Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday - National Geographic Super Readers

Thank you everyone for all of the great posts each week for the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 2014. This week I am doing something a little different and presenting a series of books and how I recently used them with first graders.

National Geographic Readers Series:

Recently, I did a presentation for a group of teachers and shared a variety of nonfiction and informational books that have come out in the last couple of years.  Some of the teachers were familiar with the National Geographic Readers and other books for children, and some were completely new to the incredible books.  I was excited that they were able to explore the books and think about how to use them in the classroom.

Today, I am just focusing on the Super Readers (Leveled Readers), which are divided into four categories:

Pre-Reader:  "Pre-reader" books are just right for kids who are ready to read.

Level 1: "Starting to Read" books or just right for kids who are beginning to read on their own.

Level 2: "Reading Independently" books are perfect for kids who are read for longer sentences and more complex vocabulary.  New words are defined on the page, but occasional adult help might be welcome.

Level 3: "Fluent Reader" books are ideal for kids who are reading on their own with ease, and are ready for more challenging vocabulary and varied sentence structures.

About the Series:
National Geographic Science Readers is a high-interest, science inquiry series in an exciting and easy-to-read format. Each book falls into one of five reading levels and is labeled by level on its front cover. The simple, fun text with pull-quotes is only the beginning: National Geographic photography and kid-friendly diagrams draw kids in and get them reading about their favorite subjects.

Developed by National Geographic in close consultation with literacy education experts, this new series is one teachers, librarians, parents, and grandparents know they can trust to nurture every child's love of reading.

Cost: Individual Books cost approximately $3.99/book; Collections (4 books in 1) are $7.95

My thoughts on these readers:
I am a huge fan of these books. From the gorgeous photographs, to the vocabulary words and glossary, to the humorous questions and answers, to the interesting facts, these books provide students with excellent and highly engaging reading material.

Last week, I took a set of readers and other National Geographic books for children into a first grade class.  I projected an ebook version of one of the readers onto a screen so that we could look at the book together.  As we flipped through it, we talked about all of the special features: title, table of content, headings, labels, diagrams, images, photographs, and more.

Next, students worked with a partner to look through a couple of readers and see what they could discover. 

At first, it was a bit confusing. This was the first time that they were learning about text features.  I would wander from group to group checking in on them and talking about what they were finding.

Despite the task being new, they were really interested in what they were doing.  I think the books had a lot to do with it.  There is a great range in topics and levels which allowed everyone to find something that they loved.  

It was really rewarding to see how focused they were and how much they really were enjoying the books.  I plan to continue working with the readers with this group of students.  They are quick learners and I know that they will be able to grasp the various names and purposes of different features.

Check out the Official National Geographic Super Reader Trailer:



For additional National Geographic Sites: National Geographic Kids | National Geographic Education

Where to find National Geographic Readers: Check out your local bookstores, or library.  The following websites can also help you find the books:  IndieBound | WorldCat

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews:

Slice of Life - Writing With Young Children

Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers on Tuesdays.  Join us each week and come to love this awesome writing community.
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For the past several months, I have been seriously thinking about ways to encourage children to write. I have particularly focused on students in grades K to 2.  This isn't the first time that I have pondered how to encourage and support writing in the younger grades, but lately I feel a bit obsessed. Children need to have a voice and a way of expressing themselves.  They need to be able to advocate on their on behalf, as well as, express their unique ideas and learning.   Not only should this communication be orally but in writing as well.

But how do you best do this as a teacher when you have large class sizes and many students who are English Language Learners or who do not have strong role models for reading or writing?

It is not that I am opposed to writing prompts or sentence starters or using graphic organizers or other techniques to support students, but somewhere we lose sight of the real goal - providing students with a voice to share ideas, and stories, and feelings.

Sometimes I feel like the ideas coming out of some schools of thought do not adequately address the challenges in writing with children in urban settings.  Other times, I feel like the ideas created specifically for children who are English Language Learners are too restrictive and do not produce the results that we hope for. Where is the happy medium? What is the best technique for the kindergarten teacher with a very diverse classroom of nearly 30 young students?

So, I am reaching out to my on-line Professional Learning Community and asking, what has worked for you in teaching and nurturing young children to write? What techniques or strategies have been particularly helpful? Have you tried these ideas with diverse populations? How does it fit into your daily routine? Any other thoughts?

If you can leave some of your thoughts in the comment area, I would love to read them. And thank you for being a responsive sounding board as well.

Disneynature: Bears

 

I admit I am a fan of bears. They are fascinating and majestic.  Several months ago, I discovered that there was going to be a documentary on a mother bear and her cubs produced by Disneynature.  I literally marked my calendar so that I would be able to see it when it came out.  On Friday, April 18th, it opened in theaters, and I dragged a friend with me to go see it.  Of course, I loved it. 

If you love bears, or the Alaskan wilderness or just want to see a fun film about some really cute animals, check out "Bears" or any of the Disneynature films. 

About the movie:
In an epic story of breathtaking scale, Disneynature’s new True Life Adventure “Bears” showcases a year in the life of a bear family as two impressionable young cubs are taught life’s most important lessons. Set against a majestic Alaskan backdrop teeming with life, their journey begins as winter comes to an end and the bears emerge from hibernation to face the bitter cold. The world outside is exciting—but risky—as the cubs’ playful descent down the mountain carries with it a looming threat of avalanches. As the season changes from spring to summer, the brown bears must work hard to find food—ultimately feasting at a plentiful salmon run—while staying safe from rival male bears and predators, including an ever-present wolf pack. “Bears” captures the fast-moving action and suspense of life in one of the planet’s last great wildernesses—Alaska! Directed by Alastair Fothergill (“Earth,” “African Cats” and “Chimpanzee”) and Keith Scholey (“African Cats”), “Bears” arrives in theaters April 18, 2014, to celebrate Earth Day.  Rated: G

Official Movie Trailer:




Beyond the Trailer Bears 2014 Interview with Jane Goodall and the Directors of the movie:




Olivia Holt - Carry On (From Disneynature Bears) - theme song from "Bears":




My favorite scene from "Bears":



Check out the Disneynature Bears website for more videos, images, and information.  Also find Disneynature: facebook | twitter | YouTube | Pinterest

To download a free educator's guide click here

Celebrate this Week - 4/19/14

This year, I am trying to increase my awareness of the many good things that happen, which are frequently overlooked by me.  To help me, I am joining Ruth Ayres' Celebrate This Week.

Here's what I am thankful for this week...

April has been an extremely busy month.  I really should look at the full calendar when planning things.  Despite how busy it has been, this past week was filled with some great things.  

1. The Los Angeles Times Book Festival - This year I was an honorary bookseller for the weekend (April 12-13, 2014). What a marvelous experience.  Check out my wrap-up post.

2. Author Event: Tomie dePaola - When I heard that author/illustrator Tomie dePaola was coming out for the LA Times Festival of Books and then doing an event at Once Upon a Time, I knew I had to meet him.  Tomie's newest book is one he illustrated for Lin Oliver's poems.  Tomie was so wonderful and good with all of the children and teachers and librarians and parents who came out to see him.
 

3.  Distinguished Schools Visitation Team - This week I had the opportunity to serve on a Distinguished Schools Visitation Team. What a fabulous experience!  I loved learning more about the process, visiting classrooms, hearing parents and students and staff talk about their school.  It was definitely worth doing.  I also loved the emphasis on writing and student writing was evident everywhere. 

4. Open Mic Poetry Event - We held our first joint activity between the schools and the library and celebrated National Poetry Month with an Open Mic Poetry Event. It was smaller than we had hoped but the energy was good and everyone is talking about seeing this happen annually. I blogged about it here.

5.  First Graders and Writing - I have been continuing my pilot writing and comprehension project and expanding it to a couple of additional classes.  Can't wait to share more. I love watching first graders as they figure things out.

So, what are you celebrating?

Poetry Friday - Open Mic Event

 

Last night, I had an opportunity to experience poetry as only middle schoolers can perform it.  A few months ago, I pitched an idea to the Coordinator or my District's After School program (LEARNS) and to a friend, Jane Gov, who is the Teen Librarian at the Pasadena Public Library.  I have wanted the schools to partner more with the public library.  With Poetry Month coming up, I thought it would be a great way to try doing an event together. 

At all of our Middle Schools, the LEARNS program staff worked on a writing class called The Spoken Word.  As part of the class students worked on writing original poetry. Some students added interpretive dance to their poetry and others performed their poetry to rap music. No matter which format a student used, the poetry was authentic and powerful.

The LEARNS Program staff also brought student created art to display in the room. I was in awe of their work.

This young lady danced before reading her poem.

One of the staff encouraged her son to join in and he read an original poem about bullying. I tried videotaping it but unfortunately, the sound did not come out clear enough.

There were several girls who performed poems that were very personal and touching.

And there was even a group of boys who learned that lyrics are really just poems in disguise.  They performed biographical poems as Rap Songs.

The energy before, during, and after the event was incredible. Family and friends watched and celebrated with their poets. And at the end, everyone celebrated with pizza. 

In the end, the unanimous sentiment was that this should be an annual event.  I was thrilled that my idea could find feet and wings with the support of talented staff, who helped see it through.