Great Books for Read-alouds
Some classes are just a little tougher to get settled. If your science period is directly after recess or gym, you know what I mean! 😂 My after-recess students were hot, tired, and distracted, and regular warm-ups just didn't cut it. That's when I discovered the power of reading aloud. 📚
There's just something about a great book that gets students hooked and settled so quickly. Plus, reading aloud to students makes science more interesting and improves their language and comprehension skills (their ELA teachers will thank you!). Here are some books that you can easily connect to your science lessons:
📖 Looking for a narrative that grabs student attention? Try The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind - Young Readers Edition. This book about a boy who builds a wind turbine in Malawi, Africa provides a springboard to discuss renewable energy and engineering principles.
📖 Want a life science connection? The Secret Life of Bats: My Adventures with the World's Most Misunderstood Mammals by Merlin Tuttle delves into the unique behaviors and adaptations of bats, which can be tied to biology, ecology, and conservation science.
📖 If you're studying landforms, you might enjoy this biography of the youngest person to climb the seven summits: No Summit out of Sight. While it doesn't mention science concepts directly, it brings a human touch to the scale of massive mountains.
📖 The exploration of space would look very different without the help of the African-American women who worked as mathematicians in Hidden Figures Young Readers' Edition. An inspiring STEM story!
📖 For something completely different, try the chemistry-themed Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe by Theodore Gray. The images give an exciting tour of the periodic table, and there's a separate boxed set of cards that you can pass around your room for students to examine. You can build your own periodic table with them, too! If your students find this one compelling, you can keep going with the rest of the trilogy - Molecules and Reactions.
Happy Reading!
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