Big Cats: Hunters of the Night

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Big Cats: Hunters of the Night
By: Elaine Landau

Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Incorporated
Copyright: 2007

Genre: Nonfiction, Animals

Grade Level: 3rd or 4th

Brief Synopsis: Lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars are all big cats, and you would not like to meet them in the dark! They rest during the day but come to life at night to hunt. With a mighty roar, the big cats chase down their prey. Sharp teeth and claws and powerful jaws mean certain doom. Author Elaine Landau tells the reader all about these beautiful hunters: how they hunt, where they live, and what the future holds for the big cats.

About the Author:

Elaine Landau is a highly acclaimed author of over 300 nonfiction books. She has written on such subjects as terrorism, earth science, the supernatural, planets, dinosaurs, ancient civilizations, ecology and a broad range of contemporary issues.
Her most recent published books include Oil Spill!: Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, Pluto: From Planet to Dwarf, Big Cats: Hunters f the Night, The Best Dog Ever series.
Ms. Landau lives in tropical Miami with her husband, Norman, and her son, Michael. Her husband, a top-notch researcher, works with her on many of her books. Their son, Michael, tells jokes and encourages them to take him to Disney World. When that doesn't work as often as he'd like, he suggests that they eat out. Many of Elaine Landau's books have been written under a palm tree while drinking lemonade. However, her favorite trip was going to chilly Scotland to research a book on the Loch Ness monster. She also loved visiting Alaska.

Themes: - Learning about the life of Big Cats
- What some of the aspects are we learn about in an informational book with animals
- Creatures of the Night series

Pre-Reading Activities:
- Have students analyze the differences between tigers, lions, bears, and cheeatahs.  They will write down what they already know the differences are.  They will fill out a graphic organizer to seperate these big cats into their specific categories.
- Review with students how to take notes while reading a nonfiction book.  Explain to them that while they read Big Cats they will be putting post-its on things that they have "learned" while reading.  They do not need to put post-its on things that they already know.

Post Reading Activities:
- Students will add to their graphic organizer about the difference between tigers, lions, bears, and cheetahs.  They will add the differences that they learned in the book that they did not already have.  After finishing this they may get into a group of 4 and each person in the group will choose one of the 4 wild cats to illustrate.  They will need to include specific details from their notes when drawing to receive full credit.
- Students will take out their book with the post-it notes throughout it.  They will use these notes to make a list of things they have learned in their journal.  This journal can be used during discussion at the end of the book.
- This book is broken into categories about the wild cats, and students will choose their own animal to do a project on and set their book up in the same way.  The different areas to include are; description of animal, habitat, diet, motherhood and young, threats, and routines.

Reflection: The most eye-catching thing about this book is the photographs.  They really bring the reader in to want to know more.  The black pages really make the pictures and words pop, and stay with the theme of the series; creatures of the night.  I would really like to use this book as a model of how students can set up their project and what categories should be included.  The author write in a very simple way that can reach out to many different readers.  Overall this book is a good beginner nonfiction to share with the class and keep in the classroom to use as a reference in the future.

Links:
Book Info.

Elaine Landau Bio.

The Batte of Gettysburg: Important Decisions Made during wartime

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The Battle of Gettysburg: Would You Lead the Fight?

By: Elaine Landau

Publisher: Enslow Elementary; Enslow Prod. Inc.

Copyright: 2009

Genre: Nonfiction, Civil War, History

Grade Level: 4th, 5th, or 6th

Brief Synopsis:  By 1863, the Civil War was far from over. Confederate General Robert E. Lee led his troops to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. President Abraham Lincoln sent a large Union army, hoping he was in time to stop the Confederate army's advance. On July 1, the battle of Gettysburg began. Thousands of men were killed, but this deadly battle was a turning point that changed the war. After the battle's end, Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address. Author Elaine Landau helps the reader ponder the difficult questions that faced the leaders during this brutal battle.

About the Author:

Elaine Landau- she is a highly acclaimed author of over 300 nonfiction books. She has written on such subjects as terrorism, earth science, the supernatural, planets, dinosaurs, ancient civilizations, ecology and a broad range of contemporary issues.       Elaine has a BA degree in English and Journalism and a Masters degree in Library and Information Science.

        Ms. Landau lives in tropical Miami with her husband, Norman, and her son, Michael.

Themes: - Learning about the Battle of Gettyburg

- Important key Historic Figures during the Civil War
- Learning how to read and learn from nonfirction books

Pre-Reading Activities- The students will have to be learning about the Civil War in history.  Review with the students the events that led up to the Battle of Gettysburg.  They can do this by writing notes or answering questions with a partner.
- Make a list of the main historical figures that were involved in the Battle of Gettysburg.  By identifying them they will not look so foreign when we begin the read the book together.


Post Reading Activities:- Answer the question: Do you prefer reading a book like this over reading the information in your textbook?  Why?  By getting this feedback from students it will help to plan what type of nonfiction book to use in the future.
- Give questions after each section read together (or alone based on the students you are teaching).  What would you do if...  These questions are provided in the book.  They can answer the questions and then discuss them with a partner.
- Watch a short viedo on the Battle of Gettysburg...what information is the same in the book and video?  And what information was new?  Which source is more reliable?  Why?  By being able to evaluate their own sources the students will be able much better equipped to research accurately in the future.


Reflection: I liked this book because it contained a lot of information, and it got the students thinking about what they would do if they were put in the same situation.  One reason we learn history is so that we can learn and grow from the past, and this is a way we can see where the students stand after they have the information.  I like that the book is sectioned off on different events and people from the Battle.  It also offers a "words to know" section and index to make reading the book easier.  I love that they include website and books for the students to learn more in because we could even use these sources to compare to.  This can be used in the sources reliability activity from the post-reading activities.


Links:

Book Info.

Elaine Landau Bio.


One Small Step: The US Lands on the Moon!

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One Small Step: Celebrating the First Men on the Moon

By: Jerry Stone

Cover Illustration:Terry Pastor

Book Design: Andy Mansfield

Publisher: Templar Publishing

Copyright: 2009

Genre: Non-Fiction, Space Travel

Grade Level: 4th, 5th, or 6th

Brief Synopsis:

RELIVE THE WALK THAT CHANGED THE WORLD  Touch, feel, and experience the story behind the first moon landing.


This celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing is a collection of keepsakes and memories that bring that historic moment of pride an accomplishment to life for a new generation. A stunning lenticular cover animates man's first steps on the moon; an embossed textured page inside reproduces footprints in lunar soil; stickers, replicas, mission patches, fold-out newspaper pages, collecting cards, removable novelties and more complete this spectacular commemorative book.

About the Author:

Jerry Stone- Surprisingly could not find any information on him.  The book is supposed to be in the perpective of Mike, son of the NASA scientist.

Themes: - Learning about the Space Race

- What an astronaut experiences in space

- Memoir of the astronauts in Apollo 11

Pre-Reading Activities:

- Have the students make a mind map of everything they know about space exploration and astronauts.  Once they have finished their own mind map they will share it with a partner and compare notes.

- Show a video clip of Apollo 11 and have students share their reactions in a class discussion.

- Discuss the history of the space race between the US and Russia.  Have the students answer questions for clarification after teaching the history lesson.

Post Reading Activities:

- Discuss how Science Fiction turned into Non-Fiction with the Apollo 11 landing on the moon.  Many of the things about space were fantasized about before this event and after it we could actually prove what exists on the moon.  The students could use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast when space travel was Science Fiction to after when it became Non-Fiction.

- Have the students look over the way this book is set up.  It is a scrapbook of many different things that occurred during the Apollo 11 voyage. Ask the students what intrigued them about the style this author has?  What made them want to keep reading and finding more information? The students could then pick a significant event in their own life and make a scrap book of it.  The more create they are with their scrapbook the better.  They can be inspired by the variety that this book offers them.

Reflection: This book was very different than any I have read before in this non-fiction category.  I think that the students would be fascinated by the pop-ups and fun facts throughout the book.  The setup of this book might be benficial for a student who learns best with hands-on activities.  They will be able to pull out hidden messages in envelopes, find pop out space shuttles, and many other fun, interactive facts througout the book.  Students don't mind or notice that they are reading or learning when books are fun to read, and it would feel like an adventure to make their way throught it.

Links:

Book Info.



Ocean Hide and Seek: Camouflage Under the Sea

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Ocean Hide and Seek

By: Jennifer Evans Kramer

Illustrator: Gary P. Phillips

Publisher: Sylvan Dell Publishing

Copyright: 2009

Genre: Marine Animals, Nonfiction, Juvenile Literature

Grade Level: Preschool - 3rd

Brief Synopsis: The sea is a place of mystery, where animals big and small play hide and seek! Can you imagine a shark hiding in the light? What about a clownfish in plain sight? Don't believe it? Then, sink into the deep blue sea with Jennifer Evans Kramer and Ocean Hide and Seek! Surround yourself with the vibrant ocean illustrations of Gary R. Phillips. The ocean is an old, old place, and the exotic animals in the depths have learned to adapt to their surroundings to survive. Can you find the creatures hidden on every page? Or will you, too, be fooled by an ancient, underwater disguise?

About the Author:
Jennifer Evans Kramer- she loves spending time outdoors and believes children make the very best nature guides. Jennifer graduated with a BA from Emory University and a JD/MBA from Georgia State University. It was at Emory that Jennifer obtained her NAUI scuba certification. Her first dive trip was to a rock quarry in Alabama, where there were no sea animals. Since then, she has snorkeled and dived off Maui, the Caymans, and the coast of Cozumel. She loves to talk about coming face-to-face with a white tipped reef shark! In addition to Ocean Hide and Seek (Spring 2009), Jennifer has also written Good Luck Charlie and The Ninth Dragon. She has fiction and non-fiction stories and articles published with Highlights for Children, Ladybug, Educational Testing, McGraw Hill, and more. Jennifer currently resides in Georgia, with her husband, four children, and a standard poodle that thinks he is Elvis.
Gary R. Phillips- he has been a freelance illustrator for 25 years. He has illustrated for numerous clients in both the editorial and children's illustration markets receiving Verse Page Illustrator of the Year from Highlights magazine in 2003 as well as five other awards from Highlights. Gary has several books to his credit, including 86 Years: The Legend of the Red Sox, New Old Shoes, The Naptime Book, and Santa's Little Sleigh.  He has also taught illustration and creative thinking as an adjunct professor. Gary lives in a rural corner of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, with his wife, two daughters, and two Siamese cats. He loves camping, tennis, painting out in nature, and drawing wherever he goes.

Themes: - Learning about the importance of camouflage
- Animals tactics to survive
- Using rhyming and repetition to create a flow while reading
- Learning about different marine animals

Pre-Reading Activities:
- Have the students play a round or two of hide-and-seek.  Once the game is over have a class discussion about the strategies they used to stay hidden the longest.  What helped them to not be found by the other players?  Why were some students found very quickly?  Ask the seekers...What skills did you use to find the other classmates?
- Ask students to come up with everything they know about fish and marine life.  What types of fish do they know?  What do they eat?  Where do they live?  Once they are done, come up with a big class list of all the prior knowledge coming from the students regarding marine life.
- Begin a class aquarium and have the students take on the tasks like feeding the fish.  This will build students interest in learning about sea life if it is also something that can take care of in the classroom.

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Post Reading Activities:

- Make a graphic organizer for the students to get the technical, scientific aspects out of the story.  Next to each marine animal have them write what they do to hide or stay safe.

- What other animals use camouflage like the sea creatures in this book?  Students will turn and talk, and then we will connect the story to things that we already know.  After this the students will create a picture of their animal of choice and their habitat.  They will include a couple sentences on how they camouflage themselves.

- Ask the students how the illustrators in the book help us understand how these sea creatures stay safe?  What do you like about the illustrations?

- Students will get in groups of 3 and will receive a fact from the book about ocean hide and seek.  They will become the experts on their topic and as they present the rest of the class will listen and take notes.  The description of the animal needs to be in the students on words.  They will get a sheet that says; Fact Title, Description, Example.  There will be multiple areas for this because students will need to write in their notes as they are listening to the other groups. 

- Imagine if you could change your own skin color to blend into your surroundings.  In fact, if you look at the army camouflage outfit, that's what soldiers do with their clothes!  To what color would you change your skin to hide in or around:

WATER, GRASS, SAND, ROCKS, SNOW, LEAVES, MUD, TREES. 

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Reflection: I really like this nonfiction book because it is not typical of what most would picture a nonfiction book to be.  It is a cute and catchy storyline that also teaches the students a lot about camouflage under the sea and the survival of marine life.  The pictures are very vivid and really help to capture the creatures hiding in their habitat.  I like that the book also includes links to their educational website for the book.  The publisher has many books on this website that come with games, pictures, and other fun facts.

Links:

Book Info.

Jennifer Kramer and Gary Phillips Bio.

Food for Thought: Where Did Your Food Come From?

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Food for Thought: The Stories Behind the Things We Eat

By: Ken Robbins

Publisher: Flashpoint Roaring Book Press

Copyright: 2009

Genre: Nonfiction, Food

Grade Level: 4th, 5th, or 6th

Brief Synopsis:  Apples, oranges, tomatoes, potatoes- these are just a few of the foods we consume everyday.  But have you ever wondered about the stories behind them?  Join renowned photographer and author Ken Robbins as he leads you through the fascinating world of what we eat.  Deliciously interesting, tasty morsels of cultural history combined with luscious photographs will leave readers hungry for more.

"Every kind of food has its story." Acclaimed photographer Ken Robbins guides us through the history, mythology, and literary significance of food. Fascinating factsÑit was an apple that started the Trojan War; oranges used to be so expensive that only the rich could afford them—and stunning photographs make Food for Thought a tasty read that will have everyone looking at their plates in a new way.

About the Author:

Ken Robbins- he specializes in photographic nonfiction books on subjects ranging from the Brooklyn Bridge to autumn leaves. His book Tools, with its trademark hand-tinted photographs was a New York Times Best Illustrated Book. His books for Atheneum include Fireflies at Midnight by Marilyn Singer, Trucks, Thunder on the Plains, and Apples. Mr. Robbins lives in East Hampton, Long Island.  In a career spanning 25 years and more than 2 dozen books, Ken Robbins has established himself as one of the foremost creators of nonfiction for children. 

Themes: - Find out the stories behind different foods
- Origin of food throughout history
- Descriptions of what the foods are good for
- Gaining appreciation for the food we eat on a regular basis

Pre-Reading Activities:
- Have students catergorize a list of foods into their correct food group as a whole group of the white board/felt board.
- Teach or review the food pyramid.  Have students color the food pyramid and list how much of each food group they should eat each day. 
- Have students create a dinner that constitutes as a "well-balanced meal" they will take this drawing home to their parents to find out if their dinner would be "Well balanced"
- Ask the class what the title might mean, "food for thought."  How is it kind of a play on words or pun?

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Post Reading Activities:
- Have the students each choose a food from the book.  They will each get into a group based on their food choice and create a poster to bullet the interesting facts about that food item.  Displaying these vibrant posters in the hall will get the rest of the school excited about fun, cool, healthy food.
- Have students go beyond the book and try to find information on foods that were not mentioned in the book.  Let students explore their natural curiosity.

Reflection: This book will grab the attention of students right away with the colorful and detailed photographs throughout it.  The text in this book can get pretty complicated and a read aloud would be best to use because it is above most students reading levels.  These stories and tales aren't part of the curriculum about the food pyramid, but they will spark the interest in students to remember the foods.  They might remember their value and placement in the food pyramid when having a story behind them. 
The food for thought at the very end of the book is spectacular!  Robbins touches on starvation in the world due to poverty, natural disasters, and contamination.  This helps students realize the fortune they have to have this food readily available and appreciate the things in life that many people are not as lucky to have.

Links:

Book Info.

Ken Robbins Bio.

Turtles and Tortoises: The Life of Shelled Reptiles

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Turtles and Tortoises

By: Renee C. Rebman

Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Corporation

Copyright: 2007

Genre: Nonfiction

Grade Level: 4th, 5th, or 6th

Brief Synopsis:  This book describes the physical characteristics, behavior, habitat, and endangered status of turtles and tortoises.  It takes the reader through descriptions of this ancient reptile with little factoids every few pages. The photographs in this book cover a wide variety of turtle and tortoise species, and are all captioned to describe the picture to the reader.

About the Author:

Renee C. Rebman- she is a published author of children's books and young adult books. Some of the published credits of Renee C. Rebman include Anteaters (Animals Animals), Turtles And Tortoises (Animals Animals), The Union Soldier (We the People: Civil War Era), and Animals Animals Group 7 (Animals Animals).

Themes: - Learning about the difference between a turtle and a tortoise

- Learning the life cycle of and turtle and tortoise

- What we can do to help the turtles and tortoises

Pre-Reading Activities:

- Have students create a KWL chart of turtles and tortoises.  They will then keep  this chart to fill in the "L" when we finish reading the book.

- Go for a book walk with the students as a whole group.  Ask them questions about the organization of the book.  How is it different from a fiction book we have read before?  (Focus on table of contents, sections, photographs, fun facts, etc.) 

- Have students try to draw a turtle or tortoise to the best of their ability based on what they know before they read.  Have them include as many details as they possibly can.  Explain that they also must put the turtle or tortoise in their habitat as well.

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Post Reading Activities:

- Have students get with one partner, one person being the turtle and one person being the tortoise.  They will each have to complete their portion of the graphic organizer, and together come up with similarities and differences.  They should each create a web for their particular reptile.  They can be as create as possible when drawing their webs for this activity.

- Students will take notes on the most important things from each section of the book as the teacher is reading.  After the teacher reads a section the class will share their notes and help each other add to the notes throughout the dscussion.

- Students will answer the "L" after finishing the book and fill in what they have learned about turtles and tortoises.

- Students will get the pictures back of their turtle or tortoise that they drew before reading.  Now they will finalize their picture with what they have learned is missing or a mistake, and then they will be displayed.

Reflection:  I was very interested in finding a book about turtles and tortoises because I own an African Sulcata tortoise.  When I take her out and about I get asked a lot about her, and people commonly mistake her for a turtle.  There are many differences between turtles and tortoises, and this book will help kids and adults distinguish these differences.  My tortoise will get to be about 100 pounds and most importantly, she HATES water.  She is a LAND reptile.  This is why it is so important to teach children about the world around them with nonfiction books.  It is for the good of themselves as well as the living and nonliving things around them that are constantly being affected.  This book is set up clearly, and children will have an easy time finding what they need quickly because of the table of contents.  I think that photographs in nonfiction books are invalueable because the children can visualize the source they are being educated on.  Depending on the topic, some students may have never seen what is being addressed, and the photographs gives them these first glimpses.  I really love the fact that this book has a glossary and resources to find out more at the end of the book.  This allows students to do some learning on their own if they are inquisitive.

Links:

Book Info.

Renee C. Rebman Bio.

Website explaining about my pet Tortoise

My Little Girl, Squirt when she was a baby.  She is much bigger now.

Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry: The How-to on Writing Poetry

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Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry: How to Write a Poem

By: Jack Prelutsky

Publisher: Greenwillow Books, Harper Collins Publishing

Copyright: 2008

Genre: Poetry, Non-Fiction

Grade Level: 3rd or 4th

Brief Synopsis: Have you ever tried to write a poem about a pizza? How about a pig? How about a pigeon, penguin, potato, Ping-Pong, parrot, puppy, pelican, porcupine, pie, pachyderm, or your parents?
Jack Prelutsky has written more than a thousand poems about all of these things—and many others. In this book he gives you the inside scoop on writing poetry and shows you how you can turn your own experiences and stories about your family, your pets, and your friends into poems. He offers tips, advice, and secrets about writing and provides some fun exercises to help you get started (or unstuck). You'll also get a behind-the-scenes look at the ingredients of some of his most popular poems. If you are a poet, want to be a poet, or if you have to write a poem for homework and you just need some help, this is the book for you!

About the Author:
Jack Prelutsky (born September 8, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American poet. He attended New York public schools, and later the High School of Music and Art and Hunter College. Prelutsky, who has also worked as a busboy, furniture mover, folk singer, and cab driver, claims that he hated poetry in grade school because of the way it was taught. He is the author of more than 30 poetry collections including Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep< and A Pizza the Size of the Sun. He has also compiled countless children's anthologies comprised of poems of others'. Jack Prelutsky was married to Von Tre Venefue, a woman he had met in France. They divorced in 1995, but Jack remarried. He currently lives in Washington state with his wife, Carolyn. He befriended a gay poet named Espiritu Salamanca in 1997 and both now work together in writing poems and stories for children and adults alike.

Themes: - Learning to Write Poetry
- How to find Inspiration from Life Experiences
- Modeling Writing after Favorite Authors
- Learning Terms used in Poetry
- Thought processes that Happen when Writing

Pre-Reading Activities:
- Begin poetry unit by going over important Terms that will come up and be used while writing. (Terms can include: rhyme scheme, theme, poetic license, pun, irony, etc.)  Each student will be assigned a term by randomly choosing an index card with one of the terms on it.  The students will then get in the group with people having the same term on their card.  As a group they will define the term and come up with examples to present to the class.
- As a whole class, read through about 3-5 Jack Prelutsky poems.  After you read each poem have students tell you what the poems themes were and what "poetry terms" come up in the poem (rhyme scheme, poetic license, puns, irony, etc.)  After reading all of the poems compare the notes from each.  What do they have in common?  What are different?  Since they are all by the same author...what things might inspire him?

Post Reading Activities:

- Have the students read one chapter each night and do a rough draft of a poem that is inspired by the chapter.  In class the students will discuss what they read and read their poems to their small groups.
- Since many things Jack Prelutsky writes about are inspired by life experiences have students brainstorm what in their life would inspire a funny or serious poem.  They will brainstorm this using a web.  From there they will write a rough draft and final copy of this poem to be typed up. 

Reflections: This book will be very helpful to aspiring poets.  It will be great to use just as a resource to the classroom just as inspiration and guidance during a poetry unit.  Not everyone will have the same writing style as Prelutsky, but it is a place to get them started.  I like that he writes everything in a humorous way, which will keep the students interested and view poetry as FUN.  The setup of the book is easy for young students to follow.  He starts out with a story from his life, he then explains what inspired him, and then he provides an example of the poem in which he wrote from the inspiration.  It shows his whole thought process in writing, which is really the hardest part of writing.  In order to write anything you have to start somewhere, and Jack Prelutsky provides a look into hoe to get the mind started.

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Links:

Book Info.
Book Synopsis
Jack Prelutsky Bio.
Jack Prelutsky's Website