The end of the college semester is here and I have tons of projects and exams to complete! Life is hectic, but it just means that I am one step closer to my goal of becoming an elementary teacher! YAY!
This week, I had no idea what to read, so I googled children's chapter books and found this gem! It is called The Curious Adventures of Sydney & Symon in: Water Wonders by Peter H. Reynolds. Based on the front cover of the book, I could quickly tell that it would most likely have something to do with science.
Two mice live with their father and mother in an apartment on the third floor. Their names are Sydney and Symon Starr. They are curious little mice and ask tons of questions! Sydney writes all of her questions down in her "Wonder Journal." At the beginning of the story, they discover that the flowers in their window flower bed are wilting. They had grown tall with all of the spring rain, but now they are wilting under the summer's humidity. The problem gets bigger! Their window will only open just a little bit, and it gets stuck often. They must come up with a solution in which their plants will get water, but they do not have to open their window frequently. Throughout this book, they take the reader on a step-by-step process of how to form a question/make an observation, gather evidence, form a hypothesis, test the hypothesis, report the results, and draw a conclusion. This book teaches students the scientific method in a creative way!
I think that this would be a great book to read before or during the scientific method unit. It teaches the S.T.E.A.M. way of learning. This book also discusses the various forms of water, so it would also be helpful in providing examples of the different states of water. One thing that I also like about this book is the fact that it provides several illustrations of the mice working their way through the scientific process, which makes it much more fun and interesting than just learning through the use of a textbook or worksheet. Also, this book provides a Spanish translation which could potentially be helpful to some ELL learners.
I like the idea of having students create their own Wonder Journals to jot down questions that they think of throughout the day pertaining the school. It would be a great way to keep a dialogue going between students and teachers, as well as the entire class. I highly recommend this book!
Thanks for reading my blog this week,
Ashton Schimmelpfennig
Ashton,
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of this book, but wow, does it seem like a beneficial read for students! Touching on science as well as Spanish, this book seems to have it all! It is always fun to read the cute and funny books, but if you are learning something new when you are reading that is even better! I also love the idea of Wonder Journals!
I've enjoyed reading your posts this semester!
Tara
Hi Ashton,
ReplyDeleteI have never really thought of using a read aloud or chapter book to teach science related topics, but this sounds like a great book to do just this. I think that anytime you can find ways to change up the way you deliver instruction, students are automatically going to be more engaged. I am glad that you are finding ways to incorporate your readings into your future classroom!