Using Pop Culture as a Springboard for Reading Nonfiction

Popular culture can be a fun catalyst to drive students towards reading works of non-fiction.

While watching the movie, The Greatest Showman, I wondered how accurate it is in portraying the life of P. T. Barnum and the creation of the Barnum and Bailey Circus. I checked and discovered that our school library has several biographies about P. T. Barnum and one about Tom Thumb. Since the movie is fairly popular and of interest to some tweens, I familiarized myself with these biographies so that I could promote them to young readers.

I remember a high school history teacher using Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” as a springboard to learning about controversial people and events. Five years later that same teacher used the Academy Award-winning Forrest Gump as a catalyst to inspire students to learn about historical events. In both cases, students were able to choose a topic, research it, and present their research to their classmates. (Note: Forrest Gump is rated R and not appropriate for young audiences.)

Over the last ten years, I have used this tactic frequently. When the viral 2014 2014 ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was popular, I asked students how many had participated in the challenge. Many had, yet most did now know what ALS was or who Lou Gehrig was. It provided an opportunity to share nonfiction books with them. With the popularity of the musical Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton and our other Founding Fathers became of great interest. Of course, I pointed readers to The Duel: The Parallel Lives of Alexander Hamilton & Aaron Burr by Judith St. George and purchased some up-to-date biographies.

In 2023, the Barbie movie could lead us to biographies about Ruth Handler, and Oppenheimer to stories about J. Robert Oppenheimer. There are so many examples in culture that might excite students. 

What events are trending with your students? Might any of their interests lead to a book that you can recommend?