Friday, June 17, 2016
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Going International
Quite
a few of my books have been translated into other languages, including Spanish, Chinese, Turkish, and Korean. It’s
always fun to see what the foreign publishers do with the covers to appeal to their
audience.
Sometimes
they keep the art, and just replace the English title.
Monday, June 13, 2016
Book of the Week: Why Are Animals Green?
Educators
often ask me which of my books would work best in their classroom. So this
year, I’ve decided to feature a book each week and highlight related teaching
materials and strategies.
The
clear, simple text and stunning photos in
Why Are Animals Green? are perfect
for teaching students about animal adaptations. You can start your lesson with a fun Readers Theater script that
I’ve written to accompany the book. I’ve also created a Teachers Guide that makes connections to a wide variety of NGSS and Common Core
standards.
For an innovative Reading Buddy experience, try a
same-grade-level pairing in which an emergent reader shares Green Animals (two simple words per
page) and a more advanced reader shares Why Are
Animals Green? I
guarantee great results.
Friday, June 10, 2016
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Georgia Conference on Teaching and Learning: ALL Writers Depend on Mentor Texts Handout
I use mentor texts to help me determine the best
voice, style, and structure for a work in progress. The resources on this page
can get you started:
And that's it! Phew.
Nonfiction voice options span a
continuum, from lively to lyrical. A writer’s topic and the approach he/she
chooses will dictate the best voice choice for a particular piece.
Voice Choice Activity
http://www.melissa-stewart.com/sciclubhouse/teachhome/writing_info.html
http://www.melissa-stewart.com/sciclubhouse/teachhome/writing_info.html
Two Writing Teachers Blog Post https://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/author/dmurphy2013/
Nonfiction Categories
Writing Styles
Common Text Structures
Books
with Layered Text
Actual Size by Steve Jenkins
Beaks by Sneed B. Collard
The Bumblebee Queen by April Pulley Sayre
A Butterfly is Patient by Diana Hutts Aston
Dolphin
Baby by Nicola Davies
An Egg is Quiet by Diana Hutts Aston
Here Come the Humpbacks! by April Pulley Sayre
Just Ducks! by Nicola Davies
Leaving Home by Sneed B. Collard
Meet the Howlers by
April Pulley Sayre
Move! by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
Never Smile at a Monkey by Steve Jenkins
No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart
One
Tiny Turtle by Nicola Davies
A Place for Bats by Melissa Stewart
A Place for Birds by Melissa Stewart
A Place for Butterflies by Melissa Stewart
A Place for Fish by Melissa Stewart
A Place for Frogs by Melissa Stewart
A Place for Turtles by Melissa Stewart
A Rock Is Lively by Diana Hutts Aston
A Seed is Sleepy by Diana Hutts Aston
What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
When the Wolves Returned by
Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
Wings
by Sneed B. Collard
No Monkeys, No Chocolate Revision Timeline
How to Find Great Nonfiction
Mentor Texts
http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/
(on Wednesdays)
AAAS/Subaru Prizes for
Excellence in Science Books
ALA Robert F. Sibert
Informational Book Award
CRA Eureka! Nonfiction
Children’s Book Award
Cook Prize for STEM Picture
Book
Cooperative Children’s Book
Center Choices List
Cybils Nonfiction Awards
NCSS Notable Social Studies
Trade Books for Young People
NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for
Outstanding Nonfiction for Children
NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science
Trade Books for Students K-12
YALSA Award for Excellence
in Nonfiction for Young Adults
And that's it! Phew.
Georgia Conference on Teaching and Learning: Having Fun with GSE Handout
Today I’m presenting two talks at the Georgia Conference on Teaching and Learning
in Perry, GA. I’m sharing my handouts here (rather than on paper), so that
interested people can simply click on the links. (Plus it saves trees.)
For upper elementary students, Readers Theater is a wonderful way to reinforce vocabulary (not to mention build fluency and comprehension). Many science-themed children’s books can easily be adapted into Readers Theater scripts that kids will love practicing and performing.
March Madness Nonfiction
This post is the
online handout for my first talk,
Having Fun with GSE: Using Award-winning STEM-themed Books to Support the
Reading Information Text Standards. It includes teaching ideas and book
lists that address each of the Georgia Standards of Excellence Reading
Information Text Standards.
Thanks to blogger’s
scheduling option, the online handout for my second presentation, All Writers Depend
on Mentor Texts, will magically post at 1:00 p.m., when that presentation
begins.
Here are some general resources to get you started:
GSE RIT #1 and 2: Identifying main ideas/Recognizing
supporting details
Reading Buddy programs have many proven benefits. When buddies use nonfiction trade books with layered text, the benefits increase. Younger students read the simpler main text (which includes the main idea) and the older student reads the secondary text (which includes supporting details). Then they discuss the art together. When they are done, they can work together to complete supporting activities.
Reading Buddy programs have many proven benefits. When buddies use nonfiction trade books with layered text, the benefits increase. Younger students read the simpler main text (which includes the main idea) and the older student reads the secondary text (which includes supporting details). Then they discuss the art together. When they are done, they can work together to complete supporting activities.
https://www.pinterest.com/mstewartscience/main-ideasupporting-details/
Recommended Titles
Actual Size by Steve Jenkins
Actual Size by Steve Jenkins
Beaks by Sneed B. Collard
The Bumblebee Queen by April Pulley Sayre
A Butterfly is Patient by Diana Hutts Aston
Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart
Meet the Howlers by April Pulley Sayre
Move! by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart
A Place for Birds by Melissa Stewart
What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
When the Wolves Returned by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
GSE RIT #3: Identifying
connections/relationships between ideas, events, or individuals in a book
It can be tricky to
find books that are perfectly suited for teaching this skill. Here are some
titles that I recommend:
For K-2 Students
Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons by Sarah Levine
Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons by Sarah Levine
Born to Be Giants:
How Baby Dinosaurs Grew to Rule the World by Lita Judge
Me . . . Jane by Patrick McDonnell
Frog
in a Bog by John Himmelman
For Grade 3-5 Students
Energy Island by Allan Drummond
Energy Island by Allan Drummond
Neo Leo: The Ageless
Ideas of Leonard da Vinci by Gene Baretta
Planting the Trees of
Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai by Claire A. Nivola
Trout Are Made of
Trees by
April Pulley Sayre
GSE RIT #4: Building
Vocabulary
For younger children, fun songs are a great way to reinforce domain-specific vocabulary introduced in children’s books. Here are some sample songs I’ve written to build vocabulary included in lifecycle units on butterflies and frogs:
For younger children, fun songs are a great way to reinforce domain-specific vocabulary introduced in children’s books. Here are some sample songs I’ve written to build vocabulary included in lifecycle units on butterflies and frogs:
For upper elementary students, Readers Theater is a wonderful way to reinforce vocabulary (not to mention build fluency and comprehension). Many science-themed children’s books can easily be adapted into Readers Theater scripts that kids will love practicing and performing.
Recommended Titles
Animals Asleep by Sneed Collard
Animals Asleep by Sneed Collard
Beneath the Sun by Melissa Stewart
Dig Wait Listen: A Desert Toad Tale by April Pulley Sayre
Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea by Steve
Jenkins and Robin Page
Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart
Frog in a Bog by John Himmelman
Home at Last: A Song of Migration by April Pulley Sayre
How Many Ways Can You Catch a Fly? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
Move! by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart and Allen Young
Rain, Rain, Rain Forest by Brenda Z. Guiberson
Under the Snow by Melissa Stewart
What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by
Steve Jenkins
and Robin Page
When Rain Falls by Melissa Stewart
Where Are the Night Animals? by Mary Ann Fraser
Additional Resources
Readers
Theater scripts on my website:
Stewart,
Melissa. “Science Books + Readers Theater,” Science Books & Films. American Association for the Advancement of
Science, Washington, D.C., May/June 2008. Internet page at: http://www.melissa-stewart.com/pdf/ReadersTheater.pdf#zoom=70
GSE RIT #5: Identifying text features/Analyzing text
structures
This is an important skill twenty-first century learners. Many of my books include a wide variety of text features. You can use them as mentor texts as students develop their own text features.
This is an important skill twenty-first century learners. Many of my books include a wide variety of text features. You can use them as mentor texts as students develop their own text features.
I’ve also sorted developed
teaching ideas for text features and structures and created a list of dozens of
award-winning nonfiction books organized by text structure. You can access them
here:
https://www.pinterest.com/mstewartscience/nonfiction-text-structures/
March Madness Nonfiction
GSE RIT #6: Visual literacy and point of view
Most of the other RIT
standards focus on one skill that is introduced in K and builds from one grade
level to the next. This standard looks at visual literacy in the early grades
and author intent in grades 2-5.
Grades K-1
Visual literacy is a
critical skill for twenty-first century learners. While any book illustrated
with art or photos can be used to discuss the role of the words and pictures,
here are a few that I particularly recommend:
Actual Size by Steve
Jenkins
The Day-Glo Brothers by Chris Barton
An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Hutts Aston
Mosquito Bite by Alexandra Siy and Dennis Kunkle
Redwoods by Jason Chin
Visual Teaching Strategies
Grades 2-5
To meet this
standard, students should have experience considering the intent of texts and
author point of view. Today’s students are also being asked to imagine
themselves “in the shoes” of the authors. They must consider that an author’s
world view affects how he/she approaches topics. For discussions of author
intent, I recommend two activities.
1.
Compare
The Snail’s Spell by Joanne Ryder (illus Lynne Cherry) and Wolfsnail:
A Backyard Predator by Sarah C. Campbell and Richard P. Campbell, focusing
on why two authors might have created such different books about the same small
animal.
2. Imagine author Brenda Z. Guiberson’s
thought process as she developed the voice for Frog Song. How do
students think the publisher’s choice of Gennady
Spirin as the illustrator reinforced the author’s intent for the book?
For
discussions of point of view, ask students to consider how the authors’ world
view inspired them to write the following titles:
City
Chickens by
Christine Heppermann
Earth: Feeling the Heat by Brenda Z.
Guiberson
A
Place for Bats by
Melissa Stewart
Step Out Gently by Helen Frost and
Rick Lieder
Point of View/Persuasive Writing
https://www.pinterest.com/mstewartscience/persuasiveopinion-writing/
GSE RIT #7: More visual literacy and accessing
information quickly
Because visual
literacy is so important, this standard addresses it at increasing degrees of
complexity from grades K-4. See my notes above for book recommendations.
Visual Teaching Strategies
https://www.pinterest.com/mstewartscience/visual-literacy/
At grade 5, this
standard suddenly switches its focus to building skills for accessing
information. The good news is that publishers have already begun beefing up the
index and resource sections of all books, especially those for ages 10 and up.
GSE RIT #8: Examining how an author supports points
List
books (in which the main idea is stated on the first page and subsequent
spreads are essentially a list of examples that reinforce the main idea) are a
simple and powerful way to show students how author can support their points.
I
recommend the following titles:
Bird
Talk by
Lita Judge
Born
to Be Giants by
Lita Judge
A
Butterfly is Patient by
Dianna Hutts Aston
An
Egg is Quiet by
Dianna Hutts Aston
Feathers:
Not Just for Flying by
Melissa Stewart
How
Many Ways Can You Catch a Fly? by Steve Jenkins
Move!
by
Steve Jenkins& amp; Robin Page
Never
Smile at a Monkey by
Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
A
Rainbow of Animals by
Melissa Stewart
A
Seed Is Sleepy by
Dianna Hutts Aston
Wings
by
Sneed Collard
GSE RIT #9: Comparing multiple texts and various media
There are lots of ways to help students develop this skill, and trade children’s books can play a central role. Students will enjoy comparing fiction and nonfiction books that look at the same topic. Here are some book pairs I recommend:
There are lots of ways to help students develop this skill, and trade children’s books can play a central role. Students will enjoy comparing fiction and nonfiction books that look at the same topic. Here are some book pairs I recommend:
Bring on the Birds by Susan Stockdale + Birds by Kevin Henkes
Under the Snow by Melissa Stewart + Under and Over the Snow by Kate Messner
A Mama for Owen by Marion Dane Bauer + Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship by
Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Htakoff, and Dr. Paula Kahumbu
And
if you are looking for a resource that combines studying fiction/nonfiction pairs
with teaching science, you might want to use Perfect Pairs: Using Fiction &
Nonfiction Picture Books to Teach Life Science, K-2, a book I
co-authored with former teacher Nancy Chesley. It’s available here:
Students
will also be interested in comparing two, three, or even four or even three nonfiction
books covering the same topic but written in different ways by different
authors. Here are some great examples:
The
Wolves Are Back by
Jean Craighead George
When
the Wolves Returned by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
Poop
Happened: A History of the World from the Bottom Up by Sarah Albee
The
Truth About Poop by
Susan E. Goodman
The
Tale of Pale Male by
Jeanette Winter
City
Hawk: The Story of Pale Male by Meghan McCarthy
Pale
Male: Citizen Hawk of New York City by Janet Schulamn
Wangari’s
Trees of Peace by
Jeanette Winter
Planting
the Trees of Kenya by
Claire Nivola
Seeds
of Change: Wangari's Gift to the World by Jen Cullerton Johnson
Mama
Miti by
Donna Jo Napoli
A
great general resource for planning lessons that take advantage of multiple
books and/or various media is Teaching with Text Sets by Mary Ann
Cappiello and Erika Thulin Dawes. Follow their blog here: http://classroombookshelf.blogspot.com/
Some of the books
I've listed above will eventually go out of print. Plus new books are being
published all the time. How can you find great nonfiction books in the future?
Keep an eye on these
lists:
AAAS/Subaru Prizes
for Excellence in Science Books
ALA Robert F. Sibert
Informational Book Award
CA Reading
Association Eureka! Nonfiction Children’s Book Award
Cook Prize for STEM
Picture Book
Cooperative
Children’s Book Center Choices List
Cybils Nonfiction for
Middle Grade & Young Adult
Cybils Nonfiction
Picture Books
NCTE Orbis Pictus
Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children
NSTA-CBC Outstanding
Science Trade Books for Students K-12
YALSA Award for
Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults
And that's it! Phew.
Monday, June 6, 2016
Book of the Week: A Place for Turtles
Educators
often ask me which of my books would work best in their classroom. So this
year, I’ve decided to feature a book each week and highlight related teaching
materials and strategies.
You
could share one or two spreads of A Place
for Turtles to support NGSS PE K-ESS3-3 or read the whole book as part of a
lesson that addresses NGSS PE 5-ESS3-1.
I have also created a Teacher’s Guide that
makes connections to a wide variety of NGSS and Common Core standards. You can
find additional activities here.
This book is great for Reading Buddies programs. For
more information, read this article and look at the materials on
my CCSS ELA RIT #1 & 2: Reading Buddies pinterest board.
A Place for Turtles is chockfull of text
features, so you can use it as a mentor texts when discussing the wide range of
text features. You can also use the book in lessons that examine nonfiction
text structures. The main text has both a cause & effect text structure and
a problem-solution text structure, while many of the sibdebars compare past
human activities that hurt turtles to current more turtle-friendly activities.
Friday, June 3, 2016
Showing Students that Their Opinions Matter
I
spent last week visiting three schools in Upstate New York, and I was blown away with
all the terrific nonfiction reading and writing projects they’ve been doing this year. Their classroom teachers and teacher-librarians Camelia Moses and Ann Morosini are full of great ideas.
To
get ready for my visit, first graders at Carthage Elementary made drawings to
help me come up with ideas for future books. Looks like I’m all set for a few
years. J
Here’s
a close-up view of one:
Fourth graders at Black River Elementary made this fabulous cocoa tree with all the animals that depend on it and interact with it. Wow!
What
was my favorite project of all? Third graders at Carthage Elementary and third and fourth graders at West Carthage
Elementary read my books and wrote book reviews. Here are a few examples from West Carthage students:
It
was great to see these posted around the library, but what’s even better is
that, after a little proofreading by
teacher-librarian Camelia Moses, the students typed the reviews into the school
district’s library catalog, which is hosted by Follett.
The
catalog is designed to serve the district’s three elementary schools, a middle
school, and a high school, but it can be accessed by anyone anywhere in the whole
world—including the children's parents and grandparents and family friends.
And if you're interested in taking a closer look so you can try something similar with your students, you can access it too. Here’s the link: http://destiny.carthagecsd.org/
Just
click on one of the school links, such as Carthage Elementary School Library Media
Center. If you type “Melissa Stewart” in the FIND box, you will get a list of
my books owned by that school. When you click on a book’s title, you can see
the student reviews.
What
a great way to make kids feel like their ideas and opinions matter!
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Behind the Books: Q & A: The Forgotten Text Structure
Back in 2012, when educators were first
starting to teach nonfiction text structures, I often saw students making their own organizers,
like this one, to help them remember and identify the various text structures.
Here are a bunch of great children’s books that make excellent use the Q &A text structure:
But now I’m seeing a lot of fancy pre-made
charts like this:
And you know what I notice about these fancy
pre-made charts? They’re missing something that I think is really important.
The Q &A text structure. I really want to know. What
happened to Q &A?
Here are a bunch of great children’s books that make excellent use the Q &A text structure:
And what’s more, this is a text structure
that even young children can understand and use successfully. In other words, it’s a
great window into text structures, allowing kids to get their feet wet before plunging into learn and use text structures that are more
difficult to grasp and differentiate.
So here’s my plea to educators. Let’s bring back
Q & A. Let’s recognize that it can be a powerful way to organize
information, and if done well, it can make reading more fun by adding an interactive,
game-like quality to a text.
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