Posts Tagged ‘Current Events’
Book talks are one of the most important tools in our literacy toolbox.
Whether its educator to child, parent to parent, or (most effectively) kid to kid, that enthusiastic description about a book and why you should read it is oh-so-effective in getting a child interested in reading. [Image Credit: Picasa Web Album]
When I read author Shannon Hale’s recent blog post Why Boys Don’t Read Girls (Sometimes) I started thinking about how we craft those pitches. She starts with this observation …
[Boys] are looking around at each other, trying to figure out what it means to be a boy—and often their conclusion is to be “not a girl.” Whatever a girl is, they must be the opposite. So a book written by a girl? With a girl on the cover? Not something a boy should be caught reading.
She continues by offering examples from her book signings: boys who read her books on the sly because they’re too embarrassed to acknowledge it publicly.
Ashamed to read a good book? Beyond heartbreaking.
Within the blogosphere you’ll find many re-posts and commentary about Hale’s original piece. I particularly liked Boy Books or Girl Books by author, librarian and YA reviewer Liz Burns, whose blog is part of the School Library Journal family of blogs. [Image Credit: Nicola on Flickr]
So how do we change the paradigm? Is there a way to acknowledge the perceptions and make the boy book v. girl book irrelevant to the goal of hooking kids on a book that is a just-right story for them?
For me it will mean …
1. More emphasis on the plot and less emphasis on the book as a prop so that the cover doesn’t become a visual deterrent.
2. Sharing more information about the author as a person: how they fit within a family, what experiences they bring to their writing, etc.
3. Beating a drum that a good book is a good book – regardless of the gender of the characters or the author.
What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear what you think about the concept and/or if you’ve got ideas on ways to engage readers of all types.
Terry Doherty is a Stay-at-Home Mom, reading mentor, and a family literacy advocate. She is the founder and Executive Director of The Reading Tub(r), and is the force behind Share a Story – Shape a Future, an annual blog tour for literacy. You’ll find reviews by families for families on The Reading Tub website; and her ideas for reading on Family Bookshelf, her blog.
Big Universe Learning salutes Waldo at 25.
Birthdays! Everyone loves birthdays, right?
So, guess who is turning 25 years old?
Waldo!
Can you believe it? Waldo, the children’s book character, has been blending into his surroundings for a quarter of a century!
Yup, our friend Waldo – “Wally” to many – was globe-trotting more than a decade before Matt Lauer of The Today Show parlayed his “Yoo-hoo, where am I?” shtick to the bleary-eyed masses. (Waldo even conquered “flat” before “Flat Matt” photo ops became all the rage.)
Yup, Waldo was a young man ahead of his time! He had the hipster look locked up 20 years ago – with black-rimmed glasses, skinny pants, and his I-don’t-care-enough-to-care-that-I’m-wearing-a-LOUD-red-and-white-stripey shirt and matching beanie. He did Bieber bangs before Justin was a twinkle in his parents’ eyes, and I suspect he invented coffee, too.
Best of all, Waldo and his creator got millions of kids interested in reading books. British illustrator Martin Handford first drew “Wally” into crowd scenes back in 1986 at the bidding of his art director at Walker Books. The next year, the first book in the “Where’s Wally?” series was launched in the United Kingdom. The books were published in the United States under the title “Where’s Waldo?” by Little, Brown and Company and later by Candlewick Press. Since then, an estimated 55 million Waldo books have been printed worldwide.
In the following 25 years, Waldo has inspired video games, a TV show and a comic strip, as well as a bazillion Waldo-themed social events. In New Brunswick, N.J., in 2009, 1,052 Rutgers University students, alumni and community members set a Guinness World Record during a fund-raiser after dressing like the elusive character. The following year, Dubliners rallied in Ireland to smash that record with 3,872 red and white look-alikes in Dublin’s Merrion Square.
If you are in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula this month, you can look for Waldo in one of 20 businesses in the Houghton/Hancock area by participating in the “I Found Waldo” contest. The businesses will give out token cards, buttons, books and other prizes. Participants who collect at least 80 percent of the contest cards (16) will be eligible to win a six-volume set of Waldo books.
Proprietors in Naperville, Ill.; Hudson, Ohio; and even my city, Greenville, S.C., are among the those across the nation taking part in the “Where’s Waldo? on Main Street, USA, campaign sponsored by Candlewick Press and the American Booksellers Association. Some of my favorite local shops are taking part: The Elephant’s Trunk, Palmetto Olive Oil Company, Swamp Rabbit Café and Grocery, and Fiction Addiction book store (which is moving off Woodruff Road to Woods Crossing Road this month).
Where will Waldo show up next? I can’t say, but I do know that the co-hosting spot next to Matt Lauer is a revolving door: Katie, Meredith, Ann, Savannah, TBA. Perhaps Waldo would stick. He and Matt could duke out dibs on NBC’s travel budget!
***
Where’s Big Universe Learning? Right at your fingertips, 24/7. A vast source of online children’s picture books, Big Universe has 24 publisher partners and 4,504 books available covering all academic subjects. The award-winning learning community’s science, social studies, language arts and math books have been read 4,387,980 times by 333,682 members from 169 countries. Teachers, students, parents, homeschoolers and other members have created 58,518 books online using the site’s authoring tool.
Posted on March 24, 2012 by Suzan Woodard in Classroom Ideas, Integration Ideas, Personal Experiences, Reading Lists, Writing.
Tags: Basketball Books for Children, Big Universe Author Tool, Coach Bobby Knight, Current Events, Hoosiers, March Madness, NCAA Basketball, Write about Sports, writing with children
add a comment
Basketball books for children on BigUniverse.com.
Sneakers squeak. Pep bands boogie. Whistles, buzzers and the thump of basketballs mark time, as history unfolds on basketball courts across the country. March Madness is underway, and fans with the fever follow progress of their favorite college teams on their iPhones, TVs, laptops and – for a small percentage of lucky ones – in person.
Just when I think all signs of “the bug” are gone, an image of a red-sweatered (former) coach flashes on the TV screen, and I – a fairly sedate Boomer mom – am transported back to the glory days of 1980s Hoosier basketball and birth of the nationally adopted three-pointer.
My grad student husband and I lived for six years in Bloomington, Ind., home of the Indiana University Hoosiers – then under the turbulent tutelage of Coach Bobby Knight. I was a newspaper reporter and scored some press passes to photograph Big 10 footage from the floor of Assembly Hall. It wasn’t long before the names of Isiah Thomas, Steve Alford, Daryl Thomas, Dean Garrett, Ricky Calloway, Keith Smart and Uwe Blab rolled off my tongue like a pro. It was exciting stuff for a media “newb,” especially the 1986-87 NCAA national basketball championship win. “Go! Big! Red!”
All that to say, there’s no age limit for March Madness. Adults and kids alike are susceptible. The online basketball books for kids on Big Universe may not starve a cold, but they will feed The Fever!
Two of the picture books are from our premium publishers, and the other three are books that members crafted with the Big Universe Author Tool. So… now’s the time to get your youngest basketball fans to do some extra reading. Then have them use the writing tool to report what they see as they watch their favorite team on TV or revisit an experience on their own teams.
Children’s Picture Books about Basketball on Big Universe
* NOTE: For other sports-related online books for children, click this Big Universe sports link.
Posted on February 28, 2012 by Suzan Woodard in Integration Ideas, Reading Lists.
Tags: Aquarium, Atlantic Ocean, Bellwether, Current Events, Fish, Lobster, Maine, Marine Life, Rocky the Lobster, Sea Life, Shellfish
add a comment
Read "Lobsters" on BigUniverse.com and other children's picture books about marine life.
“Rocky” the lobster got a return trip to the Atlantic Ocean, thanks to workers at the Maine State Aquarium in West Boothbay. He is the biggest lobster ever caught in Maine, according to record keepers
The 27-pounder was minding his own business when he was caught in a shrimper’s net last week. He was taken to the aquarium for examination. He measured 40-inches in length – which is so big that he’d be allowed to ride Disney’s Big Thunder Mountain rollercoaster. Rocky’s age is unknown.
His claws are huge, says Elaine Jones, education director for the Department of Marine Resources in Maine. “All the weight is in the claws,” said Jones in a Reuters news report. “It would break an arm.”
The state requires all lobsters over 5 inches in length – from eye stalk to the base of its tail – to be returned to its habitat. The largest lobster recorded was a crustacean caught off the coast of Nova Scotia in the late 1970s, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. It weighed 44 pounds.
Big Universe has a book specifically about lobsters and several books about other shellfish.
- “Lobsters” is a 2008 Bellwether book written by Martha Rustad. It’s leveled for ages 6-8 and has an online comprehension quiz. (F&P GR: J ATOS: 2.1 AR Points: 0.5 AR Quiz: 118122)
- “Shrimp” is a 2009 Bellwether picture book by Colleen Sexton. Leveled for 6- to 8-year-olds, the book will help beginner readers discover what shrimp look like and how they live, move and eat. (F&P GR: K ATOS: 2.3 AR Points: 0.5 AR Quiz: 128724)
- “Crabs” is a 2007 Bellwether book written by Ann Herriges. Three- to 8-year-olds will find this picture book about scuttling crabs interesting. There’s an online reading quiz, too. (F&P GR: G ATOS: 2.1 AR Points: 0.5 AR Quiz: 108337.)
- “Sea Shells” is a 2009 Bellwether book written by Shari Skeie. Leveled for ages 6-8, this book takes a look at spiral sea shells, two-part bivalves and other animals with shell houses. (F&P GR: J ATOS: 2.0 AR Points: 0.5 AR Quiz: 126202)
15 Vocabulary Words from Big Universe’s Sea Life Books
- lobster
- oyster
- clam
- shrimp
- pincer
- claw
- molt
- antennas
- skeleton
- stalks
- shed
- univalves
- bivalves
- calcium
- scuttle
Bonus Resources:
Lobster Coloring Page 1
Lobster Coloring Page 2
* NOTE: To read more about sea life, visit the “Science” shelf on Big Universe and scroll through until you find a book of interest, or simply type a word – “jellyfish,” “whale,” “shark,” “sea horses” and so on – into the “find books” box and click “Search.”
Posted on January 12, 2012 by Suzan Woodard in Classroom Ideas, Integration Ideas, Personal Experiences, Reading Lists, Writing.
Tags: Current Events, Environment, Matilda Snake, Reptiles, Snake Books for Kids, Writing Online
add a comment
Wildlife Conservation Society photo of the colorful Matilda viper.
Mention the “S” word and you’ll usually get polar reactions. Some people express revulsion, while others indicate fascination for all things viper. But, it’s safe to bet that everyone has a snake story to tell.
My oldest daughter stepped on a copperhead in her bare feet while playing in our yard. My geologist father stared a few rattlesnakes down in his day while doing field study, and I found a sizeable black snake nesting under the pine shavings in a horse stall a few years back. There was a snake in our church gym’s rafters at a girls’ youth group sleepover, and my mom found “Mr. Thin Lips” lounging on the grill on her porch. Similar anecdotes by students could be the launching pad for writing stories on Big Universe – ones full of sequence words, action verbs and descriptive adjectives!
We all escaped unscathed, except for a few heart palpitations. Our inquisitive chocolate Labrador Retriever was the only family member to ever be bitten. She had a run-in with a copperhead. Her nose swelled, but the vet said she would recover quickly. And, she did.
I’m not particularly fond of being startled by snakes. I’d much rather observe them from behind a nice thick pane of glass or read about them. Big Universe Learning has numerous children’s books about snakes and reptiles that make this possible. These online books are pretty interesting and are the perfect supplement to science units about reptiles or the environment. (See list below.)
Why did I pick this topic for my blog? Well, it’s not because I really enjoy scaly things, but I do love zoology, scientific discovery and current events. An Associated Press (AP) article today heralded a new green-horned snake named after a little British girl called “Matilda.” The rare lemon-colored snake was found in Tanzania and was introduced to the world in the December issue of the scientific journal Zootaxa.
“Only three new vipers have been discovered across Africa the last three decades, making the find rare and important,” according to the AP article.
“My daughter, who was 5 at the time, became fascinated by it and used to love spending time watching it and helping us look after it,” said Tim Davenport, the director of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Tanzania, who – along with two teammates – discovered the highly endangered snake two years ago. The find was kept under wraps until a conservation plan could be initiated.
Big Universe’s Snake Books for Children
BigUniverse.com has a boo-tiful collection of online Halloween books for children.
I love the fall. I hate Halloween. I love apple cider. I hate blood and gore. I love pumpkins, but Jack-o-lanterns creep me out. I love to read books, but I hate to watch horror films. It’s pretty black and white with me. Some would say I’m boring or too literal. I say, “To thine own self be true.”
When I was 20, I saw “Friday the 13th.” It was peer pressure, pure and simple. I didn’t sleep well for weeks. When I was 30, I saw “Silence of the Lambs.” I was well into my third trimester with my daughter, Hannah. I had no idea what the movie was about when I entered the theater. My unborn baby got so much adrenaline that evening that she could have auditioned for River Dance and been a shoo-in. I’m still trying to forgive my husband for that ill-advised date.
I’ve never watched “Jaws,” “The Exorcist,” “The Shining,” “Nightmare on Elm Street” or “Poltergeist.” I’d rather curl up with a good book. There’s never any manipulative musical score lurking in the pages of a book, and if the story line gets overly suspenseful, I can just put the book aside for a while.
Oct 31 is fast approaching, but I am not putting up any freaky porch decorations, planning a trip to the local haunted house, or taking any spooky hayrides. I just despise being scared or startled. The physical electric shocks that run up my arms are not pleasant. The pounding heart is no fun either.
I am not alone. According to Dr. Glenn Sparks, a Purdue University communications professor who studies people’s reactions to terrifying imagery in media, about one-third of the population falls into this category. He says our kind just doesn’t see any redeeming value to stories that leave us frozen with fear. However, that leaves about two-thirds who do.
The 2011 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey by the National Retail Federation indicates that seven out of 10 Americans plan to celebrate Halloween this season – the largest number in the nine years that the NRF has conducted the poll. Spending is expected to be a little over $72 per person with total expenditures tallying $6.86 billion. That’s a whole lot of candy corn and faux spider webs, if you ask me!
In a WebMD article, Dr. Sparks said that some studies show that males like to be scared more than females. “It’s not that they truly enjoy being scared, but they get great satisfaction being able to say that they conquered and mastered something that was threatening. They enjoy the feeling that they ‘made it through.’”
Some girls fit into this category for sure. I had middle school and college friends that loved riding roller coasters and jumping off the 10-meter diving tower at a nearby water park. Some of my daughters’ friends fit this category. You probably have a few of these future bungee jumpers in your own classrooms right now! Very often they are the ones with the skinned knees, casts on their arms and oozing shenanigans. If you can harness this energy and direct it, these kids can learn all sorts of things and be highly successful. I like to think of these children as leaders in disguise!
…So, I remind you to know your children – whether they are your own or kids in the classroom. Some will gravitate toward scary tales like zombies to a graveyard, while other sensitive types will prefer more sanitized or realistic tales. Know where your children are developmentally. It’ll help you direct them to reading material they will enjoy. Understanding their families’ cultural backgrounds and spiritual beliefs are an additional piece to the diversity puzzle. Your Hispanic children may observe the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos), while others may observe All Saints’ Day, All Souls’ Day or Reformation Day.
Children’s Halloween Books at Big Universe
- Five Trick-or-Treaters, Grades K and up.
- Gruesome Grub Halloween Party, Grades K and up.
- Kid’s Halloween Party, Grades K and up.
- Halloween, Grades K and up. (Audio included)
- When I Go Trick-or-Treating, Grades 1 and up.
- Haunted Party, Grades 1-2.
- Boo Cow, Grades 1-3.
- Penelope and the Monsters, Grades 2-3.
- Haunted Houses, Grades 4-6.
- Ghosts, Grades 4-6.
- The Secret of Grim Hill, Book 1, Grades 4-6.
- Grim Hill, Book 2: The Secret Deepens, Grades 4-6.
- The Shade, Grades 5-9.
Have a fun and SAFE holiday. (Don’t forget to brush those teeth and floss after sampling your Halloween candy. )
*NOTE: For the adrenaline junkies in your classroom, check out the children’s picture books highlighted in the Big Universe blog “Extreme Sports Books for the Reluctant Reader.”
* NOTE: Don’t forget to enter the Charlesbridge dragon-themed writing contest for children, K-3rd Grade. The deadline for entries is Dec. 31, 2011. Prizes include an author school visit and a $100 certificate for books. Click this contest submission guidelines link to read more about the rules.
Read about pumpkins in English or Spanish on BigUniverse.com.
What feeds the rumor mill? Well, sadly, just about anything. Often rumors are linked to people’s common fears, making them sound plausible even though they may be an oversimplification of the truth or downright fabrications.
As of late, the rumor of a pumpkin shortage has been broadcast far and wide. It’s October, so this of course feeds into everyone’s imagination. No pumpkins! No jack-o-lanterns! No pumpkin pie! Halloween and Thanksgiving are cancelled! Oh the humanity!
While some farmers did experience vine crop loss this year because of catastrophic flooding and uncooperative weather, losses did not stretch from Canada to Mexico or the East Coast to California. Some “cucurbits” growers did fine, so local shortages are being remedied by our marvelous transportation system. Produce stands are getting their supplies from neighboring patches – perhaps even out-of-state farms – a common occurrence in our commerce system. A pumpkin may cost a wee bit more at the grocery, but I doubt many tykes will go without.
One thing’s for sure. BigUniverse.com didn’t suffer a pumpkin shortage. We have plenty to go around – thanks to the beauty of the 24×7 eBook! We carry the English language variety, “Pumpkins” by author Jacqueline Farmer and illustrator Phyllis Limbacher Tildes. There’s a Spanish version too, titled “Calabazas.” Both picture books from Charlesbridge Publishing are leveled for kindergarten through Grade 3 and include an online reading comprehension quiz.
Charlesbridge has also posted a picture book on Big Universe, titled “Piggies in the Pumpkin Patch.” It’s a poetic tale of porkers plotting a peculiar path during a romp through the barnyard. It has strong picture and text support, directional words, figurative language and provides the opportunity for vocabulary and mapping skills development, as well as exposure to life science, organisms and their environments.
Pumpkins have shown up in literature for a long time. Remember Cinderella’s coach? How about Peter, the pumpkin eater? And, of course, a pumpkin plays an important role in Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
The 1901 edition of "Mother Goose" featured this William Wallace Denslow illustration with the "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater" nursery rhyme.
Mother Goose Rhyme
Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,
Had a wife but couldn’t keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well.
Mr. Pumpkin
(Same tune as “Where is Thumpkin?”)
Mr. Pumpkin, Mr. Pumpkin,
Eyes so round. Eyes so round.
Halloween is coming. Halloween is coming.
To my town. To my town.
I’m an Orange Pumpkin
(Same tune as “I’m a Little Teapot”)
I’m a little pumpkin
Orange and round.
Here is my stem,
There is the ground.
When I get all cut up,
Don’t you shout!
Just open me up
And scoop me out!
Pumpkin Poem
One day I found two pumpkin seeds.
I planted one and pulled the weeds.
It sprouted roots and a big, long vine.
A pumpkin grew; I called it mine.
The pumpkin was quite round and fat.
(I really am quite proud of that.)
But there is something I’ll admit
That has me worried just a bit.
I ate the other seed, you see.
Now will it grow inside of me?
(I’m so relieved since I have found
That pumpkins only grow in the ground!)
Other Pumpkin Unit Enrichment Links
**NOTE: While the great “pumpkin shortage of 2011” may be easy to remedy, real-life rumors, gossip and slander may not be so easy to handle. PBSKids.org has some online material that may be useful if this is an issue in your classroom. (Just click the link provided.) Words are powerful. Use them wisely.
Pair online children's books from Big Universe with current events to add "life" to your classroom.
If you’ve read any of my blogs in the past year or so, you know that I am enamored with many things…kids, children’s books, literacy and current events…to name a few. Just like planets sometimes align and make a bright light in the night sky, this week’s current events are providing a stellar opportunity to use real-life events as teaching moments.
Whirling, swirling, rocking, rolling and social revolution are words that come to mind….
Hurricane Irene is barreling toward the North Carolina coastline and is projected to travel through Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York and Boston. That’s a lot of nature to contend with, especially after the 5.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked the Eastern seaboard on Aug. 23.
(Or, was that quake simply the reverberation of my husband’s 50th birthday, the AARP card arriving in the mail, and the fact that we had just become empty-nesters?)
The roller-coaster ride also was evident in the stock markets here and around the world. The world of Libyan citizens is rocking too. Social revolution has a way of doing that!
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was at the eye of the storm 45 years ago, as he fought for social justice. It’s rather symbolic that the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial dedication ceremonies are still in the eye of the storm – thanks to Irene. Many of the week’s star-studded events have been changed by organizers after consulting with the National Park Service, the Mayor’s office in D.C. and FEMA regarding safety issues. The official dedication will be rescheduled for this fall. Organizers posted this Dr. King quote on their King national memorial website: “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
And finally, 91 years ago today, Aug. 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was declared in effect. It guaranteed women’s right to vote. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was a huge supporter of civil liberty. Not only did she actively work for women’s right to vote, but she supported racial equality and civil rights. In fact, after she was no longer at the White House she joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and worked with Dr. King.
These current events can serve as a diving board into deeper discussions in the classroom. What’s really cool is that Big Universe’s online bookshelves have books related to all these topics! While teaching in preparation for national testing must be considered, every classroom has some wiggle room and breathing space for branching out. And, Big Universe is there for you. Take advantage!
Pairing Kids Books & Current Events
For more ideas about using news events in the classroom, read “10 Ways to Use Current Events in the Classroom” or “Add Life to Your Teaching with Current Events.”
Posted on August 18, 2011 by Suzan Woodard in Reading Lists.
Tags: Coins, Current Events, Dollar, Dollars and Sense, Financial Literacy for Kids, Math, Math Books for Children, Money, Shel Silverstein, Teaching Children about Money
add a comment
Big Universe has children's books that help teach the value of money.
Even though prices at the pump are falling, few are naïve enough to think that it signals an end to economic turmoil. We all know we are in a heap of trouble: debt, unemployment, high food prices, spiraling stock value and dwindling savings. Um, did I mention debt?
Somewhere along the line, we adults missed the money lesson, “Dollars and Sense.” We didn’t listen when our mamas told us, “Money doesn’t grow on trees, you know.” Well, I guess it appeared it did for some, but even that greenery is suffering from severe root rot.
I suspect it’s going to take some radical changes to address this blight. We may have trouble digging ourselves out, but there’s still time to teach our children their lessons about financial literacy. Building good habits now may help this generation avoid having to break bad ones later on.
I say start teaching financial literacy young – as soon as the risk of swallowing pennies passes. No, wait! We can start teaching them before that! We can begin by setting a good example at home. We can take our children and grandchildren shopping, show them the grocery list and talk about the value of coins, bills and a personal budget. An allowance presents a framework for teaching lessons on saving, spending and sharing, and a lemonade stand and chores help children draw the link between work and financial reward.
There are many ways to enrich financial literacy lessons at school too: games, books, hands-on activities and even poems. Here is a humorous poem by Shel Silverstein, followed by a nice list of online books about money on Big Universe. For an extensive list of other math books on the website, visit my blog titled “Math Class Need a Makeover? Try Some Good Books.”
Smart
My dad gave me one dollar bill
‘Cause I’m his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
‘Cause two is more than one!
And then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes — I guess he don’t know
That three is more than two!
Just then, along came old blind Bates
And just ’cause he can’t see
He gave me four nickles for my three dimes,
And four is more than three!
And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store,
And the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four!
And then I went and showed my dad,
And he got red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head–
Too proud of me to speak!
- by Shel Silverstein
Books About Money on Big Universe
- “American Coins and Bills,” Grade Level 3-5
- “Our Economy In Action,” Grades 3-5
- “USING MONEY on a Shopping Trip,” Grades 2 and up
- “USING MONEY at the Lemonade Stand,” Grades 1 and up
- “Around the World with Money,” Grades 4 and up
- “How Coins and Bills Are Made,” Grades 3-6
- “Bank Tellers Then and Now,” Grades 2-3
- “Money Through the Ages,” Grades 3-4
- “Shopping in the City,” Grades 1 and up
- “Counting at the Market,” Grades K and up
- “The Shopping Cart,” Grades K and up
- “What Color is Your Piggy Bank? Entrepreneurial Ideas for Self-Starting Kids,” Grades 4-9
Big Universe offers an assortment of baseball books for children -- just in time for summer reading.
Major League Baseball has a new official historian named John Thorn. Mr. Thorn is an established sports author, who loves baseball, history and words. He’s channeled that passion into his latest project – a children’s book titled “First Pitch: How Baseball Began,” published by Beach Ball Books.
Big Universe has an online collection of children’s baseball books too, so I compiled an easy-to-tackle summer reading list for all the young sports enthusiasts. (See list below.)
Big Universe thinks summer reading is vital to the educational process, and so do I. My girls read tens of thousands of pages each summer, and I have no doubt that this contributed to their rewarding academic careers.
Books read during the summer keep developing brains primed for learning, feeding children’s natural curiosity and desire to learn. Summer reading underscores lessons learned in the previous school year and helps remediate issues for struggling learners. Exposure to new books readies students for vocabulary, formats and new material they’ll see in their classrooms in the fall.
Children’s Books about Baseball
Go to the "Read" page on Big Universe and click on the "Browse or Search for Books" tab to find the "Summer Reading Lists" drop-down tab.
NOTE: Big Universe has compiled age-leveled book lists, as well as other assorted topical book lists for SUMMER READING. Students can tackle one or more lists, or they can pick and choose various Big Universe titles, logging books or reading minutes as they go. Simply go to Big Universe’s “Read” page, find the “Browse or Search for Books” sidebar, and click on the “Summer Reading Lists” tab to get a drop-down list of suggestions. Themes include: Animals, Chapter Books, Cultures, Humor, Nature, Science and Sports.
Or, click on one of the following blogs for other thematic book lists:
