Health & PE

What are Health & PE texts?

• In recent years, health has been one of the major topics in the news, and physical education (PE) goes right along with that. There are many ways to becoming a healthy, active individual, but you need to learn how to do that first, and that's where this genre becomes effective. There are books for every topic of health there is (germs, senses, diseases, vaccines, healthy foods, etc.), and the same goes for PE (sports, running, limited screen time, etc). This genre is one of the utmost important for young readers because their health, and the health of those around them is what will shape our future.

Criterion for Quality and Selection:

• My most important criterion for selection of this genre is accuracy. Advancements are constantly being made in the field of health and books should reflect those changes. We want to make sure that the information presented to the students is up-to-date and correct to enhance the students' learning experiences.
• The purpose of the text would be my second criterion for selecting health texts. There are so many different categories that fall under the spectrum of health (vaccines, diseases, drugs, the body, etc.). When introducing these texts to students we want to make sure they are fulfilling the outcome of the lesson and are beneficial to the students' education.

Use in the Classroom:

• Promoting healthy lives, is of the utmost importance, and the main reason for using this genre in the classroom. Students need to know what they can do and eat in order to become a healthy individual, and these books can do that for them. 
• A second use for health text in the classroom is to create positive habits for the students at school and at home. We want students to have the knowledge to make healthy decisions and develop healthy habits that will keep sickness away!
• Examples: healthy eating, washing hands (before & after eating and after blowing their nose), covering their sneezes and coughs.
• For PE text, I would use them as an introduction to the activities mentioned in the text. This will build the students knowledge of what they should get out of the activity, and know how to perform it properly before getting started.

TEXT EXAMPLES:
Phelan, G. (2006). Killing germs, saving lives: The quest for the first vaccines. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic.

• Complex Text Level: 4th - 5th
• Grade Level Span for Read-Aloud: 
• 3rd - 4th
• Major Themes:
• History of Vaccines
• Medicines
• Influential Doctors
• Worthy Qualities of Writing:
• Throughout the text there is a timeline that lists important events that were occurring at the same time as the medical advancements.
• During the 1970s the theory of disease germs is accepted and in 1976 the telephone was invented.
• There are a number of great text features:
• The pages are very bright and appealing to the eye of a reader. 
• The titles and subtitles are bolded and in a different color for clear shifts in topic.
• Fun facts in boxes off to the sides of the pages, and brief biographies of influential people in the field of vaccines.
• Support Needed:
• Preteaching some of the key medical terms, including antiseptic, infectious, immunity, and bacteria. 

Miller, M. (1994). My five senses. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

• Complex Text Level: Pre-K - Kindergarten
• Grade Level Span for Read-Aloud:
• Kindergarten
• Major Themes:
• Body Awareness
• Using Senses
• Worthy Qualities of Writing:
• The text uses large, bold font that is easy to use, especially for read alouds. 
• There are real-life photographs of young children shown doing actions that correlate with the text. 
• Use in the Classroom:
• When wanting to make students aware of their surroundings I would use this text to prompt awareness. 
• When talking about smell, ask them what they smell on the playground, in the cafeteria, or in the classroom.
• Ask them what they hear when they go to the park, the pool, or the grocery store.
• Support Needed:
• Sounding out some of the multi-syllable words with young students.
• Examples: shadow, popcorn, garbage, secrets, and watermelon.

Encyclopedias

What are Encyclopedias?

• Encyclopedias provide a reader with a bunch of information on one specific topic. If students are interested in a certain topic, such as dinosaurs, oceans, animals, space, etc., and want to know everything about them, find an encyclopedia about it. Nowadays there are a number of great encyclopedias that are made just for kids, with a lot of pictures, fun facts, and bright pages!

Criterion for Quality and Selection:

• My number one criterion for selecting an encyclopedia is appeal. Many students may see encyclopedias as another textbook, when they most definitely are not. The pages need to be appealing and eye-catching in order for the students to want to pick them up and read them.
• Examples: bright pages, bold, clear fonts, correlating illustrations, fun facts, etc.
• Organization is also extremely important when it comes to selecting an encyclopedia for my classroom. Since there is so much information in an encyclopedia there should be a clear table of contents and index for easy access to the content.
• The content should also have some form of organization throughout the text, whether it's alphabetical or categorized.

Use in the Classroom:

• The main use of encyclopedias in my classroom would be as a reference tool. If students were doing research, or just interested in a topic, I would point them in the direction of an encyclopedia. 
• When starting a new chapter/section in the textbook that students have never learned about, pulling from an encyclopedia could be very beneficial. It is a different perspective from their textbooks, and most children's encyclopedias include more pictures and fun facts for the students to visualize and remember.

TEXT EXAMPLES:

Sabuda, R., & Reinhart, M. (2005). Dinosaurs: Encyclopedia prehistorica. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

• Complex Text Level: 3rd - 4th
• Grade Level Span for Read-Aloud: 2nd - 3rd
• Major Themes:
• Dinosaurs
• Archeology
• Worthy Qualities of Writing:
• On every page there is at least 4 detailed dinosaur popups, including descriptions and the name of the dinosaur. This will get students really excited about reading the text and seeing what popup is on the next page.
• The text includes pronunciations for every breed of dinosaur mentioned.
• Triceratops (try-SAIR-uh-tops)
• Support Needed:
• Understanding the organization of the text. There are so many popups on each page it may be difficult for the students to know where to look first.

Spelman, L. (2012). National geographic animal encyclopedia. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic.

• Complex Text Level: 3rd - 4th
• Grade Level Span for Read-Aloud:
• Major Themes:
• Animals
• Habitats
• Protection of Endangered Animals
• Worthy Qualities of Writing:
• The beginning of the text provides a "How to Use this Book" page. There are example pages from the text with little explanation boxes and arrows pointing to the correlating pieces of the text.
• This is great for young readers because they could become overwhelmed when reading an encyclopedia since there is so much information.
• The first few pages of the text give general information about all types of animals before jumping into the bulk of the text.
• Life cycles & babies, senses & communication, and homes & habitats. 
• Animals are organized by taxonomy (mammals, amphibians, fish, etc.) and includes their general and scientific names, along with fact boxes that explain habitat, diet, lifespan, and size.
• There are also fun facts by some of the animals detailing if they are the smallest, the fastest, or the tallest!
• Use in the Classroom:
• When doing research on endangered animals, the students could use this text to figure out which animals are endangered. They could also look at the animals' habits to make educated guess as to what is caused their endangerment.
• This text would also be great to have students explore prior to going on a field trip to the zoo. They could get to know the animals and where their natural habitat is located before seeing them on the field trip.
• Support Needed:
• Understanding the different taxonomy of animals.
• Preteaching about the differences between mammals, amphibians, fish, reptiles, insects, and birds. This will help the students locate the desired animals quicker.

Procedural

What are Procedural texts?

• Procedural texts tell the reader how something is done, or how to do something. There are some things that just can't be done in the home, but procedural texts explain how those tasks are completed in the proper settings. I included an example of this below, From Metal to Music. The other form of procedural text tells the reader how to do something, which can be done by the average person. This can include: cooking, crafts, and other hobbies. Below, I also included an example of this kind of text, Betty Crocker Kids Cook.

Criterion for Quality and Selection:

• The most important quality to look for when selecting a procedural text is its organizational structure. Since they are explaining a process, it's crucial that all of the steps are in order, otherwise the reader could become lost or confused. If the text were explaining a process that could be done by the reader, unorganized steps would result in a flawed final project.  
• The second most important quality to look for in procedural text is the accuracy of the information. In most cases there is more than one way to do something, so we want to make sure the information in text is correct. When students are following a procedure from a text, we want to make sure they get the rest results possible and that requires accurate information. 

Use in the Classroom:

• This genre would be great for introducing how-to writing to younger students. When they are able to see an example of a good procedural/how-to text to build the foundation for their own writing.
• When going on field trips we often learn about how something works, so procedural text could lead into a field trip. 
• If going to a concert read a book about how instruments are made.
• If going to an dairy, learn how ice cream comes from a cow.

TEXT EXAMPLES:

Davis, W. (1997). From metal to music. New York, NY: Children's Press.

• Complex Text Level: 1st - 2nd
• Grade Level Span for Read-Aloud: 
• Kindergarten - 1st 
• Major Themes:
• Procedure
• Musical Instruments
• Worthy Qualities of Writing:
• The text is very well written and goes explicitly through each step of the process from metal to instruments. Also includes realistic illustrations that correlate with the text on the corresponding page.
• The end of the text includes a reference page of the different types of brass instruments. Each instrument has an illustration and a brief description.
• Support Needed:
• Explaining the different places and equipment used throughout the process.
• Examples: mill, mine, grinder, furnace, and molds.

Crocker, B. (2007). Betty Crocker kids cook! Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing, Inc.

• Complex Text Level: 2nd - 3rd
• Grade Level Span for Read-Aloud:
• Not a book I would read aloud to my students.
• Major Themes:
• Cooking
• Nutrition
• Measurement
• Worthy Qualities of Writing:
• There are a number of great text features throughout this text: 
• At the beginning there is a section called "Talk the Talk" which is essentially a glossary defining cooking terms. 
• At the end of the text there is also a metric conversion guide.
• For each recipe there is a realistic illustration of the food so students would have an idea of what their final creation is supposed to look like.
• The "You Are What You Eat" section includes nutrition information along with the MyPyramid, which explains the amounts of each food group a child should eat.
• Use in the Classroom:
• When teaching about nutrition in the classroom, you could send home recipes for the students to make with their parents. 
• Support Needed:
• Learning how to use measuring cups and spoons.
• Adding and subtracting factions.
• Preteaching some of the cooking terms from the beginning of the book. 
• Examples: boil, grate, and knead

Nonfiction Poetry

What is Nonfiction Poetry?

• Nonfiction poetry is the exact same as every other kind of poetry with a bonus quality, it is poetry about education, realistic topics. When most people hear the word poems, they think of love, but that isn't always the case. When science, social studies, or even math is presented in poem form it is a new and fun way to introduce young students to the subjects. Nonfiction poetry presents everyday content in a different, and intriguing form for all ages of readers.

Criterion for Quality and Selection:

• Poetry can range in difficulty, even within a single text, so it's important as a teacher to read through first and pick out what is appropriate for the students. We don't want students to start reading a text and understand it, then get to a passage they aren't able to comprehend.
• Since poetry is something most students aren't drawn towards, finding text that is appealing to them is important. There is poetry that covers all types of subjects and interests to please all the students in the classroom. Finding that interests can get the student exciting about reading, and wanting to read.

Use in the Classroom:

• Poetry is a great avenue to go down when working on comprehension with students. It presents material in a different way, and really makes students analyze what they are reading. Poetry is also great for comprehension because poems are usually short, so students won't become too bored with them and give up.
• Going along with the poems usually being short, helps with students working on fluency. With short passages, it will take the students less time to read them, and they can then reread them more times, thereby improving their fluency.
• Pieces of poetry would be great to assign to advanced students during reading times because it requires deeper thinking for understanding. 

TEXT EXAMPLES:
Hopkins, L., & Halstead, V. (1999). Spectacular science: A book of poems. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

• Complex Text Level: 2nd - 3rd
• Grade Level Span for Read-Aloud: 1st - 3rd
• Major Themes:
• Life Science
• Earth Science
• Physical Science
• Worthy Qualities of Writing:
• Large, bright illustrations that correspond with the poems on each page.
• Great text features such as, a table of contents to find specific topics, page numbers, easy to read font, and bold, different colored titles for every poem.
• Use in the Classroom:
• Since there are so many different topics, (rocks, dinosaur bones, and seeds) I would use them to introduce new material as they came up during the year. It would be a great way to ease students into the content.
• Support Needed:
• Preteaching words that are associated with the different areas of science such as, protozoans, prism, metamorphosis, magnifying, glaciers, and geysers.
• Preteaching the different structures of poems.
• Sentences may be split up into multiple lines.
• Some lines start with capital letters, even though they are the middle of a sentence. 
• Rhythm in the writing by having rhyming words at the end of lines.

Worth, V., & Jenkins, S. (2007). Animal Poems. Vancouver, BC: Douglas & McIntyre.

• Complex Text Level: 3rd - 4th
• Grade Level Span for Read-Aloud:
• 2nd - 3rd
• Major Themes:
• Animal Characteristics
• Different Animal Families
• Worthy Qualities of Writing:
• Extremely detailed illustrations that correlate precisely to the text.
• Cover picture example text: "Thicket of its own thorns" "Flower out of that cold bower of spines."
• As I mentioned with the text examples above, each animal has text that gives detailed characteristics in a way that allows students to visualize the animals if no illustrations were provided. 
• Support Needed:
• Some of the characteristics given for each animal, could be difficult for students to decipher and comprehend. The names of each animal are given along with an illustration, so students can refer to that as well.
• "Their hollow veils and trailed clappers peal eternal knells" -Jellyfish
• "Not like my shadow I dislike, but that sad sunlight creeping so weak across the winter-weary snow" -Groundhog
•  Preteaching some of the more difficult terms: clamber, latticed, knells, and sumptuous.