Books with author Laura Purdie Salas

“What does this poem mean?” “How should I read it?” “How do we talk about it?” “What do I DO with it?” “What’s the best way to assess it?” “How do I meet standards?” “When can I possibly fit it into my already over-packed day?” Have you ever asked these questions about poetry? The 30 Painless Classroom Poems series makes it easy for you, the elementary school teacher, media specialist, or reading specialist, to share poetry with your students. Whether you already love poetry or you fear or even actively dislike it, these books are for you. The poems, Notes from the Poet, extension activities written by experienced classroom teachers, and tips for using poetry in your classroom will have you sharing poems in no time. In A Need to Feed, award-winning poet Laura Purdie Salas (author of BookSpeak!, Water Can Be…, and more) shares 30 poems in which predators stalk, pounce, trick, lure, and attack their prey. These rhyming poems, mostly from the predators' point of view, show how animals' bodies and hunting styles are adapted to their ecosystem and their prey. The final word in each poem is the prey animal, so you can also use these as riddle poems, letting students employ close reading and additional research to find clues and figure out the prey animal. Extension activities by Karen Ganon share ideas for springboarding from these poems into deeper learning across many content areas. Sample: Great Horned Owl: Cravings Stink In midnight’s black velvet I silently glide My golden moon eyes Expose each place you hide I tear with my beak My claws neatly slice— Well, that’s enough detail. (This story’s not nice!) Last year, all my friends said My taste in food stunk But the fast food I crave is Still smelly old… SKUNK! Note: The Great Horned Owl is the only animal who really loves to eat skunk. They also enjoy fox and porcupine! The Great Horned Owl’s excellent night vision allows it to hunt at night. Note from the Poet: Owls are so gorgeous and mysterious, and I really wanted to start the poem by focusing on that. I thought it would be a nice contrast to the slicing and dicing that comes later. In lines 1 and 3, I used phrases like "black velvet" and "golden moon" to make you picture a beautiful night. See all of the 30 Painless Classroom Poems at www.30PainlessClassroomPoems.com. Disclaimer: For those of you collecting all my 30 Painless Classroom Poems books, please note that some information, such as Why Poetry Matters and Classroom Poetry Tips, is repeated from book to book. The introduction to the book, the poems, the Notes from the Poet, and the classroom activities are unique to each book.

“What does this poem mean?” “How should I read it?” “How do we talk about it?” “What do I DO with it?” “What’s the best way to assess it?” “How do I meet standards?” “When can I possibly fit it into my already over-packed day?” Have you ever asked these questions about poetry? The 30 Painless Classroom Poems series makes it easy for you, the elementary school teacher, media specialist, or reading specialist, to share poetry with your students. Whether you already love poetry or you fear or even actively dislike it, these books are for you. The poems, Notes from the Poet, extension activities written by experienced classroom teachers, and tips for using poetry in your classroom will have you sharing poems in no time. In Why-ku: Poems of Wonder About the Natural World, award-winning poet Laura Purdie Salas (author of BookSpeak!, Water Can Be…, and more) offers up paired haiku asking and answering questions about our world. Extension activities by teacher and poet Mary Lee Hahn share ideas for spring-boarding from these poems into deeper learning across many content areas. Sample: Perfect silver moon: Round paper plate in the sky, great glowing circle WHY DOES THE MOON LIGHT UP? I am not a star, but with Sun's fiery spotlight, I reflect and shine A Note from the Poet: [Perfect] I love the moon. I think we all have topics we come back to, over and over again. For me, the ocean and the moon are two of those topics. Whenever I’m out at night, I always look for the moon overhead. A Note from the Poet: [I] I don’t remember when I learned that the moon did not glow on its own, but I think I was an adult! I remember thinking, “Huh? What do you mean? Of course the moon produces light!” Wrong. It only reflects the sun’s light. Sometimes when the moon is full and the ground is covered with snow (I live in Minnesota), it’s almost as bright as daylight outside. The snow reflects the beautiful moonglow, and I have to remind myself that that’s really sunlight, bouncing around from sun to moon to my yard, even in the middle of the night. See all of the 30 Painless Classroom Poems at www.30PainlessClassroomPoems.com. Disclaimer: For those of you collecting all my 30 Painless Classroom Poems books, please note that some information, such as Why Poetry Matters and Classroom Poetry Tips, is repeated from book to book. The introduction to the book, the poems, the Notes from the Poet, and the classroom activities are unique to each book.

Sir Isaac Newton changed the world with his many discoveries and inventions about mathematics, science, optics, and physics. Although he was brilliant, Newton felt no need to publish his ideas or to inform his fellow scientists of the amazing discoveries he made. Because of this, his discoveries were often disputed. Despite the controversy that often surrounded him, Newton made astounding advances in his efforts to understand how nature worked. His legacy lives on through inventions such as microscopes, eyeglasses, telescopes, and cameras.

Finalist, 2010 Minnesota Book Award An inventive poetry collection that shows the wild side of first- and second-graders at school. These 18 funny and imaginative poems observe students in their natural habitat and reveal their unusual behavior, crazy communication, and very healthy appetites. Whether they're in the classroom, on the playground, or in the cafeteria, school brings out the animal in all of them. And if you look carefully as you turn the pages, you may even glimpse some of the wild side in yourself!