organization Archives - Anastasia Suen

The Art of the Possible: An Everyday Guide to Politics
by Edward Keenan (Author), Julie McLaughlin (Illustrator)

Booktalk: We all know what a politician looks like, right? They’re old people who wear suits and make long, boring speeches full of indecipherable words. Ah, not so fast! This book presents another view, where everyone is a politician — even young people who aren’t yet eligible to vote. So what is politics, and why do we need it? Find out why we form societies and the basic types of governments. Explore the power of public opinion, methods of rhetoric, and the reasons why politicians “lie.”

Snippet:
What is politics, anyway?
Politics is how we decide to do things together as a group or society. In a society, we have to make rules, pick projects to work on, divide up the workload, and share things. And politics is how we do that.

Six Traits Mini Lesson

Trait: Organization Just in time for the political season, this informational book introduces the idea that everyone is a politician, even the tweens and teens who are reading the book! It does that by beginning at the beginning. An informational book begins by explaining the premise and defining the topic. One of the subheads in the book’s introduction says:

What is politics, anyway?

After asking this question, the book immediately provides an answer.

Politics is how we decide to do things together as a group or society.

The answer in the first sentence adds a new term, society. What a society does is explained in the second sentence.

In a society, we have to make rules, pick projects to work on, divide up the workload, and share things.

The paragraph ends with a summary statement.

And politics is how we do that.

In three sentences, the topic is defined and key details are added.

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Traveling Butterflies
by Susumu Shingu (Author/Illustrator)

Booktalk: Monarch butterfly migration is one of nature’s great mysteries. How do monarchs manage to fly some 2,500 miles from Canada and the northern United States south to Mexico? How do they trace a route they’ve never flown and reach the same destination their ancestors once found? See a monarch’s progression from an egg the size of a dewdrop through growth, metamorphosis, and preparation for their journey south to winter in Mexico before they return north in the spring.

Snippet:
One day in the short summer of a country up north,

TURN THE PAGE

a tiny creature wakes up inside
an egg as small as a dewdrop.

Six Traits Mini Lesson

Traits: Organization The book begins with a single sentence. The first part of the sentence appears on the first double paged spread (2 facing book pages). Here the setting in introduced.

One day in the short summer of a country up north,

After the page is turned, readers meet the main character:

a tiny creature wakes up inside
an egg as small as a dewdrop.

A story begins when something changes. That change is called the inciting incident. What changes here?

a tiny creature wakes up

Traits: Word Choice The words in this opening sentence provide specific details for the reader.

One day

in the short summer

of a country up north,

TURN THE PAGE

a tiny creature

wakes up

inside an egg

as small as a dewdrop.

The simile at the end adds a poetic touch.