1. The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, Author/Illustrator- Gerstein, Mordicai, Informational, Caldecott Award, Published by Roaring Brook Press, 2003, ISBN:0-7613-1791-0, Reading level- 2.5, Interest Level, K-2.
This book is about a French man named Philippe Petit who loved to juggle, ride his unicycle and walk on his tight rope in the park. One day while he was performing in a New York City park he noticed that there was a great space between the two tallest buildings in NYC which were being constructed. These two buildings became to be known as the twin towers. He knew that the owners of the building and the police wouldn’t allow him to walk between the buildings so he had to figure out a plan as to how he could get up to the top of the one thousand three hundred and forty foot tall buildings. The buildings were still under construction so he decided to dress like a construction worker and slip in the building. Once he and his friends were in the building they waited until morning and began to put out the large tight rope that he would walk on. Philippe walked out to the middle of the ropes and felt free as a bird. Once he was seen by a women on the street the police came up and tried to get him to stop. After an hour he came to the end of the rope and was arrested. As his punishment he was to perform for the children in the park and he was glad to do so. Today the towers are gone, but the memory of August 7, 1974 still remains.
I really liked this book and feel that it is a great way to inform children of events that really did take place in our history. This is a great way to teach children about events that really did occur in a way that will be enjoyable to them. This book presents a happy event that occurred involving the twin towers and I feel that it is very important that we share good stories with our students as well as that tragic event of 9/11 that we all have come to associate with these two giant buildings.
While studying about the twin towers and 9/11 I could use this book in my classroom to show a happy event that happened at the twin towers. In the Essential Standards for North Carolina Standard 2.C&G.1.2 is to explain how governments establish order, provide security and create laws to manage conflict. This book shows students how the police wanted to stop Philippe because it was dangerous for him to walk the tight line that high in the air. Students will also see that he was punished for the decision he made not to follow the rules.
2. Owls, Author/ Illustrator- Gibbons, Gail, Informational, Published by Holiday House, 2005, ISBN-0-8234-1880-4, Reading Level-4.3, Interest Level 3-5.
This book is an informational text about owl and shares about many different aspects of their lives. The book informs us that owls are raptors or birds of prey that hunt at night to gather their food to eat. Owls have several different body parts that make them unique from other birds. These features help then to hunt at night since they are nocturnal. The different features include ear tufts, eyes, wings, and claws/talons. Owls have really big eyes which allow them to let in a lot of light at night so that they can see where they are going and prey that they might want to catch. Owls also can hear very well and rely on the sounds they hear to help them hunt. Scientists believe that there are 140 different types of owls in the world with the smallest being only 5 inches long from top to bottom. Owls cannot move their eyes, therefore they have a very flexible neck which allows them to turn their head and see their surroundings. Owls fly silently so that they can sneak up on their prey without being heard. The claws allow the bird to lift up what every prey they catch from the ground. Owls nest in unusual places such as hollow trees, on the ground, or in an abandoned birds nest. Owls are now on the wildlife reserve list due to the huge number of owls that have been killed by humans or natural disasters over the last decades.
This book has a lot of information about owls in it, however it is laid out in a way that is easy for elementary students to read and grasp the information that is being presented to them. I found this book very helpful and would defiantly use it again in my classroom if I were talking with my students about owls. All of the information books that I have read by Gail Gibbons are packed full of information and it is all very creditable which makes me trust her work greatly.
I believe that in my classroom I could use the kindergarten Essential Standard K:L:1.1 Compare different types of the same animal to determine individual differences, to have a mini bird unit and discuss with my students what makes each bird the same or different for the other birds that we will discuss. We could make bird puppets and read other books that about the other types of birds that we will be studying in the unit.
3. Fire! Fire!, Author/ Illustrator- Gibbons, Gail, Informational, Published by Harper Collins Publishers, 1984, ISBN- N/A, Reading Level-3.2, Interest Level K-2.
3. Fire! Fire!, Author/ Illustrator- Gibbons, Gail, Informational, Published by Harper Collins Publishers, 1984, ISBN- N/A, Reading Level-3.2, Interest Level K-2.
This book describes many different types of firefighters and the equipment that they use to put out fires. There are firefighters who live in the city and this is their full time job. They stay at the fire station all day waiting for the whistle to blow telling them that they are needed to go put out a fire. There are also volunteer firefighters. Most of the time volunteer firefighters live in more rural areas and have other jobs, but when their scanners go off they stop whatever they are doing and go to help a person in need. This book also discusses forest fires and the fact that the forest rangers are called in to help fight such fires as this. They use planes and bulldozers to help then put out the fire. Lastly but not least sometimes there are fires on the waterfront and when these occur fire trucks are assisted by fireboats to put out the fire that could be very harmful to the people and surrounding homes or businesses.
I really enjoyed this book and feel that it has a lot of great terminology that many of my students may not have ever heard before. I have a special connection with this book because my dad is a retired firefighter and both of my grandpa’s were firefighters. This is very special to me because I saw firsthand the sacrifices that they made to help others in a time of need. This really shows their character and the fact that they care so much for other people that they are willing to give of their own lives to help someone else. I think that this book will really excite the students in my class and get them to thinking about our community leaders and how important they are. This book relates to Essential Standards 2.C&G.2 Understand the roles and responsibilities of citizens. 2.C &G.2.2 Explain why it is important for citizens to participate in their community. I think that this would be especially useful during fire prevention week and then we could have different activities to surround the reading and continue our discussion about fire safety and firefighters throughout the week.
