Sunday, July 21, 2013

Science Mentor Text: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

I'm excited to link back up with Collaboration Cuties {Amanda & Stacia}! I missed them last week when I was on vacation.
 
This week's topic is science. I like to incorporate fiction and non-fiction, especially more now with Common Core.
 
I'm excited to add The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind to my book collection. I stumbled across this book this summer and can't wait to share it with you and my students!
Amazon's description:
When fourteen-year-old William Kamkwamba's Malawi village was hit by a drought, everyone's crops began to fail. Without enough money for food, let alone school, William spent his days in the library . . . and figured out how to bring electricity to his village. Persevering against the odds, William built a functioning windmill out of junkyard scraps, and thus became the local hero who harnessed the wind.

Lyrically told and gloriously illustrated, this story will inspire many as it shows how - even in the worst of times - a great idea and a lot of hard work can still rock the world.
  
Here's a TED video with William Kamkwamba telling how he built the windmill. Very inspiring and great for science process-he saw a problem and tested different ways to fix it.
Such an amazing young man!


After reading about wind energy in our science text, my students fill out a fact poster to make all the important information appealing! They can use written facts and/or illustrations. 
These posters are great for main idea and details, interactive notebooks, or a bulletin board. I sometimes will let them use them as their notes pages for quizzes/tests, so they're more likely to put "the most important" information on their posters.
If you'd like a copy, click here and download for free!
Be kind and leave feedback if you download. 

The winners for my Pin to Win Synonym Work Mats and Synonym Posters & Rings are:
Christine and AMC! Check your email!

Congratulations and thank you all for participating!

 

9 comments:

  1. What a cool book and video. I love sharing with my kiddos how they can make a difference even at a young age. I will have to check this book out. Thanks!

    Hunter's Tales from Teaching

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  2. I JUST saw this on Amazon and thought this looked like a really neat book! I do not know how I'm gonna afford all of the books I want!! They are all so good! Thank you so much for linking this up!!

    Hugs,
    Amanda
    Collaboration Cuties

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  3. I remember hearing that story, but didn't know there was a book I could share with my kiddos! :) It looks really great!

    NotJustChild'sPlay

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  4. WOW! Sounds great! Going to have to get this one and add it to my library :)

    Jess

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  5. My head is spinning with all the ways I could use this book in my classroom. Thanks for the link to the video! I have to go pin this now.

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  6. This looks like a great read for my science station. :). Adding it to my list. Thanks.
    ~Brandee
    Creating Lifelong Learners
    Follow me on Bloglovin'

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  7. Love the poster! Thanks so much! :)

    ~Amy
    http://middleschoolminions.blogspot.com

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  8. I love the plot of this story. Integrating a perseverance theme with a science topic sounds like a great story to me!

    Thank you for sharing.

    Mary

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  9. What an amazing book that leads students to think beyond their own world.
    Thank you for the free download!
    Fabulous Fifth Grade Fun

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