Booktalks – Page 3 – Booktalking #kidlit

Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson: Taking the Stage As the First Black-and-White Jazz Band in History

Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson: Taking the Stage As the First Black-and-White Jazz Band in History
by Lesa Cline-Ransome (Author) and James E. Ransome (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Brought together by the love of jazz, Teddy Wilson and Benny Goodman broke the color barrier in entertainment when they formed the Benny Goodman Trio with Gene Krupa and helped create the style of music known as swing.

Snippet:
Chicago’s West Side Colt’s Electric Park, 1922:

Pop boom pop boom
Above Benny,
the Fourth of July exploded
One hundred colors, loud,
live and hot
In front of him, the jazz band
clarinet, piano, drums
pop boom pop boom
Benny sat, toe tapping,
fingers snapping,
listening

STEM + the Arts = STEAM

STEAM DIY Activity

Click on a date on the Interactive Timeline to journey back in time and discover how jazz became America’s music.

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

How Does My Garden Grow?

How Does My Garden Grow?
by Gerda Muller (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: Sophie lives in the city, and her vegetables come from the supermarket. When she goes to visit her grandparents in the countryside — she discovers how things grow!

Snippet:
After breakfast, Grandad John took her out into the garden and gave her lots of tools, all just the right size.

“Oh, thank you!” said Sophie.

Grandad John showed Sophie a small patch of garden where she could grow her own vegetables.

“Before sowing the seeds, you need to rake the ground.”

STEM + the Arts = STEAM

STEAM DIY Activity

Plant an Easy and Tasty 4 x 4-foot Kids’ Garden.

June 2015 Carnival of Children’s Literature Roundup

The June 2015 Carnival of Children’s Literature Roundup has just been posted. Find some new books for your #bookaday summer reading…

STEM + the Arts = STEAM

STEAM DIY Activity

Here’s a DIY find from this month’s carnival. Erica at eLeMeNO-P Kids has FREE Reading Calendars for the Summer Reading For Kids Book Challenge. Print one for each child in the family and have fun!

The Long, Long Journey: The Godwit’s Amazing Migration

The Long, Long Journey: The Godwit’s Amazing Migration
by Sandra Markle (Author) and Mia Posada (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Crackle! Crackle! Crunch! What’s hatching from that egg? It’s a young bar-tailed godwit. She will spend the summer in Alaska learning to fly, find her own food, and escape from scary predators. Her long, long journey begins in October when she flies to New Zealand. This 7,000-mile flight is the longest nonstop bird migration ever recorded. Follow along on her amazing voyage!

Snippet: The little female bar-tailed godwit at last breaks free of her egg. She steps into the world on long, wobbly legs. It’s nearly midnight, but it’s June in Alaska and still light. A cool wind blows the chick’s downy coat. She shivers, lifts her beak and squeaks, “Peep! Peep!”

STEM + the Arts = STEAM

10 Myths About Teaching STEM Books and How You Can Teach STEM in Your Classroom Now

Mark your calendars! STEM Friday is participating in the 2015 Summer of Learning professional development series brought to you by Share My Lesson. This free AFT webinar offers one hour of professional development credit.

Overview

Title: Teach STEM Now

Date: Thursday, July 09, 2015

Time: 01:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Duration: 1 hour

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America

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.

STEM + the Arts = STEAM

STEAM DIY Activity

Try one of these National Geographic Photographing Your Neighborhood ideas.

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

The Dinosaurs Are Having a Party!

The Dinosaurs Are Having a Party!
by Gareth P. Jones (Author) and Garry Parsons (Illustrator)

Booktalk: The dinosaurs are having a party but things get out of hand and when the boy tries to leave, T-Rex gives chase!

Snippet:
The dinosaurs are having a party.
It starts precisely at three.
But I’m a boy not a dinosaur,
So I’m pleased they’ve invited me.

STEM + the Arts = STEAM

STEAM DIY Activity

Make your own dinosaur “fossils” with small toys and Plaster of Paris.

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Carol’s Corner.

Don’t Think About The Purple Elephants

Don’t Think About The Purple Elephants
by Susan Whelan (Author) and Gwynneth Jones (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Sometimes Sophie worries — not during the day when she is busy with family and friends, but at night when everything is calm and quiet. Her family all try to help, but somehow they just make her worries worse.

Until her mother thinks of a new approach … that might just involve an elephant or two! But wait, don’t think about purple elephants, whatever you do!

Snippet:
“How silly,” thought Sophie, but when she lay down, closed her eyes and tried not the think about purple elephants.

Straight away a friendly purple elephant appeared in her mind.

STEM + the Arts = STEAM

STEAM DIY Activity

Make an Elephant Mask.

The Mosquito Brothers

The Mosquito Brothers
by Griffin Ondaatje (Author) and Erica Salcedo (Illustrator)

Booktalk: After he nearly drowns in a parking-lot puddle, Dinnn Needles is fearful of many things, including flying.

Snippet:
On quiet afternoon, as the family sat next to their puddle under a cloudless sky, Dinnn heard a dragonfly flying overhead. It made an awful sound as it went past.
Dinnn watched the faces of his mother and father closely. They were terrified.

STEM + the Arts = STEAM

STEAM DIY Activity

Use pipe cleaners and beads to make this Colorful Mosquito.

The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch

The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch
by Chris Barton (Author) and Don Tate (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Look at the Reconstruction period through the life of one of the first African-American congressmen.

Snippet: Searching for more satisfying work, he went from waiter to cook –ah, the freedom to make such a move!– then from cook to better-paid pantryman on board the Altamont a Union transport steamer.

Don is one of my former students.

See the book trailer.

STEM + the Arts = STEAM

STEAM DIY Activity

John Roy Lynch worked on a steam boat. Make a simple steam boat for yourself.

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

The Ocean Story

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.

STEM + the Arts = STEAM

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)