What causes the earth's weather? How do twisters form? What are the deadliest storms on earth? Find out the answers to these questions and more in Magic Tree House Research Guide: Twisters and Other Terrible Storms, Jack and Annie's guide to nature's wildest weather. Includes photographs, definitions, an index, information on twisters, hurricanes, blizzards, forecasting the weather, storm chasers, and much more!

551.55

Companion to Twister on Tuesday

"Twisters and Other Terrible Storms" By Mary Pope and Will Osborne is a companion book to "Twister on Tuesday" and it explains what causes the bad weather that causes tornados. This book includes the deffinitions and has great pictures.
I love the Magic Treehouse series. The books bring awareness to the students without them even realizing it. This informational book is a great book to read to the class to accompany a science lesson concerning weather.
The extentions I would do with this book is after going over wether patterns I would have the class read this book as a group and then tell about what they learned. This discussion group will help open the students minds. This activity will lead into my next extention which is to have the students get 11x13 paper to draw a scene that shows the cause and effects of tornado's. It should also show a way to protect ones self. If at home go to a celler or hallway. if the picture is at school show the students in the designated safe zone. this activity will help the students not be fearful about such an event . When they know what to do in this kind of situaation it just empowers the students with confidence.

There are numerous reasons why I like this book. I think this a perfect balance of facts and fun for children. The writing in the book is very engaging. Osborne writes the book so Jack and Annie pose questions, and then they answer these questions by using facts. For example, “What is weather? Why does the weather change from day to day? Why does it sometimes cause so much damage?” (Page 15). This writing makes a non-fiction book that can be often boring at times very fun and engaging for students to read. In addition to the engaging writing, the author also includes interesting illustrations that help enhance the readers meaning of the facts. For example on page 14, the author includes a drawing that is so realistic, it looks like a black and white photograph. This is very interesting to the reader and will cause them to continue reading and figure out the meaning and context of the pictures. Overall, the big idea of this non-fiction chapter book is to inform the reader about many “scary storms”. ( )