Books

__Lexile Level __: AD380L __Page Count __: 29 __Summary: __ The author asks readers to make sounds using every-day items such as students’ vocal cords and a can of marbles. It explains in age-appropriate detail that when a person speaks, their vocal cords vibrate through the air making sound waves (which explains one of the standards). Expanding on this, the author tells how people (including emergency vehicles) and animals make sounds to send messages to each other. Great vocabulary is used to explain how bats, whales, and dolphins communicate by sending sound waves through air or water- bats use echolocation and dolphins and whales use sonar. Sounds are measured in decibels and common things that produce sound are listed with approximately how many decibels each thing produces. The last couple pages list directions on how to make a guitar, musical glasses, and paper cup telephones. These activities could be implemented and expanded in the classroom. I love this book because it is on a first grade level so students could read it themselves and discover sounds without teacher lecture. The illustrations are cartoons of children that look like they are in first grade so the students would be able to relate to the children. The book also uses examples of sounds that students would be able to create themselves or easily find items to help them create the sounds (like a can of marbles). I like that the author uses the sounds that animals make or they way that they communicate to explain sounds because students at this age generally love animals and therefore have a higher chance of staying interested in the material.
 * __“Sounds All Around” by Wendy Pfeffer and illustrated by Holly Keller __**

__Lexile Level __: 380L __Page Count__: 24 __Summary__: This book about shadows starts off with a table of contents and splits up the 20 page book into the following short chapters: “Shadows Big and Small”, “Creating Shadows”, “Big and Bigger Shadows”, “Changing Shadows”, “Shadow Play”, “Kinds of Shadows”, and “Words to Know” (a.k.a. the Glossary). Pamela Hall put print on the left side of the book and uses photographs for her illustrations on the right side of the book. Each photograph has a caption and is illustrating what is being explained in the text on the corresponding page. Hall defines what a shadow is and explains that they are made when an object blocks the sun’s rays. She also tells children that shade is just a really big shadow, including the shadow on Earth that causes nighttime. One hard thing for children to understand about shadows is how they change throughout the day. The author explains how shadows will look throughout the day and lists the contributing factors. I think this is a great book for first graders because it is on their level but still challenges them to think about shadows by asking questions in the text and in the captions. The section called “Shadow Play” is a great section for students to experiment with their own shadow. It asks children if they can create a shadow puppet, high-five a friend’s shadow, or fit into a friend’s shadow shape. Not only is this book good for teaching students the basics of shadows, but it also introduces them to a table of contents and glossary, which ties literacy and science together in a small way. Overall, this book is perfect for covering the part of the standard, “explain how shadows are made.”
 * __“Follow It! Learn About Shadows” By Pamela Hall __**

This book is not listed in the online AR catalog or on Lexile.com so I estimated the reading level myself after reading the book. <span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">__Estimated Reading Level:__ 2nd grade <span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">__Page Count__: 22 <span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">__Summary__: <span style="font-family: 'californian fb','serif'; font-size: 17px;">The author begins by asking readers what kinds of sounds they can hear and how each would be described. Jennings then informs young learners that something always has to move to make a sound and includes examples such as letting the air out of a balloon and movement of the voice box when a human speaks. To further expand, he explains that sound travels through air, water, and solid things and provides examples of each. The last few pages describe experiments that children can make at home to learn about different objects that create low and high sounds. A couple examples are plucking different length rubber bands and tapping bottles with varying amounts of water. One page also includes pictures of the following musical instruments: trumpet, guitar, recorder, base, drum, and symbols. Jennings lists the different ways that humans use the instruments pictured to make music and asks readers if they can guess which way to play each instrument. <span style="font-family: 'californian fb','serif'; font-size: 17px;">This process of interaction makes this book a great source for students to read by themselves and still participate in active learning. “Making Sounds” is appropriate for students on an upper first grade reading level and for students on any first grade comprehension level. It can be used for building background knowledge before students read some of the other books in the text set. I also like “Making Sounds” because it provides activities for students to do at home or at school in order to experiment with sounds. They could make predictions before constructing each instrument and then verify their predictions afterwards. __<span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">Key Vocabulary __<span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">: <span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">The following vocabulary terms were listed in the glossary of this book: **High, low, soft, stethoscope, telephone, tune, voice,** and **voice box**. These words are appropriate for a vocabulary review with this book because they are the more difficult words used and would be the most challenging to students. The terms high, low, and soft are terms listed in the standard as words that students should know.
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">“Junior Science Making Sounds” by Terry Jennings __**

<span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">This book is not listed in the online AR catalog or on Lexile.com so I estimated the reading level myself after reading the book. <span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">__Estimated Reading Level:__ 2nd grade <span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">__Page Count__: 22 <span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">__Summary__: <span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">The book begins with drawings of a landscape at different times of the day. Jennings explains that the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening and that the sun provides light for us while it is in the sky. Then he describes what it is like when there is no light and describes the feeling as being blindfolded. This would be an appropriate time to discuss with students other situations that people would not be able to see (like if they were vision impaired). Shadows are described next by definition, making shadow puppets, and how shadows change throughout the day based on how the sun moves through the sky. Next the book talks about how the eye sees different types of objects, like translucent and transparent (large vocabulary words). A transition from light to dark takes place and the book finishes with nocturnal animals and how light affects plants as well. <span style="font-family: 'californian fb','serif'; font-size: 17px;">I like how this book is in a series with the “Junior Science Making Sounds” book so that if students read one, they will be familiar with the format of the other. The books are detailed and have appropriate illustrations that will attract students’ attention and accurately describe the text on the page. However, the level of the reading is higher than the average first grader so scaffolding would be necessary. Since there is a glossary at the end and there are good vocabulary words throughout, it would be a good book to introduce new words. I also like that this book contrasts light with explanations of dark as well. __<span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">Key Vocabulary: __<span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">The following vocabulary terms were listed in the glossary of this book: **dark, lens, light, magnifying glass, opaque, sunrise, sunset, translucent,** and **transparent**. These words are appropriate for a vocabulary review with this book because they are the more difficult words used in the text. The words opaque, translucent, and transparent are not words that students are required to know but are great for an extension activity for students who need the challenge.
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">“Junior Science Light and Dark” by Terry Jennings __**

__<span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">ATOS Book Level __<span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">: 2.6 <span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">__Interest Level__: Lower Grades (K-3) <span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">__Page Count__: 29 <span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">__Summary:__ <span style="font-family: 'californian fb','serif'; font-size: 17px;">This nonfiction story is about a little boy and his sister who take pretend roles of service workers ranging from a firefighter to a dump truck driver. Each role is given a brief description and tells why the job is important. When the boy pretends to be an EMT in an ambulance, a construction worker, a helicopter pilot, a train conductor, and a garbage truck driver, he imitates the sounds that each vehicle make, which is one of the objectives under the standard. The children’s mother observes and frequently asks for a hug but the little boy refuses saying he is too busy with his job, until the very last page when he admits that even firefighters hug their moms. <span style="font-family: 'californian fb','serif'; font-size: 17px;">I love this book because it gives students examples of creativity through the use of words and pictures. The illustrations show that the little boy uses household items to improvise his service jobs. For example, he uses couch cushions to create a building and a pot top as the steering wheel to his vehicles. This book is also good for introducing students to a wide range of important jobs in the community while touching on safety at the same time. Lastly, the author emphasizes the importance of maintaining relationships with one’s family, no matter where one goes in life.
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">“Even Firefighters Hug Their Moms” by Christine Kole MacLean __**

__**<span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">Online Biography of Thomas Edison **__ __<span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">Estimated Reading Level: __<span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;"> 2nd grade <span style="font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">__Summary:__ The following biography was discovered at []. “ <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Californian FB','serif'; font-size: 17px;">This biography by Patsy Stevens, a retired teacher, was written in 2001.” It portrays the life of Thomas Edison using language that first graders can understand. The author focused on Edison’s inventions and successes in life instead of family information like some biographies do. I like this approach because it allows readers to focus on what impact Edison had on society. Difficult vocabulary words are followed with an asterisk and definitions are provided at the end of the article. This is the perfect set up for a vocabulary activity!