We read about subjects, but not read about reading! So, here are some books to entice your students into the world of science and help you bridge the content gap.
General Book listing
For camouflage, use fabric squares & plastic bugs, then read “Hide and Seek” or “Where in the World”
“Postcards from Pluto”
“Odd Boy Out” bio of Albert Einstein
“The Fossil Girl” Have students read book, then pick events to write on sentence strips. These can be used for many things beyond sequence
“An Earthworm's life” & “A Pill Bugs life” are good books for compare & contrast
“The Moon” and other Gail Gibbbons books
“Dr. Zargle the Book of Earthlets”. Alien perspective of earthlings
“Growing Frogs”
“Pumpkin Circle” sequence & cycles
“Westlandia”
The Mineral information institute. Www.mii.org
Pasta mining activity
“Just a Dream” Chris VanAlsburg - Natural resources.
Force and Motion Books
“Eight Days Gone”
“Newton & Me” by Lynne Mayer
“I Galileo”
“Move It”
“Five Secrets in a Box” is the story of Galileo's daughter. It can also be used in 5th grade.
“I Fall Down” by Vicki Cobb
And “Everyone Shall be Pulled”
Giverny Award for teaching science through literacy
“Sam Plants a Sunflower” 1st grade
“Rare Treasure” – About Mary Anning, English woman in the 1800s who discovers fossils. 4th grade
“Eliza's Cherry Trees”
“Lonesome George the Giant Tortus”
“Henry Hikes in Fitchburg”
“Redwoods” 4th grade
“Damien and His Walking Stick”
“A Log's Life”
“Common Ground” 5th grade
“A tree for Emmy”
“Prince of Butterflies”
“Forest Bright Forest Night”
“Snail & the Whale” 1st grade
“Hidden Forest”
“Squirrel & John Muir”
NSTA outstanding trade books
While my intent is not to advertise for NSTA, they do have some fantastic resources for teaching Science through Literacy. Their series “Picture-Perfect Science” provides solid, easily accessible lessons that will help you integrate Science content into your Literacy instruction. I’ve listed here the books that they incorporate. Even if you don’t purchase the guide books, you can peruse their list of books and use them as you like.
Picture-Perfect Science Lessons, Expanded 2nd Edition: Using Children's Books to Guide Inquiry, 3-6
The Picture-Perfect, Expanded 2nd Edition book collection by NSTA Press, Science Book Collection portion of this set includes these children’s trade books: • Dr. Xargle's Book of Earthlets • Seven Blind Mice • Seashells by the Seashore • A House for Hermit Crab • Rice Is Life • Rice • Popcorn! • White Owl, Barn Owl • Butternut Hollow Pond • What’s Eating You? • Weird Friends • Turtle Watch • Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out! • Prince William • Oil Spill! • Sheep in a Jeep • Sound • The Remarkable Farkle McBride • Pancake, Pancakes • Rise the Moon • The Moon Book • Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me • Somewhere in the World Right Now • Erosion • Grand Canyon • Imaginative Inventions • Girls Think of Everything • The Perfect Pet • Bugs Are Insects • Electrical Circuits • Ant! Ant! Ant!• Too Many Toys • How People Learned to Fly • Kids’ Paper Airplane Book • Down the Drain • A Cool Drink of Water • If I Built a Car • Inventing the Automobile
NSTA’s “More Picture Perfect-Perfect Science Book Collection
Titles included in the set are • Pop! A Book About Bubbles• How Big Is a Foot?• How Tall How Short• Hear Your Heart• The Busy Body Book• Lucas and His Loco Beans• Diary of a Worm• Wiggling Worms at Work• Over in the Ocean• Coral Reef Animals• Our Tree Named Steve• Be a Friend to Trees• Magnetic and Nonmagnetic• Roller Coaster• I Fall Down• I See Myself• If You Find a Rock• Rocks: Hard, Soft, Smooth…• Sunshine on My Shoulders• When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer• Spots of Light• Imaginative Inventions• The Important Book• Bubble Bubble• That Magnetic Dog• What Did They See• Leo Cockroach, Toy Tester• John Muir: America's Naturalist• Rachel Carson: Preserving a Sense of Wonder
Even More Picture-Perfect Science Lessons: Using Children’s Books to Guide Inquiry, K–5 is a great resource for teaching science through literacy.