The Moon Book

I see the moon and the moon sees me!

I remember Gail Gibbons being a staple in my childhood classrooms, which is partially why I was drawn to reread this book! Sure enough, this book made it clear why Gail Gibbons is vital author to have in any classroom library. The Moon Book by Gail Gibbons is an incredibly informative book that easily ties into any larger unit about outer space. It is full of facts that are sure to impress your students and answer many of the burning questions they may have about the moon. It's very organized, so it's easy to find the information you need. Because it's so chock-full of information, I'd suggest splitting it up into two or more readings, especially for younger elementary school students.

The gist:

The Moon Book details the moon's movements and phases and talks about how we've studied and explored it throughout history. It tackles common misconceptions held by students about the moon (does the moon change shape? Is it really made of cheese?) and covers nearly every question your students could have! From eclipses to tides, this book explores a wide range of topics, yet dives deeply into each one and easily integrates scientific terms. It's incredibly informative and a necessity to any unit about space.

My favorite part(s):

The illustrations are incredibly illuminating and make some tough concepts easy to understand. Many illustrations contain captions that highlight and explain vocabulary word. For example, this one makes it clear to students what the word "orbit" means.

Another thing I loved about this book is that it contains a few pages at the end that include extra fun facts, a timeline of "Moon Milestones" and a section on myths and legends surrounding the moon! I personally love learning about myths and legends in other cultures and I think that integrating other cultures into the classroom is really important.

What you can do:

The first grade classroom that I'm currently volunteering in just did a great unit on outer space. One activity was a huge success in particular: rocket building! Students brought in recyclables (paper towel and toilet paper rolls, old plastic containers, plastic forks, ect) and made their own rockets during one of our Language Arts rotations. They absolutely loved using what they'd learned about rockets to build their own and letting their creativity soar as they decorated them with markers and tin foil. I was impressed by how many students told me about various more technical parts of their rockets, like why their rocket had detachable boosters or needed an aerodynamic, cone-shaped nose.

Here's a great lesson plan that actually uses The Moon Book! It's mostly based on a KWL (know, want to know, learned) approach, which is a great way to access students' schemas. This lesson plan provides some great ideas on questions to ask your students and (my favorite part) it includes a nice song about the moon as a warm up to the lesson which is a great way to engage students and sneak in some learning in a fun way!

Want more? Here's another great lesson plan that incorporates The Moon Book! Feel free to mix and match activities and worksheets from both of the lesson plans in order to create one that's perfect for your particular classroom.

Happy Reading!