Knights!

Knights: the chivalry, the glory, the intensity, and the hard work

Little boys and even little girls are fascinated by these heroic figures from the past. However, who are the knights really, what is their job, what was it really like in the middle ages. These are questions that will encourage children to dive into a topic and explore all the different avenues and information to be found. Fly Guy creates a world of humor to companion the facts to inform children on history and other nonfiction topics.

Title: Fly Guy Presents Castles

Author: Tedd Arnold

Series: Scholastic Reader, level 2

Publisher: scholastic Inc. 

Publication date: January 2017

Call #: 728.81 Arnold

ISBN: 9780545917384

Age range: 5-7 years

This humors and informational story finds the favorite character, Fly Guy, touring castles and discovering medieval times. Fly Guy, the pet fly, and Buzz, the human, discover the purpose of castles and a little about their history. 

Tedd Arnold is an amazing author and illustrator for children. 

He has combined the art of photography with illustrations to create an engaging tale to educate and inspire. 

In Fly Guy presents Castles, the reader is introduced to timelines and photographs of real castles. Arnold also includes humous comments from the sideline cartoon characters as the learn more about castles, drawbridges, dungeons, kings, queens, and knights. 

This book is a great introductory work to the topic of castles and medieval times. It will give the reader a starting point to asking more questions. Because this books is a level 2 reader the content is simple and a great read aloud choice for a preschool class desiring to know about castles. 

DK Eyewitness: Knights by Christopher Gravett is an excellent companion book to go along with Fly Guy. It is a resource for the children to study the illustrations and photographs on their own. It also provides a resource to ask more questions. Dk Eyewitness: Knights includes maps, charts, photographs, timelines and cutaway illustrations. 

I love a good STEM project to go along with a book, giving the information a hands on learning approach. Creating your own catapult or castle are great ways to apply engineering and learning. 

Little Bins Little Hands:

An instructional video and blog about making popsicle catapults.

https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/popsicle-stick-catapult-kids-stem-activity/

Other ideas for activities to encourage preschoolers to apply their learning on castles are creating a coat of arms, lancing with pool noodles, or building a castle out of various objects (brown paper bags, blocks, cereal boxes, magnet tiles). The ideas are endless and this fascinating period with its many different topic avenues, will capture the attention of any child. 

Campanion Books:

                 

Inspiration to "Float"

Title: Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade

Author: Melissa Sweet

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: November, 2011

ISBN: 9780547199450

Age Range: 4-7 years

Balloons Over Broadway is a beautiful narrative nonfiction story of puppeteer, Tony Sarg, the man who inspired the helium balloons that are now used in the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Melissa Sweet utilizes collage styled illustrations to captivate the reader, creating a beautiful cheery story of inspiration and passion. Through this exquisite story the reader will learn the power and importance of curiosity, imagination, and determination. 

                     

 

“Tony Sarg, the man who invented the giant balloons of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, has found a worthy biographer in Caldecott Honoree Sweet. The rush that comes from inspiration, the cliffhanger moments of creation, the sheer joy of building something and watching it delight the multitudes—Sweet captures it all in what is truly a story for all ages"—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“It’s a history lesson, inventor's sketchbook, and inspirational story all rolled into one marvelous mixed-media masterpiece. Sweet's beautifully rendered true-life tale will have your child's imagination soaring to new heights!”—education.com

In Sweet’s biography on Sage, she creates a world of wonder and imagination through her multi-media illustrations. She utilizes collage, water colors, scrapbooking, newspaper clippings, and other styles of art to capture the attention of the reader. She provides multiple facets of illustrations to tell the story of this inspirational man. 

Sweet includes an authors note which includes a description and purpose of the art used within the book. Another excellent tool that Sweet includes within her nonfiction book is a bibliography and sources page, documenting her research and resource to track down more information. 

                     

 

Not only does this story make a great family or class read aloud in light of Thanksgiving, it inspires creativity, ingenuity, persistence, and courage. A excellent activity to go along with this story is to create your own balloon “floats” with string, markers, and other art supplies. Have a parade of your own! Show off your creativity!

Other enjoyable books that relate to Thanksgiving:

                              

 

“Holidays Around the World: Celebrate Thanksgiving: With Turkey, Family, and Counting Blessings” by Deborah Heiligman 

• National Geographic brings to life the historical tradition and cultural aspects of Thanksgiving. It includes recipes and resources for more research.

“Thanksgiving Jokes: Funny Thanksgiving Jokes and Riddles for Kids” by Uncle Amon

• This knee slapping book includes child appropriate and approved jokes and riddles that will have the whole family laughing. It also includes mazes and puzzles for extra entertainment. 

STEM me a fun Storytime

Introducing children to procedural literature will benefit their following direction skills and entice reluctant readers to see the interest and adventure in literature. Procedural literature is what it sounds like, books that have a process to follow. In Big Book of Animals, LEGO gives details of animals and utilizes LEGO characters to capture a child's interest, the "hook" of a story. A lot of procedural literature requires the reader to follow the steps in order to obtain the desired results. I would recommend the genre for the hands on learners. Those who have a fascination with a topic but are too antsy to sit through a book or story. A child can learn facts while building. 

Title: Big Book of Animals 

Series: LEGO Nonfiction

Author: Penelope Arlon

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Publication Date: 2017

ISBN: 978-1338130072

Age Range: 4-8

Big Book of Animals is a “LEGO adventure in the real world.” It contains information on 50 animals that roam all over the earth. Beautiful photographs and information boxes with the use of LEGO characters create a fun and adventurous atmosphere for learning. The title also includes mini comic strips, jokes, and building ideas throughout the book. 

                   

 

Children will be captivated by the graphics and the humorous characters. Reluctant children of story time while enjoy that each page presents a new story, a different animal, and more building possibilities. Hands on learning and crafts help a child experience and build upon their learning, bringing education to life. 

                   

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) projects are a great way for a child to learn through a hands on approach, which most procedural nonfiction books are STEM related. STEM projects allows a child to explore and experience the world, utilizing their hands as the think through a problem. Not only are STEM books that help children learn, but STEM toys and subscription boxes are another great way to encourage your little to explore. 

Fractus Learning: 

This is an article by Fractus Learning in which they have collected research on the top STEM toys for every age group. A subscription box is a box that will be delivered to your chosen address containing a new project for you child to explore and learn in the area of math, science, engineering, and/or technology. This website is a great way to find the best STEM subscription box for you and your child(ren). 

https://www.fractuslearning.com/best-stem-science-tech-engineering-learning-toys/ 

Read-a-Like: 

125 Cute Animals by National Geographic Kids

 A beautiful book full of photographs, anecdotes, and interesting facts!

STEM Friday book blog: a blog that features wonderful books that focus on STEM ideas and learn. Great for family read-aloud or any story time session

http://asuen.com/stemfriday/

EiE blog: a blog that gives creative ideas for STEM activities. This particular article suggests 5 wonderful storybooks relating to STEM. 

https://blog.eie.org/5-awesome-stem-storybooks-for-preschoolers

Round up your little monsters - its party time!

Its that crazy fun time when all the children ask you “What are you going to be for Halloween?” no matter your age. Young children love to be scared or make monsters silly so they wont be scared. Monsters and Halloween are popular topics with preschool aged children. “Trick-Or-Treat: A Happy Haunter’s Halloween” is a perfect book to capture the interest of your own little monsters. 

Title: Trick-or-Treat: A Happy Haunter’s Halloween

Author: Debbie Leppanen

Illustrator: Tad Carpenter

Publisher: Beach Lane Books

Publication Date: August 2013

ISBN: 978-1442433984

Age Range: 4-8 

Leppanen creates a tale through poetry of monsters ready to party on halloween. The rhyming words and the bold, dark, and silly illustrations create a spook-taculare story. Leppanen helps young readers learn about rhyming words through her simply poetry and vivid imagery. 

            “The wind is howling,

             the leaves are blowing.

             A sliver of moon

             is barely showing.”

There are so many activities and ways to go about utilizing this delightful poetry book. It would make a perfect read aloud that shares a form of poetry, as a part of a poetry study. Another idea would be to use this book in a collection of poetry books sharing poetry in other cultures. Finally this book could be used as a part of a study on the theme of halloween or it would be just a fun holiday read aloud. 

“Who Said Boo” is a book of poetry that follows children on their adventures of putting on costumes, visiting houses, and bobbing for apples. These twelve delightful poems about halloween would make a wonderful read-a-like for “Trick-or-Treat.”

“Make Yourself a Monster” is a book of crafts to create at home or at school, encouraging children to use their imagination and their hands to create their own “scary” monsters. 

Mecklenburg public library created a list of poetry books that reflect diversity:

https://cmlibrary.bibliocommons.com/list/share/114258501_schoolcorps3/875684668_multcolib_assignments_poetry_reflecting_diversity,_grade_k,_1 

Fall into a Barrel of Apples

As the fall season approaches there are many exciting changes that happen all around. Delicious food scents the air, leaves change color, and the air become cool and crisp. 

Preschoolers love any type of hands on learning. Apples provide an excellent educational opportunity. Study the science of growing and picking apples, taste the variety of apple types, cook (encouraging children to follow directions and measure i.e. math) different recipes with apples as the main ingredient, build towers with apple pieces and marshmallows (engineering), or paint with apples creating a star shape. 

Title: I Eat Apples
Author: Mary Lindeen
Publisher: Lernerclassroom
Copyright: 2016
ISBN: 978-1512412116
Age range: 3-8

I Eat Apples in Fall by Mary Lindeen is a delightful non-fiction book that explains the basic concepts of size, shape, and color of apples found in an orchid. This simple and easy to understand book about apples is an excellent choice for children learning to read or as a read aloud to a group of 2-4 year olds learning about apples. Children will be drawn into the colorful visuals and simple but inviting text. 

Non-fiction reading incorporates a different aspect of learning then fiction. Glossaries, index, information boxes, and further reading lists are all tools of learning. Children will learn through simple text and the rudimentary layout of a nonfiction title in I Eat Apples. Introducing young children to information literacy and to encourage children to explore the world around them. 

A similar title that would be an excellent pair along entitled I See Fall Leaves by Mari Schuh explores color and shape of fall leaves. 

So many fun STEM apple activities, so little time! These two websites are full of fun STEM activities involving apples that preschool aged children will discover that learning is fun!

https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/apple-stem-activities-fall-engineering/

https://theeducatorsspinonit.com/apple-theme-stem-activity-preschoolers/

Hurricanes and Empathy

After the recent event of Hurricane Florence, I began to ponder the use of real life events in a preschool classroom. Many children feel the stress and the fear from their parents without understanding what is going on. A classroom environment is a safe and reassuring place to discuss frightening topics, such as natural disasters, to help a child understand the world around them. Discussing natural disasters is a great way to teach children science and to encourage children to lend a helping-hand, build compassion. 

Title: If You Were a Kid Surviving a Hurricane

Author: Josh Gregory

Publisher: Children’s Pr.

Copyright: 2017

Age range: 5-9

Lexile reading level: 660

If You Were a Kid Surviving a Hurricane by Josh Gregory is a fascinating non-fiction book about two children who have survived a hurricane. What would you do if a hurricane was coming toward your house? While the story of the children is fictional, the details and information boxes concerning the science of a hurricane, how scientist track it, and what people do to prepare for a hurricane are highly research. Children will find the cartoon style of illustrations captivating without being scary. 

Gregory uses a table of contents, maps, vocabulary list, an index, and an author note as tools to promote accuracy. Even within the description of the book, Gregory warns that this title is partly fiction, in regards to the characters that carry the story. This is important to understand and explain to children before using the book as a read aloud or as an informational book. However, this tale would make an excellent read aloud or an introductory material to the topic of hurricane.  The story of the two friends makes the information and facts relevant to the children so that they might understand topics that are typically beyond a fiver year olds grasp of understanding.

Children will learn several vocabulary words in regards to hurricanes. To assist in the learning of these words, Gregory has made the word stand out by using a red font instead of black. He also uses informational boxes to describe a scientific viewpoint or fact on hurricanes. This enables children to learn from a visual and contextual standpoint. 

            

Three titles that would be interesting and helpful companions to If You Were a Kid Surviving a Hurricane are Hurricanes! by Gail Gibbons, The Magic School Bus: Inside a Hurricane by Joanna Cole, and Extreme Weather: Surviving Tornadoes, Sandstorms, Hailstorms, Blizzards, Hurricanes, and More! (National Geographic Kids) by Thomas M. Kostigen. These three titles are all non-fiction books, however they are each different in nature. The Magic School Bus is a narrative about hurricanes and how they are made, similar to Gregory’s book. Extreme Weather on the other hand utilizes gripping photographic wonder to discuss extreme weather patterns, explaining how and why it happens in a way that a child will comprehend.  

Not only is it important for children to learn about the environment around them, but also the entire world. In every country around the world weather and events effect children. Children can learn from their own experiences and then assist or empathize with others. It starts with a small community then can grow and spread. It is up to teachers and parents to teach children the importance of compassion, empathy, and action. The world can be a better place if everyone works together and cares for each other. Empathy and compassion are valuable lessons to be learned and every preschooler has had to learn how to share. 

Taking it one step further, Reading Rockets has an article that is an excellent resource that discusses the importance of books on natural disasters in regards to children. It focuses on teaching children empathy through children’s books. This resource also includes book lists and websites.

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/natural-disasters-around-world-understanding-and-empathy-through-childrens-books

PBS Kids also has a wonderful children’s website page that encourages children to become part of their community and zoom into action. It includes games, activities, printables, and much more.

http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/action/index.html

National Geographic Kids website is another fun resource. Kids will encourage the images and science in any world topic they can think of. 

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/science/hurricane/#hurricane-aletta.jpg

Locomotive - a 4 year olds dream

Title: Locomotive

Author/Illustrator: Brian Floca

Publisher: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books

Publish Date: September 3, 2013

ISBN: 978-1416994152

Age Range: 4-10

Lexile: 640L

Every young child wants to ride a train, wave at the conductor as it zooms past, or blow the whistle! Well now in Brian Floca's imaginative and creative non-fiction story about the transcontinental railroad, their dreams are about to come true. 

In this Caldecott Medal Winner and Sibert Honor book, trains come alive. Experience the continental railroad of 1869 through the eyes of passengers and workers alike. This creatively informational book tells the story of how the railroad was built, run, and experienced in amazing detail and with beautiful illustrations. 

Brian Floca uses descriptive words and illustrations to tell the story while at the same time he has included information boxes and maps to relate informational facts about the railroad, the people, and the trains themselves. 

Floca does an excellent job of capturing the readers attention with the use of alliterations, repetition, and onomatopoeia. Through these word choices and descriptive words, Floca is able to inform a child about trains, how the railroad was made, and the experience from the passenger’s perspective. Not only does a child become informed of these processes, they are transported into the past through all their senses. 

Locomotive is an example of a narrative non-fiction book that uses illustrations and clever wording to capture the child’s attention. This story would be an excellent read-out loud. Allowing the children access to this beautiful story for their own exploration after it has been read to them, will be an exciting learning process.

Not only does Floca include resources for more information about trains and the railroad at the end of the book, his website also includes teaching resources. Including poems, studies, common core links, blogs, and videos assisting teachers to engage young students in the world on non-fiction. 

http://brianfloca.com/locomotive-classroom-resources.html

Another interesting website resource for children to learn about the transcontinental railroad would be the Kiddle Kids encyclopedia facts. 

https://kids.kiddle.co/Transcontinental_Railroad

              

Steam, Smoke, and Steel by Patrick O’Brian and The Transcontinental Railroad by John Perritano are two books that would complement Locomotive by Brian Floca well. Steam, Smoke and Steel is a story of a boy who’s father works as a conductor. Through the boy’s story, the reader learns about trains and how things are run. The Transcontinental Railroad describes  the process of who the railroad came about. These resources would be an excellent way to introduce new vocabulary that coincide with illustrations with a lot of fun facts along the way.