What’s on Your Bookshelf?

Written by: Amy Ellisor
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

cloudy What’s on Your Bookshelf?

As Danielle announced yesterday, The National Book Foundation (NBF) officially designated January as National Book Month. In celebration of this event enjoy our blog series each day this week as we celebrate literacy! Get some great ideas for pairing netTrekker’s resources with some of our staff’s favorite books to create amazing learning adventures.

If yesterday was your first day back at school and you missed the series debut with Harry Potter, please revisit Danielle’s article to find some amazing facts and learn how to host an annual Literature Bowl.

As a former elementary science teacher, I made sure that Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judith Barrett lived in my classroom book baskets in multiple copies. This beautifully crafted tall tale is not only a magnificent story, but also the perfect book to use to highlight vividly descriptive writing and illustrations to introduce a cross-curricular unit on weather.

No matter where you live, January is a great month for investigating weather. As we look back on the year in review and start fresh with new statistics, keeping a weather log allows students to predict, collect, and analyze data in a fun and meaningful way.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs leads students to investigate how weather can affect people, plants, and animals. The story is filled with weather vocabulary and even helps readers to consider safety tips for severe storms.

Since the book is geared toward the elementary reading levels, I recommend doing a keyword search under the elementary tab and then refining for readability levels 1(grades 1-3) and 2(grades 4-6).

Highlighted below are a few of the many, many netTrekker resources you may use to create a My Portfolio weather unit.

BrainPOP: Weather
Is it raining, is it snowing…is a hurricane a-blowing? Whatever the weather’s doing, you can find out why it’s doing it in this BrainPOP movie! In it, Tim and Moby explain what weather is and how different types of weather form. You’ll find out what the engine for all weather is (it has something to do with water). And if you’ve ever wondered why weathermen are always talking about cold fronts and warm fronts, wonder no longer! Grab your coat, we’re going out into the elements!

Scholastic: Weather Watch
Scholastic presents Weather Watch, where you can learn to predict the weather. Learn how to observe clouds, collect data with weather tools, investigate climate conditions, and analyze the weather. The site includes a comprehensive teacher’s guide with lesson plans, worksheets, and assessment options.

FOSSWeb: Air and Weather
This interactive activity from the University of California gets students to look at a thermometer and determine the temperature to dress the bear correctly! There are photos of things use air and ideas for other activities for teaching about air and weather.

Enjoy this great book and many marvelous weather investigations!

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Tags: Integration Ideas, literacy, science, staff development, weather