Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: B is for Bear

Posted on February 17, 2016 by carriegelson

This week I found B is for Bear: A Natural Alphabet by Hannah Viano (October 2015) and was absolutely charmed by it. Striking art work and all things lovely and wonderful from the natural world of North America. Part alphabet book, part celebration of nature, many parts simple beauty.

Each page holds an upper case word for the letter represented and a simple, descriptive sentence of additional information along with a stunning image (these are paper cuttings!)

For example:

“Standing still on one leg, an EGRET watches the water closely, waiting for his dinner to swim by.”

Some wonderful things selected P for PEBBLE, Q for QUEEN ANNE’s LACE, R for RAINSTORM

I particularly loved this book because it got me thinking about how to use it in the classroom. Last week Melissa Stewart wrote a post wondering about doing research with elementary students. “Is there a fun way to do research?” she asks. She has more posts to come (yippee!) but I have been thinking about this question a lot. I’ve been thinking about letting research first be part of a discovery, expressive process. Something that involves art, creativity, poetry, creating images while being a part of the process of wondering and finding new information. And then, what to do with it?

I love the idea of some simple pieces – like art work inspired by a book like this. Create an image of something, share a fact discovered by a little bit of reading or exploring a website or . . . Think about what fact feels the most important and how to share it.

Wouldn’t you like to create an alphabet book linked to a particular place – a country, a province (or state), a city, a neighbourhood? And include a number of interesting pieces of art with extra information. A piece of beautiful art and a simple, carefully crafted sentence. Seems like the ideal marriage of beginning fact finding and information honouring.

Already thinking of a book like this for my class to do on our neighbourhood . . . And about where we might find more information about things we might want to highlight . . .

I love books that both enrich and inspire – accessible and lovely mentor texts to imitate. This is a beautiful one indeed.

Thanks to Alyson from Kid Lit Frenzy for the inspiration to read and share more nonfiction picture books in 2016. Follow the link to Alyson’s blog to read about more nonfiction books you need to read!

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Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: The nonfiction effect

Posted on February 10, 2016 by carriegelson

While nonfiction titles are read and shared all year in my room, I often do a specific “push” of nonfiction titles in January of each school year and make sure that one day a week in Reading Workshop, we spend some quality time exploring nonfiction titles. This year, our Reading Workshop routines are a little different to match this group of readers and I wasn’t sure how to launch our nonfiction celebrations.

At the end of January I realized the best thing to do would be to begin sharing nonfiction titles in an already routine way: through our Wednesday a.m. book sharing circles. So . . . last week, I pulled some tried and true titles and these books travelled child to child in three sharing circles.

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: the nonfiction effect

This post is all about celebrating the nonfiction effect in the room!

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: the nonfiction effect

I gathered a number of titles with lots of interesting drawings and photographs about animals, birds and insects to share with the children. After modelling how to interact with the titles (look at the front and back covers, skim and scan through the text, read interesting captions of photographs that catch your eye, look at the table of contents for sections of interest, notice the size of the text on the page) we broke into 3 small groups and passed a title every minute.

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: the nonfiction effect

Listening in, this is what I overheard:

“Whoa!”
“Wow!”
“Look at this!”
“So, so cool.”
“Oh my God.”
“I can’t believe it.”
“Eew, yuck!”
“Is that a close up?”
“Hey I know that!”
“What is that?!”

The wonderful thing is that most of this was just spontaneously uttered. The children were not talking to each other, although lots of back and forth peeking happened. They just couldn’t keep their reactions inside.

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: the nonfiction effect

After we had explored all of the books in our circles, we placed them in the center of our group and talked about which title we would love to read and why.

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: the nonfiction effect

For this little group of Grade 2/3s, their comments reflect where they are – the “in awe, want to read more” stage:

“We saw lots of gross stuff but it was cool.”

“It’s all about the world and things we don’t know.”

“I think I know some of the things and not some of the things in that book.”

“Do we also have books about . . . .?”

One child held a book close and announced to me. “Ms. Gelson, I can actually read this book all by myself.”

The nonfiction effect

The books we shared were placed on a table and children began sorting through the piles taking titles off to read.

The nonfiction effect

Some titles were shared with a friend. “Let’s look for stuff to learn.”

The nonfiction effect

My learning and current thinking for this group:

these learners are going to need lots of series (this book is like this one) so that once they have a format understood they can take off with the reading and learning
we need to do a lot more sharing circles to generate interest and curiosity
very brief mini lessons on nonfiction features will be necessary with lots and lots of repetition as this group of readers is not used to navigating nonfiction texts
our reading needs to be connected to talk and sharing time
in about a month, we can introduce recording facts and beginning research concepts but for now, it is all about developing passion for nonfiction texts
students need accessible texts that support what we are learning about in the classroom – finding and sharing these will be priority number one

I have written about these sharing circles with nonfiction titles before – read here for how they worked with my Grade 3/4 class last year.

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Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: Mock Sibert

Posted on January 27, 2016 by carriegelson

For the past 3 years, Alyson Beecher has hosted a Mock Sibert on her blog as part of the Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday meme. Mock Sibert has grown! First Alyson from Kid Lit Frenzy and Kellee from Unleashing Readers wrote posts and made predictions. In 2015, I was invited to join in and in 2016 Alyson opened it up to anyone who wanted to participate. Here are links to these posts:

Kid Lit Frenzy: 2016 Mock Sibert

There’s a Book for That: 2016 Mock Sibert

Kid Lit Frenzy: 2015 Mock Sibert

Unleashing Readers: 2015 Mock Sibert

There’s a Book for That: 2015 Mock Sibert

Kid Lit Frenzy: 2014 Mock Sibert

Unleashing Readers: 2014 Mock Sibert

This year, Kellee proposed expanding the Mock Sibert discussion even further by moving it to a year long conversation. She put feelers out to our little book loving PLN about expanding the Mock Sibert to a Book Group on GoodReads. By doing this, we get to discuss books all year long.

And . . . you can join in too!

Our plan for the group is for group members to start discussions about any nonfiction books that they feel are 2017 Sibert Award contenders. Then within those discussion boards, we will discuss the books we each “nominate.” At the end of December, we will vote for the books we feel need to be looked at again. We’ll then have a FINALISTS discussion board where we look closer at each of the books with an eye specifically towards the Sibert criteria. Following our discussions, we will vote for what we believe will be the finalists. We’ll then have a WINNER discussion board where we look again at the books we voted as finalists and discuss who we think will win. About a week before the 2017 ALA Media Awards, with enough time to blog about our winner and finalists if participants would like, we’ll vote for the winner.

Personally, I love reading about titles that others love. Their passion often sells me or at least lets me look at books with new perspective and new eyes!

Come join us on Goodreads at the Mock Sibert Book Club!

First, go to GROUPS at the top of the Goodreads home page.

You can search for the book club in the search bar at the top of the groups page.

Please make sure to answer our new member’s question, and we will approve you to jump into our conversation!

Hope you will come join us!

I have only read one 2016 nonfiction title so far. But there are a few I have my eye on (published at various times this year). Will they be Mock Sibert contenders? Who knows? The fun is in the reading! I can’t wait to discover more 2016 titles as the year unfolds.

Squirrels Leap, Squirrels Sleep (November 2016)

Squirrels Leap, Squirrels Sleep

Animals by the Numbers (November 2016)

Animals by the Numbers

Now You See Them, Now You Don’t: Poems about Creatures that Hide (February 2016)

Now You See Them Now You Don't

Giant Squid (September 2016)

Giant Squid

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Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: Whose Hands Are These?

Posted on January 13, 2016 by carriegelson

There are a few things I know to be true about working with primary classes. Especially primary classes with more fidget than focus. When wiggles and squirms abound, students need us to deliver energy, excitement and a little bit of drama. Sometimes that’s easy to do. Good sleeps and strong coffee help. Some days it’s harder. By afternoon, it’s harder. With some lessons, it sure helps if the material itself can leap in and lend a hand (come on, how could I resist?)

When it is afternoon after a lunchtime of “not so good” out on the play ground and gathering everyone together feels extra hard, I need to lean on my read aloud to help out.

This book jumped right in! It delivered what I like to call the “squish closer, oh! oh! oh!” noisy read aloud experience. When everyone is leaning in, sitting close, oohing to be called on, joining in with the text, rising up off their bottoms and generally trying to basically climb into the book, well, teachers, we have a winner!

What a pleasure it is to share this book today.

Whose Hands Are These? A Community Helper Guessing Book written by Miranda Paul and illustrated by Luciana Navarro Powell (Millbrook Press January 2016)

Some of the many reasons why this book works so beautifully in the primary classroom:

First, there is the obvious. It supports our primary curriculum (community helpers, career options, helpers in the community). New engaging material to use in our lessons on these units? Always so very appreciated!
This is a guessing book! Kids love to guess. They love to be right. They don’t want it to be too easy but it has to be accessible so that most of them are getting most of it right most of the time, New learning happens surrounded by confidence. It’s an ideal balance. This book has that.
The clues are revealed through both bright, interesting pictures and the text – our visual learners and our auditory learners are all supported
The rhythm of the language and the rhymes make things predictable and successful for each little listener.
The illustrations embrace diversity and don’t reinforce stereotypes. Hurrah! We have a male teacher, female doctors, male and female mechanics, scientists and farmers of all ages, characters with different skin tones, adults and children depicted in the pictures

Lots of kid appeal in this book. Instant feedback from my class?

“I like guessing! And we mostly got it right!”

“It rhymes! The words are interesting.”

“I Think I could read it by myself. Mostly. Can I Ms. Gelson?”

“The pictures are so colourful.”

“I like all the people.”

“How did they make those hands on the back cover?”

How did I share the book? Beyond letting it do its noisy read aloud, fully engaged magic?

We started with the end pages and looked at all of the tools we saw. I asked, “What do you see that you can name?” And then: “Who would use this in their job? What do you think?” All of this predicting and building shared knowledge was a wonderful warm up for the story.

When we read the book, we talked about all of the details we noticed in both the text and illustrations, we focussed on the word that was our clue – the one that would rhyme with the profession being named.

Quest and test, these hands are turning.

Test again- these hands are learning!

Weigh and count, their work persists

These hands belong to . . .

Repeat persists – stretch out the word, repeat it again, look at the clues in the pictures, watch for nodding, signs of confirmation of the guesses . . .

“Get ready to tell me!”

Flip

“Scientists!”

So much fun.

The final pages contain more information about each job and is provided in child friendly descriptions.

A perfect book to talk about people in our community or to inspire brainstorming and writing about future job possibilities and choices.

Highly recommended for the primary classroom.

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Mock Sibert 2016

Posted on January 6, 2016 by carriegelson

The Sibert Award is given annually to the most distinguished informational book published during the preceding year. Although the Sibert Award is not just for picture books, that is where I am focussing my predictions.

Honestly, I believe that the Sibert medal may go to a longer text and I don’t believe I have read that book. I am very excited to see what the announcement will be next week!

I read a lot of fantastic nonfiction last year but I focussed on texts suitable for younger readers because of switching grades this year (from a 3/4 with mostly Grade 4s to a 2/3 with mostly Grade 2s). Looking over some of the best of nonfiction lists, I think that there is a lot that I missed.

To be honored/win the Sibert Award, the book must include these important elements and qualities:

Excellent, engaging, and distinctive use of language.
Excellent, engaging, and distinctive visual presentation.
Appropriate organization and documentation.
Clear, accurate, and stimulating presentation of facts, concepts, and ideas.
Appropriate style of presentation for subject and for intended audience.
Supportive features (index, table of contents, maps, timelines, etc).
Respectful and of interest to children.

Based on this criteria, I have chosen 3 titles that I think may be honored when the Sibert titles are announced.

What I am really thinking about when making these selections are supportive features or documentation included somewhere in the text and that the books are really engaging for children. I am also very swayed by illustrations and I felt that each of these had a very unique and interesting style. Definitely the illustrations contributed in large ways to the appeal of the book.

Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled all of France by Mara Rockliff with illustrations by Iacopo Bruno (March 2015 Candlewick Press)

I love the connection here to the importance of the scientific method. And it is also quite the story! The back pages include much additional information. Big kid appeal: mind control, magic forces, money making, Kings and Queens . . . Doesn’t get much better! Of course the ultimate power turns out to be science!

Mesmerized Mock Sibert 2016

Tricky Vic: The Impossibly True Story of the Man who Sold the Eiffel Tower by Greg Pizzoli (March 2015 Viking Books)

There is something about swindlers and con artists that are immensely interesting! A con associated with something as well known and famous as the Eiffel Tower? Well! There are many stories within stories here and plenty of other historical and place specific information throughout the text. If I had an older grade, I would love to read this aloud!

Tricky Vic- The Impossilby True Story of the Man who Sold the Eiffel Tower by Greg Pizzoli Mock Sibert 2016

How to Swallow a Pig: Step-by-Step Advice from the Animal Kingdom by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page (September 2015 HMH Books for Young Readers)

I love everything that Jenkins and Page do I will admit. That doesn’t make me biased, just constantly impressed. This title is particularly interesting because of the “how to” aspect. Of course it is also a great model for instructional writing – amazingly interesting instructional writing. Additional information is always rich in Jenkins/Page titles. Perfect for further reading.

How to Swallow a Pig Mock Sibert 2016

I looked back at past medal and honor titles and usually winners are longer picture books or middle grade illustrated texts taking a variety of formats. If brief texts with incredible visuals (illustrations or photographs) and strong back matter were to be considered, I think these 2015 titles could also be contenders. Who knows? Maybe they will be!

Raindrops Roll by April Pulley Sayre (January 2015 Beach Lane Books)

Raindrops Roll Mock Sibert 2016

Water Is Water: A Book About the Water Cycle written by Miranda Paul and illustrated by Jason Chin (May 2015 Roaring Book Press)

A Rock Can Be . . . by Laura Purdie Salas with illustrations by Violeta Dabija (March 2015 Millbrook Press)

What are your #MockSibert choices?

I am excited to once again join the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge. My goal is to read 100 nonfiction titles this year. Most will be picture books but I will also read some longer texts. Many, but not all will be published recently (2014-2016). There are some older titles I have missed that I want to catch up on.

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20 favourite nonfiction titles of 2015

Posted on December 30, 2015 by carriegelson

I so often agonize over this list, my favourite nonfiction titles of the year. Which titles should go on my favourites list? I have a very special spot for nonfiction picture books and LOVE being part of this Wednesday community hosted by Alyson Beecher.

I literally ran out to the library to pick up holds in the middle of writing this post to squeeze in a few more nonfiction reads. Then, I tried reading and blogging at the same time. I have mastered reading and folding laundry (although the sock matching often goes south) but reading while typing is a tad too challenging. So I took some breaks, read a few more books and made a few changes. Finally, 20 favourites emerged.

I always have a love of picture book biographies I might share in my classroom. So these featured big on this list.

In Mary’s Garden by Tina and Carson Kugler

The Sky Painter written by Margarita Engle and illustrated by Aliona Bereghici

Which Trombone Shorty written by Troy Andrews and illustrated by Bryan Collier

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear written by Lindsay Mattick and illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah written by Laurie Ann Thompson and illustrated by Sean Qualls

Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl’s Courage Changed Music written by Margarita Engle and illustrated by Rafael López

Tricky Vic: The Impossibly True Story of the Man who Sold the Eiffel Tower by Greg Pizzoli

Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova written by Laurel Snyder and illustrated by Julie Morstad

After experiencing water shortages this year on the rainy south coast, water is also on my mind. I found relevant and wonderful 2015 titles.

Raindrops Roll by April Pulley Sayre

Water Is Water: A Book About the Water Cycle written by Miranda Paul and illustrated by Jason Chin

And then there are always certain nonfiction topics I am obsessed with: nests and eggs, whales, plants and seeds, endangered animals, Australian animals and rocks. I found titles that covered most of these things from 2015’s offerings.

The Blue Whale by Jenni Desmond

Trapped! A Whale’s Rescue written by Robert Burleigh and illustrated by Wendell Minor

A Nest Is Noisy by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long

Big Red Kangaroo written by Claire Saxby and illustrated by Graham Byrne

Emu written by Claire Saxby and illustrated by Graham Byrne

Counting Lions: Portraits from the Wild is written by Katie Cotton and illustrated by Stephen Walton. Virginia McKenna (from the Born Free Foundation)

A Rock Can Be . . . by Laura Purdie Salas with illustrations by Violeta Dabija

Others that stood out are of course by favourite nonfiction writers Nicola Davies and Steve Jenkins

I (Don’t) Like Snakes written by Nicola Davies and illustrated by Luciano Lozano

How to Swallow a Pig by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

Books published by Flying Eye books are often hugely beautiful and extremely interesting. This one about monkeys completely charmed me.

Mad About Monkeys by Owen Davey

Mad about Monkeys 20 favourite nonfiction titles of 2015 There's a Book for That

What are your favourites of 2015?

Thanks to Alyson from Kid Lit Frenzy for the inspiration to read and share more nonfiction picture books in 2015. Follow the link to Alyson’s blog to read about more nonfiction books you need to read!

Celebration: Literacy to fill the year (2015)

Posted on December 26, 2015 by carriegelson

I have been writing and planning numerous posts on the blog all about best and favourites of the year. Looking back through blog posts is such an interesting process – whether it is searching for books or searching for moments. I find the summarizing strangely comforting. So, I am going to do it again. This time? I am capturing a year of literacy thinking in the posts that highlight my passion: all things literacy connected to all things children. 🙂

Today, I celebrate what I feel are the ten “best of the year” posts on this blog related to reading, readers and #booklove.

In no particular order . . .

# 1 All author visits are all kinds of amazing. This one, from Calef Brown, was particularly out of this world. We were as excited to share the land we had created in his honour as Calef was eager to share his new book of poems with us. Read more here: Celebration: Calef Brown Land