Booktalks – Page 27 – Booktalking #kidlit

What’s in the Garden?

What’s in the Garden?
by Marianne Berkes (Author) and Cris Arbo (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Good food doesn’t begin on a store shelf with a box. It comes from a garden bursting with life, color, sounds, smells, sunshine, moisture, birds, and bees! Healthy food becomes much more interesting when children know where they come from. So what’s in the garden? Kids will find a variety fruits and vegetables, and a tasty, kid-friendly recipe for each one to start a lifetime of good eating.

Snippet:
Delicious, nutritious, what could it be?
In spring there are blossoms all over the tree,
Red, green, or yellow, with fruit that is round.
If you don’t pick it, it plops to the ground.

TURN THE PAGE to see a recipe for making applesauce!

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Multimedia Artist and Animator

How can technology be used to create art? 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: Multimedia Artist and Animator by Matt Mullins (ATOS 4.9 690L)

Unit Summary: Students will examine the essential question, “How can technology be used to create art?” They will work as individuals or in pairs to explore using an image as their canvas and adding features that will become animated after completing their creation to their satisfaction. They will explain their choices by discussing them and then writing about them on a graphic organizer. They will then relate this activity to a job using art or animation. The students or pairs will save their work for the librarian to print.

The Library Activity begins on page 104. The Collaborative Teacher Activity is on page 106.

Extension Activities (sample)

1. Turn the art they created into a four comic panel and include text to go with it.

2. Have the students design a book cover that they might like their favorite book to have in place of the current one.

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 technology specialist. I know that _________.”

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

Words with Wings

Words with Wings
by Nikki Grimes (Author)

Booktalk: Gabby’s world is filled with daydreams. However, what began as an escape from her parents’ arguments has now taken over her life. But with the help of a new teacher, Gabby the dreamer might just become Gabby the writer, and words that carried her away might allow her to soar. (Verse novel)

Snippet:
Dad is a dreamer
and Mom is a maker.
I’ve been thinking,
maybe
I can be
both.

Pony Scouts: Blue Ribbon Day

Pony Scouts: Blue Ribbon Day
by Catherine Hapka (Author) and Anne Kennedy (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Meg, Jill, and Amy are thrilled to be going to the county fair. They get to help Jill’s mom prepare the ponies for the driving class competition. (Level 2 beginning reader)

Snippet:
The horse barn was busy.
“That’s the smallest pony
I’ve ever seen!” Med cried.
“Her name is Bubbles,”
a woman said with a smile.
“She’s so cute!” Jill said.

Nat the Cat’s Sunny Smile

Nat the Cat’s Sunny Smile
by Jez Alborough (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: Nat the Cat shares her smile with her friends, but then her own smile is gone. Luckily, she’s passed it on to her friends and they soon come along to cheer her right back up again! (Sheet music for Nat the Cat’s Picnic Song is in the book, and you can download the sheet music and the song, too!)

Snippet:
Nat the Cat jumped out of bed
with a smile spread halfway round her head.
She packed a picnic snack to share
with her friends, Billy Goat and Hugo Hare.

Listen to the author read the book.

Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker

Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker
by Patricia Hruby Powell (Author) and Christian Robinson (Illustrator)

Booktalk: To close Women’s History Month and begin Poetry Month, a free-verse biographical poem about performer and civil rights advocate Josephine Baker. (Notice the use of primary source quotations in the second image below.)

Snippet:
Mama called her TUMPY, the round baby girl, after Humpty Dumpty.
With her first breath, she made faces.
As soon as she walked, she DANCED.

Sample the book with this 1:01 Josephine book trailer.

**Patricia is one of my former students!**

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Amazing Amusement Park Rides

What information is needed to design a roller coaster? 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: Amazing Amusement Park Rides by Meish Goldish (ATOS 4.9 / IG880L)

Unit Summary: Students will examine the essential question, “What information is needed to design a roller coaster?” They will write down the statistics of the Steel Dragon coaster and then add their own statistics about a roller coaster they will design on the graphic organizer. Using the statistics, they will design and draw a roller coaster track and car as a prototype for an amusement park ride lasting two to three minutes. They will plan first on paper and decide on their statistics, which they will put on their graphic organizer. Then they will transfer their design ideas to the large drawing paper and label all the required statistics. Students will share their roller coaster designs with the class.

The Library Activity begins on page 122. The Collaborative Teacher Activity is on page 124.

Extension Activities(sample)

1. Look at pages 16–17 from the book. Use “The Crypt” ride to calculate the money that could be brought in for that ride using the assignment’s requirements, times, and fees.

2. Write a personal experience story about one of their favorite roller coasters.

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

Cookie, the Walker

Cookie, the Walker
by Chris Monroe (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: In this picture book that looks like a comic, Cookie the dog walks on her hind legs. That catches the attention of a show producer, who turns her into a star. And with fame come benefits: bacon, candy, a fanny pack, her own mini-fridge… But the more Cookie walks, the more people expect from her.

Snippet: Cookie and Kevin were at the park.

KEVIN: Hi, Cookie! What are you doing?

COOKIE: Walking!

Digger the Dinosaur

Digger the Dinosaur
by Rebecca Kai Dotlich (Author) and Gynux (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Digger wants to play baseball with his friends. But he isn’t allowed to go out until he’s cleaned his room. Digger starts cleaning at top speed, but the faster he moves the messier his room gets. His big tail and big feet aren’t helping! Will Digger win the race to tidy his room and get to the game on time? (Beginning reader)

Snippet:
“She said yes?” asked Digger.
“She said MESS,” said Stego.
“I can fix that,” said Digger.

Hello Farm, How Do You Do?

Hello Farm, How Do You Do?
by Marjolein Thiebout (Author) and Loes Botman (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Introduce young children to farm animals and their sounds with this colorful rhyming board book.

Snippet:
Hello cow, hello calf,
how do you do?
Can we stop and talk with you?
Moo moo moo
Nice to meet you too!
Moo moo moo