Author Archive for Emma

Teaching Civics with Children’s Literature: Big George

Published by Emma on November 11, 2009 in history, civics, nonfiction, biography, social studies, book review and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

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     Most children know that George Washington was the first President of the United States. But can they tell you how he got there? Anne Rockwell’s new book, Big George: How a Shy Boy Became President Washington, takes readers on a journey throughout Washington’s life; from childhood to the battle fields to President. Beautifully illustrated by Matt Phelan, your students will learn not only of Big George’s personal life, but of his contributions to the beginnings of America.

     Instead of beginning the book with what Washington was most known for, Rockwel’s opening page states: “George Washington wasn’t afraid of anything, except making conversation. He was shy.” From there, we learn of George’s early and difficult childhood, his studies, and his brave contributions in battles in fighting for America’s independence. He begins his military career fighting under the English general Edward Braddock, but is eventually elected to General of the American troops against England, for whom he had pledged his allegiance to for his whole life. Students will also learn of his contributions to fight for an independent America, with his signing of the Declaration of Independence, his pleads for help from the French, and his contributions in declaring America an independent state. Only the last page mentions Washington as President. Many students will be surprised to know that the shy George had no interest in being President, but felt he felt it was his duty to do so. Rockwell’s book concludes with this: “As history shows, President George Washington…proved to be as good a leader in peace as in war–and his leadership shaped the nation America was to become.”

Curriculum Connections
This would be a great book to use when beginning a unit on Washington or the American Revolutionary War. It can be introduced in second grade for SOL 2.11, where students identify George Washington in American civics. Additionally, SOL 3.11 focuses on identifying Washington’s contributions to the foundations of our government. Big George may also be used with the United States History SOL USI.6, where students must describe the roles of key individuals such as Washington in the American revolution.

Additional Resources

  • Brandon Marie Miller’s book George Washington for Kids is not only a book with a wealth of kid-friendly information on Washington, but provides directions for 21 activities related to the First President. For example, your students can make a quill pen just like Washington used!
  • This website provides a wealth of lesson plans, activities and kid-friendly articles on Washington.
  • This webquest will challenge your students to learn about some other important people during the American Revolution.

General Information:
Book: Big George
Author: Anne Rockwell
Illustrator: Matt Phelan
Publisher: Harcourt
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 48
Grade Range: 2-5
ISBN:0152165835

Teaching Geography with Children’s Literature: A World of Wonders

Published by Emma on October 29, 2009 in environment, nonfiction, history, earth science, geography, book review, poetry, diversity, social studies and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

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Geography can be an overwhelming subject to teach. Don’t be alarmed! J.Patrick Lewis’s book of poetry, A World of Wonders, illustrated by Alison Jay, covers a wide variety of geographical concepts through different types of poems that your students will love!

The book opens with an acrostic poem about Christopher Columbus’ discovery in 1492, and takes readers on a voyage all over the world. With fun and engaging illustrations, Lewis writes poems about Marco Polo, Aurora Borealis, the difference between longitude and latitude, the poles, and the five oceans, only to name a few. One of my favorite pages is full of 6 City Riddles, where students must guess where in the world they would be given the clues. I love the riddle for Sydney, Australia: “Where are you if…You see a modern opera house? Come visit here and bring your spouse–Or y’r mate, if you may. Enjoy a barbie shrimp! G’day!” The book concludes with a poem which encourages children to take care of their world, an essential topic to tie into a geography lesson: “Make the Earth your companion. Walk lightly on it, as other creatures do. Let the Sky paint her beauty–she is always watching over you.”

Curriculum Connections

This book could be used in many different areas of geography, and across a number of different grades. Since the topics from poem to poem are so different from each other, I would suggest reading applicable poems at the start of a geography lesson. For example, when beginning a lesson on the five oceans, share with students the poem “Oceans Five.” A World of Wonders could be applied to SOL 2.5, where students must locate the equator, 7 continents and 5 oceans, and 3.5, which further studies the continents, oceans, and the equator, as well as studying the regions discovered by different explorers. Lewis’ book could also be applied to some of the SOLs for Virginia Studies, such as USI.2, which covers different geographic regions of North America, and water features of the United States. The World Geography SOL WG.4 could be taught through this book as well, because it challenges students to analyze and locate physical, economic and cultural characteristics of the world regions.

Additional Resources

  • Allow your students to explore countries all over the world on National Geographic’s kid-friendly site.
  • Play this Message in a Bottle game to teach your students about longitude and latitude.
  • Where in the World? is a great webquest to use in your classroom, where students collect information of a world region to write a postcard home to the states.

General Information
Book: A World of Wonders
Author: J. Patrick Lewis
Illustrator: Alison Jay
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 2002
Pages: 40
Grade Range: 2-4
ISBN: 0803725795

Teaching Economics with Children’s Literature: Money Madness

Published by Emma on October 21, 2009 in history, nonfiction, book review and social studies. 0 Comments

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David A. Adler’s brand new book, Money Madness, is not only highly-informative, but interactive and fun for young kids at the same time. The engaging illustrations by Edward Miller use both collages and images of real money.

The book begins with the question “What’s all this money madness?” and proceeds to tell its readers why people want and need money. Money Madness utilizes many scenarios in order to simplify topics for young readers. Within the first few pages, the author prompts children to “imagine a world without money…If there was no such thing as money and you needed new clothes, you would have to make them. Imagine if you had to knit your own sweater. Imagine if you had to raise a sheep to shear it, spin the wool to make the yarn, and then knit the sweater yourself.” Through Adler’s book, children not only learn the importance of money, but of it’s history as well.

Adler introduces his readers to the idea of bartering before there was such a thing as money. He shows children through many examples how it would be difficult to barter, because the trades wouldn’t always be fair, and sometimes what you wanted that person did not have. Adler also shows children the many different forms of money before it became what it is today: “At one time cows, sheep, camels, rocks, feathers, salt, dried fish, fishhooks, animals skins, and strings made of beads made from clamshells were all used as money.” Then Adler uses real images of metal money to introduce to students the concept of money as a metal, and how it eventually developed into the coins we have today, and finally into bills as well. On one fun page, the author shows the bills and their names from all over the world. At the end of Money Madness, Adler does a brief introduction to inflation and using credit cards and checks as a substitute for money. Young readers will learn through this book not only the history and use of money, but of it’s importance in our world.

Curriculum Connections

This highly informational yet simple book can be used when introducing students to money and its importance. But it can also be used for more complex topics, such as different currency, bartering, and inflation. Money Madness would correlate well with the SOLs 2.8, which introduces the idea of bartering, or 2.9, which shows how limited resources require people to make choices about what to produce and/or consume. Money Madness could also be used for Virginia Studies, for example for SOL VS.4d, where students have to describe how Virginia colonies used money, barter and credit.

Additional Resources

  • Allow your students to follow Wise Pocket’s friends in their stories about earning, spending, and saving money.
  • This website shares many great activities for teaching your students about bartering. 
  • The US Mint’s kid-friendly site has many great economics activities, including this one where students can examine currency from all over the world.

General Information
Book: Money Madness
Author: David A. Adler
Illustrator: Edward Miller
Publisher: Holiday House
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 24
Grade Range: 2-5
ISBN: 0823414744

Teaching Earth Science with Children’s Literature: If You Decide to Go to the Moon

Published by Emma on September 16, 2009 in space science, solar system, earth science, book review, science and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

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 All young children dream of traveling to the moon. Faith McNulty will take your children there through her book, If You Decide to Go to the Moon, illustrated by Steven Kellogg.

McNulty uses simple yet entertaining sentences to tell children about what it would be like if they were to travel to the moon. Following along with Kellogg’s colorful and textured illustrations, children will let their imaginations run wild on their travel into space. If You Decide to Go to the Moon is full of information about space, the sun, the Earth, and, of course, the moon. The book focuses on describing the characteristics of the moon, and how one’s travel through space and on the moon would be much different than what they are used to on Earth. When describing to her readers what it would feel like to float around a rocket ship’s cabin, McNulty explains: “Because you are weightless in space, you’ll feel amazingly light. You will float like a feather inside the cabin and bounce off the cabin walls. But you’ll bounce very lightly and find it a lot of fun.” Readers may even be surprised by some of the information McNulty shares. She explains how you would be able to tell where the first Americans walked on the moon, even years later: “Strewn amidst the lunar dust, tools and equipment are scattered about. Their boot prints look fresh, as though they were made a moment ago. There is no wind or rain to wear them away.” If You Decide to Go to the Moon is a wonderful and informative book that children will be excited to explore.

Curriculum Connections
McNulty and Kellogg’s book would be great to use in the classroom when learning about the solar system. Besides its focus on the moon, the book also mentions stars, meteors, and comets. Because of it’s simple style of writing, this book may be read to younger students, but because of its amount of information, it would be a good book to use in grades 2 through 4. If teaching in the state of Virgninia, this would be a great book to apply to SOL 4.7, when studying the relationships between the Earth, moon and sun.

Additional Resources

  • Here are some fun moon activities to practice with your students.
  • Construct your own moon habitat similar to the one astronauts will live in for a few months on their next trip to the moon!
  • Here is a great lesson to teach the phases of the moon, involving a fun hands-on project.

General Information:
Book: If You Decide to Go to the Moon
Author: Faith McNulty
Illustrator: Steven Kellogg
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: 2005
Pages: 48
Grade Range: 2-4
ISBN: 0590483595

Teaching Life Science with Children’s Literature: How Many Ways Can You Catch A Fly?

Published by Emma on September 9, 2009 in life science, nonfiction, environment, book review and science. 0 Comments

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How Many Ways Can You Catch A Fly?, written by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page, and illustrated by Jenkins, is an eye-opening book that explores the adaptations of animals all around the word, and how they learn to survive with their interesting characteristics.

Each page is filled with beautiful pictures of animals portrayed as collages using different paper textures. The book is separated into 6 sections: How many ways can you… snare a fish? hatch an egg? use a leaf? catch a fly? dig a hole? and eat a clam? In each of these sections, Jenkins has depicted animals (many of which children may have never even heard of!)  using their adaptations to survive in their environment. For example, in the “How many ways can you hatch an egg?” section, Jenkins and Page describe how “The ichneumon wasp lays its eggs inside a caterpillar. When the eggs hatch, the wasp larvae eat the caterpillar from the inside out.” At the end of the book, children can explore the additional information on each animal presented in the book. Your students are sure to find the large, detailed animal pictures and their crazy characteristics intriguing!

Curriculum Connections
How Many Ways Can You Catch A Fly? would be great to use in grades 1-3 when learning about adaptations and animals’ characteristics that help them to survive. Specific Virginia SOLs that correlate to this topic would be 1.5, animals’ life needs and characteristics, 2.5a, that organisms are dependent on their living and nonliving surroundings, and 3.4, that animals have physical and behavioral adaptations that allow them to live in their environments.

Additional Resources

  • Allow your students to play this fun and interactive game where they learn about some physical characteristics of beavers that allow them to survive in the wild.
  • Students can learn about adaptations of the camel through this song found on YouTube.
  • This National Geographic lesson plan will teach more about adaptations, then allow for students to create their own imaginary animal with specific adaptations.

Book: How Many Ways Can You Catch A Fly?
Author: Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
Illustrator: Steve Jenkins
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Publication Date: 2008
Pages: 32
Grade Range: 1-3
ISBN-13: 978-0618966369

Teaching Physical Science with Children’s Literature: Air Is All Around You

Published by Emma on September 7, 2009 in physical science and book review. 0 Comments

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Understanding the properties of gas can be difficult for young children. Franklyn M. Branley’s book, Air is All Around You, illustrated by Holly Keller, teaches kids about air as a gas in a fun and simple way.

This short book uses simple sentences geared towards early elementary readers to show how even though you can’t see it, air surrounds all of us. The reason why we can’t see it is because air is a gas: “That’s hard to believe because you can’t see the air, or smell it. You can’t feel it either, except when it’s moving. Or when you spin around.”

Branley even includes two short and fun experiments children can try on their own. They demonstrate how gases can exist even in water. For the first experiment, students fill a bowl with water and place a glass with a cloth in it upside down in the liquid. Air builds  up in the glass so that the cloth comes out dry. In the second experiment, children leave a glass of water sitting on a table for a few hours to see how air bubbles will eventually form.

The book then goes on to show kids how air is vital to life: fish need air to live in the water, astronauts need supplies of air to bring with them into space, and humans need to breathe in the air that constantly surrounds our planet. As the book simply repeats many times: “The air is all around us.”

Curriculum Connections
Branley’s book would be perfect to use in a kindergarten through second grade classroom when teaching students about the states of matter, specifically gases. Specific SOLs include K.5a, how water occurs in different states,  and 2.3b, the properties of solids, liquids and gases, specifically how matter changes from one state to another (evaporation).

Additional Resources
Looking for other books or activities when teaching about gases? Check out these sites:

  • Solids, Liquids and Gases would be a good book to introduce to the class before reading Air is All Around You because it uses simple definitions and real life photographs to define a solid, liquid and gas.
  • Looking for a fun and interactive way to teach about the states of matter? Sing this song with your students!
  • This lesson plan focuses specifically on the characteristics of air as a type of matter.

Book: Air is All Around You
Author: Franklyn M. Branley
Illustrator: Holly Keller
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date:1986
Pages: 40
Grade Range: K-2
ISBN: 0060594152

Teaching Process Skills with Children’s Literature: Darwin

Published by Emma on August 30, 2009 in process skills, biography and book review. 0 Comments

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Do you want your students to be as excited and interested about science as Charles Darwin was? Check out the book Darwin by Alice B. McGinty and illustrated by Mary Azarian, and let their curiosity roll.

In this beautifully illustrated book, children can follow the life of Darwin from his childhood to his death. We learn about his unstoppable curiosity as a student, his explorations as a naturalist, and how he discovered the theories of natural selection and evolution. McGinty clearly models his thinking process (a great model for students learning how to make observations):  “Charles was astonished. Some of these birds had long beaks. Some had short beaks. Some had thin beaks and some thick. How could they all be finches? Charles thought carefully about what his discovery meant. Why were there so many species of finches on these islands? Had all of them been around since the world began? Or had the finches come from the same ancestors and changed?” Almost each page has letters written by Darwin to his family, friends and colleagues  during his years of controversial research. Children will be able to learn how and why Darwin came to the conclusions he did through his tireless observations, trials, and errors. (We even see how world-famous scientists made mistakes sometimes)!

Curriculum Connections
In terms of process skills, this is a great book to include for instruction geared towards learning how to make observations and predictions. SOLs from the strand Scientific Investigation, Reasoning and Logic for grades 1-5 (1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 5.1) can all be covered with this reading. Specifically, McGinty’s book targets the portions of the SOLs concerning how students make inferences and hypotheses based on their observations, and how objects or events can be classified according to their attributes and/or properties.

Here are some activities/sites to check out when using this book in the classroom.

  • This site may answer some of your students’ questions (and spark their interest with some great pictures) in the “For Kids” section.
  • Darwin and Evolution for Kids provides more kid-friendly information on Darwin along with 21 activities.
  • Want a more simple activity? Have kids color in a picture of Darwin.

Book: Darwin
Author: Alice B. McGinty
Illustrator: Mary Azarian
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Publication date: April 2009
Pages: 48 pages
Grade range: 1-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-618-99531-8