A Literature Collection of Non-Fictional: Informational Books by Alyssa Nicassio & Tracie Anzara

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Lesley Ross
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1 A Literature Collection of Non-Fictional: Informational Books by Alyssa Nicassio & Tracie Anzara Definition: Conceptual books, nature books, and historical books are just three types of non-fictional books. Informational Books includes books children can read on their own or they can be used by a teacher who may be teaching a lesson, for example about volcanos or the French Revolution. These books can provide a background for knowledge about concepts, history or nature in a more broad and creative way that can inform and entertain the minds of students. The information provided in these types of books gives students ideas, questions, and facts about real topics.

2 Categories Concept Books: These books help students become aware of their physical, natural or social surroundings. The information they gather comes from the text and illustrations presented in the book. There are various books that have the content of concepts; for example, books with feelings and emotions. History: Historical books can enable students to learn about events, people and ideas of the past. Often times children are able to view history from a different point of view with the use of first person historical literature. Nature: These types of books can lead student to another part of the world that involves the natural world, animals and their habitat, geology, geography and the human body. Other Categories Understanding People in Culture: These books provide students the ability to learn about different cultures and customs around the world. A thorough investigation about different cultures can teach students how to identify similarities and differences between cultures. The Arts: These books can include topics about music, art, drama, dance and other artistic themes. The creativity demonstrated in these books can attract students to explore their own artistic preferences. Discovering How Things Work: Some themes included with these types of books include activities such as crafts, do it yourself projects, or how to books. These books can expose students to various hobbies which can lead to development of self identity. Series Books: Such books have a related topic by the same author. They have specific formats and are organized the same way. An example of this would be the Body Works series by Liza Fromer and Francine Gerstein MD.

3 Never Talk to Strangers Author: Irma Joyce Illustrator: S.D. Schindler Informational (conceptual) Grade Range: Primary Plot Summary: This books starts out with a few main characters, young children who meet various animals whom they have never met before. These animals happen to be in realistic environments such as the store, a stranger that may come to their door, or the bus stop. Although animals are used in the story the plot is that if a child does not know the person and no matter what the unknown person says to them they should never speak to them because they are a stranger, but if one of their friends or family members introduced them to someone they may not know it is okay if they say hello to them because, they are not necessarily a stranger. Reader Response Activity:With this book I have a fantastic idea, I would have some of my students the strangers and some of my student s the stranger that a friend/family member introduces you to I would then pick a few students to be the one s to decide who is the stranger and who is the not really a stranger.

Weird Friends: Unlikely Allies in the Animal Kingdom Author:Jose Aruego & Ariane Dewey Illustrator:Jose Aruego & Ariane Dewey Informational (conceptual) Grade Range: Primary-Intermediate Plot

4 Weird Friends: Unlikely Allies in the Animal Kingdom Author:Jose Aruego & Ariane Dewey Illustrator:Jose Aruego & Ariane Dewey Informational (conceptual) Grade Range: Primary-Intermediate Plot Summary: This is an informational book discussing fourteen different unusual friends found in the wild. The first set of characters are The Clown Fish and The Sea Anemone. The author describes how The Clown Fish uses the poisonous Sea Anemone as a home for protection from predators and in return the clownfish protects the Sea Anemone from the butterfly fish with their ferocious bite. With a constant theme of friendship throughout the story these fourteen sets of animal friendship, bring the reader on an adventure to learn about the various settings in which these codependent animals are found all around the world. Reader Response Activity: One way to bring this home for students is to continue to think about how dependent we are on one another in nature. From eggs we use to make breakfast to the leather used in apparel, we have a constant need for animals in todays society. The concept of understanding how we affect the world around us can be introduced at various age levels. For the students in a 4th grade classroom, have the students work in groups of 4 and assign each group a friendship pair from the story. Each group member has their own task: 1 & 2 - Draw a picture of one animal, 2 the other. 3 & 4 write how one needs the other, 4 how the other needs one. On the back of each of their sheets each member will have their own task to: 1-write what humans are dependent on 2-write what they are dependent on to survive 3 & 4 - write two different ways we can make a change (ex. conserve water, do not litter, etc ).

Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad Author: Ellen Levine Illustrator: Kadir Nelson Informational (historical) Grade Range: Primary Plot Summary: Henry who is the main

5 Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad Author: Ellen Levine Illustrator: Kadir Nelson Informational (historical) Grade Range: Primary Plot Summary: Henry who is the main character in Henry s Freedom Box is a child that was already born into slavery and at first lives with his mother and his siblings. One day his master became ill and asked Henry to come to him because he need to tell him something, Henry hoped that he would be able to be set free but, he was wrong instead Henry is told that he was going to be sent his master s son. This master was not as nice as his old one. Before Henry left he saw a bird fly into the sky and he thought to himself how nice it would be to be as free as a bird. Later on Henry got married to another slave and they had children. They were very fortunate to live together. But the plot turns even more emotional when one day Henry s wife and children were sold. And again a little bird flew by and he thought about being free so he came up with an idea that he could mail himself to a place where there was no slaves. So he gained the help of another character; a doctor by the name of Dr. Smith who thought slavery was wrong and he wrote on the box Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which is where Henry would be shipped to a friend s house. Henry made a plan to injure himself so that his master would let him stay home and he could then plan his escape. He rode on a steam boat for many days until he ended up at his destination with his friend and white men welcomed him to Philadelphia. Henry finally had a birthday: March , the day that he became a free man just like how the bird was.this story expresses the theme of putting a reader s mind in someone else s point of view of a situation in history that actually happened with the different races in America. Reader Response Activity: Henry s Freedom Box gives a great foundation and understanding of what was going on in the time period of slavery. I would read this book to my students before we begin the actual history lesson so they have a basic introduction of what they will be reading and study about in their History textbooks.

How the Meteorite Got to the Museum Author: Jessie Hartland Illustrator:Jessie Hartland Informational (historical) Grade Range: Primary-Intermediate Plot Summary: This is a true story based on the

6 How the Meteorite Got to the Museum Author: Jessie Hartland Illustrator:Jessie Hartland Informational (historical) Grade Range: Primary-Intermediate Plot Summary: This is a true story based on the journey of the Peekskill Meteorite which hit Earth in Peekskill, New York on October 9, This story is told by the teacher of a classroom of students set in a field trip to the local museum. The Peeskill Meteorite is introduced as its original form of a meteor in orbit around planet Earth. As it enters the atmosphere on the night of October 9, 1992, it flies through Virginia and is seen by the customers of a burger shack to continue this course through a Pennsylvania High School football game, still touring Virginia. The journey to Earth ends with a crash into a red Chevy Malibu in Peeskill, New York. The plot comes to an end as the teacher explains the process of the meteorite being analyzed by scientists and eventually being sliced into pieces to be sold to various outlets with one piece going to the local Natural History Museum where the students are actually seeing this in front of them. This story hold themes in both historical events and with scientific research and is great for multiple lesson objectives. Reader Response Activity: This would be an excellent introduction for any space unit involving meteors and meteorites and can be used across the curriculum. I would turn this into a historical research project. Depending on level of the student, I would have each student do research into the actual event when the Peekskill Meteorite hit. I would create a poster collage of the students findings. For an added challenge I would maybe have the students look up other meteorite crash sites instead of facts supporting this particular event.

The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest Author: Lynne Cherry Illustrator: Lynne Cherry Genre:Non-Fiction: Informational (Nature) Grade Range: Primary-Intermediate Plot Summary:The

7 The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest Author: Lynne Cherry Illustrator: Lynne Cherry Genre:Non-Fiction: Informational (Nature) Grade Range: Primary-Intermediate Plot Summary:The setting is located in the Amazon rainforest when one of the characters whom is a man following the orders of his boss to go into the rainforest and chop down one of nature s most beneficial resources; a Kapok tree. As he begins whacking and chopping away, he then becomes tired and decides to take a nap. While he is taking a nap the animals of the rainforest who use the Kapok tree as their home come down from the tree and begin to whisper in his ear about how important that tree is to them and the rainforest. The plot becomes quite obvious that the animals of the rainforest are trying to let this man know the horrible effects that could happen to their natural habitat once man comes along and begins to tear down the rainforest until there is nothing but the soil on the ground and nowhere for the animals to go to. The theme in the story gives students awareness of the environment not only where they live in but also the natural resources that are a necessity to not just them but the animals in their natural habitat. Reader Response Activity: This book can be combined with Social Studies lessons as well as Science. I believe it would be a great idea for my future students to write a few sentences that have to do with text -to self in their journals about what would they need as a necessity in their life and then compare and contrast it to the animals in the story.

Tornadoes! Author: Gail Gibbons Illustrator: Gail Gibbons Informational (nature) Grade Range: Primary Plot Summary:This informational story has a plot around the progress of a tornado.

8 Tornadoes! Author: Gail Gibbons Illustrator: Gail Gibbons Informational (nature) Grade Range: Primary Plot Summary:This informational story has a plot around the progress of a tornado. The narrator first discusses the conditions needed for a tornado to form along with a description of key vocabulary involving tornado terminology. The story continues to analyze how tornadoes are scaled using the Enhanced Fujita Tornado Scale ranging from EF-0 to EF-5 with each level having a specific set of wind speeds determined by the destruction left behind. Characters involve the narrator which is never labeled as being someone and simply put, anyone residing in the United States as the setting is any place where a tornado can form. Themes involve natural destruction and also how to prepare for a tornado specific situation. Transitioning to prparation, the narrator explains how the public is made aware of such a natural disaster. The story then ends with a guide for what to do if you know a tornado is coming through. Reader Response Activity: There a few tornadoes reported in Arizona but there are still occurrences reported. One of the main purposes of teaching about such disastrous occurrences is to teach about the importance of being prepared. In groups of 3-5 have the students create their own poster outlining their plan of action following prompts randomly selected for each group. The prompts can including being in a house with no basement, being in a house with a basement, being in a car on a road trip, and what do do after the storm passes. Each group then has 20 minutes to create a poster to present to the class.

Level 6-7 Two Years Vacation

Level 6-7 Two Years Vacation Workbook Teacher s Guide and Answer Key A. Summary 1. Book Summary Teacher s Guide Twelve boys were going to sail around New Zealand on a special summer trip. But their ship