Short Form (All Genres)

Mary San Pedro

Title: Don’t Know Much About George Washington Author: Kenneth C. Davis

Illustrator: Rob Shepperson Publisher/Year: HarperCollins Publishers/2003

Genre: Biography

Summarize the content of the book –

A. For Nonfiction Genres – Explain the information given, how it is shared-what design
- The book contains all the information about George Washington. You want to know about where he
came from, his family, his friends, what he wore when he was a child; what happened to him in 1779 to
1780, what made him the first president, this book has it. It has eight chapters including all his
milestones throughout his lifetime.
- The format of the book was through a question and answer. An example would be, ‘Did Washington
himself put his name in Washington, DC? No. In 1791, Congress named the new capital the District of
Columbia’. It created numerous questions about Washington then a paragraph of answers completely
followed.
- The book had a few pencil drawings on it too. It also had maps.
- The sentence structure was simple and can easily be understood by a third or fourth grader. An
example would be, ‘Jefferson agreed. It took about ten years to lay out streets, erect buildings, and
otherwise prepare the swampy site’.

Explain how the book appeals to children, their interests, developmental levels, fun
illustrations etc. Give specific examples from the book:
The book was definitely designed for higher-grade levels because it was long lengthy and black
and white. There were eight chapters and there was no color and few illustrations. Young
readers would not appreciate the book because it would require a lot of focus, attention, and
time to finish the book; which young readers don’t have.
Rate the book 3

Explain your rating.

I gave the book a 3 because I believe it served it purpose well. It gave important facts about
Washington. It provided artifacts. Overall, it is definitely a good read for higher-grade levels
starting from grade three. They will definitely know more about him and more so appreciate
him.
Short Form (All Genres)

Mary San Pedro

Title: Sacajawea Her true Story Author: Joyce Milton

Illustrator: Shelly Hehenberger Publisher/Year: Penguin Putnam Inc./2001

Genre: Biography

Summarize the content of the book –

A. For Nonfiction Genres – Explain the information given, how it is shared-what design
- The book was about Scajawea an American Indian girl.
- It condensed important events in her life and told it in a story. How she became captive of the
enemy chief and how he traded her that eventually led her to become the trader’s wife. It
included events of how she managed to help Lewis and Clark (the explorers) find a route from
the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. It also told the story of how she gave birth to her son
Pomp and how she reunited with her brother who gave them horses to use for travel. The book
ended with the mystery of what happened to her when he and his husband left Lewis and Clark.
If she died or if she lived to 100.
- The book had a format similar to that of a storybook. It contained both text and illustrations.
The illustrations were abundant throughout the whole book. It was colored too. The illustrator
used colored pencils and pencil to draw.
- The text was easy to read and understand. An example would be, ‘Ten minutes later, Sacajawea
had a son. She called him Pomp’. There was a maximum of three sentences per page.
Explain how the book appeals to children, their interests, developmental levels, fun
illustrations etc. Give specific examples from the book:
Children will treat the book as a storybook because of how the book was formatted. It can
definitely be used across the different age groups.
Rate the book 3

Explain your rating.

Children will learn about American Indians through this book. They will have a glimpse on how
they lived and how it was like back then. The illustrations gave life to the text, which children
will enjoy. Overall, the book was a good read.
Nonfiction Form (Biography and Nonfiction Books)
Mary San Pedro Title: I am Rosa Parks
Author: Brad Meltzer Illustrator: Christopher Eliopoulos
Publisher/Date: Penguin Group/2014 Genre: Biography
EVALUATE THE BOOK USING THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS
1. Explain how the cover and first pages of the book attract and hold the reader’s interest. Give
3examples from the book

1. On the cover you can see the title of the book I am Rosa Parks and a cartoon illustration of her sitting on a bus
with a pouch on her lap. It immediately draws attention because of the great illustration. Also It creates
curiosity to the reader as to who is Rosa Parks.
2. As you open the book, there is another title page. Then the next page is a two-page spread illustration of her
sitting on a bus stop with a text that says I am Rosa Parks. Curiosity and probably a couple of questions arise
from the reader such as who is Rosa Park? Is she special? What did she do that someone made a book about
her?
3. The story of her starts off when she was young. She was a black American girl who was short for her age and
was always sick. Then the story kicks off on how she got yelled at because she fought and pushed back a young
boy who shoved her. At this point, the book has gained the children’s interest because they can relate to her.
They too get yelled, get sick, and get bullied.
STYLE AND LANGUAGE – Explain how the book shares information with children. Examples: “little-known
facts;” new vocab sprinkled in the text; and selection of information to create/maintain reader’s interest.
Give 3 examples from the book
1. The book explained segregation in the simplest way possible a young reader can understand. This is how the
author explained it, ‘Back then, if you were black, you were treated unfairly because of the color of your skin.
You were not allowed to live in the same neighborhood as a white person, eat in the same restaurant, ride the
same elevator, or use the same bathroom’.
2. There was also dialogue between Rosa Parks and a young boy who had no clue of the unfair treatment black
men were receiving. He kept on saying hooray because he was blinded by how whites gained more access. One
of their conversations were,
Rosa: Since most kids had to work on a farm to earn money, we only went to school five months during the
year.
Young Boy: Less School! Hooray!
Rosa: Don’t say ‘hooray’ that’s bad.
3. There was no rhyme or rhythm throughout the entire book. It was formatted similar to that of a storybook
that has a main character and a plot. The main character is of course Rosa Parks. The story revolved on how an
ordinary black American girl influenced people to start change.
ACCURACY – up-to-date research, references given, no mixing of fact and fiction.
Explain:
Everything written and told in the book was true. Rosa Parks was indeed shoved by a white boy when she was
young because of her color. It was also true that she fought back. She also did not give up her seat in the bus
and in return got arrested. It was also true that she started the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
- Overall, the book was full of facts about Rosa Parks.
INFORMATION – Child’s interest, unusual subjects or viewpoints - personalized content – new perspectives,
first-person accounts, and fascinating comparisons. Give 3 examples from the book.
1. Segregation between races. Children would find it strange and more so confusing that people back then were
segregated because of color.
2. Boycott. The meaning and reason behind it is quite interesting for young readers. Seeing and knowing that
change can be done with getting together as one.
3. White Privilege. Children would probably ask, why favor the white? What makes them special?
EVALUAT THE BOOK FOR ILLUSTRATION WITH THE FOLLOWING:
Media (paints, pencils, pen, watercolors, charcoal, photographs, crayon, acrylics, chalk, oils): Acrylic Paint, Pen
Visual elements (line, shapes, colors, textures):
Line: Straight and diagonal lines to outline the windows and bus seats; Curved lines for the seat handles; Zigzag lines to accentuate the hat
of the lady passenger
Shapes: Circles seen on the buttons of the coat, their eyes and the glass’ frame; Rectangle seen on the man’s hat and the frame of his
glasses; Rectangles to represent pockets in the mans coat
Color: Brown, yellow, green, tan, flesh, black, white
Texture: Rough seen on the floor of the bus; frizzy seen on the man’s hair; smooth seen on the woman’s hat
How are illustration and text combined to share the information? What does illustration show that text does not explain?
- The illustration clearly shows what is written in the text. The driver asks for seats, there is a dialogue box found and the driver
mouthing the words; Let me have those front seats.
- Although the text did not say that all the white men sitting inside the bus puzzled and confused while looking at Rosa.

Describe the Page design: use of borders, text placement and font size, information boxes, charts, vocab identified, use of white and
dark space, illustrations placement and types of illustrations:
- No borders are found. The illustration took the whole two-page spread. There is no white space.
- The text had the same font and size. They were located at the top center for both pages.
- There is a dialogue box found. It is from the driver.
2. Child Development Theories –Select 1 theory
Identify the stage: Concrete Operational and age level 7 to 11 for Piaget’s theory. Explain the
development for this level.
- Children at this stage are starting to develop their reasoning skills.
- They may also have a hard time making predictions in stories or seeing the importance of historical
events to present time.
Explain how the book fits the developmental level.
Give 3 specific examples from the book to support your evaluation.
1. While reading the book, children may have questions and inquiries as to why men before were segregated.
Just like the young boy in the story.
2. Children may also wonder the difference between white and colored fountains. Do they taste the same or
not? Why do they need to drink from separate fountains?
3. They will also wonder and get confused as to why men were segregated based from their skin color just like
most people during this time and was also seen in the story.
3. OVERALL RATING (3 high, 1 low) 3
Explain the rating:
How the author used to tell the story of Rosa Parks was both interesting and clever. He used a young
Parks to describe events centuries ago made it relatable and easy to understand for young children.
The illustrations were great. They were fun, colorful and unique. Overall, the book was definitely a
good read.
 BOOK EXTENSION ACTIVITY - LESSON PLAN
Mary San Pedro Genre of the Book: Biography

Book Title: I am Rosa Parks Author: Brad Meltzer

Publisher: Penguin Group Date: 2014

1. Pre-K/ CCSD K-2nd Grade Core Standards:

Intended for first to second grade

Students participate in discussions to offer information, clarify ideas, and support a position.

2. Objectives:
SWBAT – understand and learn about how men of color were treated and how an African American girl
influence or strived for change and made a difference.

3. Materials/Equipment:
- White Board

- White Board Marker

4. Teaching:
A. Reading the book

- Have you ever stood up for yourself? Have you ever said no because you thought different? What gave
you the courage to do so (stand up and fight for yourself)? (Pause and wait for response) Today, we are
reading a book about an African American girl who had to the courage to say NO and how she made a
difference.

- Do your siblings tease you?

- Have you ever fought back someone who has done you wrong? Do you think its right to fight back? Did
Rosa do the right thing?

- Do you think these children had a good education? Do you think they were able to learn in this kind of
environment?

- Look at the difference of being sent to school at a white school VS the first one. What can you see?

- Do you think it was right for the bus driver to drag her? What do you think she felt?

- What do you think will happen next?

- Do you think it made a difference that everyone participated in the movement?

B. Extension activity:

- What if I said that all the children on this side because you all have yellow shirts (find something they
have in common) will only have five minutes for recess while children on this side will have fifteen. Will
that be okay? Do you think its fair? Why so? What if situations were reversed children on this side will
have five while they get fifteen? Will that work for everyone? Is that fair that one group gets more time
to eat while the other group does not? So several years’ back, some parts of this country had unfair
African American laws. They were treated differently because of their skin color. From Rosa Parks’ story
can you name some of the unfair laws for the African Americans? Today do we still see these unfair
treatments for men or women of color? Yes, we don’t. It’s rare that we do. This is because of the civil
rights passed.

5. Closure:
Today we learned about Rosa Parks and how she fought for change. How she had the courage to stand
up for her beliefs. I hope you learned a lot from her and strive to do the same by treating one another
fairly.