In language arts class this week, each student was asked to choose five children’s books to share with the class. The learning goal for this assignment was to learn how to choose and describe the use of good quality picture books. After being introduced to the amazing and resourceful Orillia library, I spent some time walking around, exploring the different books available. It was difficult only choosing five different books that were considered “good quality” because I’m sure every student has a different definition.
I eventually ended up signing out about ten different books to take home to read and have time to connect each of them to the curriculum. Throughout my search, I learned that certain items in a book make the story considered as “good quality”. My definition of “good quality” includes three different components that are key for teaching in the classroom and ensuring all students are engaged. 1.Pictures
2.Connects to curriculum in many ways
3.Extra resources
Below, I added my five picture books that I believed would be beneficial within a classroom setting. Children’s Literature Storefront Reed, R. Lynn. Color Chaos: Holiday House, 2010. Color Chaos is a story about a substitute principal who bans color in the entire school, however the crayons do not agree with this new rule. While teaching about color theory (primary, secondary, and tertiary colours), the crayons come up with a plan to escape the garbage can. At the end of the story, Lynn adds a couple pages that she named “Mr. Coleurs Lesson Color”. On these pages, definitions are provided as well as explanations on how colors are able to work together to create other colours and shades. Reed has also included a pop quiz for a consolidation piece after the story has been read to ensure students understood the main concepts. This book is a great way to teach colour for any grade while using the descriptions throughout the story, as well as the images and illustrations. Color Chaos can be used the most for both grade one and grade two visual arts (Ministry of Education, 72 & 82). Shea, A. Susan. Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? : Blue Apple Books, 2011. Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow is a book questioning what grows and what doesn’t. For example a calf growing up to be a cow, versus a shovel growing up to be a plow. This book is a great way to question children and to determine which objects are living or nonliving. The book also includes rhyming words throughout each page. This book would be a great way to encourage students to use their thinking skills and make predictions about what grows and doesn’t grow around them. This book would be great for kindergarten students who are learning the difference between living and non-living. The book is interactive with allowed discussion about what the next sentence will be depending on the previous page’s rhyme. There are lots of fun fold out pages to engage students to make a prediction before the sentence is completed. This book would be great for Grade 1. MacKay, Elly. If You Hold a Seed: Running Press Kids, 2013. If You Hold a Seed is a book about a little boy who nurtures a seed until it grows into a full-grown tree. There are many ways you could use this book. The author created the moral of the story as “never giving up”. In a classroom a teacher could use this book to explain that hard work and patience will end with success. It could also be used for a lesson in science. The teacher would ask questions like “What did the seed need to grow?” “What did you notice about the changes in the seasons?” “Do you think it took a long or short period of time for the tree to grow?” Teachers could use this book for a Grade One science lesson on the overall expectation 3, demonstrate an understanding of what daily and seasonal changes are and of how these changes affect living things (Ministry of Education, 53). It could also be used in Grade three for science, to demonstrate an understanding that plants grow and change and have distinct characteristics (Ministry of Education, 70). Parr, Todd. The Peace Book: Little, Brown and Company, 2004. This book includes culturally diverse illustrations, which is an awesome way to talk about different communities and cultures around the world. This book is also a great way to introduce the topic of “peace” to students. Students could be challenged to create an image of what peace means to them or what peace would look like in the school or community which could eventually end up in the classroom’s very own peace book. Todd has added a personal message at the beginning of the book about one of his personal stories on how he created some peace within his community, which could inspire students in a class. A teacher could use this book for a grade four writing assignment for language to accomplish the overall expectation of generating, gathering, and organizing ideas and information to write for an intended purpose and audience, for example a peace poem (Ministry of Education, 86). Reynolds, H. Peter. I’m Here: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2011. It is important to teach students to include everyone. The book also encourages students to find similarities between one another and to not always judge people based on their looks. The book starts off with a student playing by himself and reminding everyone that he is there. At the end of the story, a girl notices that she has a similarity with the boy and the two children become friends. I believe that this book would be useful with any age as a “get to know you” activity. After the story is read, students can walk around the classroom and find a peer that has two similarities with him or her. Other Resources Used: Ministry of Education. The Ontario Curriculum: Grades 1-8 Science and Technology, 2007. Ministry of Education. The Ontario Curriculum: Grades 1-8 Language, 2006. Ministry of Education. The Ontario Curriculum: Grades 1-8 The Arts, 200
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