When it comes to children books, teachers want bang for their buck! That’s part of the reason they love books that cover many teaching areas at the same time. This saves money and time, and more importantly a book that speaks to children on a variety of subjects unites learning. A book, for example, that has elements of science, math and language arts links learning and makes it more meaningful. In teacher talk this is called “crossing curriculum”.
In December I taught a continuing education class at Meredith College. I brought in a slew of recently published books that were either fiction-based with a non-fiction subject lurking inside the story, or they were straight non-fiction. The teachers arranged themselves into groups that stressed their strengths. Arts, Science, Social Studies, Math and Language Art teams considered the books as we whirled them around the room. The teams considered curriculum connections for their specific subjects. At the end, they chose the books they thought most useful. Here are their top five favorites.
Bright bold colors stretch across double pages to portray all kinds of beetle species, habitats, life cycles and rankings in the food chain. The author’s rhythmic text is just as colorful as she uses gerunds, alliteration, adjectives, and more to describe the beetles’ bustling activity. The book has a 12 bar blues pattern and is a great introduction to bop-music of the fifties. The exciting writing is a natural lead to creating bug puppets to act out the book’s wild action. The book’s patterns could give mathematical rise to graphing and sorting exercises.
This exciting new series melds science and story as a cat and frog venture forth in the world and discuss observable facts. In this book, they examine growth as they view and discuss life cycles of frogs, fish and seeds. The Arts Team found drama in the movements of characters in the book and thought of pairing this book with Ravel’s “Carnival of the Animals” would bridge literature and music. Math discussion centered on examining elapsed time and size comparisons. The social studies experts saw that the book could inspire timelines or studying change as a character trait. In terms of literature book provides examples of first person narrative and clarification writing, as well as a well integrated text and graphics.
“Ear-tickling” poetry proclaims the cover and so for good reason, my Language Arts team went nuts over how spectacular the poetry was in both sound and sense. In a perfect balance of presentation, poems are placed on a full page. Across there is a camouflaged setting on a fold-out page. Unfolding reveals the animal who hides within the setting. The poems’ use diverse techniques, including alliteration, sensory details, onomatopoeia, rhyme, and each includes a non-fiction element. These non-fiction elements cover content areas such as animal study, habitats and landforms, symmetry and patterns. The Arts Team saw that the book provide an opportunity to introduce textures, impressionistic paintings and embark on studying hidden musical themes.
This, the author’s first book, was inspired by an attic discovery—a dusty box that revealed “yellowed envelopes from all over Europe containing foot tracings of every size”. Her discovery led to an understanding of how her family helped the Europeans of post World War II to “heal the wounds of war with kindness” as they sent shoes to those in need. Her lyrical telling creates a strong personal narrative, backed up with primary documents. The Social Studies team went nuts over this book—seeing comparisons of the US and Europe in the post war era, studying supply and demand and lack of resources, and examining facets of history like Victory Gardens, packaging and magazine adverts. The Arts Team saw this book as a way to introduce Big Band music and talk about the history and impacts of commercial design. Math lessons included measurement and science uses ranged from discussing basic needs to seeing how severly seasons impact people.
In a series of short visual chapters with catchy playful phrasing, the graphic artist differentiates design elements like foreground and background and explains how to create unity of design. Children mad for comics and graphic novels will find it easy to learn why images work from this unique art book. The Arts Team found connections to Op Art, study of artists like Joseph Albus, as well as studies of depth and perspective, use of negative and positive spaces and using computer design. The Math Team viewed possibilities to examine geometric shapes, patterns, inscribed and circumscribed shapes, and parallel and intersecting lines. The book lends itself to a scientific study of primary and secondary colors. Though this book is primarily visual, the Language Arts team noted the clear and concise writing and excellent sequential organization.
Teachers who want the entire resource we produced should contact Susie @ susiewilde@bellsouth.net
Next Month: Telling African-American History in Various Voices…Readers, please send in your favorite titles to: susiewilde@bellsouth.net