Scholastic books | There's a Book for That

We’ve been able to pick up some fantastic non-fiction titles through Scholastic Books this year. Published through the National Geographic Society, these books include all the non-fiction features necessary to make navigating through the pages a wonderful experience. Hundreds of full colour photos, maps, labelled diagrams, comparisons, an interactive glossary and more! Recently, we used Everything Big Cats to practice asking questions before we read and to answer questions about the text by interacting successfully with the features.

This past week our Reading group learned about the differences between the big cats, what the big cats eat and how they hunt and how the bodies of big cats are built to survive.

Some of our pre-reading questions:

Do big cats hunt together in a pack? (Jena)
Do they have super smell for food? (Jenifer)
Why do cheetahs have dots? (Hajhare)
Do they eat human beings? (Truman)
Why do tigers need whiskers? (Sergio)
Do they eat in groups? (Lisa)
Does their fur keep them warm? (Eddy)
How big is their brain? (Jeremiah)
How strong is the force of a big cat’s bite? (Ricky)

Students answered questions about what the big cats eat using a chart called What’s For Lunch? Some surprising discoveries? Jaguars eat small crocodiles (large crocodiles would be too dangerous). Leopards hunt (very carefully) porcupines! We also discovered that tigers can eat the equivalent of 80 pounds (36 kg) of meat in one sitting. Wow!

Students also found it interesting to compare the bodies and fur patterns of the four big cats by reading Who’s Who? The largest of the big cats? The tiger who can weigh up to 660 pounds (300 kg)! We also learned that the stripes on a tiger are like fingerprints. No two stripe patterns are the same. And what about black panthers? They are actually either jaguars or leopards with dark fur. Who knew?

Some popular picture books in our new book displays – purchased through Scholastic book orders.

Mouse was Mad by Linda Urban and illustrated by Henry Cole. How is little mouse going to express his anger? His stomping can’t shake the trees like Bear. His screaming doesn’t echo through the woods like Bobcat. This makes him so mad that he stands perfectly still. He breathes. The other animals join in, breathing too. Suddenly mouse is no longer mad. Hmm. . . Look what breathing can do for you! For a MindUp classroom, this book made a whole lot of sense!

The Very Itchy Bear by Nick Bland is very amusing. The Very Cranky Bear returns – this time bothered by a troublesome little flea.

Biting high and biting low,

This is flea biting Bear under here and over there

Absolutely annoying until Bear flicks flea into the ocean and finds himself all alone and flea finds himself almost dinner for a hungry bird. In the end, these two become appreciative friends.

Chris Barton and Tom Lichtenheld bring us the award winning bestseller Shark vs. Train. This book is pulled off the shelf almost daily. It is pretty hilarious. In the hands of little toy box raiding boys, shark and train come to life to battle. Who will win in these very imaginative scenarios? In a hot air balloon? Roasting marshmallows? (hint – shark is all wet!) Giving rides at a carnival? Playing hide and seek? (Really they both fail miserably on this one – steam and fins are just too obvious!) Who wins in the end? The call for lunch!

What a book! Details of what happens on a farm day in and day out. Who lives there? The farmers, the cattle, the chickens, countless cats, etc. What do we find? Barns, sheds, tractors, trucks, plenty of equipment . . . And what exactly happens? Enough great details to fill a book that you have to really settle into to finish reading. A great read aloud but also a great book to explore with a friend. Elisha Cooper‘s Farm is a must for the primary classroom.

Today it was a book to read and chase me with, recounting new facts learned. “Ms. Gelson did you know that cats eat grasshoppers? “Ms. Gelson, dirt can look like dark chocolate!” On and on!