I wish I had these books back when I was an elementary teacher. They are great! ( )

This chapter book is about a fourth grade boy named Phineas MacGuire who is was forced to team up with a boy in his science class to compete in a science fair project. Once paired up with his new partner he was not sure how the science project would end up because of his partners quirky personality. This book is a good book for middle grade students to read. It is a fun read, with an ending l do not want to spoil. ( )

Mac is about to start the fourth grade, but his best friend moved away right before the first day of school. Mac is a scientist, and so was his best friend. Now he finds himself without a best friend and a science partner. Mac is a self proclaimed scientist and is allergic to the color purple. He looks at everything in his world through the perspective of a scientist. A new student comes into Mac's class during the first week of school, and his name is Mac R. Mac does not like this Mac R. Of course, the two get paired together to complete a science fair project. Mac and Mac R. have to learn to work together so they can complete their science project.
This is a great text for grades 3-6. The scientific language adds some complexity to the text, but it is still accessible for this age group. I would use this text as a mentor text for learning about scientific language and the scientific process. It could be read either before learning about scientific language or during the unit in science. I think this text could be particularly helpful in learning about scientific observations and theories. I would use this to help children begin learning about the how the scientific process fits into daily life. Children would write down things that they observed occurring in their daily lives that they think would involve science. Then the children would write down their theories about why they think they saw that in their observation. ( )

GRL T,2 copies

GRL T,2 copies