Annotated Bibliography Genre 6: How to books

Genre Study

      The book genre that I decided upon this week is that of How to books. The How to books genre has been around for a long time. There are many different types of How to books on the market such as How to plant certain veggies, to How to play a certain type of sport. I would say that the books of this genre are harder to put down as decent informational text. Anyone can write a book on how to do something, but that doesn't mean that their methods are worthwhile, and even if they are, they may not work for everyone. Regardless, these books need to have some factual backing, and should be in the realm of actual completion provided one wishes to follow through. These can be of varying difficulties as far as the reading goes, and many provide pictures and/or illustrations to help along with working out how to complete the given task. I don't think that How to books are used often in most schools, and I can understand why. Unless the book is related to a specific topic it is essentially useless save for maybe a fun book to have around. I could see some How to books used in certain units, such as a book on how to plant carrots, which could be used for a plant science unit. I could see some used as part of a classroom library as well. Some books have simple activities that can be done with little to no supplies.

Selected Titles

1. 50 Ways to Have Fun With Old Newspapers 

      Could not find a Lexile on this book, but could probably be used with 3rd-6th grade classrooms. This book has a table of contents. The book shows ways that students can use old newspapers to create some pretty fun outfits and objects. I would wager that students as low as 1st grade could figure out some of these configurations, mainly due to the excellent illustrations. This could be read aloud and done with a class. This would be a fun way to play with a social studies lesson. Discussing current events usually requires newspapers, so after the key activity is finished, one could have the students make some of the creations from this book for fun before recycling the newspapers. Certainly more of a fun book than anything else.

References:

 Severn, B. (1978). Fifty ways to have fun with old newspapers. McKay.

2. How to Beat Your Dad at Chess 

      Couldn't find a Lexile level for this book, but it seems to be fairly high because of writing and the complex topic. I would say it is around 5th to 6th grade, and could certainly be used for higher grade levels as well. The book does have a table of contents, but lacks a glossary which is odd considering some of the complex words to describe some of the plays. This book uses some simple illustrations that go through the different plays bit by bit, while using text to further describe what is going on. This book is actually pretty serious business, and I can't see this being used in too many classes. This seems like more of a fun book to have around the classroom, provided you also have a chess set as well.

References:

 Chandler, M. (1998). How to beat your dad at chess. London: Gambit. 

Annotated Bibliography Genre 5: Magazines

Genre Study

      The book genre that I chose this week is that of magazines. I suppose magazines are one of the more difficult texts to put into an informational text set. There are many different types of magazines, and many play host to current events throughout the world to science and nature magazines that discuss they workings and business of animals. To determine if a magazine is usable for informational text it should be from a fairly reputable publishing company, and the information within should be based on factual evidence. Magazines can be a range of reading levels, with some being college level and others being for grade school children. Magazines tend to have many articles and information that can be useful for research like work. Magazines also have the benefit of having quite a number of pictures. This isn't always the case, but most magazines typically have a healthy amount of pictures, which is important for use in elementary classrooms in my opinion. I see no reason teachers the world over should not subscribe to a few magazines to have in their respective classrooms. They not only have quite a bit of great information, but they are often highly entertaining as well.

Selected Titles

1. Animal Tales

      No exact Lexile on this magazine, but Animal Tales would probably be in the 2nd to 5th grade range of reading. There are some sections that are far easier to read than others, though there is nothing that is incredibly dense. This is magazine is definitely not a serious one, as it is mainly working with fun animal stories that are true, but a little bit on the goofy side. There are a number of write ups on animals, and facts are presented on these as animals. There are a number of fun activities and even posters to hang up. There are numerous pictures, and they really make up the majority of the magazine. I could see segments of this being read aloud, but not the whole thing. This is really a magazine that should just be present for reading during downtime in class.

References:

Animal Tales- June, 2016-Volume 3, Issue 3

2. National Geographic Kids

      No exact Lexile level on this magazine could be found, but I would say that it sits somewhere between 3rd and 6th grade, though I think it could even be used a few grades higher. This magazine has a varying degree of difficulty laced throughout with some articles being lower level reading and some being higher. The magazine very much covers animal topics, but there are some environmental topics covered as well. I could see this magazine being used as a research tool for many grades because of the great information held within. The magazine could be read aloud in bits and pieces, but shouldn't be read as a whole. Lots of great pictures in these magazines, though they don't take up the whole magazine. The nice thing about this magazine is that it is fairly current with the events that it covers compared to Animal Tales.

References:

National Geographic Kids-June/July, 2016.

Annotated Bibliography Genre 4: Almanac/Atlas

Genre Study

      The book genre that I chose for this week is that of Almanac/Atlas. The Almanac genre is considerably different than that of the Atlas genre. The almanacs tend to be focused on statistics and are published annually. They focus on weather forecasts and tide tables for the coming year, among other statistics. The atlas on the other is more focused on certain areas of the earth and details those inhabit the area and what makes up the given area, such as key monuments and the flora and fauna. These books can be based on a range of reading levels. Often they will have plenty of pictures and/or illustrations, so even certain books that are over a child's given reading level can still be accessible to a certain extent. This genre for the most part lends itself to social studies, but with what the almanac and atlas cover they could be used for science as well. I always see almanacs and atlases as books that teachers of any content area can have in their respective classroom libraries. I'm more into social studies so I would use these to supplement given lessons, but have a few of these for leisurely reading as well.

Selected Titles

1. The Children's Atlas of Exploration

      I couldn't find an exact Lexile level for this book but from what I gathered reading through it, I would wager it is somewhere in the 5th to 6th grade reading level. This books fits into the atlas genre, and is a pretty dense book to be honest. This is not a book that is read aloud cover to cover, but is something that certain segments can be taken from for class reading. This book in particular investigates places that are known to many explorers. This is a great book to just have around the classroom for children to look through, or to use as a possible reference. The book contains an index, table of contents, and a time line of discoveries.

References:

 Mason, A., & Lye, K. (1993). The children's atlas of exploration: Follow in the footsteps of the great explorers. Brookfield, Ct.: Millbrook Press.

2. My First Atlas 

      

      Again, I couldn't find an exact Lexile level for this book, but it would probably fit best for 3rd and 4th graders, and could really extend to later grades as well. This book is based in the atlas genre if that wasn't already obvious by the title. This book has a table of contents and an index. It contains mostly illustrations, but there are some photographs as well. A far more simple book than the previous one, but still should not be read aloud cover to cover. This is more of a book that covers countries throughout the world by giving a slight overview on each that is listed. I would use this in social studies class without question, and it would be a great library book as well.

References:

 Boyle, B., & Hopkins, D. (1994). My first atlas. London: Dorling Kindersley. 

Annotated Bibliography Genre 3: Biography/Autobiography

Genre Study

      The book genre that I chose for this week is that of Biography/Autobiography. Typically biographies and autobiographies detail the lives of famous people. Biographies are written about a certain person without their own involvement, and autobiographies are written by the famous person themselves or with the help of an actual writer. These books could be based on famous musicians to war heroes. These books can be written at many different reading levels, ranging from simple picture books to dense text driven books. This genre definitely lends itself to social studies based material. As I stated earlier, these books come in a wide range of reading, so I could see myself having many books on the same subject but on different reading levels. This would supplement both lower leveled readers and higher leveled readers. These would mostly be used in conjunction with lessons on prominent figures throughout history. Perhaps I would even have children choose someone that they were interested and let them do a project on the given person. Books like these usually have a healthy amount information, so I would wager that most could be used in the classroom without issue. This is not to say that all would be useful for learning activities, but they would all provide information and entertainment for children.

Selected Titles

1. B. Franklin Printer 

      This book has a 970 Lexile level, so it sits somewhere between 5th and 6th grade for proper accessibility. This is most definitely not a book that I would advise reading aloud in any classroom. Perhaps reading excerpts from it would be fine, but whole thing would probably be too much. The book has an index, table of contents, and timeline to get an idea of where to go and what was going on in Ben's life at the time.  The does a fairly great job of covering key events from Ben's life. The paragraphs are well written and there are some tricky words that come up every so often, but nothing too serious. I would definitely have this book in my classroom because of the wealth of information. 

References:

 Adler, D. A. (2002). B. Franklin, printer. New York: Scholastic.

2. Who Was Ben Franklin?

      This book has a 600 Lexile level, so it sits somewhere between 2nd and 3rd grade for comfortable reading level. Those grade levels could definitely read this independently for the most part. It would definitely be an easy read for many, but it has tons of great content. Much like the last book this book covers the life of Ben Franklin. The book has a table of contents, and also has a timeline of important events throughout Ben's life. This book would be great to have to supplement a unit on important American figures. The writing is not particularly difficult, and should be fairly easy for most children in the 2nd and 3rd grade to digest.

References:

 Fradin, D. B., & O'Brien, J. (2002). Who was Ben Franklin? New York: Grosset & Dunlap. 

Annotated Bibliography Genre 2: Action/Adventure

Genre Study

     The book genre that I decided to look at this week is that of action/adventure. The action/adventure genre is characteristic of exciting stories with characters going on journeys that may or may include some dangerous situations and drama along the way. This could be a story about a forest expedition to some type of battle. For informational texts of this genre, the books should be based on true events, and should at least be moderately exciting. These books should also be quasi tame considering the young audience. These books would probably be used to supplement social studies type material. For example, if the class was tackling one of the key wars throughout U.S. history then it would be fair to use some supplemental books detailing certain events that took place. The books I would most be interested in using in a classroom would be fairly short in length and would be read aloud to the class and/or would be available to class to read by themselves. Books like these are highly valuable classroom assets, as they can captivate children with both exciting stories and knowledge on the history behind them. 

Selected Titles

1. Children of the Trail West

      Boasting a 800 Lexile level this book would fit fairly nicely in a 3rd or 4th grade classroom. It could certainly be used as a read aloud in 2nd grade though, but it would be lengthy read. The theme is essentially on what life was like for children on the wagon trains during the 1800's. The children basically go through the same hardships that their parents go through. The book is well written, with many good paragraphs. There are some technical terms that may confuse some students such "cholera" and "nooning", but there is a short glossary located in the back of the book. There is also a useful timeline of events in the back of the book as well, which can better help children piece everything together.

References:

Littlefield, H. (1999). Children of the trail west. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books.

2. Wanted Dead or Alive: The True Story of Harriet Tubman 

      

       This book has a 540 Lexile level, so it would work best in 2nd and 3rd grade classrooms. It would probably be fine as a read aloud in both 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade. The book is about Harriet Tubman's life, such as the horrible things that she had to go through and the good she did for many others. The book doesn't really have any complex language throughout the text. There is no glossary to speak of, and all you get for content is the story itself. I would think that most teachers would want to go through the topics discussed in this book because of the subject matter, but there is nothing explicit in the book.

References:

McGovern, A. (1965). "Wanted dead or alive": The true story of Harriet Tubman. New York: Scholastic Book Services. 

Annotated Bibliography Genre 1: Environmental Texts/Nature books

                                                                     Genre Study

      

      The book genre that I decided to look at this week is that of environmental texts. This is not in regards to text that is seen throughout our daily lives on street signs and such, but on things that are actually part of the environment. This could involve a book that was written about the natural creation of caves, to the different types of trees found in the United States. Being as I want this bibliography to be more focused in the elementary setting, I believe that books of this type should be fairly short in length while also providing factual information. This information should be simple and to the point. These  books should also come from reputable publishing houses. The information held within these books needs to be sound and factual. Books of this genre will also typically need to have great pictures to move the ideas forward, and to engage readers about the given topic.

      Books of this type would most likely be used to reinforce a topic or area that is being explored. I would like to read the books to the whole class as the children sit, listen, and take in the pictures/illustrations. It would be nice to have these books constantly present in the classroom. Perhaps after reading the book to the class it would be integrated into the book library. These books could also be used for small group discussions/readings after the whole class reading activity. Many books of this nature tend to either be too simple or too complex for students. It would be ideal to have access to differing levels of books on the same topic, so hopefully the more difficult books could be supplemented by easier books and vice versa.

                                                                       Selected Titles

1. Soil Science

  

      With a 610 Lexile level, this book would most likely be used somewhere between grades 2nd through 4th. It would most likely be used as read along book in the lower elementary, but I would say most 3rd and 4th graders could read this book alone. The book's core theme is on how soil works. It discusses what makes up soil, and the different types of soil. The book also discusses the problems of erosion, and why soil is one of the greatest natural resources. The writing is simple and effective, and there were no errors as far as I could tell. The book has some fairly meaty paragraphs for only being 16 pages long.  Each image within the book has a caption, so this is certainly nice attention to detail. There are some words that students may not be familiar with such as contour plowing and loam, but a glossary is provided and covers many of these unknown words. So, other than some unfamiliar words and concepts, most children of the proper age group should be fine reading this book.

References:

 Maineri, S. A., & Daniel, K. S. (2004). Soil science. Hudson, NH: Delta Education.

2. Investigating Water 

      With a 100 Lexile level, this book fits somewhere between 1st and 2nd grade. The book would be a great read aloud for a kindergarten or pre-k class, and would be great read along and independent reading for 1st and second graders. The book's themes concern what water is. It looks at the different ways water can be changed by the environment with freezing and evaporating taking center stage. It also covers how things float on water and how things can sink. The book is built upon bullet point sentences that are quite simple in structure. There are certain words that students may need help with words such as dissolves and evaporates, but a glossary is provided to help with some of this confusion. There is a combination of illustrations and photographs in the book with no captions.

References:

 Maineri, S. A., & Daniel, K. S. (2004). Investigating water. Nashua, NH: Delta Education.