Final Project – Children’s Literature, Susan Flemming

The Winter Olympics are taking place this February, and I thought it was a good idea to do my final project on the Winter Olympics.I enjoyed gathering all the books about the history of the Olympics, and autobiographies about athletes that participated.There are an abundance of informational books, along with many poetry books so the children are exposed to numerous genres.I used Solid Gold Problem Solving, an article out of Instructor, written in January of 1992 as my professional journal article.This article provided many ideas on how to get the children involved, what questions to ask, and what materials to use in your classroom.Another positive about teaching this topic is that you are able to apply the material to all the subjects you are teaching.In social studies you can teach the history of the Olympics, for science you can discuss and research the physics about ice, and for math you can discuss the importance of time, measurement and scales when it comes to competing at the Olympics.The Winter Olympics interests both boys and girls due to the variety of sports played and the participation from both men and women in most of the events.If you gear this unit towards third graders, which I have done, many of them would be interested in reading about past Olympics.Another bonus is the Olympics are taking place not too far from us in Salt Lake City, Utah.You can inform them about how the Olympics were started, the symbolism of rings and medals, countries that participate, opening and closing ceremonies, and featured events.Listed below is a list of books that would fit in great!

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Florian, Douglas. Winter Eyes. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1999.

This poetry book has over 45 short poems all about winter.The poems, “Winter Tracks” and “Ice Fishing” are especially good.

Hopkins - Bennett, Lee. Opening Days. New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1996.

This poetry book is all sports poems.There are several prominent writers who share their work in this book, Gary Soto “Ode to Weight Lifting” and Arnold Adoff“I Am the Running Girl”. 

Genre:Realistic Fiction

Christopher, Matt. Penalty Shot. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1997.

Jeff Connors had to turn his uniform in last year due to his poor grades.This year, he is working hard and is determined not to let that happen, and is working with a tutor.Just when Jeff has made progress someone is playing with him, and his papers are mysteriously disappearing along with someone writing nasty notes.

Christopher, Matt. Olympic Dream. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1996.

Doug Cannon decides to stop playing hockey, and wants to learn about bike paths, and the sport of cycling after he meets Red Roberts.Even though he is the butt of jokes because he is overweight, he wants to put that aside, and find out if he really has what it takes to go the distance.

Genre:Fantasy

Craft, Ruth & Blegvad, Erik.The Winter Bear. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company, 1974.

This picture book is about three children who go out to play in the snow and find a bear hanging in the tree.They bring the bear home and take care of him after they discover he has broken his arm.

Christopher, Matt. Wingman On Ice. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1993.

Tod Baker is sure his new hockey stick will improve his game.But when his team loses several times, he realizes his equipment does not have the magic touch and puts the hockey stick in the closet until he consistently starts to play well.

Genre: Biographies

Katherine Healy is ten years old and shares her story about herself as a figure skater and ballerina and how hard she works in order to be successful at competitions.She is growing up in New York City and the book is filled with many black and white photographs of her skating, taking ballerina lessons and life with her family and friends.

Dickmeyer, Lowell. Hockey Is For Me. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 1978. 

Eight-year-old Ryan discusses hockey techniques, terms and game rules. Ryan plays on the Barons and this book follows his team as they begin their first hockey season. This book has excellent black and white photographs of Ryan and his team playing hockey.The author is a PE teacher and is active in athletics.

Washington, Rosemary. Cross-Country Is For Me.Minneapolis:Lerner Publications Company, 1982.

Lois is ten, and her pen pal Katarina from Norway, describe cross-country skiing, including appropriate dress, equipment, ski waxing techniques, and such basic moves as the diagonal stride, step turn and snowplow.For kids who down hill ski or snow board this also shares some of the same key components.

Genre:Multi-Cultural

Shaughnessy,Linda. Michelle Kwan Skating Like the Wind. New Jersey: Crestwood House, 1998.

This is a short chapter book about the life of Chinese-American, figure skater, Michelle Kwan.The author shares with us when Michelle started to skate, her family and her many successful competitions.

Kramer, S.A. Ice Stars. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1997.

There are several short stories about Kristi Yamaguchi and Oksana Baiul from Russia.The illustrations are beautiful and the reading level is perfect for a second or third grader.This all aboard reading book is going to excite their imagination and expand their interests

Genre: Historical

Describes the history, traditions, and competitive events connected with the Olympic games held in Greece. You can discuss with the class what events and traditions still stand today.

Tatlow, Peter, The Olympics. New York: Bookwright Press, 1987.

This book is about what has happened at past Olympics and mentions the bomb that killed many athletes in Munich.Some of the key words are highlighted and definitions are provided.

Genre: Informational

Arnold, Caroline, The Olympic Winter Games, New York: A First Book, 1991.

This book gives you brief information about the Winter Olympics, with descriptions of individual events and profiles of several past champions.

Brimmer, Larry, Bobsledding and the Luge, New York: Children’s Press, 1997.

This wonderful book is simple to follow and understand.It provides kids with a ton of information about bobsledding and the luge competition.These are both not very common sports and can expand the children’s knowledge on events at the Olympics.

Brimmer, Larry, The Winter Olympics, New York: Children’s Press, 1997.

Briefly discusses the international competition in winter sports, and describes some of the sports involved including skiing, ice hockey, skating and bobsledding. Also discusses the symbolism of the Olympic emblem (five rings). 

Genre: Fairytale/Folklore

Gilchrist, Cherry, Sun-Day,Moon-Day. Bristol: Barefoot Books, 1998

This book is about how and why we came up with the seven days of week. Several of the tales take you back thousands of years, and tell you how the Greeks and Babylonians gave something to our calendar.