Teaching Ancient Civilizations with Children’s Literature: Mummies, Pyramids, and Pharaohs: A Book about Ancient Egypt

Posted on February 9, 2010 by openwidearchive

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Mummies, Pyramids, and Pharaohs: A Book about Ancient Egypt was written by Gail Gibbons and illustrated by Saho Fujii.   “One of the world’s oldest continuous civilizations began about five thousand years ago, in the land of Egypt.”  The book gives an great overview of how and where ancient Egyptian’s lived, what jobs they held, how they celebrated different occasions, what their houses looked like, their medical & magic healing powers.  Communication and story telling through picture writing, known as hieroglyphs, was a very important part of ancient Egyptians life.  “People called scribes spent up to ten years to learn the hundreds of hieroglyph symbols.”  Ancient Egyptians were ruled by kings, known as pharaohs.  Pharaohs were burried in pyramids along with their family and slaves.   Today people can go and visit pyramids as well as museums around the world and view some of the ancient Egyptian art from that era.

Curriculum Connections

This would be a great book to start off or use to support a lesson on ancient Egypt.  The illustration in the book is great and can be used as a quick reference for life during ancient Egypt.  The photos can be used for early readers.  The life style, architecture and location are described in detail for early learners (SOL 2.1 and 2.4a).

Additional Resources

Book: Mummies, Pyramids, and Pharaohs: A Book about Ancient Egypt
Author: Gail Gibbons
Illustrator: Saho Fujii
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Publication Date: 2004
Pages: 30
Grade Range: 2-5
ISBN: 0316309281

 

 

 

 

 

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Teaching Ancient Civilizations with Children’s Literature: Roman Town

Posted on February 8, 2010 by openwidearchive

Roman Town

"This book is about a Roman town.  It is not an actual town, instead it is composed of the many elements typical of Roman towns throughout the empire at the beginning of the 1st century AD.  Look around the town, and find out what it was like to be a tourist in Roman times."

Roman Town is a detailed and informative book written by Hazel Mary Martell.  It takes the reader through a tour of a Roman town, to places such as the ampitheater, the slums, the temple, and the baths to name a few.  In each place, the author makes comparisons and contrasts to modern life that can be found.  All this detail is matched with rich, elaborate illustrations that give a the reader an idea of what a typical Roman town would have looked like.

Curriculum Connections

I would recommend this book for grades 3-6.  There is a lot of detail and information within, so it is a book which the teacher can read to the students, or more advanced readers can read on their own.

This book can be used to address VA History SOL 3.1 – The student will explain how the contributions of ancient Greece and Rome have influenced the present world in terms of architecture, government (direct and representative democracy), and sports.

Additional Resources

Brainpop.com has a great video about The Fall of the Roman Empire.

This site has some great info about The Roman Colosseum.

PBS has a good site called The Roman Empire: In the First Century, which has a lot of information that would supplement this book quite nicely.

General Information

  • Book: Roman Town
  • Author:  Hazel Mary Martell
  • Illustrator: Mark Bergin
  • Publisher: Franklin Watts
  • Publication Date:  1998
  • Pages: 48
  • Grade Range: 3-6
  • ISBN: 0531153452
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Teaching Ancient Civilizations with Children’s Literature: You Are In Ancient Greece

Posted on February 8, 2010 by openwidearchive

You Are In Ancient Greece, written by Ivan Minnis, is filled with photographs of ancient buildings and artifacts and excellent information for teaching about Ancient Greece. There is no particular illustrator because all of the images are photographs. The book aims to put students in the civilizations hundreds and thousands of years ago by teaching them from the perspective of what their education, food gathering, entertainment and other aspects were like during those times. Each page has headings like “A Greek City” and “Growing Up”which give organization to the plentiful information. Important vocabulary works are in bold and their are portions of a page devoted to “finding out about” a topic. This visually separates the information from the student which may help recognize the information as interesting facts. This book is a great read for an educational setting because the words are large and the visuals are informative. An excellent example of the way Minnis conveys the extensive information is below.

 ” As you walk through the busy streets of Athens, you see rich businesspeople and craftspeople working in their shops. There are also poor peasants and laborers and many slaves who are forced to work hard by their masters.” (6)

 Curriculum Connections:

You Are In Ancient Greece would be most appropriate when teaching Ancient Civilizations to 3rd grade students because it gives factual information about they way Greece was 2,500 years ago. Instead of blatantly stating the information, this book is sure to captivate the readers by trying to place them on the streets of Greece. The photographs are informative and relevant to the topic discussed on the particular page. This helps visual learners get a mental picture of what it was like. Due to the length and abundance of content this book could be used as a main aspect of a lesson. It may be too much information for a “hook” activity. From this book the student will gain an understanding of what contributions the ancient Greeks made to architecture, government (direct and representative democracy) and athletics. (3.1) The bolded vocabulary words could be used as a set of words the students can focus on for the topic of Ancient Greece. Excellent educational tool! Consider Minnis’s other books about Egypt, China, and Rome.

Additional Resources:

Worksheets– Interactive worksheets with reading, coloring, and questions to anwer.

Lesson Plan– Creating a Greek Newspaper Lesson Plan that would be a great assessment and a creative way for kids to practice writing skills

Interactive Website– this site can be used by teachers to gain background knowledge or by children to see Ancient Greece in a more creative and understandable way.

General Information: 

Book:  You Are In Ancient Greece

Author: Ivan Minnis

Publisher: Raintree

Publication Date: 2005

Pages: 29 pages

Grade Range: 2nd to 8th

ISBN: 1-4109-0617-5

 

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Teaching Ancient Civilizations with Children’s Literature: Pompeii Lost & Found

Posted on February 8, 2010 by openwidearchive

Pompeii

Pompeii Lost & Found, written by Mary Pope Osborne and illustrated by Bonnie Christensen, tells the story of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius which buried Pompeii.  The story begins right before the eruption; “As everyone went about their daily routines on August 24, AD 79, no one seemed to notice that strange things had begun to happen.”  The warning signs and the eruption are described; “Tons of hot ash rained down on Pumpeii until the town was completely buried.”  Then the story goes into the discovery of the buried city of Pompeii over 1500 years later.  Archeological findings, practices, and techniques are described.  “With all the discoveries of the archaeologists, we can now fully imagine what everyday life was like in a Roman town almost 2,000 years ago.”  The book helps children visualize the lives of the people of Pompeii by describing what their houses were like, what they ate, how they shopped, what adults and children did for entertainment, what children learned in school, and how the people worshiped their gods.  The illustrations show images from AD 79 before the eruption and from today, allowing students to make connections to the past which bring history to life.

Curriculum Connections

This book would be great for introducing a lesson on Pompeii or Ancient Rome in general.  The illustrations make the book approachable even for beginning readers.  This book would help students learn about the contributions of Ancient Rome, including their architecture, art, culture, sports, and hobbies (VA SOL 3.1).

Additional Resources

General Information

Book: Pompeii Lost & Found
Author: Mary Pope Osborne
Illustrator: Bonnie Christensen
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 40
Grade Range: 1 – 5
ISBN: 0375828893

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Teaching Civics with Children’s Literature: Madam President

Posted on February 8, 2010 by openwidearchive

  Madam President Cover

"A President has to lead by example, even if it means cleaning her own room."

Madam President is a fun and clever book written by Lane Smith.  It follows a girl as she explains some of the duties of the president, but through the wonderfully modern illustrations the girl takes us through what those duties mean to a young lady at school and at home.  She vetoes tuna casserole in the lunchroom, and her goldfish is Secretary of Underwater Exploration.  Get your singing voice ready, as she also takes the school band through her own version of “Hail to the Chief”.  Don’t forget to turn all the pages, or you’ll miss the Secret Service cat’s last word.

Curriculum Connections

I would recommend this book for grades 1-4.  It is fun and not only teaches children about what a President’s job is, but it also subtly lets kids know that a girl can grow up to be anything she wants, including President of the United States.

This book is perfect for addressing the roles and powers of the executive branch of government, Virginia Civics and Government SOL CE.7b: The student will demonstrate knowledge of how public policy is made at the local, state, and national levels of government by describing the roles and powers of the executive branch.

Additional Resources

Here is a great game that kids can play on their own or in groups of two or three called If You Were President.  I would recommend this game for grades 3 and up.  Balancing the budget on the third slide is a little tricky, and it asks you to explain why different aspects (Military, Health Care, Education, etc) are important to you, and it ends by creating a newspaper article about President (your name here).

For the lower grades, here is a page of President Coloring Pictures.  They suggest it for President’s Day, but I say you can use it whenever you like.

And here are slide shows of Presidents and Presidential Pets.

General Information

  • Book: Madam President
  • Author:  Lane Smith
  • Illustrator: Lane Smith
  • Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
  • Publication Date:  2008
  • Pages: 40
  • Grade Range:  1-4
  • ISBN: 1423108469
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Teaching Earth Science With Children’s Literature: Rocks and Minerals

Posted on February 8, 2010 by openwidearchive

https://www.cas.muohio.edu/scienceforohio/Rocks/images/EyewitnessRocks.jpg

Rocks & Minerals from the Eyewitness series and written by Chris Pellant and R. Symes is a very informative and detail oriented guide book covering all aspects of rocks, crystals, gems, stones, and minerals. The book is filled with excellent graphics, photographs, and diagrams.  This book starts out with a great page on the Earth in general and how Earth was formed. The later chapters are broken down into the definition of rocks & minerals, how they are formed, and different types of rocks & minerals. The format of the book allows the reader to read as little or as much as they would like about rocks as the reader does not have to read the book cover to cover to gather an adequate knowledge of Earth Science topics. This book would be an excellent read for the inquisitive mind and would be a great addition to a reading corner or shelf.

Curriculum Connections
Rocks & Minerals is a great book to use to discuss Earth and its composition of different types of rocks. This book bares correlations to several Virginia SOLs including: VA Science SOL 4.8 which requires that the student will investigate and understand important Virginia natural resources, including minerals, rocks, ores, and energy sources. VA science SOL 5.7  which requires that the student will investigate and understand how the Earth's surface is constantly changing. Key concepts include of this strand include the rock cycle including identification of rock types, Earth history and fossil evidence, the basic structure of the Earth's interior, plate tectonics (earthquakes and volcanoes), and weathering and erosion.

Additional Resources

  • Fun and yummy activity to do in  correlation to a lesson on rocks!
  • Additional kid friendly website with extra informative information.
  • Earth’s dramatic creation lesson plan! Great resource for teaching on rocks & minerals and the creation of Earth!

Book: Eyewitness Books: Rocks & Minerals
Author: Chris Pellant & R. Symes
Illustrator: Photographs
Publisher: Dorling Kindersley
Publication Date: 2000
Pages: 64 pages
Grade Range: 3-5
ISBN-10: 0 394-89621-1

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Teaching Earth Science With Children’s Literature: Four Seasons Make A Year

Posted on February 8, 2010 by openwidearchive

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Four Seasons Make A Year  written by Anne Rockwell and illustrated by Megan Halsey is narrated by a  young girl who lives on a farm.  The story takes the reader from the first day of spring through the first day of winter, while explaining what effect each season has on the farm.  In the spring, the fields need to be plowed, flowers begin to bloom, and the young girl plants a sunflower seed.  In the early summer, green sprouts appear on the field, bees and butterflies are back, and the young girl’s sunflower seed begins to grow.  As the summer goes on the young girl and her family pick corn, squash and summer flowers to sell at their stand and her sunflower has grown taller then she is.  When fall arrives the young girl goes back to school.  The pumpkins change from green to orange and her sunflower is heavy with seeds.  The leaves begin to change, the bees and the butterflies are gone and as fall continues, the girl and her family now sell pumpkins at their stand.  As it begins to look and feel like winter, the young girl notices squirrels gathering nuts and acorns and only evergreen trees still have their branches.  Finally winter has come and there is a big snow storm one night.  When the young girl awakes she finds out school has been canceled for the day!  She goes out to make snowman, ice skate on the pond, and feeds sunflower seeds that she saved to the cardinals and decides next year she will plant 2 sunflower seeds.

Curriculum Connections
Four Seasons Make A Year is a great book to use to discuss the seasons and the changes they bring.  This book could be used to discuss the changes in weather from season to season (VA SoL K.9a, 1.7a&b).  The appearance and migration of the birds, and also the growth and changes of sunflower plant would be a good example of the effects the seasons have on living things(Va SoL 2.7a).

Additional Resources

  • This lesson plan can be used along with the book.
  • This website has themed activities for the fall season.
  • This lesson plan is about the effects the seasons have on plants and animals.

Book: Four Seasons Make A Year
Author: Anne Rockwell
Illustrator: Megan Halsey
Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 2004
Pages: 32 pages
Grade Range: K-2
ISBN-10: 0802788831

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Teaching Earth Science with Children’s Literature: The Magic School Bus Out of This World: A Book About Space Rocks

Posted on February 8, 2010 by openwidearchive

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Introduction and Summary
The Magic School Bus Out of This World : A Book About Space Rocks written by Joanna Cole, is another classic in the Magic School Bus series. Mrs. Frizzle’s class is putting on a solar system play when they find out that an asteroid out in space is headed straight towards Walker Elementary School! The class rushes onto the Magic School Bus that turns into a Space Bus. On their trip to find the asteroid, they discover what shooting stars are and also get pulled into the Moon’s gravity. They defeat a comet and finally find the asteroid. They try many different ways to redirect the asteroid away from Earth until Dorothy Ann finally comes up with a plan. She says the Magic School Bus needs to become as big as the Moon to pull the asteroid into it’s gravity, then shrink at just the right time to send the asteroid far away from the Earth. After the class accomplishes this, they travel back and even get a phone call from NASA on the way home.

Curriculum Connections
This is a great book to introduce older elementary students to space rocks and gravity of the Moon. Key vocabulary could include Earth, Moon, comet, meteor, asteroid, gravity, and shooting stars. The book explores the different space rocks and also introduces how the Moon has it’s own gravity (SOL 6.8a,c). It also explores the distance and makeup of the Moon and how it is associated with the Earth (SOL 4.7c).

Additional Resources

Book: The Magic School Bus Out of This World: A Book About Space Rocks
Author: Joanna Cole
Illustrator: Bruce Degen
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: 1996
Pages:  32 pages
Grade Range: 2nd-5th grade
ISBN: 0590921568

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Teaching Earth Science with Children’s Literature: Kingdom of the Sun

Posted on February 8, 2010 by openwidearchive

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Kingdom of the Sun: A Book of the Planets written by Jacqueline Mitton and illustrated by Christina Balit is a book written about our sun, moon and the planets in our solar system.  The book starts with an explanation of how “planets,” named from the Greek word for “wanderers,” were discovered and named.  At first, they were named for Greek gods and a goddesses.  Now they are named after Roman Gods and a Goddess except for Uranus (which is named for a Greek god).  The sun is the first celestial body that is explained.  Mitton writes about each celestial body in first person.  For example, “THE SUN– A MASSIVE BALL OF GLOWING FLAME, I am sovereign over nine planets.” (Mitton, pg 6) Pluto is included as one of the planets.  For each celestial body, there is an illustration of the god or goddess.  The illustrations by Balit are large and beautiful.  Mitton starts with the sun, then the moon, and finally describes the planets in order from Mercury through Pluto.  The book shows the size of the earth compared to the planets.  On the final two pages, there is a glossary and other facts about the planets, the sun and the moon such as, the number of moons each planet has, the distance the planet is from the sun, and the time it takes for a planet to orbit the sun.

Curriculum Connections
This book would be great for teaching students about our solar system.  The book describes the cycle of the moon.  It also lists the planets in order from the closest to the furthest from the sun.  Mitton explains that some planets are made up of rock while others are made up of gas.  There is much technical information important for older students such as the information listed at the end of the last paragraph, the diameter of the planets equators, the size of the sun and moon compared to the earth, and terms in the glossary such as atmosphere, constellation, gravity, etc.  (VA SOL 4.7 b,c,d)

Additional Resources

  • Interactive Solar System is a quick reference guide to the solar system at the “apples4the teacher.com website.  It states that Pluto is no longer a planet and students can move the cursor over a rocket with the name of a planet and the sun to learn some fun facts.
  • The Solar System is a link that takes you to “Instructor Web” and gives a lesson plan and worksheets on the solar system.  It is appropriate for 3rd through 5th grade.
  • Welcome to the Planets shows real photograph images of the planets.  It is a photojournal that also has a list of human made satellites and a large glossary.
  • The Moon Cycle  is a link to the “Instructor Web” site where there is a lesson plan for elementary school teachers on the moon cycle.  It is appropriate for 3rd through 5th grade.

Book:  Kingdom of the Sun: A Book of the Planets
Author:  Jacqueline Mitton
Illustrator:  Christina Balit
Publisher:  National Geographic Society
Publication Date:  2001
Pages:  30 pages
Grade Range:  K-4
ISBN:  0-7922-7220-X (Hard Cover)

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Teaching Ancient Civilizations with Children’s Literature: Ancient Rome and Pompeii

Posted on February 8, 2010 by openwidearchive

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Magic Tree House Research Guide #14: Ancient Rome and Pompeii: A Nonfiction Companion to Vacation Under the Volcano, written by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce, illustrated by Sal Murdocca is an excellent way to supplement teaching Ancient Roman history.  It simply and clearly gives a basic overview of ancient Rome.  It has great attention to detail and provides many important facts that are pertinent to an elementary school student.  It does this in a way that is interesting and fun.  It is a companion research guide to Magic Tree House #13 Vacation Under the Volcano, but can certainly be read on its own.  It has many facts and descriptions about Roman life and culture.  The book begins with the legend of Romulus and Remus.  Then continues

The real story of ancient Rome is a bit different.  Rome was actually founded over 3,000 years ago.  Farmers and fishermen settled on hills near the river Tiber in what is now Italy.  These small hill settlements grew into a town.

It then goes on to describe how the ancient Roman government evolved over time, including clear descriptions of a republic as "a form of government where no one person has complete control".  Many of the important contributions of Roman architecture are also discussed.

Roman buildings often had strong, rounded arches and beautiful domes.  The Romans also built sturdy bridges, roads, and tunnels.

There are sections that describe the Colosseum and aqueducts and their uses and importance, including photographs of both.  Other information covered includes:  Roman military, roads, language, important people, Pompeii and the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, a great description of daily life in ancient Rome, and more.

The book includes maps, drawings, photographs (of artwork, Roman sites, etc), Latin word meanings, and other bits of important and interesting information that would also be relevant to a student.  At the end, the authors list many different sources that can be used to do more research.  These included tips on how to properly do research from a book, museum research tips and particular exhibits, videos, DVDs, CD-ROMs, and internet resources.

Curriculum Connections

This book can be used to introduce and/or reinforce Third Grade Standards of Learning regarding Ancient Rome.  It clearly describes a Roman Republic form of government, architecture (including the Colosseum and aqueducts), and Roman art (including mosaics, sculptures and paintings).  (VA SOL 3.1)  A map in the book shows the vast borders of the Roman Empire surrounding the Mediterranean Sea in the third century.  It also describes the physical characteristics of Rome being next to a river and built on many hills.  It discusses that Romans were farmers, road builders, and traders.  (VA SOL 3.4)  Topics covered in this book can also lead to economics discussions related to ancient Roman culture (VA SOL 3.7 & 3.8).

Additional Resources

  • Kidipede – History and Science for Kids has a great article that clearly and simply provides information about the ancient Roman government, making connections to our government today.  Or you can find ideas on how to make a mosaic with your classroom.
  • Roman Empire has a lot of information including color photographs of Roman buildings (e.g. Colosseum, Pantheon, and aqueducts).  These are great primary sources to share with the students.
  • The BBC Learning has an excellent website to use as a way to integrate technology into learning about ancient Rome.  There are fun games, facts, and photographs.  There is also a link with teacher resources that includes worksheets, activities and videos.
  • Random House has the official Magic Tree House site with activities and information for all of the books in the Magic Tree House series.

General Information

Book: Magic Tree House Research Guide #14: Ancient Rome and Pompeii: A Nonfiction Companion to Vacation Under the Volcano
Author: Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce
Illustrator: Sal Murdocca
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 128
Grade Range: 2nd-5th
ISBN-10: 0375832203
ISBN-13: 978-0375832208

 

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