Trade Books!

Choosing a book that is both educational and engaging for students can sometimes be very difficult. Often time you may find a book that is very enticing and entertaining for students, but it may not be very educational. On the other hand, you may find a book that is very educational and does an excellent job explaining a certain topic, but it may be very boring. I sometimes find this happening and it can be very frustrating! 

I found an excellent book on rocks and minerals that was both educational and very interesting to read; Rocks and Minerals, by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld. The book was written in a very light and fun hearted way. It talked about the types of rocks, types of minerals, the rock cycle, where you can find these and much more. But, the pictures that were included in the book were all very relatable. For example, one page talked about how we can find rocks anywhere, while a child was rock climbing. On some pages there were even little jokes having to do with rocks and minerals. I thought this was an excellent addition to the book because it added some humor in a purely educational book. I think this book did an excellent job of covering all the important aspects of rocks and minerals while keeping the readers engaged. The book is also only about 30 pages, with few words on each page and many pictures. This is good because it is not being dragged out. It is long enough to explain everything, but a short read for many students. At the end of the book, there is a section of questions labeled "Stump Your Parents." This provides students with additional information that was not directly covered in the book. The last page has a picture glossary with some words mentioned in the book and their definition. Overall, I think this is an excellent book that I would definitely use in my classroom to teach my class about rocks and minerals. 

I would read this book to my class after I taught my lesson to the class. This book

could serve as a reinforcement from the original lesson. This book could also clear up any confusion students may have about rocks and minerals. I would also set up activities relating to rocks and minerals for my class to participate in. After they complete the activities, they can go back through the book and see if they participated in anything that is explained in the book. Then students can talk about their experiences together. 

I created a book trailer for this story book using animoto. The point of creating a book trailer is to show the book and make people, especially students interested and want to read it. The tool animoto is very easy to use and navigate. I was able to add in a lot of information and with the trial usage you can make a video up to about five minutes long. I enjoyed using animoto and thought the it has really great options. Take a look at the animoto I created for the book, Rocks and Minerals!