I'm hooking up with a group of amazing bloggers to take you on a virtual trip around the USA ~ book by book. The project is the brainchild of Jodie at Growing Book by Book.
Where is Montana? (Seems like a silly question, but I've been asked what it's like living in Canada while visiting other states.)
Did you know that Montana is the only state with a triple divide allowing water to flow into the Pacific, Atlantic, and Hudson Bay? You can learn this and other Fast Facts and Trivia about Montana by clicking here.
You can also visit Montana Kids and learn facts, play games, follow the dino trail, learn about Montana plants and animals, and read cool Montana ghost stories among other things!
As usual, it was hard for me to choose one book...so I didn't!
My first book is an oldie but a goodie called M is for Montana.
I first came across this book when I was a beginning teacher and have loved it ever since. The illustrations are truly works of art and the book will appeal to children of all ages.
After reading this book, I have my students write acrostic poems with illustrations to match. Although their poems don't usually have any historical or factual information like the book, they are very personal and creative. Use watercolor for our illustrations, which is what I believe is used in the book.
I also like to use this book as a springboard before we create chalk mountain art work. Here is a simple video that explains it much better than I could.
The second book I chose is B is for Big Sky Country.
This is another beautiful book with rich illustrations. This book has a kind of "double" format. For smaller kids you could just read the small rhyming portion (as highlighted below in yellow) and for bigger kids (and adults) you could read the larger more in-depth portion.
Here is a link for an idea book I have not used but it looks worth checking out.
I was amazed at how many other books related to Montana came up on Amazon. (You gotta love the section "Customers Who Bought This Also Bought"...it gets me everytime!)
Third is a class favorite called Who Pooped in the Park? which is about identifying animal scat and tracks in Glacier National Park.
This fun book has kids hooked as soon as they see or hear the title! I have made photocopies of illustrations in the book and "hidden" them around the room. Then the kids play detective to try and identify them. Some even decide they have to use magnifying lenses to look closer at the details. It's a blast! I use the song "Scit Scat Diddily Doo" by Foster Brown with this lesson. It's a hit too. You can find it on this CD.
I hope you have fun visiting Montana through one or all of these books. And better yet, that you get a chance to visit in real life sometime in the future!
