I believe most children learn by doing. After reading one of my books, I hope kids (and adults) will go outside in the moist air after a rain and listen to the sounds of frogs, or go to a beach and discover what amazing works of art seashells are, as they touch and feel them. Or with model magic clay, they create a coral reef or make a diorama of a forest animal habitat.
My “informational picture books” combine fact with fiction, which I like to call “faction.” According to author April Pulley Sayre, “Administrators are starting to recognize that non-fiction writing is the key to student achievement.” Bravo to that! So many wonderfully written non-fiction picture books are launch pads for learning, and they are FUN!
In 2004, I used the age-old song, Over in the Meadow for Over in the Ocean, in a Coral Reef. Because it rhymes and has a meter,the book can help a child learn to read as well as learn about a coral reef habitat. There are now six “Over” books to draw kids “inside” the book as they read about animals living in coral reefs, forests ,the Arctic, Australia, rainforests, and now rivers, where they also learn geography in a fun way.
Enter Common Core Standards, now a classroom reality in 45 states. They emphasize that an increase in the amount of informational text students hear, read and write is needed. Teachers now look at non-fiction picture books from a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) point of view. And lately I’ve seen the buzz word, STEAM, which adds “art” to the mix.
My fifteen books, published by Dawn Publications, Sylvan Dell Publications and Lerner provide skills to help kids be critical thinkers and increase success in reading, math and science. Every book is carefully vetted by experts in the field and they all have downloadable curriculum connections for educators (and parents) that fit the Common Core Standards.
Take, for example, my last three published in 2013:
Anybody Home? published by Sylvan Dell in Sept. 2013 has 30 pages of downloadable teaching materials including a Reader's Theater
Over in A River, Flowing Out to the Sea, published by Dawn Publications in August 2013, has a reproducible map of all the rivers in the book (great for learning geography of 12 different rivers in the U.S.A) along with other fun teaching activities.
What's in the Garden? published by Dawn Publications in March 2013, includes 12 recipes that are in the book that can be reproduced along with bookmarks of the fruits and veggies, and other learning activities.
I can't say enough about how these wonderful publishers make learning FUN!
This anonymous saying sums it all up:
Tell me and I forget
Show me and I remember
Involve me and I understand.
My “informational picture books” combine fact with fiction, which I like to call “faction.” According to author April Pulley Sayre, “Administrators are starting to recognize that non-fiction writing is the key to student achievement.” Bravo to that! So many wonderfully written non-fiction picture books are launch pads for learning, and they are FUN!
In 2004, I used the age-old song, Over in the Meadow for Over in the Ocean, in a Coral Reef. Because it rhymes and has a meter,the book can help a child learn to read as well as learn about a coral reef habitat. There are now six “Over” books to draw kids “inside” the book as they read about animals living in coral reefs, forests ,the Arctic, Australia, rainforests, and now rivers, where they also learn geography in a fun way.
Enter Common Core Standards, now a classroom reality in 45 states. They emphasize that an increase in the amount of informational text students hear, read and write is needed. Teachers now look at non-fiction picture books from a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) point of view. And lately I’ve seen the buzz word, STEAM, which adds “art” to the mix.
My fifteen books, published by Dawn Publications, Sylvan Dell Publications and Lerner provide skills to help kids be critical thinkers and increase success in reading, math and science. Every book is carefully vetted by experts in the field and they all have downloadable curriculum connections for educators (and parents) that fit the Common Core Standards.
Take, for example, my last three published in 2013:
Anybody Home? published by Sylvan Dell in Sept. 2013 has 30 pages of downloadable teaching materials including a Reader's Theater
Over in A River, Flowing Out to the Sea, published by Dawn Publications in August 2013, has a reproducible map of all the rivers in the book (great for learning geography of 12 different rivers in the U.S.A) along with other fun teaching activities.
What's in the Garden? published by Dawn Publications in March 2013, includes 12 recipes that are in the book that can be reproduced along with bookmarks of the fruits and veggies, and other learning activities.
I can't say enough about how these wonderful publishers make learning FUN!
This anonymous saying sums it all up:
Tell me and I forget
Show me and I remember
Involve me and I understand.