“Nell Duke made a significant contribution to the field with her seminal research on the shortage of informational text in the early grades. Her work has single-handedly influenced one of the largest shifts in classroom practice. After reading this book, I’m convinced that her more recent focus on project-based instruction will make an equally significant contribution. It’s powerful thinking that will undoubtedly influence another major shift in the way teachers teach and children learn.”
—Kristin De Vivo, Executive Director, The George Lucas Educational Foundation

“Nell Duke is that rarest of species: a top-rank researcher who can roll up her sleeves and teach a class at a moment's notice. Her latest contribution couldn't be more timely. It is a practical guide to meeting standards through genuine, student-driven inquiry. See how kids can dig deeply into all kinds of texts, find the evidence they need, deliver the goods, and sometimes change the world, using a process that's (dare I say it?) engaging and fun.”
—Harvey "Smokey" Daniels, coauthor of Best Practice: Bringing Standards to Life in America's Classrooms, Fourth Edition

From the Author~
NONFICTION IS NOT A GENRE: I have read and heard many people refer to nonfiction as a genre. Nonfiction is not a genre. Whether genres are defined by their purpose—which is the current preference in the field—or by their form and features, or both, there are many nonfiction genres. For example, a story about what I did over the weekend is nonfiction, but it has a different purpose and different form and features, and is read differently, than an informative/explanatory text about, say, different kinds of things people do on weekends. In fact, in many respects nonfiction narrative has more in common with fictional narrative than with informative/explanatory text. I encourage you to go beyond the label of "nonfiction" to more specific categories of text in your teaching and to be highly skeptical of professional development that refers to "the nonfiction genre."