Something's Fishy

Guess my excitement when I saw Kevin McCloskey wrote Something's Fishy.  I noticed this book has a "stamp" on the front labeling it as a Giggle and Learn book which I just learned is a series.  I'm super excited to know more books are coming.  The introduction to this book begins with a fish for each letter of the alphabet.  What a fun way to introduce a variety of fish.  This story has a fun twist.  A little girl and a little boy are teaching their pets; a dog, a cat, and a bird about fish.  

I'm always looking to see if I learn something new when I select books for my classroom and this book didn't fail me.  Did you know goldfish are orange from the sun.  If they didn't have sun exposure they'd be black.  This book also grabbed my interest because the last third of the book focuses on goldfish.  a common fish most readers are a little familiar with.  

Again the format for this beginning graphic novel supports early readers with a frame on each page.  I'm not a fan of reading levels beyond helping me learn about a student and plan instruction but this book has some really helpful information for parents and teachers.  There's a page describing what a level 1 level 2 and level 3 book looks like.  Here is where I found a Level 1 is structured for a frame per page while a level 2 could have 1 - 4 panels per page.  I enjoyed learning bout the progression within Toon Books.

We Dig Worms!

I kept rereading WE DIG WORMS! by Kevin McCloskey because it's a delightful blend of genres and format.  It's an informational piece about worms with a narrative twist when a young boy and girl enter the storyline with questions they find answers.  Then at one point, I'm convinced it is fantasy because a bird is talking to a worm.  The format appears to be a beginning graphic novel.  Instead of multiple frames on a page, each page could be a frame for a comic.  All this thinking just about the genre and format was quite fascinating to me.

I love that informational books have become more playful.  I burst out laughing on page two.  See if you do too, "There are many different worms.  Tree Worms.  Sea Worms.  River Worms.  (turn the page)  Gummy Worms."  Another favorite part of this book was the two page spread mapping the outside and inside of a worm.  Did you know worm eggs become cocoons?  Another feature of this book I found very enjoyable was the realistic simple questions one might ask about worms.  "Why do you come out after the rain?"

Interesting fact about this book found in the author blurb; the illustrations were painted on recycled grocery bags.  

Properties of Materials Series

Shiny or Dull is another series from Heinemann Library written for the emergent reader under the Acorn umbrella.  The reader first learns about shiny and then learns about dull.  The text for these two sections mirror each other with simplistic sentences to help the reader be an independent reader.  The next sections compares shiny and dull.  What I really like about this section is other vocabulary a scientist would use to describe materials in our every day life.  Vocabulary words like hard, rough, smooth, and soft.  At the end of each book there is a "quiz", which would be a really great idea to do as a hands on physical sort with real objects that are in the photographs.  It could be a quick summative assessment.  

Other titles found in this series, I am using are;

Hard or Soft

Heavy or Light

Hot or Cold

Smooth or Rough

Stiff or Bendable

Another great collection for a kindergarten or first grade classroom.

Bendy and Rigid

Bendy and Rigid is one book in the My World of Science series by Heinemann.  I discovered this series while gathering books for our physical science unit.  The format of this book follows your typical nonfiction format. There is a table of contents, glossary, index, and vibrant photography. The book begins with four questions.  What is bendy? How much does it bend? What is rigid?  How rigid it it? These are two great vocabulary words for young scientist to use while describing materials using their sense of touch. The book looks at various materials found in the readers every day life discussing further bendy and rigid. 

Other books in the series I am using are - 

Materials
Soft and Hard
Hot and Cold
Heavy and Light
Shiny and Dull
Smooth and Rough

These would be a nice addition to any primary classroom studying physical properties or discussing observations and vocabulary.

Exploring Materials, A new nonfiction series!

Metal is a brand new book this year and is part of an Exploring Materials series by Heinemann Library.  The book is under the Acorn series from Heinemann which is always a great indication it is written for early readers to build content knowledge.  Each tidbit of information presented begins with a question.  I love a question, answer format for early readers.  It's an easy format to foster engagement.  Readers like to find out answers to questions.  The book defines metal as a material and shows the reader so many different examples of metal.  Simple examples show where metal can be found in it's natural form.  Attributes of metal area shown with great describing vocabulary.  The book ends with examples of materials found in our every day lives.  Doesn't this front cover entice you to look further?  I think it does a nice job enticing a young scientist and reader to find out more.  It looks fun.

Other titles in this series I am using are;
Rubber
Plastic
Paper
Wood
Glass

These books are great for any kindergarten or first grade classroom.

Raccoons

Racoons is one of the titles in my new favorite nonfiction series, Nocturnal Animals.  Nocturnal Animals is published by Capstone Press under the Pebble Plus collection and you can't ever go wrong with a Pebble Plus book.   Pebble Plus books are just right for emerging readers.  On a two page spread the reader will find information on the left page and a full size photograph on the right side of the page.  After reading the text, the reader is to easily identify the purpose of the photograph that illustrates the text.  Each text page has about 5-6 lines of text with 3-4 sentences.  Just enough information to think about and not get overwhelmed. Other features I like about this series is the table of contents, glossary, a page with more things to read about the topic, internet sites, and an index.  All the traditional features one might expect with nonfiction books.  Capstone always does a great job using words young readers could read and repeats many within the text.  They also balance the amount of science vocabulary used for vocabulary growth and understanding.  

I found lots of new learning for myself.  A mother raccoon can have up to seven babies.  They are born helpless and live in the den with her.  When a raccoon shows their teeth, they are scared.  There are three kinds of raccoons.  Raccoons can live for 16 years.  I love that I was able to read a book written for emerging readers and learned new things for myself.  

The whole series will let us compare animals we may see in our own backyards.  Other titles in this series are; bats, hedgehogs, opossums, porcupines, raccoons, and red foxes.  I also think my students will enjoy making a connection to our learning about day and night.  It's hard to visualize what might happen in the night, if we are sleeping.  

Presentation from #dublit13

Today I had the honor to present with my friend Cathy Mere at the Dublin Literacy Conference just around the corner.  We talked about Emerging Nonfiction Readers and Writers.  There is a lot of talk about nonfiction with the Common Core.  Our hope was to help shed light on the Common Core standards and share examples from our room where students are engaged with nonfiction learning. If you joined us, thank you for coming we were glad you spent time with us.

DK Readers - Garden Friends

I've enjoyed DK books previously but just discovered DK Readers, Learning to Read pre-level 1 and I'm very excited.  I discovered Garden Friends while looking for books that used labels to help promote our reading of words.  I found the text to use high frequency words and a repetitive phrase or phrases on each page.  There are two sentences per two page spread and easily accessible for young readers.  Garden Friends uses the sentence starters, "Hello, ___________.  You are ___________."  The realistic photographs are fabulous and then there are two or three labels per garden friend.  The last page of each book includes a picture word list.  Another example and opportunity for my young readers to connect words to pictures, reading labels.

Diner Cookbook

My fifth grade daughter, A has been reading Diner Cookbook.  Diner Cookbook is published by Publications International, Ltd. (2010) as her nonfiction reading choice during class.  This past weekend she brought it home to try a couple of recipes in it.  I have to be honest, I wasn't that excited based on the title.  I or should I say we don't eat fast food very much.  I like a diner atmosphere for breakfast and then I hope they have egg beaters on the menu but I survive if they don't.  I was pleasantly surprised by the content and recipes found in Diner Cookbook.  This morning for breakfast A made us all chocolate chip pancakes.  They were quite yummy!  The book is actually in a board book format with thick heavy pages.  Each recipe is on the left hand side of a two page spread with a full photo on the right hand side.  The photos are mouth watering.  The majority of the recipes are 6 - 8 no more than 10 ingredients.  The directions are not complicated and ones children can follow, with merely an average of 3 steps.  The index lets you  know where to find recipes for breakfast (all day, that would be diner style), soups, burgers and more, daily specials and pies/sweets.  The recipes had many I thought were worth trying and on the healthy side.  I might just borrow this book next to make Grilled Veggie Sandwiches or Roasted Chicken and Vegetables.  A has added strawberries and ice cream to my grocery list to make a Strawberry Shake.  She's already planning on doubling the recipe, it only makes two.  I'm so glad A was motivated to bring home her cookbook and follow through on making something for all of us.  She applied her reading well.

Please note the photo and link I found are for a soft cover spiral bound version, not the board book version.

Animals in Winter

Animal in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft and Richard G. Van Gelder is a book to use for content area learning. The illustrations and text compliment each other to show the changes in seasons to the reader. Students are introduced to migrations through the actions of birds, butterflies, and some bats. There are bats that stay north and the reader learns about hibernation. Which I loved because it was different than the typical example of bears. Woodchucks hibernate too and we learn about their behaviors and homes to help them survive the winter. Then we learn about animals who prepare for winter by storing food, especially the pika. However, there are animals that don't prepare for winter; mice and deer. The big ideas introduced in this book are done well for younger students. I especially like the animals chosen for examples. These are animals, excluding the pica, my students could wonder and think about because they could see them in our neighborhoods and backyards.

Nonfiction Monday - Are you a Dragonfly?

Are you a Dragonfly? by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries is part of a Backyard Books series written for our youngest readers and writers. This book is packed with facts telling the reader all about dragonflies. It begins with a dragonfly's mother laying eggs and follows it through adulthood. The author writes to the reader, placing you as a dragonfly yourself. For example, "If you are, your mother laid her eggs in the stems of water plants." I can really see my young students connecting to the text and acting out growth as they become dragonflies. After learning all about dragonflies the author compares how you, don't look or act like a dragonfly, "you can't breathe underwater." Then the book concludes with one of my favorite nonfiction feature, a Did you Know section with four additional facts. The illustrations in this text should not go unnoticed. They are possibly done with colored pencils or watercolors, it is not noted but they have warm subtle shades with beautiful detailed.

You may find these insects with their own books as part of the series; ant, bee, butterfly, grasshopper, ladybug, snail and spider.

Nonfiction Monday is being held at 100 Scopes Notes, which encouraged bloggers to write their post in an unusual style than their own but I didn't see that suggestion until after I wrote this.

Nonfiction Monday - A Rainbow of Animals

B had a book fair at her school last week and I was able to attend with just her. What a fun time we had shopping for books. She had already done a preview during school and had a shopping list for us to start with. A Rainbow of Animals by Melissa Stewart was on her original list and I fell in love with it instantly. The photography and use of color is rich, vibrant, and eye candy to any reader. The book begins with a short introduction stating animals come in all shapes and size. They also come in colors of the rainbow. Six colors of animals are explored in sections of this book; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Each section begins with the question, "Can you think of some (red) animals that live near you?" Some animal examples are provided and there is a pattern for the last few sentences. "(Red) animals live in other parts of the world, too. Let's take a look at some of them."

Each animal has two page spread. On the left you will find a text box with a small paragraph telling you information about each animal and within this text the reader will learn why this animal is the color they are. At the end of each color section, you will find this question, "Where do these (red) animals live?" For each animal, a map of the world and the area they live in is highlighted. The photography on each two page spread is dynamic, up close, shows details, and matches the text perfectly. This book is accessible to our youngest readers and one I think our older students could spend a great deal of time with.

Melissa Stewart is a new author to me but has authored more than 100 books for young readers. She was trained as a scientist and a journalist, which explains how she knew just what to do for this book.

Nonfiction Monday is being held at Picture Book of the Day, thanks for stopping by.

Nonfiction Monday - ABCs Naturally

With all the things springing up in nature here in the midwest, I was reminded of a fabulous ABC book we have on our shelves for the young and old. ABCs Naturally, A Child's Guide To The Alphabet Through Nature by Lynne Smith Diebel and Jann Faust Kalscheur is a photo essay. The authors became alphabet hunters after a five year old showed his brother and mother an open calm shell looked like the letter B. Here's the premise for this book.

Each letter is photographed in nature and the 4 x 6 photo is on the right hand side of the page. The left hand side has a larger gray letter with a description of the photo typed in black on top. Here's the text for the letter B which accompanies a photo of a partial lily pad.

Do you see the lily pad

Floating quietly?

It doubles as a boat for bugs

And a bright green letter

B

There's much more to this alphabet book. After the 26 letters of the alphabet, there is a Facts and Folklore section which provides information about the object photographed for each letter. It might include how animals and people would use the nature object and it provides a bit of history for some objects. Next, the reader can learn about becoming an alphabet hunter and read about collecting your own alphabet. This could be a fun summer project for a family. This could be a great mentor text for your own classroom or school alphabet hunting. Older students could really conduct some interesting research for a Facts and Folklore page.

Nonfiction Monday is being held today at Shelf-Employed, think about stopping by.

Jazz on a Saturday Night

Jazz on a Saturday Night by Leo and Diane Dillon is a nonfiction book, celebrating great jazz musicians. It's in a picture book format with large paintings and a sentence of text per page. The book begins with a group of musicians gathering, setting up and preparing for a performance. The book begins with an introduction and the authors/illustrators include this collection of artist never played entirely together but their paths did cross and they most likely played together on and off. The text not only shares famous musicians and what their instruments were, it includes elements of jazz informing the reader more about this genre of music.

The back two pages give the reader a more in depth biographical sketch of each musician. In this book the reader is introduced to Miles Davis, Max Roach, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Stanley Clarke and Ella Fitzgerald. The best part of the book, I found at the library was the inclusion of a CD with jazz music for the reader to listen to. I know my students will love to move to the beat and get a really good feel for jazz. I found this book in a search for introducing various forms of nonfiction text to kindergarten students. I love it even more with the emphasis on music, we need to do more with this language.

Nonfiction Monday - The COIN Counting Book

My students are suppose to identify and state the value for a penny, nickel, and a dime. I struggle with these learning targets, personally. There is often confusion because the quarter is familiar or somewhat known to them. They need to see this to help clarify these confusions. I also struggle with these learning targets because there is no purpose or meaning to learn these basic skills that are essential. I understand it's a beginning step but I think we need to go further to promote and develop understandings.

I recently found, The COIN Counting Book by Rozanne Lanczak Williams to help me with my struggles. This book shows the reader money in symbolic, written, and numeric form. This book shows the reader coin relationships through equivalency. This book shows the reader fast ways to count using another math skill, skip counting. This book shows coin trading and coin counting. From a complete literacy lens, this book uses poetic form to tell the text. That is delightful. A great book for any primary classroom.

Nonfiction Monday is being held today at Lerner Books Blog, enjoy.

Nonfiction Monday - Egg to Chicken and More

B and I recently ordered books through her classroom book order and I was not at all disappointed with this nonfiction collection we purchased. It's a series of books about Lifecycles written by Camilla de la Bedoyere, published by QEB Publishing Co, and sold through Scholastic.

This series includes these titles-Egg to Chick, Seed to Sunflower, Tadpole to Frog, Joey to Kangaroo, Pup to Shark, Caterpillar to Butterfly, and Joey to Kangaroo. The entire collection is filled with all of the nonfiction features you would want your children to be using. The photography is fabulous and bright. The Contents, Glossary, and Index have enough "white space" for reader to interact with. I loved this, across from the contents there is a chicken photograph with this caption, "Words in bold are explained in the glossary on page 22." I immediately wanted to go and see what the glossary looked like. The books are easily accessible to all readers. The page heading is large with an amount of text below it summarizing the rest so our youngest readers could read this small amount and understand the page without being overwhelmed with captions, labels, and more text. I can't wait to add these books dispersed among my nonfiction tubs in my classroom library, if B doesn't notice they are gone.

PS - My quick internet searching found each book quite expensive, sorry. Look for them through Scholastic book orders in paperback.

Nonfiction Monday is being rounded up at - The Miss Rumphius Effect.

Nonfiction Monday - My Goose Betsy

My Goose Betsy by Trudi Braun is technically listed as a fiction text but I believe is a great way to introduce young students to the genre of nonfiction. I think you will see why with this first page.

"My goose Betsy has smooth soft feathers to keep her warm and dry, wide webby feet to swim with, and along strong beak for tearing at grass or pecking up corn." Right there I understand the function of three body parts and could see a diagram being created. The reader continues to learn about Betsy's walk, talk, nest building, egg laying and nurturing. The book concludes with the reader following the eggs through goslings hatching and Betsy becoming a mother goose.

After the "fictional" story the reader comes to a two page spread titled, A few more Goose facts with subheadings and text. The book concludes with an index. This book is part of a Read and Wonder collection created by Candlewick. I hope to find more for my young readers to enjoy and learn with.

Nonfiction Monday - Groundhog Day!

When I was shopping last weekend, I discovered a new book I didn't know about by Gail Gibbons, Groundhog Day! This nonfiction book is very informative and explains the phenomena around a groundhog. The book begins by explaining February 2 is half way through winter and people believe watching animals can help predict when spring will come. I learned Groundhog Day has a history from over 1,500 years ago. It began a celebration of spring where people would begin cleaning, preparing for a new beginning, and candles were lit. The middle of the text explains the tradition of watching groundhogs and the gathering in Punxsutawney, PA. I didn't know in 1886, Clymer Freas decided to call February 2 Groundhog Day. I think the ending of the book is just what children would need as readers. A good amount of information and all you may need to know about groundhogs themselves. The book's layout is supportive with nonfiction features supporting the illustrations and text. We own several fiction books about groundhogs but I finally feel this books explains the history and reasons we will watch to find out if a little rodent can predict the weather. An early spring would be great. However, if winter must stay here in the midwest bring some snow to enjoy and brighten our gray days.

Nonfiction Monday round up is at Wild About Nature.

Nonfiction Monday - Z is for a Zookeeper

This is my first time joining Nonfiction Monday and I share this book with some personal excitement. My youngest daughter, B gets to have an author visit today at her school with Roland Smith. How I wish I could be something small in her pocket today and go to school with her.

Z is for a Zookeeper, A Zoo Alphabet written by Marie and Roland Smith follows the format for author A to Z books by Sleeping Bear Press. The introduction is a wonderful explanation for the reasons we have zoo. It lets the reader know that the animals are not captured and placed on exhibit. It lets the reader know it's no longer safe for these animals for fear they will become extinct. For many of the species found in a zoo the wilderness is disappearing. The progress of zoos and purpose has really changed since they were conceived. Many help preserve the animals with breeding programs and rehabilitation, releasing them back into the wild when they can. If you are local, our Columbus Zoo is a great example of this work.

The book is definitely multi-leveled for any classroom. Each letter is featured with short poetic phrase with easily identifiable rhyme.

H is for Holding -

a cage out of sight.

Zookeepers use these

for animals at night.

The letters are represented with tools, animals, and responsibilities for a zookeeper. Then you will find a side bar for each letter with a much more detailed explanation of the zookeepers role. The information is written for children to easily understand and provides a behind the scene bio of a zoo. The reader really walks away with understanding the zoo is more than just animals on display and an appreciation for a zookeeper.

I hope my first grader comes home bubbling about her visit with Roland Smith so I can learn more about him. You can find a round up for Nonfiction Monday at books together.