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.