Weird Friends-juvenile nonfiction

Hey Guys,

I just wanted to share with you a great book where kids can learn science while having fun. For my SME class we were given individual topics to present and research on. I was given patterns of relationships between organisms. I had a very hard time coming across books that demonstrated this topic to younger children. However, I ended up finding a wonderful book called Weird Friends:Unlikely Allies in the Animal Kingdom by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey. This book teaches kids symbiosis in a friendly and fun way. It explains that even though we think animals hurt each other in certain relationships, they are forming partnerships that may even help each other. The text in the story never ends bad or sadly. For example in a predator-prey relationship they will explain that the predator sneaks up on the prey but then they end the paragraph with the traits that the prey has to escape.
The artwork is great in this book. The illustrations are swirled with watercolors and have very vibrant and bold colors. Although you can see in the drawings that some of the animals in the pictures are not happy with the result of their partnership, this book is one of the lest violent ones that I have seen. As I mentioned before, every paragraph ends with a happy and safe ending. I believe that the emotions on the animals faces are there to let the reader know who is unhappy and who is benefiting from the relationship.
Overall, this is a great book when teaching kids about organism relationships and partnerships without being violent and depressing. I know that I will be using this book as a resource for my SME class and when teaching about this topic.

Creative non-fiction

On Saturday I heard Ira Glass, the host of the radio show "This American Life", speak. If you haven't heard his show, each week he interviews people as they tell stories from their lives and then puts several together around a theme. He does a little commentary and uses music to set the tone of the story. (He's also in the second season of a tv version on Showtime. I haven't seen it.)

Glass talked a lot about the power of storytelling and the "narrative arc" that his program follows. He also had some words of encouragement for writers and artists along the lines of "Yes, your work is going to suck for a long time, but if you keep at it eventually it will get better." (He even played one of his early radio shows to demonstrate how far he's come.)

I guess I thought about our class because he's been so successful in creating a non-fiction format that is entertaining and informative. Several people in Monday's section talked a little bit about taking a creative non-fiction class. I'm curious to hear more. What did you read? What types of writing did you do? (Any creative children's literature, by chance?)

Non-Fiction Texts in the Classroom

The think that I find interesting about these upcoming topics, biographies and non-fiction, is how important these genres are in using literacy across the curriculum and in incorporating reading throughout the curriculum. Not only are they great ways to use children's literature in all subjects, but they also are beneficial learning tools in helping kids learn by using different teaching methods. These books can also provide references to go along with fictional texts. Non-fiction and biographies can clarify facts from fictional stories. I also think its important to use a broad set of non-fiction texts. I often find myself using more social studies and historical non-fiction books, however, using non-fiction books in science and math can be very important and allow students who are more language based a way to understand science. Does anybody know any really good science non-fiction books for upper elementary?

Session 11: Biography and Nonfiction

For session 11 we'll be talking about two genres of books: non-fiction and biography! To prepare for class, please:

• Read Chapter 9 (Biography) and Chapter 10 (Nonfiction) in C & G.
• Read "The Truth about Helen Keller". What is the author's critique of the way in which Keller is depicted in children's biographies?
  
• Bring 1-2 children's biographies to class. We will use them for an activity, so it is very important to have them in hand!
  
• Come prepared to talk with your group about your group book choice!

• Remember that the second part of facilitator and artistic responses to Esperanza Rising are due before class.
  

If you want to share ideas about group choice selections, please post comments and questions on the post about group choice.

Non-fiction vs. Textbooks

While reading chapter 10 in our textbook for next week’s class, I started thinking about several points concerning children’s nonfiction that I hadn’t previously thought about. “You probably remember only isolated fragments of information from your elementary school textbooks…We learn best when our emotions are involved and when we are actively engaged, and we learn more readily when we pursue our own-rather than someone else’s interests” (261). We know that students enjoy learning more and are generally more successful when material is related to them in some way, so it makes sense that children respond better to engaging nonfiction literature as opposed to endless facts listed in textbooks. If nonfiction encourages a more meaningful experience and helps children retain information longer, why don’t we integrate them more into school curriculums and rely less heavily on dull textbooks? What do you think?

What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

Jenkins, Steve and Robin Page. What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?. New York, New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.

A fun-filled nonfiction and the winner of the Caldecott Honor, which is very informative on animals and how they use their different senses; sight, smell, touch, hear, and taste. This was an entertaining book, because before the reader is exposed the actual animal, the only things shown are noses, eyes, mouths, etc; along with being educating, it also becomes a guessing game. The authors did a very good job in making this educational book enjoyable. The illustrations in this book are cut-out pictures and made into a kind of collage. The cut-outs look as though they have different textures and make the reader want to touch the animals shown. There is a large variety of different animals that are used to help the reader to understand what their noses, ears, feet, eyes, mouths, and tails are used for. The pictures alone would not be able to bring the reader knowledge about the animals because all the reader would see would be an animal, but how do they use their senses? The text in this book is very important in telling the reader what they need to know. Although the pictures in this book may seem a bit simple, it had to have taken time to get the “textures” of the animals just right, because the feel of every animal is different and the readers can all sense that from seeing the pictures. At the end of the book, it showed all of the animals that were mentioned and had more information on them so that the readers would have a better understanding of the different animals.

other sources:
Cullinan, Bernice, and Lee Galda. Literature and the Child. 5th ed. Wadsworth, 2002

When Winter Comes-Nonfiction

Laan, Van Nancy. When Winter Comes. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2000.

When Winter Comes is about a family who explores their natural surroundings on a day during the winter season. Throughout the book, a little girl asks her parents questions about what happens to various plants and animals, such as flowers and birds, when winter arrives. Once this girl receives the answers from her parents regarding these different plants and animals, the story ends as the little girl falls asleep in her warm bed after a tiring day playing outside. The main focus of this picture book is the winter season, and this setting is the most significant literary element which is represented by the text and illustrations.
A variety of artistic elements appear in this picture book which really bring the story to life. The illustrator implemented the artistic element of design in the pictures by using vertical shapes which reveal the actions of the family as they explore nature. Another crucial element of the illustrations is their color and vividness which portray the excitement of the girl as she discovers the mysteries of nature. I would recommended this picture book to a reader of any age because the artistic elements work together to attract a young child, and the storyline may remind adults of their childhood playing outside in the winter. Overall, this picture book meets the criteria stated in Galda and Cullinan because the “language is rich and the illustrations are artistically excellent” (49).

Science Verse

Scieszka, Jon, and Lane Smith ill. Science Verse. New York: Penguin, 2004.

Science Verse, written by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith, is an informational text blended with fantasy and elements of poetry. It’s about a young boy in science class who has been “zapped with a curse of science verse”. The boy narrates through different topics of science that have all been turned into poetry; we learn about metamorphosis to the tune of “I’m a little teapot…” At the end, he wakes up and realizes it was all a dream he’d had as he slept through class.

This book effortlessly draws in the reader through Scieszka’s use of poetry as well as Smith’s enhancing surrealistic illustrations. The topic of science, typically written in a dull manner, has become an engaging and exciting subject for readers of all ages due to Scieszka and Smith’s humorous tone and attention to detail. For example, the young boy’s science teacher is aptly named Mr. Newton and his art teacher, Mr. Picasso. Basically, Scieszka tackles the subject of science using an atypical style of writing for this topic.

In “Skeletal Study” the boy becomes the skeleton. This happens in each illustration, the boy becomes part of the science topic being discussed—seemingly a hidden message from the author that we are constantly immersed in science, even if we don’t realize it or believe it to be irrelevant to our lives. Through creative word choice and complementing illustrations, Scieszka and Smith are able to create a story that captures readers’ attention and provides comic relief.