Pompeii...Buried Alive!

by Edith Kunhardt

1987

Ages: Grades 2-3

Genre(s): Informational, Historical fiction

Summary: Stepping the reader through the last day of the city of Pompeii, the author describes what may have been happening in the city before the people were surprised by a devastating volcanic eruption.  The author also tells about the recording of the fateful day by a writer and the discovery of the writings years later, resulting in the excavation of Pompeii.

My reaction:  This story brought to life for me the people that fell victim to this horrible natural disaster.  It shows so realistically what probably was happening on the day the volcano erupted.  I know children would find this story very interesting.

Activity:  Have students create a story about the lives of people the day before a natural disaster took place.  Encourage them to take on the life of the people in their story, explaining what they are doing and feeling before the tragedy.  This will help with writing skills and also in developing empathy.

Ice to Steam: Changing States of Matter

by Penny Johnson

2008

Ages: 9-12

Genre(s): Informative

Summary: Solids, liquids, gases.  When does one become the other? Where do we get our water?  What causes volcanoes to erupt and what happens to the matter afterwards?  Is sugar a liquid or a solid?  It holds properties of both.  All of these details and many more are discussed in Ice to Steam: Changing States of Matter.  

My reaction:  This book is well-written and beautifully illustrated.  The author briefly touches on so many different areas that this book is sure to pique a child's interest for further study.

Activity:  Have students choose one of the topics discussed in the book and research it further.  Have them share with their classmates the changing states of matter effect the object in the topic being discussed.

Spring: World of Wonder Seasons

by Annalise Bickering

2011

Ages: 5-8

Genre(s): Informational

Summary: What makes spring different from other seasons?  What kinds of things take place in the spring.  There are special holidays in spring and all of these things are discussed in this book.

My reaction:  I can see how students would be enthralled by this book.  Learning to be aware of what is going on around them opens a whole new world to them.  This book is a great jumpstart for that.

Activity: After reading all 4 books in this series:

Make Four Season Trees (Education.com)

What You Need:

• 4 toilet paper rolls (or 2 paper towel rolls cut in half) 
• Brown paint 
• 4 sheets of card stock or heavy cardboard (light blue works best) 
• Construction paper in green, yellow, orange and red 
• Handful of popped popcorn 
• Brown yarn 
• Tape 
• Glue 
• 4 pieces of string or twine, about 8 inches long 

What You Do:

1. Tape both ends of a piece of string or twine to the back of each piece of paper. Although we placed the paper vertically, we'll left the orientation of your artwork up to you. Be sure to leave enough slack in the string so that you can hang the picture.
2. Have your child paint the toilet paper rolls brown.
3. Show your child how to glue a toilet paper roll to each of the four pieces of paper. Be sure to glue the side of the roll on the paper instead of the end of the roll. Help your child write the name of a season on each piece of paper under the roll, or “trunk,” of each “tree.” 
4. Go outside with your child and look at the trees in your yard or neighborhood. Talk about what season it is and have your child describe the colors of the leaves on the trees. Discuss any other things you see on the tree, such as flowers, berries or empty branches. Look for any animals that make their homes in the trees, such as birds or squirrels.
5. After your nature walk, give your child the piece of paper for the current season. Show him how to decorate the tree to illustrate that season, and then help him decorate the other three seasons:

• Winter: Show him how to glue the brown yarn onto the paper above the paper roll “trunk” to create bare branches.
• Spring: Have him use light green construction paper to make leaves for the spring tree. Let him glue the popcorn on to make flowers.
• Summer: Have him use dark green construction paper to make leaves for the spring tree. He can also draw fruit on the tree or glue colorful buttons or circular scraps of red or orange paper.
• Fall: Use the yellow, orange and red construction paper to make autumn- colored leaves for the fall tree.

Hang the pictures up in your house so you can enjoy all of the seasons no matter the time of year!

At select intervals during the year, point out the tree pictures and talk about how the trees look outside.

What Floats? What Sinks?: A Look at Density

by Jennifer Boothroyd

2011

Ages:5-8

Genre(s): Informational

Summary: Starting off by describing what it means to sink and what it means to float, the author gives many examples of objects and describes what causes them to sink or float. This book also discusses water level, density and surface area.  It tells why things floating and sinking are important in everyday life.

My reaction: The subject of density very simply put and beautifully illustrated.  Children will find this book interesting and informative.

Activity: Balloon Hovercraft from Home Science Tools

Magnetism

by Sally M. Walker

photographs by Andy King

2006

Ages: Grades 2-5

Genre(s): Informational

Summary: This book describes what magnets are and how they work.  Explaining details of how the atoms work to make the magnetic force and how the magnet comes to have two poles, north and south.  The author also describes why some materials are attracted to magnets and how some can become temporary magnets.  The book also includes activities to help students experiences magnets.

My reaction:  I found this book very interesting.  I learned a lot about magnets that I either never knew or had long forgotten.  The format is very simple so elementary children can understand the concepts.

Activity: (Home Science Tools Website)

Magnetic Propulsion

A maglev (magnetically levitated) train doesn't use a regular engine like a normal train. Instead, electromagnets in the track produce a magnetic force that pushes the train from behind and pulls it from the front. You can get an idea of how it works using some permanent magnets and a toy car.

What You Need:

• toy car
• 3 bar magnets

What You Do:

1. Tape a bar magnet to small toy car with the north pole at the back of the car and the south pole at the front.

2. Put the car on a hard surface, like a linoleum floor or a table. Hold a bar magnet behind the car with the south pole facing the car. As you move it near the car, what happens? The south pole of your magnet repels the north pole of the magnet on the car, making the car move forward.

3. Have someone else hold another magnet in front of the car, with the north pole facing the car. Does the car move faster with one magnet 'pushing' from behind and the other magnet 'pulling' from ahead?

In our example, the permanent magnets have to move with the car to keep it going. In a maglev track, though, the electromagnets just change their poles by changing the direction of the electric current. They stay in the same spot, but their poles change as the train goes by so it will always be repelled from the electromagnets behind it and attracted by the electromagnets in front of it!

Why Do Volcanoes Erupt?

by Wil Mara

2010

Ages: 7-12

Genre(s): Informational

Summary: Talking about the earth and what is under the earth, this book describes the different layers of the earth and the properties of each.  These explanations lead up to discussion of volcanoes. Each part of the volcano is described and illustrated making it very clear how the volcano works.

My reaction:  I found this book very interesting.  I believe this book would pique the interest of students and the illustrations make the information easier to understand.

Activity (from the book):  Make Your Own Volcano

An adult should help you with every step, and you should make sure you have plenty of paper towels or newspapers in case there is too much of a mess from your eruption?  (You may even want to consider doing the last step outside.)

What you will need:

• Two-liter plastic bottle
• Spare plank of wood (plywood will do) about three feet square
• Papier-måché
• Measuring cup and teaspoon
• Dishwashing liquid
• Baking soda (not baking powder)
• Red food coloring (optional)

What to Do:

1. Place the plastic bottle in the center of the wood plank, then build a mountain around it with the papier-måché.  The bottle cap should be off, because the opening will act as your volcano's vent.  Make sure the papier-måché is packed tightly around the bottle hole but is not covering it. 
2. Dry your mountain fully overnight.
3. Combine one teaspoon of dishwashing liquid and one teaspoon of baking soda in a cup.  You can also add a few drops of red food coloring to make the mixture look more lavaliere.
4. Once it is all mixed, pour it into the open hole of the plastic bottle.
5. Now pour a quarter cup of white vinegar into the hole, and stand back! Your volcano should erupt almost instantly.

A Rainy Day

by Sandra Markle

illustrated by Cathy Johnson

1993

Ages: Grades 1-2

Genre(s): Informational

Summary: From clouds to raindrops to water for plants and earthworms, Sandra Markle describes where rain comes from and the effects of it on the land.  Describing the water cycle in a simple way without actually identifying it as the water cycle.

My reaction: The explanation and the illustrations in this book make this scientific concept easy to understand and interesting for children.

Activity: Homemade rain gauge

The Cloud Book

written and illustrated by Tomie de Paola

1985

Ages: 5-8

Genre(s): Picture book, Informational

Summary: Describing the 10 most common kinds of clouds and what to expect when you see them in the sky, this book is very informative for any age.  The author also adds famous sayings throughout the world that are interesting and memorable.

My reaction: Although this book is written at a lower reading level, it would be good for all elementary children.  With its great information presented so simply and fun illustrations, students will more readily remember the facts about clouds.

Activities:     Lower elementary- have students create a book and illustrate it with the different types of clouds adding a brief explanation of each type. 

     Upper elementary: Have students create a project using any one of a variety of apps to create a presentation about clouds.  One suggestion would be to use Telligami and make the character be a weather announcer. 

Night of the Twisters

by Ivy Rickman

2003

Ages: 9-12

Genre(s): Historical Fiction

Summary: Two young boys, Dan and Arthur, are alone with Dan's baby brother when the tornado siren goes off in Grand Island, Nebraska.  This fictional account of the night in 1980 when 7 tornadoes hit Grand Island and destroyed many homes and claimed 4 lives.  The terror these residents experienced and the courage many displayed is well portrayed.

My reaction:  Though we lived in western Nebraska, I remember hearing about the terrifying night in Grand Island, Nebraska.  Ivy Rickman does a great job of relaying feelings the victims experienced and the many acts of bravery that are seen in a tragedy such as this.

Activities: Have students research tornadoes and find out what the different measurements of tornadoes mean.  They can then compare them to the Grand Island tornadoes on that night. 

Great site to see tornadoes and intensity.

Have students do a book talk and include how tragedies bring out our courage to help others and will to live. 

Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci

by Joseph D'Agnese

illustrated by John O'Brien

2010

Ages: 6-9

Genre(s): Informational, Biography, Math, Science

Summary: The biography of Italian, Leonardo Fibonacci, who loved math from an early age.  With his mind wrapped up in numbers, people started to call him a blockhead.  He was not dumb as they supposed but had a great mathematical mind.  He started to notice in nature that there was a numerical pattern in everything.  This pattern came to be known as the Fibonacci Sequence and now he is no longer seen as a blockhead but as a genius.

My reaction:  It is incredible how a young man pursued something of interest to him and eventually discovered a pattern in nature that had not been noticed before.  This book could inspire children to go beyond what others think they can do.

Activity: Have students search and find photos in the book that contain something demonstrating the Fibonacci Sequence.  Then have children go out into nature and count the number of petals on several flowers and graph the results.  Help them to also find spirals in nature and record them.

How Tall, How Short, How Far Away

by David A. Adler

Illustrated by Nancy Tobin

1999

Ages: 7-10

Genre(s): Informational

Summary:  Starting with ancient times, this book goes through the history of measurement, explaining why standard units are necessary and how they came about.  An interesting look at measurements used during ancient times and all the way to current methods of measurement.

My reaction: This book is a great way to explain standard measurements to children.  The illustrations are fun and informative.  The information given is clear and simple.

Activity: Have students follow suggestions given in the book and measure several items around the room or even out in the building and school yard. Students will then develop a way of their choice to "teach" standard measurements to classmates.

Feed the Children First

Irish Memories of the Great Hunger

Edited by Mary E. Lyons

2002

Ages: 9-12

Genre(s): Informational

     Summary:  Tragedy after tragedy inflicted the people of Ireland.  The Irish suffered greatly during the Great Hunger 1845-1852, due to a fungus on the potatoes and the lack of concern of English landowners that had been given the land when it was seized many years before from the ancestors of those currently renting the land. During these years of disease of the potatoes, one million Irishmen died and 1.5 million moved to the U.S. and Canada. Then black death came in to claim even more lives. Between 1879 and 1894, 6 million more left Ireland after the potatoes were again struck with the blight.
     Mary Lyons puts together first-hand accounts collected in the 1940's with beautiful artwork to illustrate their stories. Since there were no pictures recording this time in history, this book is special to the story.

     My reaction: This book brings to light the feelings and struggles the Irish went through in that terrible time.  The stories are heart-wrenching and poignant and I am thankful to get to experience their feelings through these accounts. This is a very meaningful way to share this time in history and it was very humbling.  It shocks me once again how prejudice causes men to deem some as unworthy of human kindness and compassion.

    Activity: Have students choose a person, child, mother, father, landlord, emigrant, one who stayed, etc., and write an account from "his or her" point of view.  The goal is to help the children understand a little more of what these types of people may have been feeling.

The Elves and the Shoemaker

retold and illustrated by Paul Galdone

1984
Ages: 5-9
Genre(s):Fantasy

     Summary: A poor shoemaker and his wife are struggling to survive. The shoemaker cuts up the last of his leather preparing to make one more pair of shoes the next day and goes to bed. When he wakes up in the morning, a beautiful pair of finely made shoes is on the workbench. The shoemaker is able to sell these shoes and get leather for more. He cuts the leather and goes to bed. The next morning, he finds 2 pair of shoes on the workbench. This story has a very happy ending for all involved.

     My reaction: This is a story I remember very well from my childhood. I am not sure I shared it with my children but I know I will be sharing it with my grandchildren and my students. This is a wonderful story about how kind deeds help others.

The Last Princess: The Story of Princess Ka’Iulani of Hawai’i

by Fay Stanley

illustrated by Diane Stanley
1994
Ages: 6-9
Genre(s): Biography

     Summary: Hawaii’s next princess is a sweet, thoughtful girl loved by all and has a very happy life on the island of Oahu. Sadness enters her life, however, when her mother dies. On her deathbed, her mother tells Princess Ka’Iulani that she will go far away and that she will never rule Hawaii. This prophecy is fulfilled when Princess Ka’Iulani goes to across the oceans to go to school and learn to be a proper queen. While she is there, her country is taken over and she must save her people.

     My reaction: My husband’s family is Hawaiian and we are only recently getting to know them because of the distance between the mainland and the Hawaiian islands. This book appealed to me because of our family but the beautiful way the story was written and illustrated causes me to want to learn more about this brave young princess and about these islands our family calls home.

      Activity: Students will read a biography of their choice and use whatever presentation method they prefer to share that story with the class.

Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby

Beloved Brer Rabbit and Friends Stories (Illustrated)
retold by S. E. Schlosser

2011
Ages: 5-12
Genre(s): Traditional/ Folk

     Summary: One story in this book of 5 stories about Brer Rabbit and his friends, is Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby. This classic African American folktale is a fun story about an ornery little rabbit that gets captured by a fox. Just when the fox is trying to decide how to eat him, Brer Rabbit comes up with a great plan of escape.

     My reaction: This book is a great source of these fun, lighthearted tales. It was very interesting for me to find out these stories I had loved as a child were traditional stories slaves told to help lighten their burdens and hard times. I appreciate these stories even more.

     Activity: Have students read a Brer Rabbit story and share what lesson could be learned. Next have students create their own story using iBooks author to create the book.