Mark-- I want to teach this class too! As the reading coach at my school, I'm constantly giving the science (and social studies) teachers info on children's books and their content areas. We have put together a number of sets of books for literature circles for our reading/LA/and content area teachers to use in conjunction with units and/or for projects. Fiction, like Hoot or Hatchet (boy's survival after an airplane crash in AK), is great because it's accessible to the students and has so many different angles to it that lead to good discussions. One good source for good nonfiction children's books in science is the Orbus Pictus Award. Every year NCTE (Nat'l Council of Teachers of English) selects the best nonfiction children's books to highlight. Web link is _http://www.ncte.org/elem/awards/orbispictus_ (http://www.ncte.org/elem/awards/orbispictus) Just because they're listed as elementary books, don't think they're just baby books. They'll work for middle school too--especially for differentiating instruction. Pick several books on the same topic but with varying reading levels. That way you can match them up (or the students will select what they can read) so everyone gets good content but at their reading level. They can all contribute to projects and discussions that way rather than trying to deal with a too hard to read textbook. Hope this helps. Karen
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