S is for Scientists

A Discovery Alphabet

Written by: Larry Verstraete

Illustrated by: David Geister

Published by Sleeping Bear Press 2010

Reading Level: Lexile 800

Read Aloud, 4.1

Exceptional, Fascinating, Grabbing, History, Informative

S is for Scientist is a wonderfully descriptive alphabet story book for children. It gives the reader a taste of the variety of problems, discoveries, and wonders that scientists have been studying and continue to ponder. It is also a beautiful way to encourage children to begin to question the world – just as scientists do. As Verstraete states, “What scientists discover changes us all and brings more questions – some big, others small. So read their stories and wonder, too. What questions do you have? What discoveries await you?”

-          Manitoba Library Association

S is for Scientists, is a phenomenal book to share with your students. Science, is underrated as a subject compared to Language Arts and Mathematics within the Elementary Grades, however, this book displays is a wonderful tool to engage your students with the Science world. Each letter of the alphabet has a scientific term to go with it as well as a four line poem to introduce and define the word.

L is for Link

Linking computers together
                        is mighty easy and quick.
            Thanks to Tim’s great idea
                        we can do it with a mouse click.  

The side panel for each letter includes brief information with what the word coincides with. For example, Tim Berners-Lee, was a British software engineer, who looked for ways to simplify and organize his files. Thanks to Tim, ‘the World Wide Web became a reality.’

Key Vocabulary –

1.      Expedition

2.      Isolate

3.      Unearth

4.      Visualize

5.      Yield

Teaching Suggestions –

Before Reading: What can students tell you about Science? Write Science on the board and give the students three minutes to write down what comes to mind when hearing or seeing the word Science. Then, begin the book.

During Reading: After each letter, ask students whether or not they jotted down something to similar to what each word is informing us about Science. Have students use adapt in their own sentence, or give an example of a situation in which they adapted (A is for adapt) to a new situation.

After Reading: Sleeping Bear Press has created a Teacher’s Guide with multiple worksheets, activities, and experiments to do with your students after your reading. I strongly suggest you look into this site! Writing activities, true or false questions, timelines, an ample amount of work is provided for YOU! So why not USE it!

Electronic Resources –

Teacher’s Guide: An amazing resource for teachers!

Larry Verstaete: Takes us behind the book! ‘As a teacher, trying to make science real and interesting for students is a daily challenge.’ Find out what Larry has to say.