A Rock is Lively



Using beautiful watercolor illustrations (they aren’t photographs?!), Sylvia Long illustrates Dianna Hutts Aston’s text in the award-winning creative style of An Egg is Quiet, A Seed is Sleepy and A Butterfly is Patient. Young readers will delight in the facts that are revealed as we learn about how rocks are created and how we use them. A Rock is Lively is just the thing to add a much needed boost to your "rock books." Are there ever enough?

For middle school students, you may want to check out Rocks and the People Who Love Them by Nel Yomtov. Published by Capstone’s Graphic Library, this nonfiction book uses graphic novel format to both inform and entertain. In addition to supporting earth science curriculum, teachers can use the back matter as they teach students how to research- and connecting to the common core curriculum.

Enslow’s Weird But True Science series includes a rock title for our primary nonfiction readers. In Weird But True Rocks by Carmen Bredeson, we learn that pumice floats and flint sparks. Complete with “Words to Know”, pronunciation guides and a two page spread on each rock, this title will educate your readers on their reading level.

If you're looking for support material, there are free lesson plans at Discovery Education for middle grades. The Geological Society of America is also a resource of lesson plans and other resources for grades, K-12. And don't forget about the US Geological Survey site. From maps to multimedia, there are plenty of resources for your teaching of earth science.