Eyes on Adventure: Exploring Earth's Treasures by Don Olson
Synopsis: This informational text includes extensive information on the unique features found on the earth, such as volcanoes, rock formation, gems, and crystals. It is full of photographs, charts, drawings, and maps that are both interesting and informative. However, the book is not written in the traditional narrative form. Instead, each page includes multiple illustrations and descriptive captions. The unique photos catch the reader's interest and are complimented by descriptive captions, which hooks the reader and encourages further exploration of the text.
Determining Importance Strategy: "Becoming Familiar with the Characteristics of Nonfiction Trade Books" (p 161) would be a great activity in which to incorporate this text. Students peruse many different nonfiction trade books to become familiar with their features. Next, students create a page about a chosen topic. Students are required to include features from the nonfiction books they referenced, such as pictures, captions, and titles. Because this text includes all of these features (and more), it is a great trade book to use in this activity.
Determining Importance Strategy: "Becoming Familiar with the Characteristics of Nonfiction Trade Books" (p 161) would be a great activity in which to incorporate this text. Students peruse many different nonfiction trade books to become familiar with their features. Next, students create a page about a chosen topic. Students are required to include features from the nonfiction books they referenced, such as pictures, captions, and titles. Because this text includes all of these features (and more), it is a great trade book to use in this activity.
Eyes on Adventure: Exploring Space by Leigh Hope Wood
Synopsis: Similar to the previous text, this book is written using multiple illustrations with descriptive captions. The captions tell the story of space, from the prominent historical figures involved in its exploration to the more modern discoveries. The illustrations are vivid and colorful, which makes the book appealing to young readers. Children learn can and have fun while reading this book!
Determining Importance Strategy: The strategy called "Determining What's Important When Writing Information" (p 162) would be a nice activity in which to include this text. Students use a nonfiction text to learn about being an 'expert' in a specific field of study. After studying these texts, students choose their own expert topic and create a small book on their selected subject. This book would provide a great model for how to set up an informational text that students could reference while engaging in this activity.
Determining Importance Strategy: The strategy called "Determining What's Important When Writing Information" (p 162) would be a nice activity in which to include this text. Students use a nonfiction text to learn about being an 'expert' in a specific field of study. After studying these texts, students choose their own expert topic and create a small book on their selected subject. This book would provide a great model for how to set up an informational text that students could reference while engaging in this activity.
Synopsis: This book tells the story of the discovery of the once lost ship Titanic. It is written by the discoverer himself, Robert D. Ballard and includes his first-hand experiences of searching for and finding the Titanic on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The book also depicts what life was like on the Titanic when it sank from the point of view of a young passenger (and survivor) named Ruth Becker. Vivid pictures depict the majestic ship before and during the sinking as well as its discovery almost 75 years later. Descriptive captions accompany the pictures and correspond nicely with the text. This is a great read for anyone interested in this historical disaster.
Determining Importance Strategy: Nonfiction is a great genre for teaching children how to determine importance. The lesson entitled "Coding Important Information on Unfamiliar as Well as Familiar Topics" (p 165) would be an effective activity for this text. Because the sinking of the Titanic is so well known, students are easily able to distinguish new information. New information is then coded with the letter L using something such as a post-it. A text about a topic that is not as well-known would cause students to code almost all of the text in Ls and would not be an effective text for this strategy. Students can also use a * to code the important parts of the text.
Determining Importance Strategy: Nonfiction is a great genre for teaching children how to determine importance. The lesson entitled "Coding Important Information on Unfamiliar as Well as Familiar Topics" (p 165) would be an effective activity for this text. Because the sinking of the Titanic is so well known, students are easily able to distinguish new information. New information is then coded with the letter L using something such as a post-it. A text about a topic that is not as well-known would cause students to code almost all of the text in Ls and would not be an effective text for this strategy. Students can also use a * to code the important parts of the text.
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