Teaching Earth Science with Children’s Literature: Rain

Posted on April 5, 2010 by openwidearchive

rain.jpg

Rain, written by Robert Kalan and illustrated by Donald Crews, explores what rain looks like in different types of landscapes and in different types of weather. There is “rain on the red car” and “rain on the green trees” and at the end of the book there is a beautiful landscape with a rainbow.  This book simply explains how rain can start all of the sudden and how rain and weather can effect different things in the world like grass, trees, flowers, houses, cars, and the road. This book is also a great example for teaching students their colors. It starts off showing a clear blue sky, then adding a bright sun, then it adds a few clouds, and then it begins to rain. The book has very few words and draws the readers attention to what is happening in the story: the rain!

Curriculum Connections
This book is a great introduction to weather observations like watching how, when, and where rain starts, and before that how the sun shines, and how clouds can cover the sun (VA SOL K.8 a).  This is also a nice example of how to show students that rain can help things like plants and flowers grow (VA SOL 1.7 a).

Additional Resources
1. Rain Lesson Plan– This website offers a lesson plan about the rain/water cycle.  It also incorporates the Nandi folklore tale “Bringing the Rain.” This site also has a nice craft to make to go along with the water cycle.
2. Water Cycle– This page is a great printout for older students to complete the water cycle. There is a reading passage to complete fill-in-the-blank parts as well as a picture of the water cycle.
3. Weather Worksheet– This worksheet is a great idea for younger students who are just learning about weather.  They match the items with the appropriate weather symbol.

General Information
Book: Rain
Author: Robert Kalan
Illustrator: Donald Crews
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date: 1991
Pages: 32
Grade Range: K-2
ISBN: 0688104797

Posted in earth science, science | Comments Off on Teaching Earth Science with Children’s Literature: Rain

Teaching Earth Science with Children’s Literature: The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top

Posted on April 5, 2010 by openwidearchive

61yk4ntc2il_bo2204203200_pisitb-sticker-arrow-clicktopright35-76_aa300_sh20_ou01_.jpg

 Introduction and Summary 

Written by, Joanna Cole and illustrated by, Bruce Degen, The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top is a great book of adventure to be enjoyed by children of many ages.  Ms. Frizzle is at it again.  This time the class is trying to construct an enormous globe but they find that some of the pieces are missing.  Apparently there is an island so new that it hasn’t been discovered yet so it wasn’t in the globe kit.  The class decides to search for the mystery island so they can name it.  You can probably guess what happens next.  That’s right, the magic school bus stretches and spins and pulls and takes the class to the bottom of the ocean to discover where and how this new island is forming.  It turns out to be a volcano erupting and the class arrives just in time to learn how the process can eventually form a new piece of land.  The students name the island and write  a book about their experiences.

Curriculum Connections

This very recognizeable text is a nice way to introduce an adventurous spirit in the classroom.  Its great companion literature when introcucing  Earth sciencet topics with students.  It could be used when teaching about volcanoes or how the Earth is constantly changing due to natural events.  The book serves as a nice, playful introduction to some potentially complicated topics. (5.6, 5.7)

Additional Resources

This Scholastic interactive site is could be a nice place to direct students for independent center time activities on the internet.

Here’s a place to look for lesson plan ideas related to The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top and volcanos.

This National Geographic site has great pictures of real volcanoes so students can see what the eruption looks like in action.

General Information

Book:  The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top

Author:  Joanna Cole

Illustrator:  Bruce Degen

Publisher:  Scholastic Inc.

Publication Date:  1996

Pages:  32

Grade Range:  2-5

ISBN:  0590508350

 

Posted in book review, earth science, science | Comments Off on Teaching Earth Science with Children’s Literature: The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top

Teaching Ancient Civilizations with Children’s Literature: Castle Under Attack

Posted on April 5, 2010 by openwidearchive

51yhzz935sl_ss400_.jpg

Introduction and Summary

Castle Under Attack written by Nicola Baxter and illustrated by Roger Harris is a book that paints a fascinating picture of everyday life in the Middle Ages.  This historical fiction story uses Lego characters to make reading exciting and fun for young children.  Throughout the book, there are informational boxes that are full of background information and give real examples of what life was like in a community during the Middle Ages.  King Leo and Queen Leonora decide to hold a feast at their castle.  An information box describes a castle as being “built in the Middle Ages.  People and animals were safe there if an enemy attacked.”  For entertainment during the feast, they held a tournament with contests.  During the festivities Cedric the Bull, the enemy plotted to attack the castle.  Since Cedric the Bull did not succeed at the initial attack, they decided to take the King’s daughter, Princess Storm instead.  In the end King Leo and his men surround Cedric the Bull’s men and get Princess Storm back.  The bad guys were put in the dungeons and the feast continued.

Curriculum Connections

This book is a super resource for teachers to help students identify how community life in the past is different from present day community life.  It also helps young children to see how the daily lives and roles of people in society has changed. (History SOL 2.3)  The lesson that is trying to be taught along with the story of character and value is a wonderful example of civics and the traits that make up a good citizen. (Civics SOL 1.10)  Lastly this is a great book to encourage better language arts skills because it challenges a young reader with longer sentences and expanded vocabulary.

Additional Resources

  • Kids-Castle is an interactive website that lets you explore a castle by scrolling over different areas of the castle and clicking on them to see more information about that area
  • Informational coloring page that contains vocabulary words pertaining to castles that students can color
  • A word search that contains words about the parts of a castle

General Information
Book: Castle Under Attack
Author: Nicola Baxter
Illustrator: Roger Harris
Publisher: Tandem Library
Publication Date: 2000
Pages: 32
Grade Range: K-3
ISBN: 0613244982

Posted in ancient civilizations, book review, history | Comments Off on Teaching Ancient Civilizations with Children’s Literature: Castle Under Attack

Teaching Ancient Civilizations with Children’s Literature: Egyptian Diary: The Journal of Nakht

Posted on April 5, 2010 by openwidearchive

617b99my2yl_ss400_.jpg

Introduction and Summary
Egyptian Diary: The Journal of Nakht written by Richard Platt and illustrated by David Parkins,  follows the life of nine-year-old Nakht, who has just moved with his family to Memphis where his father has a prestigious new job as a scribe. As Nakht takes up his own scribe lessons, he maintains a diary of the daily events of an Egyptian child as well as the historical events of the time.  Nakht and his sister, Tamyt, decide to investigate the robbing of nearby tombs and eventually catch the criminal mastermind, the Controller of Granaries, at a banquet inside their own house! Nakht and Tamyt are invited to meet King Hatshepsut, who is really a woman! The end of the book has notes of historical details of the time period including maps, a timeline, and information about the Ancient Egyptian society.

Curriculum Connections
This is a great book to introduce Ancient Egypt to elementary students. Although the book itself is long, it would ideal to read aloud a few pages at a time to a class. Key vocabulary could include ancient, scribe, pyramid, Pharaoh, barter, Nile River, and heiroglyphics. The book explores the Ancient Egyptian architecture, inventions, calendar, and writings (SOL 2.1). It can also be used in conjuction with a geography lesson to point out Ancient Egypt on a map as well as the Nile River(SOL 2.4a). An economic lesson can also be incorporated on bartering as there are several examples of bartering throughout the book (SOL 2.8)

Additional Resources

Book: Egyptian Diary: The Journal of Nakht
Author: Richard Platt
Illustrator: David Parkins
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Publication Date: 2005
Pages:  64 pages
Grade Range: 2nd-5th grade
ISBN: 0763627569

Posted in ancient civilizations, book review, history | Comments Off on Teaching Ancient Civilizations with Children’s Literature: Egyptian Diary: The Journal of Nakht

Teaching Ancient Civilizations with Children’s Literature: Mansa Musa: The Lion of Mali

Posted on April 5, 2010 by openwidearchive

mansamusa.jpg

 Introduction and Summary

 Mansa Musa:  The Lion of Mali, by Khephra Burns,  tells the story of young Kankan Musa, who vanishes from his village in Mali after slave traders kidnap him.  His mother and brothers were devastated.  Kankan was only fourteen when he was sold to a mysterious man dressed so heavily in robes that only his eyes could be seen.  The mysterious man befriends Kankan and shows him the ways of living and surviving in the desert.  Kankan goes on a journey of self-discovery while traveling thousands of miles with him around Africa.  He learns about the pyramids in Egypt, confronts genie’s that transform themselves into lions, and learns about self-control and maturity.  Seven years later, when he is twenty, he makes a journey back to his village to find that his brother has been named King.  He approaches his family and they learn that Kankan has finally returned to the village after all these years.  Kankan becomes a great adviser to his brother and later he himself becomes King.  Many parts of the story are true while the author, Khephra Burns, used fictional stories to detail parts of Kankan Masa’s life.

 Curriculum Connections

 Mansa Musa:  The Lion of Mali would be great for a third grade class learning about Ancient Mali.  A teacher could read Mansa Musa:  The Lion of Mali aloud to students as it is a long book with some difficult words.  Students could go online and do a webquest to learn about the journey that Mansa Musa took and about the culture of Ancient Mali.  (Va SOL 3.2)

 Additional Resources

  • Ancient Mali Scavenger Hunt – An online scavenger hunt where students can find clues and information on Ancient Mali.  Directions are included for students.
  • Mansa Musa Webquest – Online resource for students to learn about Mansa Musa and the journey that he went on.

 General Information

 Book: Mansa Musa:  The Lion of Mali

Author:  Khephra Burns

Illustrator:  Leo and Diane Dillon

Publisher:  Harcourt Childrens Books

Publication Date:  2001
Pages:  56

Grade Range:  3-6

ISBN:  10–0152003754  

Posted in ancient civilizations, book review, history | Comments Off on Teaching Ancient Civilizations with Children’s Literature: Mansa Musa: The Lion of Mali

Teaching Ancient Civilizations With Children’s Literature: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears

Posted on April 4, 2010 by openwidearchive

why-mosquitoes-buzz-in-peoples-ears.jpg

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears written by Verna Aardema and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon is a West Africa folk tale explaining the reason why mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears.

One day, while Iguana is at the watering hole, Mosquito shows up and tries to tell him about a farmer growing yams as big as Mosquito is.  Annoyed, Iguana puts sticks in his ears so he no longer has to hear what Mosquito says. Python shows up at the watering hole and starts to talk to Iguana, but with the sticks in his ears Iguana can’t hear a thing Python is saying.  Python worries that Iguana is planning mischief against him seeks safety in Rabbit’s hole.  When Rabbit sees Python coming down her Rabbit hole she becomes worried she is going to be eaten and flees from her hole.  Crow sees Rabbit running for her life and decides he needs to spend the word about the ‘apparent’ approaching danger.  When Monkey hears Crow’s cries he runs through the trees trying to get away from the dangerous beast.  While running through the trees, Monkey hits a dead limb which falls on a nest and kills a baby owlet.  When Mother Owl comes back to her nest and finds her little owlet dead she stays in her nest all day and night.  Mother Owl has the responsibility of waking the sun each day, but because she is so sad over her owlet she does not hoot for the sun and the other animals fear the sun will never come back.  King Lion calls a meeting of all the animals and when Mother Owl does not come, he sends Antelope to fetch her.  When she shows up Lion asks her why she has not risen the sun she tells him about Monkey killing her owlet.  Monkey is then summoned and tells Lion about being startled by the crow and one by one the animals come forward and explain why they acted the way they did.  Finally Iguana shows up and explains he did not know Python was trying to talk to him because he had the sticks in his ears.  When Iguana explains that he only had the sticks in his ears because he did not want to hear the lies that Mosquito telling him.  The other animals want Mosquito punished and Mother Owl feels satisfied and she raises the sun.  Mosquito, who was hiding under a leaf during the meeting and heard the whole proceeding, flies away and is never found by the council of animals.  But, to this day because she has a guilty conscience, she goes around whining in people’s ears asking “Is everyone still angry at me?”.

Curriculum Connections
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears is suitable to be used with grades K – 3. This book could be used to present a picture time line of the sequence of events starting with Mosquito’s lie to Mother Owl losing her owlet (VA SOL 1.1).  This book would also be a great example of the West African oral tradition of storytelling (VA SOL 3.2).

Additional Resources

  • This website has several different lesson plans to use in different academic subjects.
  • This website has two extension activities for the book.
  • This website has seven different writing extension activities for the book.

Book: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears
Author: Verna Aardema
Illustrator: Leo and Diane Dillon
Publisher: Puffin/Dial
Publication Date: 1975
Pages: 32 pages
Grade Range: K-3
ISBN-10: 0140549056

Posted in ancient civilizations, book review, social studies | Comments Off on Teaching Ancient Civilizations With Children’s Literature: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears

Teaching Earth Science with Children’s Literature: Oh Say Can You Say What’s the Weather Today?

Posted on April 4, 2010 by openwidearchive

Oh Say Can You Say What's the Weather Today?

Oh Say Can You Say What’s the Weather Today? written by Tish Rabe and illustrated by Aristides Ruiz is another educational and entertaining addition to the Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library.  The Cat uses silly rhymes in Dr. Seuss style to introduce complex weather phenomena and the instruments that are used to measure and predict weather.  The rhyming text and illustrations simplify the complexity of the vocabulary and terminology.  “First stop is the top of Mount Karakakoo, where they study the weather.  (That’s all that they do!)”  They learn about thermometers. anemometers, wind vanes, and folklore weather predictors like “[f]rogs croak a lot more when it’s going to rain.”  Next kids learn about cloud formations, rain, snow,heat and cold, humidity, thunderstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes.    Each term is briefly explained with occasional supporting explanations and drawings.  And in the end, the Cat leaves no question about the importance of weather.  “You see, weather keeps changing but one thing we know.  It makes life exciting wherever you go.”   A glossary is included at the end end of the book.

Curriculum Connections

This book is a fun  introduction to the terminology necessary to understand the basic types, changes, and patterns of weather (2.6) and the tools used to measure and predict weather conditions and phenomena (4.6).  None of the concepts are explained in depth, but the rhymes are crisp and interesting and the book effectively covers a lot of terminology in the Cat in the Hat’s familiar, simple, and entertaining style.  Used at the beginning of a unit, the book is a wonderful way to engage students in the concepts of weather.

Additional Resources

  • Making Rain – This website includes an activity for teacher’s using Oh Say Can You Say What’s the Weather Today that reinforces the lesson on rain and the water cycle with a tea kettle and a large metal lid.
  • What is Weather Lesson Plan – This lesson plan for lower elementary introduces key weather terminology using Oh Say Can You Say What’s the Weather Today and weather pictures.
  • The Weather Channel Kids – This site includes a broad range of activities and information for kids ranging from an interactive weather forecasting tool that allows you to build your own forecast, to information about weather jobs, a glossary, games, and videos about weather phenomena.
  • Bulletin Board Theme Ideas – This pdf includes a number of ideas for weather related bulletin boards for upper elementary classrooms.

Book: Oh Say Can You Say What’s the Weather Today?
Author: Tish Rabe
Illustrator: Aristides Ruiz
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: 2004
Pages: 48
Grade Range: PreK-3
ISBN: 0375922768

Posted in book review, earth science, science | Comments Off on Teaching Earth Science with Children’s Literature: Oh Say Can You Say What’s the Weather Today?

Teaching Ancient Civilizations Using Children’s Literature: Ancient China

Posted on April 4, 2010 by openwidearchive

 295-71.jpg

Ancient China from Dorling Kindersly’s Eyewitness series is a wonderful guidebook that allows the reader to discover the history of Imperial China, from the Great Wall to the days of the last emperor. The book is very informative and highly engaging. It features wonderful photographs of scenery and artifacts by skilled photographers, Alan Hills & Geoff Brighling. This book is very comprehensive and covers 26 different sections on Ancient China which allows for days upon days of exploration for the reader.  The format of the book allows the reader to read as little or as much as they would like about Ancient China, as the reader does not have to read the book cover to cover to gather an adequate knowledge about the topic. The book is written in a fashion that helps take the reader through a virtual tour of China, with sections discussing it’s earliest beginnings to information about China’s emperors, to information about the lifestyle of the Chinese (food, traditions, livelihood, home life, dress, adornment, etc.). In addition to the amazing photographs the book’s content includes time lines,suggested internet resources, and a helpful glossary. This book would be an excellent read for the inquisitive mind and would be a great resource for teaching about ancient civilizations. Both teachers and students would find this book wonderful and interesting and I think this a good book for the upper elementary classroom. The book is written by Arthur Cotterell and is one of many published by the highly proclaimed Dorling Kindersly.

Curriculum Connections
Ancient China is a great and would be most approparite for VA SOL History 2.1 in which the student is expected to explain how the contributions of ancient China and Egypt have influenced the present world in terms of architecture, inventions, the calendar, and written language. Although some of the content and wording in the book may be too advanced for second graders the information can easily be relayed in a more age/grade appropriate manner by the teacher.

Additional Resources

  • Great website for kids on Ancient China
  • Website full of Ancient China lesson plans (for teachers)
  • Website with tons of Chinese and Ancient China related coloring pages and other kid friendly activities
  • Teacher could hold a Chinese culture day, this website provides ideas and recipes for Chinese dishes

Book: Eyewitness Books: Ancient China

Author:Arthur Cotterell

Illustrator: Photographs by Alan Hills & Geoff Brightling

Publisher: Dorling Kindersley

Publication Date: 2005

Pages: 71 pages

Grade Range: 2-6

ISBN: 10: 0-7566-1391-4

Posted in ancient civilizations, book review, geography, history | Comments Off on Teaching Ancient Civilizations Using Children’s Literature: Ancient China

Teaching Ancient Civilizations With Children’s Literature: 500 Things You Should Know About History

Posted on April 4, 2010 by openwidearchive

47927248jpg.jpeg

Introduction and Summary:

This book is a great resource for students who need help with learning specific concepts about Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, and Ancient Egypt, whether it is out of curiosity or for a paper or project.  The book has great illustrations and hundreds of pages about almost anything anyone would like to know about these civilizations.  Examples include pages on Sparta, The Olympics, and city-states for Ancient Greece, Roman style, Roman armies, and prayers and sacrifices for Ancient Rome, and royalty, mummies, and tombs and temples in Ancient Egypt.  Students can learn a lot from the pictures (both illustrated and real) and the text in this book full of information.

Curriculum Connections:

This resource would go well with SOL 3.1, which has a purpose of explaining that Ancient Greece has influenced many things we have today, from governments to sports.  It would also go well with a unit on Ancient Rome and Ancient Egypt.

Additional Resources:

This website is a great resource for students to build upon knowledge about Ancient Greece and is an easy way for them to discover more with links to different subjects involving Ancient Greece, including literature, people, and mythology.

Under “Lesson Plan” on this page, there are a lot of great ideas to get kids thinking about Ancient Rome, Greece, or Egypt.  For example, students can write a diary entry from the perspective of a person living in one of these times or from the perspective of a god or goddess, or a reader’s theater can be created where students act out important events relating to a certain god or goddess.

This is a whole list of great video clips to further explain Ancient Greece to students.

 

General Information:

Book:   500 Things You Should Know About History

Author: Miles Kelly

Illustrator: Joe Jones, Sally Lace, Louisa Leitao, Elaine Wilkinson

Publisher: Sandy Creek

Publication Date: 2009

Pages: 224

Grade Range: 3-5

ISBN: 13 978-1-4351-1980-2

Posted in ancient civilizations, history, nonfiction | Comments Off on Teaching Ancient Civilizations With Children’s Literature: 500 Things You Should Know About History

Teaching Ancient Civilizations with Children’s Literature: Ancient Greek Children

Posted on April 4, 2010 by openwidearchive

9781403401311.jpg

Introduction and Summary:

Ancient Greek Children, by Richard Tames, provides a wealth of information about how it was for children growing up in Ancient Greece.  This book reviews information regarding caring for children, slavery, education, sports, and beliefs and behaviors.  This text reviews that Ancient Greece is the origin of the Western Civilization.  “Greeks invented democracy, drama, and trial by jury.”  In addition, many of the words we use today are of Greek origin.  This resource describes that young girls were treated as “pure and innocent,” while boys were taught to be “tough and competitive.”  A woman’s job was to “have children, bring them up, and organize the household.”  Women had a much shorter life span, as childbirth was risky in those times and many women died by the age of 40.  Families preferred to have boys so that they could carry on the family name.  Until the age of 6 all children spent their time in the women’s quarters of the home.  Most Greek children did not learn to read or write.    This text contains a glossary and index for students easy reference.

Curriculum Connections:

This resource would be appropriate for a third grade classroom. Given the amount of information in the text it may be useful to read  sections to the class at different times and have open discussions regarding the information.  This text would be useful in explaining how the contributions of ancient Greece have influenced the present world in terms of democracy and sports (VA SOL History 3.1).

Additional Resources:

This resource provides information on the Ancient Greek Olympics and describes the differences between the Olympians from Sparta, Athens, Corinth, Angos, and Megora.  This provides further support of the importance of sports in Greece.

This resource provides an activity that asks children to draw on a vase what is happening in the 21st century, as people in ancient Greece often drew what was happening in their world on vases to share about their history.

This resource provides a video clip of what life was like in Ancient Greece.

General Information:

Book:   Ancient Greek Children
Author: Richard Tames
Illustrator: Tinstar
Publisher: Heinemann Library
Publication Date: 2002
Pages: 1-48
Grade Range: 3-5
ISBN: 1-58810-639-X

Posted in ancient civilizations, book review | Comments Off on Teaching Ancient Civilizations with Children’s Literature: Ancient Greek Children