Volcanoes by Seymour Simon- Rodgers

Seymour Simon does it again to pull readers of all ages into science with excitement. Volcanoes takes readers from the early ages of fire legends to present day eruptions to capture volcanoes in their entirety. Simon classifies the four main types of volcanoes, the two types of lava, and how, why and where they form.

Don't let the vivid pictures and the child focused audience deceive you, Seymour Simon's nonfiction complex texts require readers to pull apart text structure and language features while learning first what volcanoes are, how they are created and why they erupt. The text flows beautifully from description, to cause and effect, to sequence (in describing the fateful day when Mt. St. Helen's erupted out of her deep slumber). Young readers will attach to this beautifully represented text with excitement as, while it is not at all easy to read, but ever so enticing and highly accessible.

This is one of my all time favorite texts to work with in fourth and fifth grade. The complexity of text is not overwhelming due to the quality of the photographs and the rich detail and information. I have found that students are easily able to determine the type of structure that holds the text together, which allows them to pull out information with ease! A must read for any english or science teacher!