Informational Book Review: Shapes, Shapes, Shapes

Title: Shapes, Shapes, Shapes
Author: Tana Hoban
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Copyright date: March 29, 1986
Number of Pages: 32 pages
Awards: N/A
Reading Levels: Picture Books "For all Ages"
These books can be read by or read aloud to children of all ages. The limited text will help to maintain a younger reader’s attention; however, you will often find sophisticated language. Picture books are often works of art with extraordinary illustrations.

and

Learning to Read Jr. "Just the Beginning"
Generally appropriate for Pre-K to 1st Grade
Books in this category are appropriate for the newest reader, just beginning to read on their own. They will help readers become familiar with the physical aspects of a book. The text and storyline are ideal for decoding and enjoying the narrative.

Lexile: N/A

Genre: Children’s Literature, Informational book, Concept book

Summary:
This book is all about shapes. When readers opens up this book they will learn about arcs, circles, hearts, hexagons, ovals, diamonds, rectangles, squares, stars, trapezoids, and triangles. It is important for students to realize that shapes are not just used in math, but that they are everywhere. Shapes can be discovered inside or outside. This book shows children where they can find shapes in their everyday lives. The most fascinating thing about this book too is that there are no words! Children have to discover and discuss what they see and learn in this book for themselves.

Academic Purpose:
This book is fantastic, and a great book to integrate into the classroom as a concept book for math. Some skills that children need to learn and understand are that shapes are not just something we learn in math, but are all around us. Shapes are a concept that we will have to know about and use in our daily life forever, so by having students recognize that shapes are not just things that we learn about in out math book is important. First, I would go through the book with the students and talk about what we see. Then, after talking about shapes and having some background knowledge on specific shapes’ names I would take students on a shape hunt. I would pair students up and give each group a disposable camera (or whatever camera/device you as the teacher seems suitable), a clipboard, and some paper. I would take students on a walk in the school and outside, and the students would have to take pictures of shapes they recognized in the school and write it down on their paper. I would have their film developed and then we would talk about what shapes we discovered in our environment.

Rating System:
**This rating system does not apply to this book, some categories do apply, but just because it doesn't fit all the categories doesn't make it a bad book.

Categories:	5 Stars	3 Stars	1 Star	Comments
Style and Language	The book anticipates readers’ questions and uses great word choice for the age targeted. It has linear progression and communicates its point clearly.	The book follows a linear progression, with some unclear points. The word choice is okay.	The book is confusing as it doesn’t follow a linear progression at all. The vocabulary in the book is either too simple or too complex for the age group targeted.	This book does not use any words. It just displays pictures. I think this book would work great for the students to tell the teacher what they see and discuss it together in class. There is no linear progression storyline, but it does communicate its point clearly about shapes. N/A Stars
Plot and Character Development	The plot is in depth and helps to create a picture in the reader’s mind. The plot is organized having a beginning, middle, and end. The character development is strong.	The plot is okay. The book is organized with a beginning, middle, and end. The characters are well developed.	The book is confusing and doesn’t have a clear beginning, middle, or end.	This book does not have a plot; it is just about finding the shapes we see in our environment. There are no characters included in this book.       N/A Stars
Interest	The book holds real life situations, which draw the reader in. The word choice and story hold the reader’s attention. The book is suitable for the age group targeted.	The book holds little interest and draws the reader in sometimes. The book is suitable for the age group targeted.	The book is very boring and doesn’t hold the reader’s attention. The book is not suitable for the age group targeted.	This book would hold a reader’s attention. This book provides pictures of shapes that we would see in our daily lives. Students will recognize some pictures from their lives and make connections. This book is a great book for students to have a discussion about. 5 stars
Educational Value	The book is relatable to education. The book can be integrated into other content areas.	The book is relatable to education. The book may need further resources to help connect it to other content areas.	The book is not relatable to education whatsoever. The book is not appropriate to be integrated into other content areas.	This book is relatable to education. This book teaches students about shapes in their environment. It is important for students to make the connection that shapes are all around us, not just in our math textbooks. 5 star

Multicultural Book Review: The Tortilla Quilt

Title: The Tortilla Quilt
Author: Jane Tenorio- Coscarelli
Publisher: Quarter Inch Designs & Publishing
Copyright date: January 1, 1996
Number of Pages: 47 pages
Awards: N/A
Reading Level: Reader Sr. "I am doing it all by myself"
Generally appropriate for 2nd Grade to 4th Grade
Books at this level are appropriate for the now confident reader who can handle more text on the page and more in depth character development.
Lexile: N/A
Genre: Children’s Literature, Multicultural

Summary:
This book is about a young Hispanic girl, Maria, who lives with her grandmother, Lupita, on a ranch in southern California. Grandma Lupita works as a cook for the Olson family, which includes a little girl named Sarah. Maria and Sarah become great friends. One night Maria watched Sarah and her mother stitch a quilt together. Maria wanted to make one herself, but she knew that the material would be too expensive for her grandmother to buy. Her Grandma came up with an idea of using the flour meal sacks from her tortillas for the quilt squares. Does this idea work for Maria to stitch a quilt together? Who helped Maria create and finish her quilt?

Academic Purpose:
This book is fantastic, and a great book to integrate into the classroom for multicultural purposes. It is important to integrate multicultural books, and not just during African American month, Native America week, or Hispanic month. Multicultural books should be used all the time for different occasions and lessons. How I would use this book in the classroom is first read it aloud to my students. I would ask them questions about their families, special traditions their families and them do together, and if students can share stories from their families’ past. I would start a word wall for this book, because it has Spanish vocabulary in it to teach some basic Spanish words. I would also have students take home a family tree chart to their family to fill out and return, so we can talk about where their family came from and what their cultures are (With this project, the teacher has to be aware of certain students that may live in foster care or a group home. The teacher may have to implement a different activity.).

The next project would be for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or any family members to tell a story or memory to their child, from their childhood. The goal would be for the child to retell the story with fluency at school in front of their peers. This project would help the students with the skills of fluency, comprehension, retelling, and also reaching the speaking and listening standards. The students would retell a family story at school, and bring a prop that goes along with their story, that can fit in the provided brown paper bag. I have seen this project in action with students, and they do such a fantastic job!

Rating System:

Categories:	5 Stars	3 Stars	1 Star	Comments
Style and Language	The book anticipates readers’ questions and uses great word choice for the age targeted. It has linear progression and communicates its point clearly.	The book follows a linear progression, with some unclear points. The word choice is okay.	The book is confusing as it doesn’t follow a linear progression at all. The vocabulary in the book is either too simple or too complex for the age group targeted.	This book uses great word choice for the age targeted. There are many Spanish vocabulary words such as, corazon, cumpleanos, abuela, and familia. The books style and language creates a great book for independent readers. This book communicates its point clearly about the Hispanic culture. The linear progression storyline is fantastic. 5 stars
Plot and Character Development	The plot is in depth and helps to create a picture in the reader’s mind. The plot is organized having a beginning, middle, and end. The character development is strong.	The plot is okay. The book is organized with a beginning, middle, and end. The characters are well developed.	The book is confusing and doesn’t have a clear beginning, middle, or end.	This book does have a plot, which creates a picture in the reader’s mind. The plot is organized having a beginning, middle, and end. This book does a great job of unfolding the characteristics of the character, Maria. It shows how patient she was to create something she always wanted to do, and how thankful she was to all those who helped her create her quilt. 5 stars
Interest	The book holds real life situations, which draw the reader in. The word choice and story hold the reader’s attention. The book is suitable for the age group targeted.	The book holds little interest and draws the reader in sometimes. The book is suitable for the age group targeted.	The book is very boring and doesn’t hold the reader’s attention. The book is not suitable for the age group targeted.	This book would hold a reader’s attention. This book provides Spanish vocabulary words, which children would love to learn. Children love to learn words from a different language it really does fascinate them. This books talks about teamwork and family, which is always a fun topic for students to have a discussion about. 5 stars
Educational Value	The book is relatable to education. The book can be integrated into other content areas.	The book is relatable to education. The book may need further resources to help connect it to other content areas.	The book is not relatable to education whatsoever. The book is not appropriate to be integrated into other content areas.	This book is relatable to education. This book teaches students about the Hispanic culture, Spanish words, family, and friendship. This book would be a great multicultural book to integrate into any content area or lesson. 5 star

 

Biography: Marie Curie

Title: Marie Curie
Author: Ibi Lepscky
Publisher: The Trumpet Club Inc.
Copyright date: January 1, 1995
Number of Pages: 22 pages
Awards: N/A
Reading Level: Independent Reader Jr. "I am a Reader"
Generally appropriate for 4th Grade to 7th Grade
These books are appropriate for the independent reader who can retain and understand more elaborate and sophisticated story elements.
Lexile: 650L
Genre: Children’s Literature, Biography, Nonfiction

Summary:
This book tells the true story about a shy, sensitive, emotional girl name Marie Curie. This biography tells about her love for books. She loved reading a looking at books at such a young age. She loved exploring her dad’s physics equipment and listening to him tell her about them. In this biography, children will read about how Marie Curie was a scientist before she even attended school. Children will learn and discover what amazing scientific discovery, Marie Curie made for our world.

Academic Purpose:
This book is fantastic, and a great book to integrate into classroom instruction. I would use this book during science. The first week of school, I would have student’s research different scientists and present their information to the class. Scientists students could research are Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell etc., and of course Marie Curie. Students would be paired up with a classmate to create this presentation. I would have display their finding on the science bulletin board in the classroom. The point of this project would be for the students to know that we have had so many amazing scientists discover so many things, but I want students to realize that they are too scientists. This project would just set the theme for the whole year, that students will be actively partaking in all the science activities and that they will be scientists too.

 **This book is a great reading book to integrate into reading, science, and social studies!

Rating System:

Categories:	5 Stars	3 Stars	1 Star	Comments
Style and Language	The book anticipates readers’ questions and uses great word choice for the age targeted. It has linear progression and communicates its point clearly.	The book follows a linear progression, with some unclear points. The word choice is okay.	The book is confusing as it doesn’t follow a linear progression at all. The vocabulary in the book is either too simple or too complex for the age group targeted.	This book uses great word choice for the age targeted. There are many vocabulary words such as, stupendous, electroscopes, and sensitive. The books style and language creates a great book for independent readers. This book communicates its point clearly about Marie Curie. The linear progression storyline is fantastic. 5 stars
Plot and Character Development	The plot is in depth and helps to create a picture in the reader’s mind. The plot is organized having a beginning, middle, and end. The character development is strong.	The plot is okay. The book is organized with a beginning, middle, and end. The characters are well developed.	The book is confusing and doesn’t have a clear beginning, middle, or end.	This book does have a plot, according to how biographies are written. The book starts with Marie Curie’s birth and goes through until her adult years. The biography creates a picture in the reader’s mind. The biography is organized having a beginning, middle, and end. This book does a great job of unfolding the characteristics of the character. Readers get to know how curious Marie Curie was about the world around her. 5 stars
Interest	The book holds real life situations, which draw the reader in. The word choice and story hold the reader’s attention. The book is suitable for the age group targeted.	The book holds little interest and draws the reader in sometimes. The book is suitable for the age group targeted.	The book is very boring and doesn’t hold the reader’s attention. The book is not suitable for the age group targeted.	This book would hold a reader’s attention. I think young girls would love to read and learn about Marie Curie. The only thing is that this book was made a long time ago, so the pictures are not vibrant with color.   3 stars
Educational Value	The book is relatable to education. The book can be integrated into other content areas.	The book is relatable to education. The book may need further resources to help connect it to other content areas.	The book is not relatable to education whatsoever. The book is not appropriate to be integrated into other content areas.	This book is relatable to education. This book teaches students about the life of scientists starting from when they were born. This book would be great to integrate in a science unit or lesson. 5 star

Biography: Snowflake Bentley

Title: Snowflake Bentley
Author: Jacqueline Briggs Martin
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Copyright date: September 28, 1998
Number of Pages: 32 pages
Awards: Caldecott Medal
Reading Level: Reader Sr. "I am doing it all by myself"
Generally appropriate for 2nd Grade to 4th Grade
Books at this level are appropriate for the now confident reader who can handle more text on the page and more in depth character development.
Lexile: 830L
Genre: Children’s Literature, Biography, Nonfiction

Summary:
This book tells the true story about a farm boy named Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley. Wilson really loved the snow and snowflakes. He loved nature. He loved taking pictures of things in nature, and showing them to others, for them to realize all the little things they are missing every day. His dream was to take pictures of snowflakes, but they always melted. When Willie was young, he drew a hundred snow crystals each winter for three winters. When he grew older, his parents bought him a camera with its own microscope. Willie spent years trying to figure out how to photograph a snowflake. What did Snowflake Bentley discover about the snowflakes he studied? Does Snowflake Bentley succeed in photographing snowflakes? What steps will he take to achieve his goal? Bentley's enthusiasm for photographing snowflakes was often misunderstood in his time, but his patience and determination was all that mattered to him.

Academic Purpose:

This book is fantastic, and a great book to integrate into classroom instruction. I would have this book and lesson all prepared, so I can do a lesson on this book right when the first snow fall happens. When it snows, the conversation in the classroom is usually all about snow, being cold, and snowflakes. Before I read the book, I would ask students probing questions about snowflakes and have them fill out a KWL chart. I would then read the book aloud to the students or read it by choral reading, and keep track of any misunderstood words the students may have questions about. Then, after the reading we would talk about the book, misunderstood words, and what they learned.

I would then have students do some further researching. I would either use my computer and the projector, or have students use IPads or laptops, whatever is available. I would then have students research and participate in a class discussion about other scientists that have researched snowflakes and what their contribution is. After researching multiple scientists, I would teach students how to make a six branch snowflake all different sizes and designs, and we would decorate the classroom with them. Then, once the students have a good grasp of making the snowflakes, I would have students make about five different size, color, and designs of them and glue them on a large piece of construction paper. In the middle of the snowflake collage, students would then create a poem, Haiku, Sonnet, Limerick, free verse, or Acrostic, about snowflakes. Then, I would display the art pieces on a bulletin board.

**This book is a great reading book to integrate into all content areas!

Rating System:

Categories:	5 Stars	3 Stars	1 Star	Comments
Style and Language	The book anticipates readers’ questions and uses great word choice for the age targeted. It has linear progression and communicates its point clearly.	The book follows a linear progression, with some unclear points. The word choice is okay.	The book is confusing as it doesn’t follow a linear progression at all. The vocabulary in the book is either too simple or too complex for the age group targeted.	This book uses great word choice for the age targeted. There is many vocabulary words such as, microscope, intricate, foolishness, and jumbled. The books style and language creates a great book for independent readers. This book communicates its point clearly about Snowflake Bentley. The linear progression storyline is fantastic. 5 stars
Plot and Character Development	The plot is in depth and helps to create a picture in the reader’s mind. The plot is organized having a beginning, middle, and end. The character development is strong.	The plot is okay. The book is organized with a beginning, middle, and end. The characters are well developed.	The book is confusing and doesn’t have a clear beginning, middle, or end.	This book does have a plot, according to how biographies are written. The book starts with Snowflake Bentley’s birth and goes through until his adult years. The biography creates a picture in the reader’s mind. The biography is organized having a beginning, middle, and end. This book does a great job of unfolding the characteristics of the character. Readers get to know how patient and determined Snowflake Bentley was. 5 stars
Interest	The book holds real life situations, which draw the reader in. The word choice and story hold the reader’s attention. The book is suitable for the age group targeted.	The book holds little interest and draws the reader in sometimes. The book is suitable for the age group targeted.	The book is very boring and doesn’t hold the reader’s attention. The book is not suitable for the age group targeted.	This book definitely holds the reader’s attention. All young readers love to learn about snow and snowflakes. This book has great pictures to capture young readers’ eyes. The illustrations are detailed and engaging. 5 stars
Educational Value	The book is relatable to education. The book can be integrated into other content areas.	The book is relatable to education. The book may need further resources to help connect it to other content areas.	The book is not relatable to education whatsoever. The book is not appropriate to be integrated into other content areas.	This book is relatable to education. This book can teach students about snowflakes and what they look like that not one snowflake are the same. This could also go along in a lesson about how each child is unique and different in his own way. 5 star