The National Science Teachers Association, in concert
with the Children’s Book Council, publishes a list of outstanding science books
for K-12 every year. Activities for the
different science areas are included from 2010 forward.
·
Picture-Perfect Science: Favorite children’s
books for teaching science, K-6
Lots of Common Core lists are popping up. This one’s from the Miami-Dade County School
System, a long list-divided by areas of science-of classic to fairly new
fiction and non-fiction books.
The list aligns each book with the Michigan Curriculum
Framework Science Benchmarks instead of the Common Core State Standards, but it
matches each book’s content with science process skills such as observation,
measurement, investigative process, etc., along with which science concepts and
vocabulary are covered, provides a story brief and includes comments such as
whether the depiction of viewing an eclipse was done correctly (The Moon Book
by Gail Gibbons-it was) or whether safety guidelines regarding thunderstorms
were followed (Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco-they weren’t).
·
Integrating Science with Children’s Literature
Terrific Science is a company that provides professional
development opportunities in science for teachers of preschool through college
age students. This extensive list of books
is supplemented by free downloadable pdfs of coordinating activities.
Gail Gibbons has written many, many science based picture
books for the K-3 crowd (many NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book selections). She has two guides available for download
with worksheets that coordinate with her books.
You will undoubtedly use some Gibbons books at some point if you are
teaching primary grades!
Author of more than 250 science books for kids (many NSTA
Outstanding Science Trade Book selections), his website offers identified
educators (with a school email address) lots of supplemental material. He has a blog and kid activities as well.
A bulletin board where educators and others can post ideas
they have regarding extensions of Carle’s books. Some are science related, many are art
related.
MeL Databases-Book Flix
pairs e-book fiction and non-fiction beginning readers, and many science books
are included. NoveList K-8 Plus allows you to limit your search by several
filters including: age (0-8, 9-12), fiction or nonfiction, Lexile level, grade
level, or even publication date. MeLCat-over 10 million book titles, including
kids’ titles, available from over 400 libraries around the state. CMU (as well as many other colleges and
universities) participates in MeLCat. M.O.R.E.-Michigan Online Resources for
Educators-A growing collection
of tens of thousands of curriculum based materials such as lesson plans, interactive
Web sites, and other instructional resources for K-12 education.
