California Third Grade Class Tokay Colony Elementa

This book is an awesome way to explain what happened to Pluto, in a way that young children would understand. This book would be best for 1st through 3rd graders; the text is simple, due to being written by school children. The book takes the event of Pluto no longer being a planet and turns it into a great imagination of what this would mean to Pluto (as a thing of feelings). The kids have an adventure and bring Pluto to earth so it has a family, but then learn it does have a family the planets are still his; he is just not classified that way anymore. He is more like a child hanging out with the grown-ups. This was a very creative project and is a great connection for kids when studying the planets.… (més)

This informational book takes a different approach because it is authored by a group of 3rd grade students from an elementary school in California. It starts off with the students gaining the knowledge from their teacher that Pluto according to scientists will no longer be classified as a planet. The students then write a story that tells the fictional tale of how they helped attempt to "save" Pluto, when in fact they realize that Pluto did not need saving. They finish out the book with factual information about Pluto and also some fun activities to take part in.

I think that when young children read this book and discover that it is written by a group of students like them actually wrote the book they would be inspired to "create" as well.

I would like to include this book when covering the solar system. I would like to have my students create their own solar system diorama including all of the planets. I would also have my students paired up with partners to research and investigate on already selected Internet sites facts about all of the planets including Pluto. We can then work together as a class to create a Power Point presentation with information that they found in their groups.… (més)