I love Magic Tree House books. I guess one could say that I got stuck on them while babysitting this little girl who absolutely loves Jack and Annie. I had never read this particular book though.
I love the way that the Magic Tree House books really allow the students' imaginations to run wild while reading the book. When first and second graders read this book their imagination takes them to the tree house where Jack and Annie point to the information book and say "I wish we could go there!" and then "The wind started to blow. The tree house started to spin. It spun faster and faster. Then everything was still. Absolutely still." I think it is a neat way of describing how the tree house takes Jack and Annie to their mission. Mary Pope Osborne does a great job of painting pictures in the readers' minds. She is a very descriptive author which I think really adds to the book. The illustrations in this book also helps the students see what she is talking about in her description. This way they have something to look at as well as their mental pictures.
In this particular book Jack and Annie visit Venice, Italy. However, it is not the Venice, Italy that students would visit in today's time, but rather Venice as it would have been 260 years ago. They wonder why they are wearing the silly clown outfits so they turn to their information book to see what is going on in Venice. The bold print in this book indicates when Jack is reading from the information book and it also allows the students to obtain information about a particular subject. As a future educator, I believe that the bold print is a great thing to have included in this book because it allows students to see the important information such as Venice, carnivals, Giant's Stairs, etc. Another thing that I really like about the Magic Tree House books is that at the end of the book it has additional information about the book's subject. For instance, in this particular book there is extra facts about Venice.
Not only will I use the Magic Tree House books in my classroom, but I will also use the Magic Tree House Website (http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/magictreehouse/). On this website students can go on to the website and answer questions about the books they have read. After they answer questions, the students are given a passport stamp for the place they have just visited. Even I answered the questions and received my passport stamp.
I think that the Magic Tree House books can be taught anytime throughout the year. There are Magic Tree House Research books that I could use at specific times through the year. For example, there is a book on Pilgrims that I could incorporate into a Thanksgiving unit.
I thought this book was a very interesting book and I can't wait to read another Magic Tree House book!
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1 comment:
I would love to hear more about your passport experience...Also, thanks for pointing out the additional information at the end of the book; this is most helpful for teachers as well as students.
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