{"id":1973,"date":"2009-11-02T20:33:12","date_gmt":"2009-11-03T01:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/archives\/1973"},"modified":"2009-11-02T20:33:12","modified_gmt":"2009-11-03T01:33:12","slug":"teaching-geography-with-childrens-literature-buster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/2009\/11\/02\/teaching-geography-with-childrens-literature-buster\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Geography with Children&#8217;s Literature: Buster"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/files\/2009\/11\/buster.jpg\" title=\"buster.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/files\/2009\/11\/buster.thumbnail.jpg\" alt=\"buster.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Buster-Denise-Fleming\/dp\/0805062793\">Buster<\/a>, a book written by Denise Fleming, follows a dig named Buster through his quest to get away from the new family pet, a cat named Betty.\u00a0 Not only is Buster afraid of cats, but he ruled the roost before Betty came along.\u00a0 Buster had his own dishes with his name, a large grassy yard with a tall oak tree to nap under, a sandpit for taking dirt baths, an in-and-out flap on the back door, a basketful of toys, and a radio tuned to his favorite station.\u00a0 However, Betty came along, she took over all of his private spaces and even changed his radio station, so Buster ran away from the house.\u00a0 He spent the day at a nearby park but could not find his way back home after dark.\u00a0 He searched for familiar clues or anything he would recognize, but found nothing until he saw Betty waving her paw.\u00a0 He followed Betty all the way home and realized how nice she was after all. \u00a0 \u00a0 <em>Buster<\/em> teaches students\u00a0 the importance of looking for familiar landmarks when they are lost.\u00a0 The students will enjoy following Buster as he ventures to and from the park.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few excerpts from the book.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Not his usual park but a fine park with tall trees, a bubbling fountain, tubs of flowers, large grassy patches, and not a cat in sight.&#8221; (pg. 16)<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;He looked up the street.\u00a0 He looked down the street.\u00a0 Nothing looked familiar.&#8221; (pg. 27)<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Buster ran out of the park, around two corners, over five streets, turned left, and ran up the block.&#8221; (pg. 37)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Curriculum Connections:<\/strong><em><br \/>\nBuster<\/em> is an easy-read with wonderful illustrations to help students in kindergarten and first grade learn about geography. For kindergarten students, this book will help them use simple maps and globes to develop an awareness that a map is a drawing of a place to show where things are located, describe places referenced in stories and real-life situations, and to locate land and water features.\u00a0 (VA SOL K.4)\u00a0 For first graders, students will develop map skills by recognizing basic map symbols, including references to land, water, cities and globes.\u00a0 (VA SOL 1.4)\u00a0 <em><br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Additional Resources<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.teach-nology.com\/themes\/science\/magnets\/\" title=\"Magnet Teaching Website\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This <a href=\"http:\/\/www.knowledgeessentials.com\/index.php?id=655\">kindergarten map activity<\/a> is great for teaching both kindergarten and first grade students to how look for familiar landmarks to help them know where they are.\u00a0 You can use the school or the classroom as a reference point.<\/li>\n<li>This <a href=\"http:\/\/teacherlink.ed.usu.edu\/tlresources\/units\/Byrnes-S2000\/Beddes\/map_lesson.htm\">Lesson Plan<\/a>, geared towards first graders but easily adaptable for kindergartners, is a great resource for teachers giving an introductory lesson on maps.<\/li>\n<li>This <a href=\"http:\/\/education.usgs.gov\/schoolyard\/MapActivity.html\">website<\/a> offers a great idea for a lesson plan on mapping your school yard to help kids understand direction.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Book:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Buster-Denise-Fleming\/dp\/0805062793\">Buster<\/a><br \/>\n<strong>Author:<\/strong> Denise Fleming<br \/>\n<strong>Illustrator:<\/strong> N\/A<br \/>\n<strong>Publisher: <\/strong>Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)<br \/>\n<strong>Publication Date:<\/strong> September 2003<br \/>\n<strong>Pages:<\/strong> 40 Pages<br \/>\n<strong>Grade Range:<\/strong> Kindergarten and First Grade<br \/>\n<strong>ISBN:<\/strong> 978-0805062793<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Buster, a book written by Denise Fleming, follows a dig named Buster through his quest to get away from the new family pet, a cat named Betty.\u00a0 Not only is Buster afraid of cats, but he ruled the roost before &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/2009\/11\/02\/teaching-geography-with-childrens-literature-buster\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4424,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review","category-geography"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4424"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1973\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}