Engaging Students with Expository Books through Interactive Read-Alouds

Many elementary teachers shy away from using expository literature for interactive read-alouds in their classrooms, preferring and privileging narrative texts over this type of nonfiction. This article first shares the complementary benefits of moving beyond fiction and narrative nonfiction in educators' read-aloud practices. Affordances include increased student knowledge and vocabulary, greater understanding of expository text structures and features, and heightened engagement. The article then features lesson plans demonstrating unique ways to use expository books for interactive read-alouds with elementary students. Additionally, readers are provided with high-quality expository texts educators may include in their classrooms.