I read a different post about science trade books and wanted to write one myself. The post that Lindsay wrote included books that the National Science Teacher's Association chose. I chose to focus on science trade books and activities that I have done/seen done in the elementary setting.
It Looked Like Spilt Milk - This is a great book for a weather unit. It talks about different cloud shapes that resemble other shapes (such as an icecream cone). I used this book this week for our cloud unit. We observed clouds, read the book, and glued cottom balls on construction paper and make different shapes. The students seemed to really enjoy it! Another book to tie to this unit would be Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Students always seem to enjoy this book. The illustrations are great (Eric Carle) and it tells the events from an egg to a butterfly in a very kid friendly story. This book can be used to introduce a unit on bugs/insects and their life cycles. Another great science book from Eric Carle is From Head to Toe.
Stellaluna - A great book about bats. The illustrations are wonderful! This would be a good book to use to introduce bats or around halloween time.
Parts and More Parts and Even More Parts- All 3 of these books are excellent kid-friendly books about the body. I used to read these books with the kids that I babysat and I would laugh to myself as I was reading them. They are very "up front" about bodily functions and kids really seem to find them funny.
There are so many different science books for kids of all ages. Science encompasses a large variety of topics: weather, animals, the body, bugs, our Earth, experiments, cooking, etc. I think trade books are a vital part of your classroom! The following website includes the Top 10 Science Trade Books from 2008. I have heard of a few of these but there is a lot of content that can be tied into them!
http://www.suite101.com/content/10-top-elementary-trade-books-for-2008-a67014
I have read all of these books, and like the ideas you gave on incorporating them into the classroom! I want to be teach 1st grade, so it is great to get more ideas of how to present science content in creative ways. Books are a great way to introduce a topic to students, and then build on that through an activity. Trade books are also important to supplement the textbook, they can make the topic more interesting for your students. Trade books can also be a good way to plan cross-curricular lessons. I tried to click on your link though and it didn't work.
ReplyDeleteEmily, like you, I also used a few of these books during our lessons this past week, and also have seen them in other classrooms, and remember many of them being used in my own classrooms growing up. I think that by doing read alouds, and then learning about what was actually going on in the book as a class, it helps students stay more engaged. By linking a picture book to the information it makes the topic more interesting and real to the students. It's a great way to get students engaged who normally aren't.
ReplyDeleteScience Book & Films is a great resource for finding good science non-fiction. They do have some freely available suggestions, but most require a subscription. Perhaps your future school library could subscribe!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sbfonline.com/Pages/welcomesplash.aspx