Harnessing the Power of Science Trade Books for Your Classroom Dr. Kristin Rearden and Dr. Amy Broemmel University of Tennessee Symposium on Powerful Teaching April 1, 2006
Our Presentation Choosing books for your classroom Book features to review Final notes on our research
Choosing Books for Your Classroom Resources: IRA’s Teachers’ Choices NSTA Recommendations Textbook recommendations Other teachers
Our Presentation Choosing books for your classroom Book features to review Final notes on our research
Book Features to Review Science content Genre Visual features
How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning Physical Science: Conductivity History and Nature of Science: Inventions in the context of world history
Girls Think of Everything Highlights female inventors with short biographies Past and current inventors showcased
So You Want to be an Inventor Short descriptions of various inventors and their work Discusses the characteristics of inventors
The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane Trial-and-error nature of inventions highlighted Presented in historical context
Book Features to Review Science content Genre Visual features
Poetry: The Beauty of the Beast Various types included Contains science content and allegory Example: Owls
Story: How Groundhog’s Garden Grew Plotline; Usually contains elements of fantasy Creative presentation of information Elicit from students facts versus ‘story’
Dual Purpose: Come Back, Salmon Narrative of the quest of an elementary school class to save the regional salmon Includes separate informational pieces Excellent example of Science as Inquiry
Dual Purpose Text Storyline throughout the book Additional sidebar information
Non-Narrative Informational: Hiding Out: Camouflage in the Wild Presents information by topic Examples of various animals in their habitats Simple captions
Narrative Informational: One Tiny Turtle Presents information in time-sensitive manner Life cycle of the turtle Some additional factual information included in smaller font
Book Features to Review Science content Genre Visual features
Illustrations that Support the Text So You Want to be an Inventor Interesting Fun to look at Engaging
Photographs that support text Saguaro Cactus Both photographs and illustrations included Insets provide further information Captions rare
Illustrations that Extend Text The Pumpkin Book Labeled drawings of plant parts Provide more details/information than the text itself does Diagrams, “up close” drawings, charts, etc.
Specialized Text Beaks! Realistic depictions
Specialized Text Painted, cut paper illustrations Suggested readings & websites that support the text
Specialized Text Girls Think of Everything Timeline Sketches add interest
Specialized Text The Emperor's Egg Multiple Levels of Text present different information Varied text size and font
Specialized Text One Tiny Turtle Story line in larger font Additional information in smaller font
Specialized Text Seeing Stars Historical and scientific explanations of star- related concepts Sidebars that contain experiments, additional information, and quizzes
Specialized Text Sidebars that contain experiments, additional information, and quizzes
Specialized Text Around One Cactus… Poetic descriptions of animals who live in and around a Saguaro cactus
Endnotes Information Field Notes Additional Information
Glossary Information Are Trees Alive? Provides more in- depth information to supplement text Bold-faced words; field notes; additional information
Our Presentation Choosing books for your classroom Book features to review Final notes on our research
Life Science Prevails The majority of books we reviewed were Life Science Physical Science was very limited
Books Have Multiple Uses Seven Blind Mice Exemplifies need to thoroughly investigate, which is a hallmark of inquiry-based science
Teachers should indeed feel confident in choosing Teachers’ Choices books to link science and reading in an interesting, meaningful, and developmentally appropriate manner— especially to support concepts related to life science.