October 31, 2017
written by Dori Hillestad Butler
illustrated by Nancy Meyers
King’s ball is tossed over the fence. A “not-my-ball” comes back. The case is one: Find King’s missing ball. The Cat with No Name is no help, except giving the clue that Mouse took it. So where is this mouse? Read the book to find out if King and his pals can find his missing ball!
This book is part of a series that is sure to entertain budding chapter book readers.
October 26, 2017
by Seth Fishman
illustrated by Isabel Greenberg
The dust jacket description says: “The whole world is filled with big, enormous, gigantic, humongous, incredible numbers. Look all around you. You can see them in the sky, and in the grass, and in the forest, and in the ocean, and in the city. They are even in the pages of this book, just waiting for you–and your one and only imagination.”
Math teachers! This books shows HUGE numbers in both numeric and word form. It would be a great extension for any lesson teaching about large numbers and how to properly say them.
The back of the book teaches how to read such large numbers (most lessons only go to the millions or billions, but this book goes to the billion trillions — 21 zeros behind the number!)
October 26, 2017
by David A Adler
illustrated by Edward Miller
The book itself is a story and lesson built into one! Any teacher looking to introduce how to add and subtract money, this book is your lesson!
David A Adler teaches the reader about the different dollars and coins used in the United States. He then shows how counting change really is just addition. He even gives the readers tasks to complete on various pages. The answers are given at the end of the book.
If you are looking to change up the way you teach money in a new and exciting way, Adler’s book is one you MUST check out!
October 25, 2017
by Kara Hagedorn
A heart-warming story of how an injured hawk, no longer able to fly due to a gunshot and broken wing! Sunshine (the Hawk) lays infertile eggs every spring and still attempts to hatch them. Each year her caretaker, Kara (the author), takes the eggs away which confuses Sunshine. One year Kara gets an idea and gets chicken eggs from her neighbor. Sunshine sits on those eggs as if they are her own, hatches them, and then raises the chicks as her own young.
For readers who love Little Pink Pup, Owen and Mzee, and other books that celebrate relationships of unlikely animals, you will love reading this nonfiction picture book.
October 25, 2017
by Marc Scott
Have fun suing Scratch and Python
This nonfiction book walks students step-by-step through creating a Scratch account and building code in Scratch. The second half of the book does the same for Python, another coding platform.
Students who just want to expand their knowledge in Scratch, or to learn a new programming language, Python, will find detailed how-to instructions for both!
Other Programming Languages (found in the Find Out More section)
Touch Develop (for tablets or mobile devices) — build apps
October 25, 2017
by Diane Lang
illustrated by Andrea Gabriel
Teach about the months of the year? This book is for you!
Teach about nocturnal animals? This book is for you!
Love books written in rhyme? You got it…this one is for you!
(And this book’s rhyme is not forced!)
Just love animals? You’ve got to read this book!
Daytime, Nighttime, All Through the Year shows two animals each month: one that is active during the day and one that is active during the night. It shows the animals’ habits during those months, highlighting important things these animals do in each season. Unfortunately there are different animals each month, so there isn’t an opportunity to compare and contrast what a specific animal does during each season.
This book would be a great read aloud when learning months of the year or animal habits. It is just a perfect book to share with animal lovers!
There is an Explore More section at the back of the book with fun activities for teachers and parents
- Match animals with the activities they do (that they learned from reading the book)
- Teachable Moments section
- teaches diurnal and nocturnal vocabulary
- animal adaptations
- family activities for nocturnal extensions
September 27, 2017
by Laurie Wallmark
illustrated by Katy Wu
Grace was a curious girl, exploring how clocks work by taking them apart and putting them back together again. That curiosity and tensity continued into college where she took courses in physics and math while other women were taking courses called “Husbands and Wives” and “Motherhood.” She continued to persevere until she convinced the Navy to enlist her even though she didn’t meet the age and weight requirements at the time. Good thing they did, too! Grace went on to write computer code that no one else had done, and fix problems that no one could seem to solve.
BUG! This term is known in the computer science world for a mistake in the program’s code. In this book, the author shows how Grace Hopper and her colleagues actually found a bug inside their computer which cause a switch to malfunction. Even since then, computer glitches have been called bugs!
At one point in the book Grace needs to pass Latin (she had a failing grade) in order to go to college. Briefly, this book shows the hard work she does in order to accomplish something she didn’t like to get to her dream of going to college.
Check out this PDF for some discussion questions and extension activities to do with this book.
*Timeline activity in the PDF link above.