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Poems by Susan Katz and Pictures by R.W. Alley Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers IBSN: 0689840047 Format: Print 37 pages, color illustrations Cost: $11.87 Contact: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0... A Revolutionary Field Trip: Poems of Colonial America is a collection of twenty poems for elementary aged school children. These poems aim to entertain young readers while teaching them about pioneer life, native life, and American history. Colorful illustrations accompany each poem. The poems in this book contain a number of different poetry styles. However, onomatopoeia and rhyming are the most commonly used poetry styles in this book. These particular styles make the material particularly fun and attractive to young readers. The vocabulary level of this book has a good mix of familiar vocabulary, easy to sound out text, and new words for elementary school level children. Clues about the vocabulary can easily be gleamed from the surrounding rhymes as well as the associated illustrations. Furthermore, a glossary of colonial words used in the poems can be found at the back of the book. In this way, if a child is unfamiliar with the meaning of these new words, he or she can look them up with the help of a parent or teacher. Discussions and further explanations can then follow. The primary themes of the poems contained in this book are various activities and objects associated with Colonial America. For instance, in Ann at the Churn a young character undertakes the common pioneer activity of butter churning. Many of the young readers will have tried butter churning before or seen someone churning butter. Thus, this poem can lead to discussions about his or her experiences or reinforce personal connections. Moreover, this poem could be used as a precursor to a butter churning activity. Other poems such as What Did Colonial Kids Play? answer important questions kids always have about what life would have been like for them if they lived in the past. Again, this promotes discussion and potential activities. In this way, this book would be a wonderful introduction to colonial history. This could either be used as part of an in class teaching method or to ready students for a historical field trip. Moreover, parents and grandparents could use this book to attach relevance to either a trip to the living history museum or a trip to grandma's house. The child will then continue to refer to this book associating the book with his or her trip, further reinforcing relevance about what life was like in colonial times and history in general. Go To Page: 1 2 |
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