Here are some books that KONOS users mentioned on the yahoo group and loved:
* "The United States of America, A State-by-State Guide" by Millie Miller and Cyndi Nelson <-- great overview. Beautiful watercolor art throughout.
*Scrambled States of America game last year and my kids love it! They are supposed to need to be able to read to play it, but we don't follow the rules...I just read the clues and then help them find a (for example)...state that starts with a "W" or has a three letter word in its state motto (which is on the cards). It's hard to explain, but the kids beg to play it all the time! There is a book which by the same name that is perfect for smaller children. The states get together for a party and decide to switch places because they are bored with their neighbors but they discover that after a while they don't like their new spots and all want to go home. Very cute book!
*United Tweets of America *Quilt of States: Piecing Together America
*Come A Tide by George Ella Lyon for Kentucky/West Virginia region, * Time of Wonder and other books by Robert McClosky for New England *Barbara Cooney wrote Island Boy and Hattie and the Wild Waves. also New England.
Although these are not picture books, I love the Lois Lenski books for family read alouds, maybe one per region. Also look into the Holling C.Holling books, particularly Minn of the Mississippi. Marguerite Henry also, she wrote Misty of Chincoteague and Brighty of the Grand Canyon, a couple other options for read alouds.
*A is for America by Devin Scillian <-- HIGHLY recommended A great introduction to tons of things around the country, using rhyme, alliteration, and fabulous full page illustrations. It's published by Sleeping Bear Press which also offers free teaching resources on it's webpage http://www.sleepingbearpress.com/
*Lynne Cheney has two books we have: America, A Patriotic Primer 50 States
*Oh yes, and there is a relatively recent documentary called "How the States Got Their Shapes" but I think it is probably for children a little bit older. I have it saved and my parents said it was really interesting, but I haven't had a chance to get to it yet :)
I'll be posting more on specific states as we finish up this unit.
I have found Fandex's 50 States to be the most helpful in determining what is distinctive about each state.
The Discover America State By State series is by far the best series of books to use for each state. The book on Maine is L Is For Lobster: A Maine Alphabet by Cynthia Furlong Reynolds. It includes short rhymes if you have younger children and then a longer explanation if you have older children.
We've been using the A Kid's Guide to Drawing America series for each state in order to fill out a state fact sheet. It combines the state symbols/points of interest with simple drawing lessons that both my 6 & 9 year old sons are able to use. The Title for Maine is How to Draw Maine's Sights and Symbols by Jenny Deinard.
There are SOOO many great ones! I posted our favorite overall books toward the bottom of http://www.squidoo.com/50-states-lesson-plans . Also included on the page are links to our favorite books (and other resources) for each of the 50 states. (My children are ages 0-9.)
5 comments:
A is for America by Devin Scillian and Sleeping Bear Press ages 4-adult
State by State Series by Sleeping Bear Press (www.sleepingbearpress.com) The publisher have pdf teaching guides available for each book.
America, A Patriotic Primer by Lynne Cheney ages 5-adult
50 States by Lynne Cheney
Here are some books that KONOS users mentioned on the yahoo group and loved:
* "The United States of America, A State-by-State Guide" by Millie Miller and Cyndi Nelson <-- great overview. Beautiful watercolor art throughout.
*Scrambled States of America game last year and my kids love it! They are supposed to need to be able to read to play it, but we don't follow the rules...I just read the clues and then help them find a (for example)...state that starts with a "W" or has a three letter word in its state motto (which is on the cards). It's hard to explain, but the kids beg to play it all the time! There is a book which by the same name that is perfect for smaller children. The states get together for a party and decide to switch places because they are bored with their neighbors but they discover that after a while they don't like their new spots and all want to go home. Very cute book!
*United Tweets of America
*Quilt of States: Piecing Together America
*Come A Tide by George Ella Lyon for Kentucky/West Virginia region,
* Time of Wonder and other books by Robert McClosky for New
England
*Barbara Cooney wrote Island Boy and Hattie and the Wild Waves. also New England.
Although these are not picture books, I love the Lois Lenski books for family read alouds, maybe one per region. Also look into the Holling C.Holling books, particularly Minn of the Mississippi. Marguerite Henry also, she wrote Misty of Chincoteague and Brighty of the Grand Canyon, a couple other options for read alouds.
*A is for America by Devin Scillian <-- HIGHLY recommended A great introduction to tons of things around the country, using rhyme, alliteration, and fabulous full page illustrations. It's published by Sleeping Bear Press which also offers free teaching resources on it's webpage
http://www.sleepingbearpress.com/
*Lynne Cheney has two books we have:
America, A Patriotic Primer
50 States
*Oh yes, and there is a relatively recent documentary called "How the States Got Their Shapes" but I think it is probably for children a little bit older. I have it saved and my parents said it was really interesting, but I haven't had a chance to get to it yet :)
I'll be posting more on specific states as we finish up this unit.
I have found Fandex's 50 States to be the most helpful in determining what is distinctive about each state.
The Discover America State By State series is by far the best series of books to use for each state. The book on Maine is L Is For Lobster: A Maine Alphabet by Cynthia Furlong Reynolds. It includes short rhymes if you have younger children and then a longer explanation if you have older children.
We've been using the A Kid's Guide to Drawing America series for each state in order to fill out a state fact sheet. It combines the state symbols/points of interest with simple drawing lessons that both my 6 & 9 year old sons are able to use. The Title for Maine is How to Draw Maine's Sights and Symbols by Jenny Deinard.
For California study... "Landed" by Millie Lee
"Nine for California" and "Boomtown" by Sonia Levitin were both great.
There are SOOO many great ones! I posted our favorite overall books toward the bottom of http://www.squidoo.com/50-states-lesson-plans . Also included on the page are links to our favorite books (and other resources) for each of the 50 states. (My children are ages 0-9.)
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