Picture That! From Mendel to Normandy: Picture Books and Ideas, Curriculum and Connectionsfor 'Tweens and Teens

(Paperback)

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Description

Sharron L. McElmeel offers another winnera new way to fire up interest in science, history, and other areas of the curriculum with students in grades 4-12. Make connections to Gregor Mendel's work with genetics, the journey of 100 orphans from the Normandy battlefields, diverse cultures, and much more. This book, by celebrated author and teacher Sharron L. McElmeel, offers practical resources for promoting curiosity and involving learners of all ages in critical thinking. Picture books can provide a short and focused stimulant to promote discussion and further investigation into topics as diverse as mathematical concepts, science topics, geography (landform and locations for example), and language arts skills. At the same time, personal narratives offer a glimpse into the human factors present during various periods of history. Picture That! From Mendel to Normandy: Curriculum and Connectionsfor 'Tweens and Teens is an invaluable resource with many suggestions and with space for recording connecting ideas and strategies to infuse literacy into every area of the curriculumin classrooms and librarieswith older readers. Grades 4-12

Reviews

For classroom teachers, McElmeel (children's and young adult literature, U. of Wisconsin-Stout), an educational and literacy consultant, discusses about 63 picture books and how they can be used with older readers in grades four through 12 to help them understand curriculum, think critically, and grasp advanced topics. She suggests specific titles, describes how they can be used with already planned units in math, science, geography, and language arts, and how they can be used for further exploration and learning. Each listing includes a summary, extension ideas, and related books. An additional 280 titles are briefly annotated. * Reference & Research Book News *
Educators looking for ways to integrate picture books into classroom instruction will find many ideas in this book. McElmeel opens with excellent reasons for using picture books with older readers. She then suggests 62 titles, most of them copyright 2006, and provides thorough annotations, curriculum links, extension ideas, and lists of related books to explore. Many of the titles are nonfiction and relate directly to social studies, science, and language arts. Teachers and librarians who don't have immediate access to the books will find the detailed annotations helpful, and the extension ideas and curriculum links will assist in sparking creative ideas for using these titles with older students. In addition to the featured titles, the book also contains a list of 280 somewhat older picture books with citations, key words, and some brief descriptions of how they might fit into middle and high school subject areas. * School Library Journal *
McElmeel encourages teachers of older students to use picture books to promote the introduction of new units and serve as starting points for class discussions. . . . Teachers would be well-advised to follow this plan of action in their classrooms. Recommended. * Library Media Connection *
This exceptional text focuses on using current children's picture books to enhance understanding of various content topics presented to middle and high school students . . . Selected subjects are interesting and varied, with annotations crisply compelling. Extensive research provides the background component's little-known facts. . . Overall the detailed classroom ideas are teacher-friendly, interesting, and clearly enhance secondary content; clunkers do not appear. . . an extremely beneficial resource. They will yearn for a sequel. * VOYA *
All in all, this is an excellent resource to have in the classroom and in the library. * Catholic Library World *

Author Bio

Sharron L. McElmeel is an author and educational consultant and an instructor of children's and young adult literature at University of Wisconsin-Stout, WI. She has written over 35 books in the educational field, including Libraries Unlimited's Authors in the Pantry: Recipes, Stories, and More and Authors in the Kitchen: Recipes, Stories, and More.