ErikawithaK

Science Blog Faces on the Moon by Bob Crelin is a fun and information book of the different faces of the moon. Science is my favorite subject, there are so many informational books that you can use for teaching about space and our solar system. As a student in elementary school I can't say that I remember learning about the faces of the moon until about 8th grade. This book is set for 4th grade students. The style of writing that Crelin has provided is very playful and poetic like. It rhymes and has easier ways of explaining to the students the different faces and what time of the day that you would experience to see something like that. The illustrations of this book are done by Leslie Evans and they depict a different way of interpreting the story with the colorful and detailed pictures. "The moon's first phase, we call it NEW, when moon's between the Sun and you." This is a quote that I pulled from the book that shows an example of Crelin's way wi...

Nonfiction  A nonfiction book is a real book that tells, informs, teaches and explains something that hopefully will be new and factual information for the students.  A book that would be educational for students that is nonfiction would be Senses in the City by, Shelley Rotner. This book is a great way to give you students a new understanding of a different environment.  From personal experiences, I grew up in the city, the noises at night, the busy streets, the different people and cultures. It was something that I was very blessed and grateful for these experiences they helped me with who I am and what understanding I have of the world. When I moved to the small town of West Portsmouth it was such a culture shock to me. No buildings, just fields everywhere. We had to go into town to get to stuff rather than just walking down the road to go to the store. It was a different atmosphere that I don't think many children are aware of.  This book would...

Historical Fiction  Historical fiction is typically a novel or story that is made up in the past and uses characteristics of that time period. There is story line that goes along with the time period. The American Girl books created by Valerie Tripp, are a good source of historical fiction for young children. Not just for girls, but also boys. This is a great way for children to experience the different events of American culture through the years, as well as the events that take place all told through the perspective of a girl. In this particular book, Meet Molly, the time is set during WWII, the year is 1943, the beginning of the war. Molly's father is a doctor, but he enlisted into the Army to go to England to help wounded soldiers. There are 6 different books in Molly's collection that enlist and tell all about the different events that take place during WWII. Not just Meet Molly, but every American Girl book has different features of one girl following events to...

Charlotte's Web is a book written by E.B. White. This traditional literature book is for students that are coming of age. This is a great book to read to students that are older, such as 5th grade as most middle schools start with 6th grade. This is a good transition book for students that are having doubts and are having a hard time believing in themselves.  This traditional literature piece is specifically a fable. This short story is portrayed to provide morals or have a life lesson. Most writers like to take a social situation and lighten it to draw upon a universal lesson through the story. In this particular traditional literature piece, White is trying to tell us how self involved we are as human and how blind we are to all the wonders of the world around us.  Although this book is for older reader, it has an abundance of meaning and inferences that the students can draw upon during this story. The story of Charlotte's Web starts with a piglet named Wilbur. He...

The Giving Tree  The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, is a narrative poem. Narrative poetry means that these poems are telling a story. The author also makes great use of the narrator and the character's voices.  This particular poem gave me an image of greed. The boy in the story is constantly asking the tree for something as he goes through different stages in his life and always comes back to revisit the tree from when he is a boy, teenager, adult, and them elderly man. He does not do anything for the tree in return. He only takes while the tree does what the boy says because she is so giving.  I remember growing up and having a collection of Shel Silverstein books in my own library at home. My mom would love to read us poems because they were easy to follow along and sometimes they rhymed. I have always been a fan of poems and the writing of poetry has amazed me the way that people have such ways with words.  A turning point during this poem is w...