Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion

By: Loree Griffin Burns
Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007
Reading Level: 8.5 (Accelerated Reader)
Read Aloud


Book Description: Non-Fiction, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award

A dead seabird found with a stomach full of plastic scraps.  A plastic laundry basket found resting in a coral reef.  These are just two examples of how the trash we dispose of may not end up where it was meant to go.  In Tracking Trash, follow Dr. Curt Ebbesmeyer as he attempts to track the movement of trash across the world's oceans and determine its impact on the natural world.  Author Loree Griffin Burns tells the story of how one man's research project caught the world's attention.

*Teacher Resources for Tracking Trash

Supporting Electronic Resources:
YouTube
This YouTube is a trailer for Tracking Trash and offers a brief introduction to the book.  Use this before reading to set the stage for the book.
Beach Combers
Explore Dr. Ebbesmeyer's website and read his newsletter.  Take a deeper look at some of his research projects and learn more about pollution and waste.
Loree Burns
Loree Burns' website offers a list of related books and hands-on activities to supplement Tracking Trash.  She has also posted pictures of the various research trips she took while writing Tracking Trash. 

Vocabulary:
beachcomber, convergence zone, downwelling, flotsam, gyre, jetsam, meridian, nurdles, windage

Teaching Suggestions:
-Have students practice working with an index to find specific content in the book.
-Demonstrate how to use a glossary to define unfamiliar terms.
-Use the introduction page to each chapter as an opportunity to set the stage for reading.  Introduce the topic, check for prior knowledge, etc.

Comprehension Strategies:
Before Reading-Use a KWL chart to see what students know about the destination of their trash, how it gets there, etc.  Also, determine what they would like to know.
After Reading- Create chapter summaries that highlight the key information from each chapter.  Also, use these summaries to answer any questions on the KWL chart.

Writing Prompt:
Have students create news articles that inform others of Dr. Ebbesmeyer's trash tracking research projects.

Family Reminders

By: Julie Danneberg
Illustrated by: John Shelley
Charlesbridge Publishing, 2009
Reading Level: 4.8 (Accelerated Reader)
Independent Read


Book Description: Realistic Fiction, Chapter Book

Mary McHugh is a young girl living in Colorado during the late 1800's.  While she goes to school, her father heads to the mines for a tough day of work and her mother tends to the house.  However, one day there is a serious accident at the mine and Mary's father suffers a terrible injury.  Everything in Mary's life changes at this point and she struggles to bring happiness back into her home.  Author Julie Danneberg and illustrator John Shelley tell a story of hope, struggle, and perseverance in Family Reminders.

* Teacher Resources for Family Reminders

Supporting Electronic Resources:
TeacherVision
The Teacher Vision website offers a printable teacher's guide for Family Reminders.  The guide includes comprehension questions, extension activities, and a list of other books written by Julie Danneberg.
Cripple Creek
The Cripple Creek website explores the mining history of Cripple Creek, Colorado.  Use this website as a before-reading source to discuss setting, story characters, and examine the town's heritage.

Vocabulary:
fripperies, trudge, deliberately, bleak, revert, listlessly, orneriness, exasperated, brood, flounce, linger, lilting

Teaching Suggestions:
-Use this book in conjunction with a social studies lesson on westward expansion.
-Discuss the role that flashbacks play in a story.  Why are they used?
-Explain the purpose of the author's note at the end of a story.

Comprehension Strategies:
Before Reading- Use the prologue to introduce the characters and setting.  Have students make predictions of what the conflict will be based on what they read in the prologue.
After Reading- Using the comprehension guide listed under the electronic resources, have a literary discussion based from the comprehension questions.  These questions focus mainly on inferential comprehension.

Writing Prompt:
Have students draw a reminder of their own.  Using this reminder, have them write a journal entry explaining what the reminder depicts and also have them explain why they chose to draw that specific reminder.

Never Take a Pig to Lunch

Selected and Illustrated by: Nadine Bernard Westcott
Orchard Books, 1994
Reading Level: 5.1 (Accelerated Reader)
Independent Read


Book Description: Poetry, Picture Book, Children's Choice Award

Never Take a Pig to Lunch is a collection of poems that all pertain to the thing we love most, food.  Weird foods, delicious foods, and even table manners are all topics in this collection of over sixty poems.  Arnold Adoff, Florence Parry Heide, and John Ciardi are just a few of the poets that make an appearance in Never Take a Pig to Lunch, arranged and illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott.

* Teaching Resources for Never Take a Pig to Lunch

Supporting Electronic Sources:
EDSITEment
This website contains guiding questions, learning objectives, and extension activities that can be used with Never Take a Pig to Lunch.  There are also lesson ideas for both reading and writing poetry.
Scholastic
Scholastic offers a list of poetry collections recommended to readers in grades K-5.  Use this list to select other poetry collections based on grade level and interests.

Vocabulary:
cantankerous, writhing, famished, anemic, grudge, macaroon, vat, gristle, crude

Teaching Suggestions:
-Focus on the variation of poetry styles used in the collection
-Examine the use of poetic license in various poems throughout the collection

Comprehension Strategies:
Before Reading- Preview the setup of this poetry collection.  Some poems cover multiple pages, some pages contain multiple poems, and some poems are broken up into columns or other unusual forms.  Ensure that students are able to follow the words in each poem without getting confused.
During Reading- Encourage students to use illustration to determine unknown words and enhance their comprehension of a poem. 

Writing Prompt:
Have students write an ode to their favorite food.  They can use examples from Never Take a Pig to Lunch to determine how they would like to set up their poem.

Survival At 40 Below

By: Debbie S. Miller
Illustrated by: Jon Van Zyle
Walker Publishing Company, 2010
Reading Level: 5.8 (Accelerated Reader)
Independent Read


Book Description: Non-Fiction, Picture Book, Teachers' Choice Award

Autumn is coming to an end in Gates of the Arctic National Park and the animals are preparing for the harsh winter ahead.  While some animals hurry to gather food, others begin to slow down and enter into hibernation.  While each animal will face individual challenges in the months ahead, they all have unique ways of surviving the difficult winter season.  Debbie S. Miller and Jon Van Zyle describe a winter in the Arctic tundra in this Techers' Choice Award winning book.

*Teaching Resources for Survival At 40 Below

Supporting Electronic Sources:
Debbie Miller Alaska
This website contains further information on animals from the book and also lists related books and articles.  Use this source after reading for extension activities and materials.

Vocabulary:
 regal, tundra, cache, carrion, duff, torpor, pigment, metabolism, agile, dormant

Teaching Suggestions:
-Use this book to discuss certain types of conflicts in literature (character vs. nature, character vs. character)
-This book can be used in conjunction with a science lesson on animal adaptations
-Instruct students on how to use a glossary to look up unfamiliar terms

Comprehension Strategies:
Before Reading- Have students fill out an entrance slip that asks "How do animals survive in the winter?"  This will promote a connection to prior knowledge and will set the stage for the book.
After Reading- Have students select an animal from the story and summarize how the animal survives during the winter.

Writing Prompt:
Research an animal from an opposite climate such as a desert and summarize how this animal survives in its climate.  Compare this to how animals survive in the Arctic tundra.

Young Zeus

By: G. Brian Karas
Scholastic Press, 2010
Reading Level: 3.2 (Accelerated Reader)
Independent Read

Book Description: Picture Book, Mythology, Children's Choice Award

Young Zeus lives on an island in Greece, raised by a she-goat named Amaltheia.  However, Zeus is lonely.  He has no brothers or sisters to play with and does not understand where all the other gods have gone to.  When Zeus finds out that his brothers and sisters are being held captive, he undertakes a heroic mission to bring peace back to the heavens.  G. Brian Karas tells the tale of how Zeus came to power using picture book in Young Zeus.

* Teaching Resources for Young Zeus

Supporting Electronic Resources:
MythWeb
Use this site after reading to further research Zeus and examine his life as an adult.  This website can be used in extension activities.
PBS Kids
This website can be used before or during the story to map out Zeus's family tree.  Descriptions of each character can be added and students can map out the relationships of characters in the story.  Use this website as a comprehension tool.

Vocabulary:
enchanted, Titan, underworld, banish, murky, radiant, bicker, reign

Teaching Suggestions:
-Use this book to introduce mythology
-Have students create character maps for various characters in the story

Comprehension Strategies:
Before Reading- Introduce the characters in the book using the cast of characters page in the beginning of the book.
During Reading- Use the online family tree to map out Zeus's family tree and identify characteristics of each family member.  This will help students understand how one character relates to another.

Writing Prompt:
Create a poem for two voices using Zeus and Cronus.  Students can compare/contrast Zeus and his father using the poem.