My Senator and Me

 

My Senator and Me a Dog’s-Eye View of Washington, D.C.

By Senator Edward M. Kennedy

Illustrated by David Small

Grade Level K-4

Genre: Biographical/non fiction

Have you ever wondered what life is like living in the capital and what really happens in Washington D.C, well what better person to tell you all about the coming and goings of life in the capital than the late U.S. senator Edward M. Kennedy dog Splash?

            The late Senator Ted Kennedy writes an amazingly well written book with the help of his Portuguese Water Dog Splash, in an easy to understand, yet informative view of the nation’s capital and what a normal day consist of in the Capitol.  Splash details all the events that occur in the capital, whether  that be giving a first-hand account of the Senator’s staff meeting, taking a fun filled ride on the tram, being at his owner’s side during a press conference, or simply watching a debate between opposing senators as they discuss a way to implement an education bill.

The illustrations by Caldecott medal winning artist David Small are simply astounding.  His use of oversized watercolors of Splash and his on-the-go Senator make the book so realistic and allow readers to feel as if they are a part of the action.  The illustrations are done in a way that readers could be entertained by the book even if they just looked at the illustrations

The genres of this book are what I consider both biographical and nonfiction.  The book has a biographical genre feel because of the fact that it is telling the daily life of the senator, and remember the author of the book is the senator himself.  The details provided are an accurate portrayal of a normal day of the senator and his dog would consist of.  The character portrayed of course is worthy of being a biography, though it is from Kennedy’s dog point of view, the voice is that of the senator.

Considering the elements of this book that make it nonfiction is the way the writing is done.  The design of the book is very reader friendly and there is not a lot of print on each page.  The topic of US government could be one that’s considered too advanced for young children, but because of the style of the book and simplicity of it, the messages of the story can get across to the readers.  The writing shows a sense of enthusiasm, and allows you to see everything unfolding through the eyes of the senator’s dog.  However, in my opinion, I think the fact that the senator himself wrote this book is a main reason on why this book is so well written, and reader friendly.

The reason why I feel this book is such an effective book/good book is because of the many layers and the interdisciplinary teaching that could be accomplished with this book.  Not only, can students read an interesting book, but they also will learn about the steps in which a bill becomes a law and learn more about the United States government.  The only downside of this book could be the length of it.  The book is 56 pages, so a read aloud and lesson could take a couple of days.  Finally, this book would be perfect for ELL learners who don’t understand United States Government, because as previously stated the way the book is presented is easy to follow.  Oh and don’t forget this book is great for students who love animals and that can capture the interest of many students quickly.  Nonetheless I feel that because of the great writing, and the endless possibilities of different activities that can be used with this book, make this book a must read, and one that should be in every classroom library.

The Massachusetts ELA frameworks that could be applied to this story:

Grade 3 RL1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

Grade 2 RL 6: Acknowledge differences in point of view of characters, including speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.

Grade 4 RI 2: Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.

Grade 2 RI 6 Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain or describe.

The Greedy Triangle

The Greedy Triangle

Written By: Marilyn Burns

Illustrated by Gordon Silveria

Grades: K-2

Genre: Informational

       A triangle was bored with his triangle duties of supporting bridges, holding up roofs and hearing all the latest news from people. One day he goes to a shapeshifter and gets one more angle and side added to him to become a quadrilateral. The new quadrilateral becomes bored again and returns to the shapeshifter to get one more angle and side added to him. The triangle becomes greedy keeps returning to the shapeshifter for new sides and angels. Will the triangle ever become satisfied with the new shape he is transformed to or will he realize he likes being a triangle the best?

    Once there was a very busy triangle. He held up roofs, supported bridges, made music in a symphony orchestra and much, much more. His favorite thing to do was to slip into place where people put their hands on their hips and listen to the latest news to tell his other shape friends. One day the triangle began to feel bored of doing the same things every day so he went to see the local shapeshifter. After asking the shapeshifter to add one more side and one more angle to him to make his life more interesting the shapeshifter turned him into a quadrilateral.  After becoming bored of doing all of the wonderful quadrilateral things he went back to the shapeshifter and asked for one more side and one more angle to become a pentagon. The shape continued to become bored, restless and unhappy of his new shapes and continued to return to the shapeshifter and ask for one more side and one more angle. The shapeshifter turned the shape into one new shape after another. He was turned into a hexagon, heptagon, octagon, nonagon, and decagon and on and on. Finally the shape had way too many angles and sides that were so small that he could not keep his balance. When the shape had enough he went back to the shapeshifter and asked to become a triangle again.  The shapeshifter agreed and the triangle was delighted to have its old shape again and do all of the triangle duties again.

         The Greedy Triangle has many characteristics that make it a good book. The first is the lesson this story teaches. This story teaches children about different 2 dimensional shapes. It shows the reader what happens to the shape when more sides and angles are added to it. This story also introduces the reader to the names of the different polygons dependent on the number of sides and angles it has. The lesson of the different shapes is presented by showing the shapes in real world and imaginary situations. It shows shapes in many different forms and places them in situations that are appealing to children. The Greedy Triangle has an absence of harshness, scariness and swearing. The familiar content presented in this story is shapes. Shapes are familiar content because shapes are all around us. The Greedy Triangle illustrations also contribute to what makes it a good book.  The illustrations are large, exciting and colorful. It develops and defines the shapes and how they are used in real life situations. The illustrations really define the attributes of each shape and show how and where you see them in everyday life. The text is reinforced through the illustrations. The illustrations go along with the text and show the reader what the text is saying.

      The genre of The Greedy Triangle is informational. Although The Greedy Triangle is a fictional story, the information in the text about the shapes is factual. The writing of this story is interesting because it is a fictional story of a triangle that changes shapes. It makes the facts of shapes appealing to the readers in this fun and light tale. The type of informational text The Greedy Triangle is an informational picture book. This story presents current and accurate knowledge about shapes. It describes to the readers the correct polygons names, its attributes and how and where they are used in the world around you. Marilyn Burns took a basic geometric concept of shapes and presented the information and details in a fun and exciting way for its young readers. This story has an attractive design. Its content is combined with visual appeal. The cover illustration as well as the illustration in the book is large, fun, colorful, exciting and inviting to readers. This story grabs the interest of the readers in topic of shapes for readers and makes it fun. The readers may not even realize they are learning about shapes. This story also includes little known facts. Little known facts are details that create images, interest and provide a starting point for greater understanding. The little known facts in The Greedy Triangle are how shapes are used in real world situations. It shows that triangles are used to hold up roofs, support bridges and catch the wind in sailboats. Comparisons are also used in this story. It shows comparisons between shapes. The story presents the differences in what shapes look like by the different number of sides and angles. Also the different ways shapes are used in everyday life. The root of all informational texts is accuracy. The story is accurate in the information of the attributes of shapes and where they are in the environment around you. The accuracy of this informational book is also reinforced by looking at the back of the book. In the back of the book there is a section for parents, teachers and other adults. It explains how The Greedy Triangle can be used children learning of shapes. It also gives you mathematical information about shapes. Finally, it shows how you can use this story to extend children’s learning. It shows ways to stimulate a children’s thinking during and after reading the story. There is also a note about the author. Marilyn Burns is the founder of Math Solutions Professional Development. She has been teaching, and writing for children, leading in-service workshops, and creating teacher resource materials. She also has written other mathematical concept books.

     I would use The Greedy Triangle in my classroom as an introduction to a lesson on sorting the shapes around us. Specifically the lesson will be about sorting shapes by their attributes. I will use this story as a read aloud to the class. Before I read the story I will have the student’s name some shapes that I would write on an easel. This story as well as the list will activate the student’s prior knowledge of different shapes. I will introduce the story to the students by saying we are going to read a story about a triangle that gets turned into many different shapes. I will tell them that maybe the triangle even changes into some of the shapes that we wrote down and to be on the lookout for them. After reading we will briefly discuss some of the shapes that the triangle turned into and add some that the students did not come up with before on the chart.  This story will be a good introduction to how to sort shapes based on attributes because it describes each shape the triangle transforms into based on the two attributes of number of sides and number of angles. This story also is a good introduction for shapes around us because the books discusses the where you would find the shapes the triangle gets turned into in the world around us.

The Massachusetts Standards that could be applied to this text are:

2. G.1: Recognize and draw shapes having specified attributes, such as a given number of angels or a given number of equal faces. Identify triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons and cubes.

2. RI.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area.