Indy Cars
by Kate Riggs (Author)
Booktalk: A kindergarten-level introduction to Indy cars, covering their speed, drivers, role in racing sports, and such defining features as their wings.
Snippet: Indy cars are fast cars.
They race on oval tracks. They race on roads.
Play the Hot Wheels Pit Race Off Take game online.
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2015 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Understanding Credit (Searchlight Books–How Do We Use Money?)
by Carla Mooney (Author)
Booktalk: It is easy to spend money when you have a credit card or a loan. But it is also easy to spend or borrow more than you can afford. How can you use credit responsibly? How can you avoid going into debt? Read this book to understand how credit works.
Snippet: A credit card lets you use debt to pay for something. When you use a credit card, you borrow money from a credit card company. You must pay back this money. Credit card companies also charge interest. Interest increases over time. The longer you take to pay back the money, the more you must pay.
It’s back to school shopping time–a teachable moment for a lesson on spending and credit! Try the Take the Spending Challenge and play a game to see how paying with cash or credit affects how much you owe.
Carla is one of my former students!
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2015 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Whoosh!: A Watery World of Wonderful Creatures
by Marilyn Baillie (Author) and Susan Mitchell (Illustrator)
Booktalk: A wonderful, whimsical exploration of various animals in the water and the ways in which children can, and do, mimic them! Each spread features an animal in a watery scene opposite a child mimicking the animal’s activity in some way. From splashing like a dolphin to fishing like a heron, from snoozing like an alligator to hiding like a clownfish, the echoing images bring to life the real ways that animals behave — and reveal how there’s a little bit of animal in all of us. The book closes with a “Guess What?” section that provides brief and quirky facts about the animals featured throughout.
Snippet:
I’m a river otter pup. My mom pulls me into the chilly water for my first swimming lesson. Patiently, she teaches me to paddle and dive. Look at me float!
Jump in the WATER and Join the Fun!
Read the rebus at the back of the book and try all of the ways to get up and move, such as scuttling like a crab or waddling like a penguin.
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2015 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
LEGO Space: Building the Future
by Peter Reid (Author) and Tim Goddard (Author)
Booktalk: Spaceships, orbital outposts, and new worlds come to life in this unique vision of the future, built completely from LEGO bricks.
A selection of step-by-step building instructions will have you constructing your own cosmic creations to play with at home. Marvel at interstellar battlecruisers, space pirates, charming robots, and other stunning builds from an amazing future!
Snippet:
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2015 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Bark Scorpion (Desert Animals Searchin’ for Shade)
by Meish Goldish (Author)
Booktalk: The sun shines on the hot desert sand. Meanwhile, a small animal with lobster-like pincers and a long tail hides under some tree bark. After the sun sets and the air cools, the creature—an Arizona bark scorpion—leaves its hideout and starts to hunt for prey.
Snippet:
It is a hot, dry afternoon in the desert.
A bark scorpion rests in a tree.
It hides under the tree bark to keep out of the burning sun.
During the day, the temperature can climb to 120°F (49°C).
Yet the scorpion stays cool in the shade of the bark.
See this page inside the book.
STEAM DIY Activity
Watch the ‘Bark scorpions’ invade Indio news video and test your front door. What will you do if you are bitten? Make an action plan and post it on the refrigerator.
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2015 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America
by Carole Boston Weatherford (Author) and Jamey Christoph (Illustrator)
Booktalk: His white teacher tells her all-black class, You’ll all wind up porters and waiters. What did she know? Gordon Parks is most famous for being the first black director in Hollywood. But before he made movies and wrote books, he was a poor African American looking for work. When he bought a camera, his life changed forever. He taught himself how to take pictures and before long, people noticed. His success as a fashion photographer landed him a job working for the government. In Washington DC, Gordon went looking for a subject, but what he found was segregation. He and others were treated differently because of the color of their skin. Gordon wanted to take a stand against the racism he observed. With his camera in hand, he found a way.
Snippet:
Twenty-five years old and all but broke
when a magazine spread
about migrant farm workers
inspires him to buy a used camera. That $7.50
is the best money he will ever spend.
STEAM DIY Activity
Try one of these National Geographic Photographing Your Neighborhood ideas.
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2015 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
The Ocean Story
by John Seven (Author) and Jana Christy (Illustrator)
Booktalk: The story of the ocean is as old as the earth itself. Overfishing, pollution, and oil spills have highlighted the need to take better care of our oceans so that the story can continue to be told.
Snippet:
(The words on this page are:)
BOY: Why is the ocean so big?
MAN: It needs to be big to hold a story that is very old.
See the book trailer.
STEAM DIY Activity
You are part of the ocean’s story too. Find out How You Can Help the Ocean and see “how your actions have an impact.” Make a poster showing one thing that you can do right now and “share what you’ve learned with friends and family.”
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2015 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Key Discoveries in Engineering and Design (Science Discovery Timelines)
by Christine Zuchora-Walske (Author)
Booktalk: What smaller scientific discoveries led up to major breakthroughs such as the assembly line, computers, or the Internet? Who first proposed ideas to solve problems? And how did the solutions change over time? Trace the history of key discoveries in engineering and design with timelines and find out the facts.
Snippet:
Many thousands of years ago, people tasked with raising stone structures faced a problem. How could they make openings, such as windows and doorways, in their structures without weakening them? How could they create roofs and ceilings that would support their own weight and any weight above them? Openings were important for light, ventilation, movement, and defense. Roofs and ceilings, of course, provided shelter for people and objects housed in the space below. But roofs or windows with open space beneath them ran the risk of caving in.
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
#kidlit Link of the Day:
See how the Pre-K to grade 3 students at Usher Collier-Heights Elementary School in Atlanta, GA solved their STEM Friday engineering and design problem in “the final STEM Friday challenge for the fall season.”
Copyright © 2015 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Will and Wendy Build a Website with Digital Tools
by Darice Bailer (Author) and Sean O’Neill (Illustrator)
Booktalk: Will’s family is moving to Australia, and he’s worried he’ll miss his friends from his old class. But Wendy has an idea! They’ll build a class website so they can keep in touch. They’ll write news stories, add hyperlinks, and even upload photos. What news will Wendy and Will share?
Snippet:
Will and Wendy were ready to post news on the website. “Remember what Mrs. Gold told us,” Wendy reminded Will. “We shouldn’t write things on the Internet that aren’t safe for a stranger to read.
“No addresses or full names either,” agreed Will. “And Mrs. Gold or another adult should read what we write before we post it.”
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2015 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Wild Ideas: Let Nature Inspire Your Thinking
by Elin Kelsey (Author) and Soyeon Kim (Illustrator)
Booktalk: Look deep into the forests, skies, and oceans to explore how animals solve problems . . .
Snippet:
Problems are like sticker burrs.
They poke.
They prick.
They nag.
It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Copyright © 2015 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.