Connecting Science and Math Concepts with Children's and Young Adult Literature in a CCSS World.

At the 2014 Children's Literature Assembly Workshop, award-winning authors and illustrators shared the processes they follow for creating authentic, imaginative, and inviting fiction and nonfiction books.BUILDING ON THE THEMEof the 2014 National Council of Teachers of English convention, "Story as the Landscape of Knowing," the Children's Literature Assembly's (CLA) Saturday morning session explored how fiction and nonfiction children's and young adult's literature create opportunities for in-depth learning in the content areas. Participants had the opportunity to hear the stories of authors and illustrators of fiction and nonfiction children's literature as they talked about creating books that explore science and mathematics concepts. Our panel of presenters (Jenmfer Brown, Kate Messner, Jon Scieszka, Jason Chin, Susan Stockdale, Melissa Stewart, Leslie Bulion, and Emily Jenkins) led participants on informative and entertaining excursions through their creative, inventive, and ingenious processes. Two master teachers (Kendall Donald and Emily Whitecotton) also shared curricular invitations for bringing these kinds of texts into practice in their fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms.As participants in this workshop, we learned how practices of such disciplinary communities as mathematics and science can engage students in meaningful ways through a variety of texts (Hodge & Kress, 1988). Fiction and nonfiction children's literature that is authentic, unique, lively, carefully organized, well designed, and inviting to young readers, such as the books presented by the authors in this session, invite children to become familiar with the practices and language of mathematicians and scientists. These books open disciplinary concepts, both simple and complex, to readers of all levels.Although she is known as an author of acclaimed young adult titles, Jennifer Brown's (2014) presentation focused on her new middle-grade fiction title, Life on Mars, in which she tells the story of a 12-year-old boy, Arcturus Betelgeuse Chambers (Arty), who is obsessed with discovering life on Mars. However, Arty's plans are interrupted by his family's move to Las Vegas. His efforts to contact Mars provide laugh-out-loud humor, and along the way readers learn a lot about astronomy, space travel, astronauts, and friendship.Brown admitted that she accidentally fell into writing Life on Mars. Having two middle-grade sons who love astronomy, she wanted to write a story that would interest them. She also wanted to create a place where "learning and laughing could meet." Acknowledging that she is not "sciency," she told of the transformative experience of attending a planetarium show about the constellations Orion and Betelgeuse with her children. When she found that Betelgeuse translates into the word armpit, she knew she had found a way to bring together science, astronomy, learning, and laughter in a book that would appeal to her boys and other middle-grade readers.Kate Messner (2012) captivated the audience with a description of her latest award-winning novel, Eye of the Storm, a middle-grade fiction thriller that brings science and weather concepts to life. This book, set in the not too distant future, explores what could happen when huge tornadoes and monster storms become a part of everyday life. The main character, Jaden, discovers a horrible truth about her father's weather research and must trust her knowledge to protect everyone from the biggest storm yet.Like Brown before her, Messner related that she was not a science major. She was, in fact, a middle school English teacher with a love of words. She is passionately curious, and her books reflect this curiosity about the natural world around her. Messner detailed the four-step research process that she follows to write her books. She begins at the library, where she "gorges" on information. Once sated, she goes to the Internet to read more about how her topic impacts contemporary life. …