Jump Into Science Series

The day after our two snow days, one of my students brought in lots of books about a new interest--rocks and minerals. He had gone to the public library on our days off to find a few new ones. The one that the kids seemed most interested in was one from the Jump Into Science series from National Geographic Kids. It was Jump into Science: Rocks and Minerals   I looked at it and decided we needed it for the classroom. Then I noticed it was part of a series.

I am all about series books that readers who are pretty new to nonfiction can read cover-to-cover. I have seen so much skimming and scanning and so many misconceptions created when students don't build that nonfiction stamina and just see nonfiction as something to skim, scan and picture walk.

This series is perfect for young readers.  There seem to be 8-10 titles and they seem to be mostly connected to Earth Science, although there are a few others.  The pages include basic, yet accessible text and the books contain each share a great deal of information in a readable way.  Nonfiction text features such as headings, maps and diagrams are used.  These are books that can be read by young children and they seem perfect for 3rd graders.  I purchased 3 and will keep an eye out for how popular they become for independent reading.  I am realizing the power in nonfiction picture books so I am happy to have found another good series!