Bill McAuliffe

Summary:
This biography book gives information on the Native American leader Chief Joseph and his people the Nez Percé American Indians. The book starts with a brief history of how chief Joseph tried to save his people when the US government tried to take it from them, and that they were a peaceful people that surrendered after 3 months. The book also gives background on the tribe and their foods, geographic location, and male/female roles. The book then goes into greater detail on how and why the short war on the US government started, the ways in which they battled, and finally how the government went back on their word. When the government did this they took the Nez Percé to Kansas, and then finally Oklahoma where many fell ill and died because they were not used to the heat. After many talks between Chief Joseph and law makers the Nez Percé were allowed to return to their homeland and and Chief Joseph was revered as a hero and a man of peace.

Personal reaction:
I enjoyed reading this book and how it gives information to the reader while also explaining bigger words it uses. This book would also be good as informational text in class library. I also like how they explained that the chief tried to be peaceful and only used violence when forced to. Another thing I enjoyed is that it tells you where they lived, what they are, and the roles of the people. One of my favorite parts was the pronunciation of the names. It really helps readers develop their phonics skills and use already known decoding skills.

Classroom extension:
1. I would have this book as part of our independent reading to then have the students write a journal prompt on the treatment of the American Indians.

2. I would have a classroom discussion to follow the reading and prompt to promote the students using the text to support what they wrote and share their ideas with each other.… (más)

This is our first encounter with the Dangerous Animals Series and I have to say, I’m not terribly impressed with this volume. On the surface, it appears quite informative, starting out with a small section entitled, “Fun Facts About Black Widow Spiders,” which is rather like an introduction. From there the readers are given four chapters followed by a Photo Diagram (labeling the various body parts discussed in the text), a glossary, additional reading, a listing of web resources (very short) and an index. When I started reading Black Widow Spiders, I was initially impressed by the introductory section which contains a number of interesting facts to titillate the reader and get them excited about the subject (and hinting at the information contained in the books four chapters). I say initially it was attractive because as it turns out, this information is (including scientific grouping, size, coloring, habitat, range, food, and behavior) was taken word for word from the text…so they get this information (exact same wording) a minimum of two times and in a couple of instances more than that.

I feel that the information explaining how the scientific grouping works was very helpful and that the text made good use of scientific terms in a way that was both accessible to young readers and highly informative. Black Widow Spiders uses quite a few photographs which are helpful in illustrating the facts given in the text and help bring a “real” feel to the book, there are even a couple of photographs of Widow Spiders that are not the traditional black color. I also liked that the author took care to explain how the name of this spider evolved and to dispel the myth that the female spider always eats the male after they mate. Unfortunately, the repetition of information is distracting and detracted from what might otherwise be a great book (even my 10 year old commented on it). Overall, I give this 3 stars. It’s an excellent starter book for learning more about this particular “dangerous animal” but for the age range listed (9-12) I think the repetition is a little too obvious. I think this book is better suited to the 7-10 age range where that repetition might not be quite so obvious or might even be helpful in for emerging independent readers in acquiring and retaining the many interesting facts about Black Widows contained in this book.… (más)