The Sun is Kind of a Big Deal

Visit The Lead Learners blog for my post of The SUN is Kind of a BIG DEAL by Nick Seluk.

Savorings for reading and writing for The Sun is Kind of a Big Deal:

• Voice
• Play on Words
• Scientific modeling
• Comic strip features
• Hybrid text
• Added tidbits in the back
• Pair it with the book, My Light by Molly Bang, for further study

Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea

The ocean in its vast beauty has a world of its own. Mountains and crevices invite creatures to reside, maneuver, and blend. Snorkelers gain a glimpse of the beauty hidden from the wavy surface. Stories and movies have the ocean as its setting. Robert Burleigh brilliant biography introduces you to the beginning of oceanography in his book, Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor, illustrated by Raul Colon.

Science didn’t know much about the ocean floor. It was once thought to be unmoving. Marie Tharp changed that thinking – but not without opposition. Her ideas were different, challenged, and not accepted quickly. Marie loved maps. Her father drew maps of our American landscapes from state to state. She used this passion in her job.

View the book trailer here.

Marie spent twenty years gathering data brought back from deep ocean adventures, of which she was excluded from because she was a female. (I was surprised at this.)  Marie was determined and persisted. The data proved the possible theory of the continental drift. She turned her data into a picture – a map, a map featuring changes in the oceans floor. Although many still didn’t agree, eventually, Marie’s maps, the ocean floor picture, are the foundation for the knowledge people have today.

To see actual photos of Marie Tharp and an overview of her scientific life, view this 2 min. video clip.

Dr. Nicky Howe portrays herself as Marie Tharp in 2015 Reading Slam. What a fun way for kids to get to know the character and be introduced to the ocean world.

Savorings for reading and writing for Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea:

• Rich language
• Biography
• Persistence – not giving up, working against odds
• Believing in herself
• Asking Questions
• Pursuing Dreams

The Blobfish Book

Jessica Olien (@jessicaolien) created a hybrid text in The Blobfish Book. Students are introduced to the creatures of each ocean zone. Facts are shared with real photos of the animal creatures. Blobfish adds his first-person commentary on each page with speech bubbles. The humorous style will hook your kids into learning more about the ocean.

When the text shares that the Blobfish was named the ugliest animal in the universe, Blobfish has a melt down. The other creatures, his friends, rally around him to uplift his spirits.

This book trailer includes an explanation of the different ocean zones.

This kid science video explains why the Blobfish is called the ugliest animal. Also, check out the book Pink is for Blobfish.

Savorings for The Blobfish Book:

• Hybrid text
• Persuasive
• Speech bubbles
• Personification
• Encouraging others

Never Smile at a Monkey

Steve Jenkins warns his readers about the dangers of some animals in a kid-friendly fashion in Never Smile at a Monkey. Each page shares one of eighteen different creatures’ harmful characteristics. Written in a repeating structure, NEVER begins the informative paragraph using alliteration in the subsection titles. At the end of the book, more information is shared regarding each creature.

Introduce the book with this book trailer.

Jessica Ivy shares how to use the book with close reading techniques (level O). She shares her reproducible resources on Teachers Pay Teachers for free.

Savorings for Never Smile at a Monkey:

• Alliteration
• Descriptive
• Commands – Look out!
• Intertwines physic qualities with emotional characteristics – “Sharp hooves, long horns, and an extremely nasty temper”
• Dependent Clauses
• Power of 3

Coral Reefs

Jason Chin is interweaves the reader into his narrative nonfiction, Coral Reefs. As the characters move into the setting of the coral reefs, so do you.

• Building Background Knowledge – Science: Food chains, vocabulary
  • Builds curiosity to research and learn more
• Setting – the young girl is whisked away from the library into a magical place
  • Even the ending leads you into another story
• Illustrations – captures the mind of the reader
  • Teaches visualization
  • Connecting to the science text of facts through a narrative-like feel
• Close Reading – web
  • Read and reread to understand how nature works together, predator and prey, environment and adaptations, partnerships
• Author’s Note – where he gathered his ideas
  • Importance of research
  • Persuading the reader to take action to help coral reefs

Big Bug/ Super Bugs/ Some Bugs

Children often have a favorite topic to write about. They return to the topic and use the same genre in sharing their information. For example, if a child loves his dog, he often will write a story, a narrative. This writing practice is a great start.

One way to broaden children’s understanding of genres is to present books on the same topic with different formats. You can compare and contrast different books on the same topic. Dinosaurs. Trucks. Bears. Show them how this information can be shared out through a narrative, informational text, poetic nonfiction, poetry, all about, etc.

Three books I found recently lend themselves to this kind of study.

• Big Bug by Henry Cole primarily focuses on putting size into perspective.
• Super Bugs by Michelle Meadows, illustrated by Bill Mayer, features a rhyming text, personifying the insects as heroes working together.
• Some Bugs by Angela Diterlizzi, illustrated by Brendan Wenzel, features the actions and camouflages of the insects in a narrative nonfiction text.
• National Geographic Everything Insects by Carrie Gleason features real photographs and a basic informational guide.

Savorings for Big Bug:

• Opposites – big versus little
• Perspetive
• Comparison of size
• Circular/ Bookends – begins with a bug that looks small on a big leaf  but is a small leaf to a big tree, and continues (begins with the topic of bugs but is only one part of the book versus the other books are all about bugs)

Savorings for Super Bugs:

• Rhyming
• Setting – each two page spread illustrates a scene (you could write about each scene)
• Teamwork
• Repeating Lines
• Heroes
• Author’s Note – writes about what fascinates her

Savorings for Some Bugs:

• Illustrations are a fascinating collage
• Repeating structure
• Vivid Verbs
• Personifies the bugs – communicating, playing
• Last 2 pages is a culmination of all the illustrated pages
• Invites the reader to action – explore their ordinary backyard

Savorings for National Geographic Everything Insects:

• Nonfiction text features
• Photographs in natural setting
• Scientific explanations
• Link to further research

All My Friends Are Planets: The Story of Pluto

by Alisha Vimawala

Growing up, I learned about the nine planets in our solar system. Pluto was the farthest. In 2006, new discoveries changed this notion.

As you read All My Friends Are Planets, you are engaged in a conversations with Pluto. It explains how it changed from being a planet in the solar system to the classification of a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt. It feels alone, describing the other planets in the solar system. It is

I’m not a scientist at heart, but I love the wonderment of space. This lighthearted conversation explains the differences of Pluto for children to understand. It’s a great springboard into further research. The author nudges her readers to investigate more on the subject and lists possible sites to begin in the back of the book. Alisha Vimawala also has a drawing contest of a future planet. Genius!

Savorings for All My Friends are Planets:

• First Person Narrative – talks to the reader
• Informational Narrative
• Scientific Characteristics – same/ different
• Personification
• Voice
• Power of 3

Scholastic book order

Flying Frogs and Walking Fish

Steven Jenkins and Robin Page collaborate to peak your interest. They share the most interesting facts about ordinary and unique creatures. In Flying Frogs and Walking Fish, the focus is on the animation of the animals.

The sections are divided by questions about the animal featured. For example, A Walking Octopus? sheds light beyond the understood eight legs. “They use two of them to walk on the sea floor.”

Other animals are then featured on a two-page spread highlighting their unique ways to walk (Marching, strolling, tiptoeing...). Additional facts are shared in the back of the book.

To learn more about the making of this book, go to stevejenkinsbooks.com/flyingfrogs. Have fun learning new synonyms and interesting facts!

Savorings for Flying Frogs and Walking Fish:

• Compare/ Contrast
• Questions as SubTitles
• Alliteration
• Synonyms – whirling, tumbling, somersaulting
• Fun Facts
• Verbs

Born in the Wild

Baby animals are adorable. Cuddly. Cute. Mama animals love and protect their young, nuzzling them to move, licking them with kisses. Kids will “awww” when they see the mama/child couple throughout the book, Born in the Wild.

Using a repetitive structured text, Lita Judge breaks the book into sections. Instead of a traditional subtitle, a sentence topic announces the proceeding two-page spread with its corresponding three animals.

The baby is part of a family.

The baby needs to be caressed and groomed.

The baby grows strong through play.

See the video book review by TTPM

Savorings for reading and in writing for Born in the Wild:

• Additional Facts – in the back, each animal is expounded upon (a great way to show students how to include any extra facts into their piece)
• Repeating Structure – one-line sentence followed by three animal explanations
• Font Manipulation – highlighted names are colored text
• Glossary – additional websites
• Connection – to field trips, science research

Curious Critters

Tammy Shultz and I present our top book picks of the year. I always have a difficult time narrowing my choices; there are many books to choose from. We do not necessarily choose the newest books (Donalyn Miller keeps me updated). We choose books that have appealed to our kids this past year. Curious Critter is a book I loved. It’s funny and the kids react to the creatures talking to them. I had it on my slide show when I reviewed last year’s books; I realized Tammy had shared it as her book last year. Makes sense. Great book!

Curious Critters is a nonfiction text with voice! I was drawn to the captivating descriptions and features of the creatures. David FitzSimmons illustrated the photographs on a white background, emphasizing the details of the critters. A website features the critters. Click here to see what’s new.

His second book, Curious Critters Vol. 2, is available. When you click on the title, the link will allow you to preview a few pages. Fascinating!

View the YouTube video (1:20 second) book trailer. Your students will be intrigued!

Savorings for reading and in writing for Curious Critters:

• Point of View – the critter talks to the reader
• Voice – The goldfish says, “Let’s play a game: I’ll flip my fins and swim around in this aquarium, and you throw in some food. Sound good? Great?”
• Humor –
• Allitoration – decorating daisies
• Transitions – one creature will connect to the next