Great non-fiction to be used with CCSS

Are you scrambling to find non-fictions texts to meet the requirements of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)? The three books highlighted here are all excellent texts that could be used in multiple ways to meet the conditions of the close-reading called for by CCSS. Born in the Wild can lead to class discussions on mammals, how are they categorized, what how are they all the same and how do they differ from one another. It can also inspire research projects as students investigate the needs of other mammals or branch off into reptiles, birds, insects, fish and amphibians. This book also supplies rich vocabulary, demonstrating to students that writing needs to use varied words and expressions. I especially like how judge describes the ring-tailed lemur baby: “They hop as if their legs were made of springs.” Great examples to use with your students when they are struggling for just the right way to describe their animals.

The Iridescence of Birds is ripe for use in an elementary classroom, either within the official art class, or as a supplement within the general education classroom. Hooper’s reproduction of Matisse’s style with her relief prints is worth the price of the book, and in itself may inspire budding artists in your classrooms. While based on facts, what was happening in Matisse’s life as a young boy, the writing is poetic, showing that non-fiction writing does not need to be dry, boring, listless. Master author, MacLachlan shows us once again that style can come in many forms.

Rock and Roll Highway is a form of memoir, as Sebastian Robertson tells the story of his dad’s musical career. Most students have an adult in their lives that they might like to portray in this type of memoir writing. Studying the organization and structure of this book will help them on their path to telling the story of a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, maybe even an older sibling or cousin. Starting in 1976 with a vignette of an event and then moving back through his dad’s life, Robertson hooks us right from the beginning. Helping children to follow this model not only increases their writing repertoires, it helps them identify structure of stories that are not always told in linear fashion, again helping to meet the standards put forth by CCSS.

Born in the Wild: Baby Mammals and Their Parents by Lita Judge

Judge lists the basic needs of baby mammals like eating, moving, being protected and then in each section highlights three or four different mammals with wonderful, realistic paintings and short vignettes about the mother and babies. I appreciated how she was cognizant of the pronouns used, so not all babies were referred to as males, but some were female babies (she/her) and some were male babies (he/his). Judge also supplements the book with additional information about each species described in the book as well as giving a glossary, sources of information and websites to be explored. A must have book for all primary classrooms.

The Iridescence of Birds: A Book about Henri Matisse by Patricia MacLachlan; Pictures by Hadley Hooper

 While many folks will recognize the name of Henri Matisse, even more teachers will recognize the name of Patricia MacLachlan, a premiere storyteller of our age. Here she gives us a brief glimpse into the life and paintings of Matisse, using more of a poem than a narrative structure that we are used to seeing in a biography.  Hooper has done an outstanding job of using relief printing to reproduce the look of Matisse’s work. There are so many things that you could do with this book: separate the words from the book to look at the structure of the poem. This is a poem that could be used as a model for students as young as third grade to tell about someone special in their lives. Students could also imitate the printing style using materials like old cardboard and tempura paints. Don’t forget the study of vocabulary with iridescence, parlor and meadow. Finally, the text of this book leads directly to a discussion of the color wheel and what happens when we combine colors. So much fun from just one book!

Rock and Roll Highway: The Robbie Robertson Story by Sebastian Robertson, illustrated by Adam Gustavson

Sebastian Robertson tells the story of his father’s musical career from his beginnings in Toronto, the son of “a Mohawk Indian mother and a Jewish professional gambler.” Robbie was attracted to music at a young age and taught himself to play guitar by listening to music on the radio and trying to replicate what he heard. By the age of 16, he was one of the best guitarists in the country and well on the way to an outstanding career in music. For students who are interviewing parents or grandparents to tell their stories, this is an excellent example of second-hand memoir. Stories are told in a very personal way, with details that a distant biographer might leave out. The illustrations are realistic watercolors with pages alternating light and dark for excellent contrast. Overall, this is a useful and informative book. The only piece that I didn’t like was the depictions of the many famous people that Robertson worked with over his career. Especially in the case of Bob Dylan, the picture did not look like my image of this well-known musician.

Give away: if you would like to have one of these books for your classroom, comment in the section below. One lucky winner will be sent the book of her (or his) choice.