May 2014 – Booktalking #kidlit

Pop! The Invention of Bubble Gum

How was the invention of bubble gum engineered? Help K-5 students answer this essential question (and meet the Common Core State Standards) with the Teaching STEM lesson plans for this mentor text: Pop! The Invention of Bubble Gum by Meghan McCarthy (ATOS 4.8 / AD740L)

Unit Summary: Students will examine the essential question, “How was the invention of bubble gum engineered?” They will review the steps engineers take when they explore a solution to a problem. They will then determine the steps Walter Diemer took to create bubblegum after listening to the text of the book and apply and explain his ideas and actions to the way an engineer works to solve a problem. They will present their information and discuss their finding in a large group.

The Library Activity begins on page 154. The Collaborative Teacher Activity is on page 155.

Extension Activities(sample)

1. Have the students make a number line with markings to eighths on a sentence strip or sheet of paper. Hold a bubble gum blowing contest. Put their bubble on the number line and measure it from the part of the bubble that actually touches the paper (to get the most accurate measure). Compare and announce the winner.

2. Determine the mean, median, and average for the class.

3. After reading the book, have the students write a short description of the main idea of the book. Use the phrase, “I am a engineer.. I know that _________.”

You can find more Teaching STEM lesson plans on the Teaching STEM blog

Pop and Play: Under the Sea

Pop and Play: Under the Sea
by Simon Abbott (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: Dive into the ocean and under the sea in this interactive new pop-up board book featuring underwater animals and surprises.

Snippet: The octopus has eight legs. (And each of them pop off the page!)

Boo ABC: A to Z with the World’s Cutest Dog

Boo ABC: A to Z with the World’s Cutest Dog
by J.H. Lee (Author) and Gretchen LeMaistre (Photographer)

Booktalk: A is for Adorable, B is for Boo! The world’s cutest dog takes on the ABCs, and his adventures are more precious than ever. Boo and his best friend Buddy are featured in their favorite situations and places alongside the letters of the alphabet. The ABCs have never been so furry—and fun!

Snippet:
A Awake
Rise and shine!
Time to wake up
and start the day!

Welcome to America, Champ!

Welcome to America, Champ!
by Catherine Stier (Author) and Doris Ettlinger (Illustrator)

Booktalk: During World War II thousands of American servicemen were stationed overseas in various countries. It is in England that American GI Jack Ricker meets and marries an English widow with a nine-year-old son, Thomas. Thomas likes his new stepfather and he’s hopeful about their future. But now with the war over, Jack is back in America. Thomas and his mother make plans to leave England and join him. Thomas is apprehensive about moving. He won’t know anyone, apart from Jack. In America, they play baseball and not cricket. Will he fit in?

Snippet:
My grandparents host a farewell party. Miles and other schoolmates wish me well.
After our guests leave, Grandad hands me a gift.
“Thomas,” Grandad says. “I believe you are like this daring knight, setting off on a great adventure. You know, they don’t have knights there in America.”
Grandad has carved and painted for me a knight on a horse!

World War I for Kids: A History with 21 Activities

World War I for Kids: A History with 21 Activities
by R. Kent Rasmussen (Author)

Booktalk: It has been 100 years since the start of the “Great War.” The hands-on activities in this book can help students understand life during World War I, a war that eventually involved all of the world’s superpowers.

Snippet: Soldiers stationed at the front spent only a small part of their time in actual combat. In fact, it was not unusual for individual soldiers to spend several months on the western front without seeing an enemy soldier. This is not to say that they were necessarily safe when not fighting. They might not see an enemy when they were on the front lines, but if they climbed out of their trenches, unseen enemies were likely to spot them, with lethal consequences.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Cranes

How do simple machines help cranes work? Help K-5 students answer this essential question (and meet the Common Core State Standards) with the Teaching STEM lesson plans for this mentor text: Cranes by Amanda Doering Tourville (GRL P / ATOS 4.0)

Unit Summary: Students will examine the essential question, “How do simple machines help cranes work?” Working in small groups, students will research the basic simple machines: inclined plane, wedge, screw, lever, pulley, wheel and axle. They will organize their research into four categories and present and post it in the room so other students can find out about the other simple machines used in cranes. They will use their graphic organizer to write and explain about the value of cranes, the kinds, and what makes them work.

The Library Activity begins on page 146. The Collaborative Teacher Activity is on page 148.

Extension Activities(sample)

1. Read another book about cranes and together compare and contrast the ideas presented in the two books.

2. Look up the bird called a crane. Find out about the different varieties of cranes and report to the group. Explain why the machine is called a crane.

3. After reading the book, have the students write a short description of the main idea of the book. Use the phrase, “I am a engineer.. I know that _________.”

You can find more Teaching STEM lesson plans on the Teaching STEM blog

Lost in Thought

Lost in Thought (Sententia)
by Cara Bertrand (Author)

Booktalk: Lainey Young has a secret: she’s going crazy. Everyone else thinks she has severe migraines from stress and exhaustion. What she really has are visions of how people died–or are going to die. Not that she tells anyone that. At age 16, she prefers keeping her crazy to herself. When doctors insist she needs a new and stable environment to recover, Lainey’s game to spend two years at a private New England boarding school. She doesn’t really think it will cure her problem, and she’s half right. There is no cure, but as she discovers, she’s not actually crazy.

Almost everyone at Northbrook Academy has a secret too. Half the students and nearly all the staff are members of the Sententia, a hidden society of the psychically gifted. A vision of another student’s impending death confirms Lainey is one of them. She’d like to return the crappy gift of divining deaths with only a touch, but enjoys spending time with Carter Penrose–recent Academy graduate and resident school crush–while learning to control it. Lainey’s finally getting comfortable with her ability, and with Carter, when they uncover her true Sententia heritage. Now she has a real secret.

Once it’s spilled, she’ll be forced to forget protecting secrets and start protecting herself.

Snippet: I saw visions of how they died. Most only lasted a few seconds, a handful were gruesome, and I swore some of them were visions of how people were going to die. They would come with no warning except dizziness, usually right after I’d touched someone or something, and were followed by a severe headache. If I was lucky, I even fainted too, in betweent the vision and the migraine.

If someone were telling me this story, I’d probably have laughed at them. In fact, I knew I would, which is why I absolutely couldn’t bring myself to tell the doctors and especially not the psychologists.

The Robot Blues

The Robot Blues
by Sally Rippin (Author)

Booktalk: Jack has made the best robot suit for a costume party. But will the other kids think a homemade costume is silly? Beginning reader

Snippet:
Jack worries that
all the kids at Jem’s
party will have cooler
costumes than his.

From There to Here

From There to Here
by Laurel Croza (Author) and Matt James (Illustrator)

Booktalk: A little girl and her family have just moved across the country by train. Their new neighborhood in the city of Toronto is very different from their home in the Saskatchewan bush, and at first everything about “there” seems better than “here.”

Snippet:
There. Dad drove home each day to eat lunch with us.
Here. Dad is’t home until supper. Mom calls it dinner now.

Animal Colors

Animal Colors
by Thea Feldman (Author)

Booktalk: Discover the wide world of animals through a kaleidoscope of colors in this Level 1 beginning reader

Snippet:
This crab is red.
So is this ant.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!