George Washington Solider, Hero, President by Justine and Ron Fontesis a great book that provides students with many facts about George Washington. This book contains a lot of good pictures that give examples of what George Washington has done. Additionally, this book separates George Washington’s life into different categories which makes it easier for students to follow. This book also gives extra stories and facts for students who are more advanced and are interested in learning more. The illustrations in this book are very colorful, which will help engage the students.
“Much of Virginia was not yet mapped when George Washington’s father bought land for a big farm called a plantation. George was born there on February 11, 1732, and was followed by 5 brothers and sisters.”
Curriculum Connection
This book could be used to introduce the topic of George Washington into the classroom. The book provides excellent examples of what George Washington did throughout his life. (SOL 3.11b+2. 11) This book could also be used as a station activity where the students look to the book to answer questions about George Washington. Additionally, for students who are more advanced this book could be used to challenge students.
Additional Resources
Scrambling Puzzles is a great website for students to go to challenge their knowledge on George Washington. There are many different puzzles for the students to complete.
Learning About George Washington is a great resource for teachers. This website provides many great ideas for teachers to incorporate into the classroom.
George Washington website is a great resource for teachers. This website provides many great resources that teachers can use in the classroom.
General Information
Book: George Washington Solider, Hero, President
Author: Justine and Ron Fontes
Illustrator:None
Publisher:Dorling Kindersley
Publication Date: 2001
Pages:32
Grade Range: 1-3
ISBN: 0-7894-7378-x
My America A Poetry Atlas of the United States selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins illustrated by Stephen Alcorn is a great book that includes many important facts about each state. This book of poem is a creative way for students to learn about the different states and regions. The illustrations in the book make it appealing to many children. The illustrations make the poems come to life. This book is a great teaching tool for students.
On the east bank of the Potomac,
lies Washington D.C.,
the capital of our Nation
which stands for liberty
Curriculum Connection
This book could be used to read a poem each day about the different regions of the United States. This book can also help the students learn more information about our Nation’s capital and information about Virginia. (SOL 1.4 d) This book could be very useful at a station where the students could take time to look at the illustrations and poems. There is so much for the students to look at so it could take the students some time to go through.
Additional Resources
Teaching ideasis a great resource for teachers to go to when looking for creative ideas about teaching geography. This website has great activities for students to complete.
Activities for kids provides teachers with activities for their students to complete. These activities get the students involved in the learning. This website provides good ideas to introduce geography.
This articleis a great tool for teachers. This article provides many good resources for teachers and excellent ways on implementing activities in the classroom.
General Information
Book: My America
Author: Lee Bennett Hopkins
Illustrator: Stephen Alcorn
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing
Publication Date: 2000
Pages:96
Grade Range: 1-5
ISBN: 0-689-81247-7
A New Coat for Anna written by Harriet Ziefert and illustrated by Anita Lobel is a book that describes the story of a young girl who needs a new coat. This story is during hard economic times for her mother so her mother has to figure out a way of purchasing a new coat for Anna. Her mother decides to barter with different individuals who will help her make a coat for Anna. Anna is successful in getting a new coat for winter. The illustrations in this book are very colorful, which makes the book appealing.
“Then he gave Anna’s mother a big bag of wool and Anna’s mother gave him the gold watch.”
Curriculum Connection
This book would be very helpful for teaching students the idea of using bartering instead of using money in the exchange of goods and services. (2.8) This story would be a very good station for students to read silently to themselves and learn more about the use of bartering. Additionally, this story would be a good introduction to the idea of bartering.
Additional Resources
How Stuff Works is a great resource for teachers. This website provides a good lesson plan for teachers to use when introducing the idea of bartering to students. This website also has a good video about bartering.
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Top 5 Books is a website that provides teachers and students with the top 5 books on teaching bartering. This website is a great resource for students who are having trouble with the topic.
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Lesson Plans is a great website for teachers to use when needing lessons on bartering. This website provides a good lesson plan with multiple activities for students.
General Information
Book: A New Coat for Anna
Author: Harriet Ziefert
Illustrator:Anita Lobel
Publisher:Dragonfly Books
Publication Date: 1986-1988
Pages: 1-40
Grade Range: 1-3
ISBN 10:0-394-89861-3
ISBN 13: 978-0394898612
Did you ever wonder how and why the temperature changes? Weather Words and What they Mean by Gail Gibbons gives children an opportunity to examine many of the terms that weathermen use today. This books uses language that many students can understand. Weather Words provides many good examples using the seasons to explain why the weather changes. On many of the pages a key weather term is listed at the top of the page and then the word is described with many pictures.
“Temperature. The temperature goes up and down. When the sun rises in the morning, the air becomes warmer and the temperature goes up. In the winter, the sun is low in the sky. The days are cold and shorter.”
The pictures are bright and colorful so it gives the students many things to look at. Additionally, in the back of the book there are interesting facts about weather to enhance the students knowledge.
Curriculum Connections
This book would be great for children to gain a better understanding of weather and some of the key terms associated with weather. (SOL 2.6(a) The weather terms are defined in language for children to understand. Weather Words and What they Mean can be used to introduce the students to weather terms. Additionally, this book may be a good resource for review on the topic because it provides many terms and then gives good examples of the terms. This book would be great for students because the pictures and the text keep students engaged.
Additional Resources
- This website provides teachers with many good activities for the students to complete when learning about weather. This website gives activities for students to understand how the wind works, and also gives students the chance to come up with their own weather riddle.
- This website is a great place for students to go to when learning about weather. This website provides stories about weather as well as activities. Another important feature of this website is that it gives students safety tips when the weather is dangerous.
- This is a great resource for students and teachers. For teachers this website gives many activities for the students to complete when they are learning about weather. The students can go to this website to complete some weather investigation. There are many different activities for the students to complete.
General Information
Book: Weather Words and What they Mean
Author: Gail Gibbons
Illustrator:Gail Gibbons
Publisher: Holiday House
Publication Date: 1990
Pages:1-30
Grade Range: 1-3
ISBN: 0-8234-0805-1
Introduction
Photosynthesis by Alvin Silverstein, Virginia Silverstein and Laura Silverstein Nunnis a book that provides great detail on the process of photosynthesis. This book provides good examples and illustrations of what happens during photosynthesis. Additionally, this book also gives many good activities for students to complete while learning about photosynthesis. Another important feature of this book is that it not only discusses the process of photosynthesis, but also the future of photosynthesis. This book also gives good resources for many science concepts and has a glossary as a resource.
Curriculum Connection
This book is geared toward helping students gain an understanding about the process of photosynthesis SOL 4.4(c). This book would be a great tool to challenge students who already have a basic understanding of photosynthesis. Some of the material in this book may be difficult for some students to understand. This book could also be used for a center because there are many good activities for students to complete. Additionally, this book can be used for students to expand on the knowledge of photosynthesis.
Additional Resources
- This website is a good resource for a teacher to go to for a lesson plan on photosynthesis. The lesson provides an activity for students to complete to learn more about photosynthesis.
- This website provides many different activities for students to complete. Teachers can pick from a variety of activities to complete with their students. Additionally, some of these activities could be used for homework assignments as well.
- This video is a good resource for students to look at to help them understand the process of photosynthesis. This video provides a lot of good information for the students.
General Information
Book: Photosynthesis
Author: Alvin Silverstein, Virginia Silverstein, Laura Silverstein Nunn
Illustrator: None Listed
Publisher: Twenty-First Century Books
Publication Date: 1998
Pages: 5-63
Grade Range: 4-7
ISBN: 0-7613-3000-3
Introduction/Summary
Busy Wheels by Peter Lippman and illustrated by Aurelius Battaglia explores a variety of different machines found in the environment. This books gives many good examples of how wheels can be used. All of these items with wheels do very important jobs. “Some children ride in school buses. Some Ride on bicycles. Others travel by car.” This book provides many everyday examples that students may see in everyday life.
Curriculum Connections
This book would be a great way to show students examples of machines with wheels. It could be used for students to read at a center or could be used as a teaching tool for the whole class. This applies to SOL 3.2 (c and d) providing examples of everyday machines in school, home and in the community.
Additional Resources
- This website provides definitions of both simple and compound machines. This site could be a very good beginning point for the students.
- This video gives the students an opportunity to watch how a compound machine, the pulley works. This would expand on the students knowledge.
- Here is a simple activity for students to complete about machines. This site provides lesson plans for the teacher on different types of machines.
General Information
Book: Busy Wheels
Author: Peter Lippman
Illustrator:Aurelius Battaglia
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: 1973
Pages:38
Grade Range: 2-4
ISBN:0-394-82706-6
Graphs written by Bonnie Bader and illustrated by Mernie Gallagher Cole is a story about a boy who does not want to go to his family reunion. Gary, the boy gives many reasons as to why he can’t go to the reunion, including his math homework. His mom tells him to bring his math homework to the party. Gary brings his homework to the party and creates a line, bar and, pie graph of different things at the party. The other children get excited with his work and help Gary complete his graphs.
“I told them about my math homework. I thought they would be bored by it and leave me alone. I was wrong. “We love math!” said Bobby.”
Curriculum Connection
This book is intended to help students learn how to graph different kinds of information. This book can be a good introduction to the different types of graphs. It can also help the students with different things that they can graph. This book can be used for VA SOLs
2.1 f- pictures and bar graphs are constructed using numbered axes
3.1 g- where students will gather, chart, and graph data .
Additional Resources
- Make A Bar Graph is a great exercise for students to begin learning to make bar graphs themselves. This worksheet has two different sets of information for the students to practice bar graphing.
- This website gives students more information on the different types of graphs. This website also provides activities for the students to complete their own graphs.
- This game gives students the opportunity to make their own pie chart. The students can explore and move the different parts of the graph to see how this changes the pie chart. It is very interactive so it helps the students stay engaged.
General Information
Book: Graphs
Author: Bonnie Bader
Illustrator: Mernie Gallagher Cole
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Publication Date: 2003
Pages: 48 pages
Grade Range: 1-3
ISBN: 0-448-42896-2
