Behind the Books: 10 Ways Authors Can Help Educators

Common Core is in the news almost daily. A lot of people don’t like the new standards, or at least the standardized testing that comes along with them. But the fact is that CCSS has been adopted by most of America, so teachers have to address the new standards regardless of the political frenzy swirling all around them.

So the best thing we can do as authors of nonfiction as well as fiction is help them. With that goal in mind, I thought I’d share some general strategies for authors who would like to guide educators in using their books to meet the Common Core standards.

1. Write discussion questions that help students identify a book’s main idea and key details.

Jane Yolen and Heidi Stemple

 

2. Develop a teacher’s guide with activities that help students build vocabulary; understand connections and relationships between key ideas, events or individuals in a book; and examine a book’s structure.

David LaRochelle

 

3. Offer writers’ workshops that focus on such topics as structure, voice, and word choice.

Barbara O'Connor

 

4. Write blog posts that describe your intentions or writing process for a specific book.

Jo Knowles

 

5. Write blog posts, create videos, or develop school visits that deconstruct specific aspects of your writing .

Jeannine Atkins

6. If you write picture books or photo-illustrated books, write blog posts, create videos, or develop school visits or classroom materials that highlight the connection between pictures and words in your books.

Steve Jenkins

7. Speak at local and national conferences for teachers and librarians about specific aspects of writing craft.

8. Develop worksheets and visual aids that educators can use to teach specific aspects of writing craft.

9. Create lists of fiction and nonfiction titles that have a connection to your book, so students can compare the texts.

10. Provide links to related media on your website, so students can compare them to your book.

Loree Griffin Burns

 

Do you have other ideas about how authors can help educators address the goals of Common Core? I’d love to hear them.

Integrating Science and Language Arts: NGSS Performance Expectation 1-LS1-1, Part 4

1-LS1-1. Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs. [Clarification Statement: Examples of human problems that can be solved by mimicking plant or animal solutions could include designing clothing or equipment to protect bicyclists by mimicking turtle shells, acorn shells, and animal scales; stabilizing structures by mimicking animal tails and roots on plants; keeping out intruders by mimicking thorns on branches and animal quills; and, detecting intruders by mimicking eyes and ears.]

So far, we’ve looked at three ways of addressing the animal portion of this PE, but don’t forget the plants. There aren’t as many great plant books out there as I’d like, but here are some suggestions for a lesson that focuses on how a plant’s parts help it live, grow, and make more plants.

Jack’s Garden by Henry Cole

 

Plant Secrets by Emily Goodman

 

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown

No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart

Activity 1

Invite your students to create visual acrostic poems that describe how a plant’s parts help it survive. Here’s an example:

P [picture of a pea flower]

L  [picture of leaf collecting sunlight]

A  [picture of an apple cut in half to show seeds]

N  [picture of nut]

T  [picture of water moving up the trunk of a tall tree]

When the students are done, you can post their poems on a bulletin board.

Activity 2

Use Google Images to find an illustration of a plant that has lovely flowers and an extensive root system. Divide the class into two groups. Group A will pretend to be the plant’s flowers. Group B will pretend to be the roots. Encourage Group A to act as though they are proud of being so beautiful. Ask them what they think of the roots? Are they as lovely or important? Invite Group B to try to convince the flowers that a plant’s roots are just as important as its flowers. As the groups converse with one another, encourage them to back up their statements with evidence from the books they read. 

Friday Fun: Gross Out!

At mating time, a female fieldfare builds a neat nest near the top of a tree. After laying her eggs, she works hard to protect her home. Know what happens if an enemy gets too close? BOMBS AWAY! The devoted mama poops on the predator.

After the chicks are born, their dad gets in on the action. He and his mate take turns feeding the little ones and showering scat on enemies.

For more gross facts about our animal neighbors, check out Animal Grossapedia. But be sure not to read it right after lunch!

Behind the Books: Conceptual Scaffolding

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that, I think of the cumulative text in my picture book No Monkeys, No Chocolate as a book-long example of conceptual scaffolding. This was a new term for a lot of readers, so I thought I’d look at the idea of conceptual scaffolding in more detail.

Conceptual scaffolding is an extended passage that explains a complex idea or process by meeting readers where they are and then leading them down a path to understanding. In addition to providing pertinent background information, it may involve dispelling preexisting misconceptions.

 When employing this technique, it can be really helpful to begin with a universal experience. From there, authors can provide readers with the building blocks they will need to slowly assemble a clear, logical explanation in their own minds.

Here are some recent books that make excellent use of conceptual scaffolding to explain very difficult scientific ideas in ways that young readers can really understand:

A Black Hole Is NOT a Hole by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano

Island by Jason Chin

Zombie Makers by Rebecca L. Johnson

Can you think of others? I’m searching for more.

Integrating Science and Language Arts: NGSS Performance Expectation 1-LS1-1, Part 3

1-LS1-1. Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs. [Clarification Statement: Examples of human problems that can be solved by mimicking plant or animal solutions could include designing clothing or equipment to protect bicyclists by mimicking turtle shells, acorn shells, and animal scales; stabilizing structures by mimicking animal tails and roots on plants; keeping out intruders by mimicking thorns on branches and animal quills; and, detecting intruders by mimicking eyes and ears.]

We’re still working our way through PE 1-LS1-1. Here are some books and activity ideas for addressing how animals protect themselves from predators.

What Do You Do When Something Wants to Eat You? by Steve Jenkins

Swimmy by Leo Lionni

Monkey: A Trickster Tale from India by Gerald McDermott
Never Smile at a Monkey by Steve Jenkins

Disappearing Desmond by Anna Alter
Where in the Wild? by David M. Schwartz and Yael Schy

Activity 1

Invite students to choose one of the animals described in What Do You Do When Something Wants to Eat You? and act out its defense strategy. Can other members of the class guess which animal the child is pretending to be?

Activity 2

Create a bulletin board with the title: How Do Animals Protect Themselves from Predators? Provide art materials and time for each student to create a representation of how one of the animals they’ve learned about protects itself from being eaten.

Behind the Books: Time to Chill

At NCTE with Cynthia Levinson and Leslie Bulion

Usually November is a pretty quiet month for me, but not this year. I've spoken at three national conferences, presented at four schools live and two via Skype, taken part in a fantastic Twitterchat hosted by the Columbia University Teacher's College Reading and Writing Project, did a round of revisions on my next National Geographic Reader, reviewed copy edits on my next Q&A book for Sterling, worked on a video that is supposed to accompany my February 2014 picture book Feathers: Not Just for Flying, and, oh yeah, tried to be a good wife to my very patient husband.

But now, as I look ahead to December, I can breathe a huge sigh of relief. Except for one school visit, a professional development program for teachers, and two book signings, my calendar is wide open. That's great news because I came home from NCTE with a glorious new book idea that I can't wait to explore. Boy, do I ever have a reason to be thankful this Thanksgiving.

Integrating Science and Language Arts: NGSS Performance Expectation 1-LS1-1, Part 2

1-LS1-1. Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs. [Clarification Statement: Examples of human problems that can be solved by mimicking plant or animal solutions could include designing clothing or equipment to protect bicyclists by mimicking turtle shells, acorn shells, and animal scales; stabilizing structures by mimicking animal tails and roots on plants; keeping out intruders by mimicking thorns on branches and animal quills; and, detecting intruders by mimicking eyes and ears.]

Like I said last week, this is a very meaty PE, so we’re going to look at it bit by bit. Today’s focus in on how animals find, catch, and eat food. Let’s face it, this is a fun topic, and there are lots of great books to choose from. Here are a few of my favorites.

A Frog in the Bog by Karma Wilson

Just One Bite by Lola M. Schafer

(Lola has a brand-new book called Swamp Chomp. I haven’t read it yet, but my guess is that it would also be perfect for a lesson on this topic.)

 

Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson

 

Eat Like a Bear by April Pulley Sayre

 

Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre

 

Pinduli by Janell Cannon

 

Time to Eat by Steve Jenkins

Activity 1

Invite students to select some of the animals they’ve learned about and make a book of their own. Titles might include: How Animals Find Their Food, How Animals Catch Their Food, How Animals Eat Their Food.

Activity 2

After students have buddied up, give each pair a large, square piece of construction paper and put out variety of art supplies. Assign each team one of the animals they read about (frog, giraffe, octopus, whale, parrot, elephant, butterfly) and one of the three food-related actions (finding, catching, eating). Encourage the buddies to work together to create and label an image that shows how their animal uses its body parts to accomplish the assigned action.

When the students are done, use their drawings to create an Animal Lunch Quilt on the wall outside your classroom. Write the following questions above or below the quilt:

·   Can you find an animal looking for food? What body part is that animal using?

·   Can you find an animal catching or grasping food? What body part is that animal using?

·   Can you find an animal eating food? What body part is that animal using?

Then invite students in other classrooms to visit the quilt and test their knowledge about what animals eat.

 

 

Friday Fun: Super Silly Science Jokes

Q: Why did the fly fly?

A: The spider spied-her.

Q: Why do spiders spin webs?

A: They don’t know how to knit.

Q: Where do insects go shopping?

A: At a flea market.

Q: What do you get if you cross a daddy longlegs with an elephant?
A: I'm not sure. But if you see one walking across the ceiling, RUN!

Q: What’s a scorpion’s favorite TV show? 

A: Survivor.

Looking for more super silly jokes about the weather? Check out Creepy, Crawly Jokes About Spiders and Other Bugs.

Behind the Books: Entry Point

A book’s entry point is the place where an author chooses to begin telling a story. For example, in Bomb, Steve Sheinkin uses an en media res approach to engage readers. He presents a fast-paced, intriguing scene in which an American who has been spying against his own country is on the verge of getting caught by the FBI. This thrilling scene sends readers a strong message: If you invest your time in reading this book, you won’t regret it.

Here are two other books with great entry points:

Brave Girl by Michelle Markel

The Hive Detectives by Loree Griffin Burns

Can you think of others? I’m searching for more.

 

Integrating Science and Language Arts: NGSS Performance Expectation 1-LS1-1

This is a very meaty PE, especially if we want to do justice to the clarification statement. I’m going to focus on uses for external parts for the next few weeks. Then I’ll bring all my suggestions together with ideas that are directly relevant to the engineering part of the PE.

1-LS1-1. Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs. [Clarification Statement: Examples of human problems that can be solved by mimicking plant or animal solutions could include designing clothing or equipment to protect bicyclists by mimicking turtle shells, acorn shells, and animal scales; stabilizing structures by mimicking animal tails and roots on plants; keeping out intruders by mimicking thorns on branches and animal quills; and, detecting intruders by mimicking eyes and ears.]

For starters, I’m going to share some ideas that can help kids understand how an animal’s body parts help it live and grow. The obvious book choice here is What Do You Do with a Tail like This? by Steve Jenkins.

Here are some other book ideas:

Snail’s Spell by Joanne Ryder

No One But You by Douglas Wood 

My Five Senses by Aliki

Diary of a Fly by Doreen Cronin

Dig, Wait, Listen by April Pulley Sayre

Mining the Book

Introduce What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? by showing the front cover and asking students what animal they think the tail belongs to. After they make a few guesses, flip the book over to show the back cover. Now that they can identify the animal, ask them how they think the lizard might use its tail. Can they think of any ways the tail might help a lizard find food or stay safe? Record the class’s guesses on chart paper.

As you read the book, stop after each of the pages with a question about an animal body part. Encourage students to guess which animal each part belongs to. Then turn the page and read how the animals use that external body part. (In some cases, the main text doesn’t provide all the information first graders will need to understand the concept, but you can turn to the longer descriptions in the backmatter for clarification.)

To keep track of how animals use their external body parts, work with your students to create a series of data tables like the ones shown below. (In a few cases, the book lacks critical information. When you see an asterisk (*), ask students if they have ideas about how to complete the data table based on their prior knowledge. You may need to fill in details for them.)

Nose	Use
Platypus	To dig in the mud (for food)
Hyena	To find food
Elephant	To take a bath
Mole	To avoid getting lost (and find food )
Alligator	To breathe (by lifting just its nose above the water’s surface)

Ears	Use
Jackrabbit	To keep cool
Bat	To get a picture of the world (by listening to sounds echoing off nearby objects)
Hippopotamus*	To hear
Cricket	To hear (one another so they can find mates)
Humpback whale	To hear (other whales trying to communicate)

Tail	Use
Giraffe	To brush away flies
Skunk	To warn enemies that they are about to get sprayed
Lizard	To escape from enemies
Scorpion	To sting (animals it wants to eat)
Monkey	To hang from tree branches (so it can reach food)

Eyes	Use
Eagle	To spot animals (that it can catch and eat)
Chameleon	To look two ways at once (so it can spot food and enemies)
Four-eyed fish	To look above and below water (so it can spot food and enemies)
Horned lizard	To squirt blood (at enemies)
Bush baby	To see (so they can find food)

Feet	Use
Chimpanzee	To eat food
Blue-footed bobby	To dance (to attract a mate)
Water strider	To walk on water (in search of food)
Gecko*	To walk on ceilings to find food and escape from enemies
Mountain goat	To leap (out of the way of falling rocks or snow)

Mouth	Use
Pelican	To catch food
Mosquito*	To suck blood (so it can produce healthy eggs)
Egg-eating snake	To eat food
Anteater	To catch food with its tongue
Archerfish	To catch food

When the data tables are complete, divide the class into six groups and assign each group one of the animal body parts discussed in What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?. Encourage each group to consider whether the animals in the book depend on the external body part to live and grow or if it just makes their lives easier or better. When each group comes to a consensus, one member should write either an L (live and grow) or an E (makes life easier) next to each entry in the data table for their assigned body part.

Review Activity

Create a worksheet with the following sentence frames:

A _________________ (animal 1) uses its tail to ________________

(job 1). But a _________________ (animal 2) uses its tail to

________________ (job 2). A _________________ (animal 1) uses

its _________________ (body part 1) to find food. But a

_________________ (animal 2) uses its _________________

(body part 2) to find food.