[CALIBK12] HIT: Middle School "Standard" Reference/Nonfiction purchases

[Thomas Nixon]

The responses to my request are below:

=======
I try to match purchases to the most recent adoption State textbooks
adoptions. My district adopted middle school Social Studies last year so
we are focusing on that area for collection development this year. Teacher
(some of them) revise units of study with new texts and look for new
support material. We also want our library collection to be as current and
relevant as the new texts. The State adoption schedule is on the CDE
website.

========
 
What a great opportunity! I would check on the population [we have a large second language learner percentage] served by the school, and balance that with the subject area content standards. Language Arts is easy- there is the state list of recommended readings, and our district has core literature activities that coordinate with the literature units. [An example is our 7th grade study of 70s topics in preparation for the novel, Zachary Beaver Comes to Town. I have plenty of non-fiction related to the 70s as a result; everything from the music and fads and fashions to the Vietnam War for mini-reports...]

For the Middle Ages, you MUST have the current Newbery winner: Good Masters, Sweet Ladies. [I have three copies.] Additionally, there are plenty of trade books that offer plenty of info on the Middle Ages: Castle and Cathedral, by Macaulay to DK books and Cave Paintings to Picasso, by Henry Sayre. You won't have a hard time findings books on this era. 8th Grade History encompasses many "graphic" books on historical events from the Revolution to personalities to other significant events. [I think they are from the Graphic Library series.] I also recommend the series, A History of 
Us, books 1 to 10. 

Science is a little more difficult-it depends on the current science practices. We have an 8th grade project on the elements, as an example, so I have the UXL series on Chemical Elements. For Life Science, I have plenty of body, skeleton, and illustrated texts that all students can enjoy.

========
 

Life Science:  7th grade = Atlas of the Evolving Earth  (3volume set)  Macmillan Reference USA  2001  (I guess this is actually Earth Science but the geological time scale is part of the 7th grade curriculum)

8th grade Science:Elements  (18 volume set)  Grolier Educational  2002 = The Elements: what you really want to know by Ron Miller   Twenty-First Century Books   2006

8th grade History = Encyclopedia of the American Civil War  (5 volumes)  ABC-CLIO  2000

7th grade history = We have a set of Medieval World encyclopedia and a Renaissance Set by  Grolier that get quite a bit of use.

======

 

Tom Nixon

 

---- 
Teacher-Librarian 
Tehipite Middle School 
Fresno, CA 93701 
Web: http://www.tehipitelibrary.org <http://www.tehipitelibrary.org/>  
Blog: http://notyourmotherslibrarian.blogspot.com <http://notyourmotherslibrarian.blogspot.com/>  
(559) 457-3420 (x 570)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.sjsu.edu/pipermail/calibk12/attachments/20080402/4358155e/attachment.html