Keep at it

The Inventor's Secret: What Thomas Edison told Henry Ford

By: Suzanne Slade

Illustrated by: Jennifer Black Reinhardt

Hello Bloggers, and welcome to yet another great edition of Little Reader's Paradise.  For this week I've chosen to read the book The Inventor's Secret which peaked my interest because of how it was a picture book and dealt with science and the art of inventing which is a subject I've really lacked in my blog thus far.  I've got to say that this was a very interesting novel and it's obvious message of keeping at it and never giving up is one I highly recommend for any classroom.  Also the fact that these two great inventors were friends is a completely new concept to me so reading a novel that shows numerous examples of two friends working at it to be succesful and accomplish their dreams is without a doubt perfect story to read to a young classroom full of eager minds with tons of dreams of their own

I highly recommend this book for a read aloud whole class instruction because of how it's a simple read that's easy to follow and how the images in it fully convey everything that the text addresses, this can especially be helpful for any ELL students as the text will help convey the meaning of the words. Overall though no matter what way you teach it this is a great text for any child because it's basically saying you can accomplish your dream if you never give up on it and keep trying.

Lexile Score: 590

Recommended Grade Level: Grade 3-4

For the before and after the reading section I've included the names of two activities from an extensive teacher's guide I found, the activities go into full detail with steps on how to even make the material so I've included the link and name of the activity so you can look through and re-create the exercise in the class.  The guide can be found here

Before the Reading

Use The Scientific Method Go Fish exercise from the Teacher's guide.  This is a great way to teach the vocabulary of the scientific method and activate their prior knowledge while also preparing them for the reading.

During the Reading

As you go through the reading find the points where the book compares the two inventors and mark every point.  Then after yu read aloud those points ask the students to point out what happened to Thomas and what happened to Henry and write the two sides on the board.  Continue going and filling out the chart on the board so the students can visually see the growth of the two inventors and can re-enforce their comprehension of the material.  

After the Reading

When you finish the reading have them use the timeline on the board and write a short comparison about how both men kept on trying and how it benefited them.  Once done use the Flashlight Brightness experiment from the Teacher's guide.  This activity will demonstrate for the students the process of keeping at it to get their flashlight just right while also engaging them in the Scientific Method.

Great Electronic Resources

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/projects/thescientificmethod.html

This is a good website for teaching students about the scientific method especially before the before the reading strategy

http://kid-lit-reviews.com/2016/01/05/qa-with-author-suzanne-slade-the-inventors-secret/

This is a Q+A with the author Suzanne Slade about the book, great to share with the students after the reading

Vocabulary Words to go over:

• locomotives = trains
• stencil = a thin sheet of an outline people can fill in
• phonograph = records and reproduces sound, often used to play music
• stroke = step in creating movement in a car
• cylinders = a part in the car that creates the movement
• rattling = making a bunch of short knocking sounds