for a piece.
- Students learn to make decisions regarding how to plan their piece of writing in order to get their meaning across.
- Students learn to employ literary language and various literary devices where appropriate.
- Students learn to select accurate word choices to convey meaning and emotion.
- Students learn to construct well-crafted sentences that display rhetorical precision.
The hallmark of successful reading and writing students lies in the development of vocabulary. Reading with understanding and writing with precision requires an extensive word knowledge. The fourth grade linguistics program is a continuation of the primary Project Read curriculum. Students will begin to learn Greek and Latin affixes which will allow them to move forward in their understanding. WordMasters is a nationwide vocabulary competition for grades 3-8. This competition is based on understanding and completing analogical relationships. The early introduction of this higher-level skill will benefit students, and assist with an understanding of the many facets of a word.
The fourth grade mathematics program focuses on three components of mathematics: comprehension, computation, and application. It is the final year of basic arithmetic where children should show mastery of their computational skills in anticipation of fifth grade Pre-algebra, where effortless application of these operational skills is necessary. Students are given the opportunity to solidify their computational skills using the standard algorithms with speed and accuracy, while also focusing on deepening their comprehension. They utilize both components in order to apply their knowledge and skills to solve real math problems within a variety of different situations. Students apply the four operations to whole numbers and decimals, while deepening their understanding of fractions. Also, the students explore concepts related to place value, data analysis, geometry, measurement, order of operations, and Pre-algebra. Pearson's enVisionMATH, technology including, XtraMath and iXL, and a variety of other quality resources are used to reinforce skills, enhance their depth of knowledge, and help them develop a solid foundation for future learning. Students create their own interactive math notebooks to record their experiences and use as an on-going resource. Fourth grade is an important year for students to solidify their skills and confidence as they develop a love and understanding of mathematics. It is a time to embrace different ways to learn, work cooperatively with their peers, and prepare for the next level of mathematics.
Mathematical skills taught in fourth grade will include:
Number Sense and Operations with Whole Numbers
- Use place value, including how to read, write, round, order, and compare whole numbers to the hundred-billions place
- Write numbers in standard, expanded, and word form
- Use models to represent, order, compare, and perform whole number operations
- Add, subtract, multiply, and divide multi-digit numbers using the standard algorithm
- Know the language of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and understand the relationship between the operations
- Use estimation to solve problems that includes all four operations
- Understand the properties of addition and multiplication including the identity, commutative, associative, distributive and zero property
- Solve single and multi-step story problems
- Determine key vocabulary words and concepts, check for reasonableness, and identify relevant and irrelevant information with problems
Number Sense and Operations with Fractions and Decimals
- Use models and number lines to identify, compare and represent the order of fractions and decimals
- Recognize the relationship between fractions and decimals
- Add and subtract decimals to the thousandths place
- Multiply and divide decimals
- Convert between mixed numbers and improper fractions
- Add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions and mixed numbers with like and unlike denominators
- Solve real-life problems involving fractions and decimals
Geometry and Spatial Sense
- Use basic geometric language to describe and name shapes and solids
- Understand the basic properties of figures, including closure, number of sides, faces, vertices, and angles
- Characterize lines as intersecting, perpendicular, or parallel
- Identify relationships between figures and images under transformations including translation, reflection, and rotation
- Identify lines of symmetry and the effects of combining, subdividing, and changing basic shapes
- Identify congruent and similar figures
- Use formulas to find perimeter, area, and volume on singular and compound shapes
- Graph and identify ordered pairs on a coordinate plane
- Know the approximate size of customary and metric units to measure length, weight, and capacity
- Convert measurements within the same system
- Measure the perimeter and area of regular and irregular polygons
- Solve real-life problems involving coins, elapsed time, weight and distance
Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability
- Read and interpret various types of tables, including frequency tables, stem and leaf plots, and line plots
- Read and interpret graphs, including single and double bar and line graphs, circle graphs, pictographs, and Venn Diagrams
- Calculate mean, median, mode, and range from a given set of data
- Find probability of simple events
Patterns, Functions, and Pre-Algebra
- Use order of operations to solve simple expressions
- Solve one and two-step algebraic equations including all four operations
The fourth grade Social Studies curriculum is designed to help students master geographic, historic, and civic knowledge’s and functions to instill in the students historical perspective. Among the important skills student will acquire are:
- A thorough understanding and application of map skills, and reading charts and graphs for geographical understanding
- Developing note taking abilities, and using information and research for written assignments (reports, projects, and use of technological apps)
- Developing a geographic vocabulary along with a geographic awareness, and accounting for the diversity of places
- Developing a historical vocabulary along with a historical awareness, and accounting for the timeline of events and knowing their impact on the flow of history
- Acquiring a proficiency in research and the use of primary resources for reports and written presentations
- Public speaking and oral presentations, and using fact-based arguments in debate-style simulations
- Responsibility and time management throughout all facets of learning
- Collaboration in class and out of class with civic-minded students
The fourth grade curriculum centers on United States geography, with an emphasis on the diversity of the physical places in the country. The subject begins by painting an overall picture of the country, by using map-skills to familiarize the students with the country’s unique regions. Following an overview of the regions, with an emphasis on the states and capitals, land forms, waterways, and important historical events, an in-depth, project-based analysis of the regions is presented. The ongoing question, exploring what makes the United States unique and diverse, forms the essential theme of each part of the course.
The fourth grade science program develops an understanding of scientific methods and processes. It involves a variety of labs, activities, and learning experiences that provide personal engagement in the dynamics of learning and the excitement of self-discovery, which exposes students to the interrelationships in the world around them. Students are exposed to concerns that confront humans daily through current events. This participatory approach is used to create knowledge and to enhance students’ appreciation for the laws and principles that guide our existence. Concepts are not independently taught but are intertwined and multidisciplinary, providing students with a multitude of opportunities to become involved in science. This combination of knowledge and discovery skills will help our students to relate to current real-world issues. Topic covered in fourth grade include:
- Properties of water: What makes water so special?
- Electricity and Magnetism: What are properties of electricity and magnetism?
- Plants and animals in the environment: What roles do plants and animals play in their environment?
- Weather: Interactions of land, air, and water: How do natural events affect our world?
This program is intended to develop listening comprehension and verbal skills in young children. Total Physical Response (TPR) Storytelling is an instructional strategy developed by Blaine Ray, which is based on Stephen D. Krashen and Tracy D. Terrell’s work in developing The Natural Approach and James Asher’s work in developing Total Physical Response. The goal of both of these strategies is to allow students to learn a second language in much the same manner as they learned their first language—through the senses and comprehensible sensory input. TPR Storytelling provides students with the following:
- Active language learning which is meaningful and context-driven
- TPR (Total Physical Response) cues which allow for immediate comprehension
- Appealing stories rich in comprehensible input which is easy to internalize
- Multiple opportunities to prove comprehension and to feel successful
- Long-term retention of language
Students will be able to tell short stories using the vocabulary learned, and as the year progresses their enhanced comprehension will allow them to add more details to their short stories. Students will also continue refining their pronunciation and knowledge in the language.
Students review previously learned vocabulary by writing descriptions of their homes, what they like to do, their family, meals, school life, etc. In fourth grade sentence structure, modifying nouns and gender agreement is emphasized.
As children progress in Spanish, coursework is differentiated in order to meet varying levels and abilities.
Fourth grade artists explore a wide range of projects carefully selected for students to not only explore and experiment with the Elements and Principles of Art, but also to apply learning from core subjects for deeper understanding and relevance. Origami, Cloud studies and Under the Sea watercolors, are just a few of the many opportunities for students to further their learning in a creative application.
Students pursue longer term projects with materials that are more involved (such as Paper Maché, clay, etc.) and with more complexity (such as iPad illustrations and stop-motion videos).
From basic fundamental concepts of drawing, to assemblage art made from found objects, the variety of projects emphasize the wide range of application of a consistent group of art concepts. Learning about the lives and times of individual artists and art groups brings to life the circumstances from which the art or art movement came about. Participation in group projects and critiques provides experience in life skills of interaction, increasingly required in the 21st century.
At this level, students are encouraged to explore and experiment with new materials with an emphasis on creative thinking. Students are responsible for photographing, uploading and maintaining their on-line portfolios which travel with them throughout their CSN experience.
The students learn about:
- Observational drawing techniques
- One Point Perspective Drawing
- Positive and Negative Shapes
Longer term projects:
- Exploration of a wide variety of materials including Paper Maché, watercolor, printmaking and animation and Sketchbook Express® on the iPad.
- Artists appreciation and inspiration include: Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Georgia O’Keefe
Students in fourth grade will choose to participate in at least one performing arts elective.
This course encompasses many fronts, including acting, singing, and piano study. Students participate in musical productions as well as in “piano challenges," an in-class performance for their peers, and twice annually for the parents.
The fourth grade students are progressing from Lower School chorus to perform more advanced singing and musicianship skills. Each class begins with a short theory and ear training exercise, followed by a group warm-up that explains and fosters the practice of solid vocal technique. The students then begin their performance rehearsal, with repertoire pulled from a wide variety of genres, which often includes staging and light choreography. Their final grade is determined by their participation in each end-of-semester performance and any additional performances. This course continues the emphasis on vocal development. Students develop their music and presentation skills through participation in live performances and activities. They advance their choral singing techniques by learning songs in two-to-three part harmony, as well as in other languages.
We are excited to offer our students the opportunity to explore brass and woodwind instruments. Students will have instrument lessons twice per week and participate in a concert band (all instruments together) later in the semester. Basic music theory and individual instrument techniques will be featured in class, as well as playing fun and exciting music in an ensemble setting including multiple parts. Grades will be determined based on classroom participation and two end-of-semester performances.
Fourth and fifth grade string classes at CSN are for third and fourth year string students on violin, viola, cello and, if a student has interest, upright bass. The strongest students from these classes combine to form the CSN fourth and fifth grade orchestra. Fourth and fifth grade beginners wanting to join this class must study privately and must commit to extra practicing at home to catch up to these classes. These classes will play advanced music, read difficult rhythms, are introduced to new keys, playing positions and more complicated ear training. The orchestra performs twice a year at school for parents, family members, friends, and fellow students. Students are required to rent or buy an instrument to take this class. CSN provides assistance and information for the rental process.
The fourth grade physical education program expands on skills learned throughout the Lower School years and applies them towards new games, lifetime activities, and sports preparation and development. All students acquire the knowledge and skills for movement that provide the foundation for enjoyment and continued social development through physical activity.
Fourth grade students begin to demonstrate competency in movement patterns and proficiency in several specialized movement forms. Basic skills such as jumping rope, catching and throwing mastered in Lower School can now be used in game-like situations and lifetime activities. Students continue to learn the etiquette of participation and can resolve conflicts during games and sports in acceptable ways. Students can also match different types of physical activities to health-related fitness components. All students are administered “The President’s Challenge on Physical Fitness Test.”
The ever-increasing impact of technology on teaching and learning is an important consideration in education at all grade levels in the Lower School. Our curriculum encompasses the use of a wide range of digital tools, media and learning environments for teaching, learning and assessing. Technology provides opportunities for the transformation of teaching and learning and enables students to investigate, create, communicate, collaborate, organize and be responsible for their own learning and actions. Through the use of technology, learners develop and apply strategies for critical and creative thinking, engage in inquiry, make connections, and apply new understandings and skills in different contexts.
The fourth grade technology curriculum is designed to increase knowledge and comfort with devices and software. Students are encouraged to use computers and iPads for projects relating to units across all subjects.
Fourth grade students will learn:
- Basic Computer Literacy: saving files to the appropriate network or drive rather than on the hard drive of the computer, understanding program specific terminology, inserting and locating files from the directory, saving them to a USB/Flash drive.
- Keyboarding: understanding the layout, navigation, and use of the typing program to understand the process for viewing key proficiency.
- Word Processing: increasing and decreasing the view/zoom of a document, learning print preview, modifying the size of an inserted image using the image handles, learning text and image relocation on the document, formatting a text box and adjusting background colors, borders, etc., formatting line spacing, formatting page setup, using the spelling and grammar check accessed through the tool menu, creating headers and footers and using the copy and paste functions.
- Creativity programs: inserting images from file and clip art, moving images within the work area, creating and formatting text boxes, using the Text tool to create text on images, using the Crop tool.
- Presentation Software: creating presentations using PowerPoint, Keynote and iMovie, using apps on the iPad to create presentations.
- Telecommunications: appropriate e-mail use, including using appropriate electronic conduct when using electronic emails.
- Internet Research: using internet searches appropriately
The fourth grade digital citizenship curriculum is designed to teach students:
- To ONLY share our passwords with parents and teachers.
- The unfortunate things that can happen when others know our password.
- The do’s and don’ts of creating strong passwords.
- The importance of creating strong passwords without using private information.
- How spam messages are often sent to us because a company is trying to sell us something, trick us into giving them private information, or even to cause harm with computer viruses.
- To never open an email message from someone we do not know.
- Tips for handling spam messages: don’t open the message, never click on the included links, do not reply, and tell a trusted adult if you are feeling unsure.
- The importance of including a bibliography with citations for all types of research projects and writing.
- Components of an MLA style citation.
- The differences between citing an online newspaper/magazine article and professional websites using MLA style.