[LIT] Science and Literature: Literacy objective

[MaguireK at aol.com]

Mark--
I want to teach this class too!  As the reading coach at my school,  I'm 
constantly giving the science (and social studies) teachers info on  children's 
books and their content areas.  We have put together a number of  sets of books 
for literature circles for our reading/LA/and content area  teachers to use in 
conjunction with units and/or for projects.  Fiction,  like Hoot or Hatchet 
(boy's survival after an airplane crash in  AK), is great because it's 
accessible to the students and has so many  different angles to it that lead to good 
discussions. 
 
One good source for good nonfiction children's books in science is the  Orbus 
Pictus Award.  Every year NCTE (Nat'l Council of Teachers of English)  
selects the best nonfiction children's books to highlight.  Web link is 
_http://www.ncte.org/elem/awards/orbispictus_ 
(http://www.ncte.org/elem/awards/orbispictus)    Just because they're listed as elementary books, don't think they're just 
baby  books.  They'll work for middle school too--especially for 
differentiating  instruction.  Pick several books on the same topic but with varying 
reading  levels.  That way you can match them up (or the students will select what  
they can read) so everyone gets good content but at their reading level.   
They can all contribute to projects and discussions that way rather than trying  
to deal with a too hard to read textbook.
 
Hope this helps.
 
Karen