Fall Focus on Nonfiction  This fall, and for many seasons to come, nonfiction is at the center of classroom content, and, more than ever before, teachers and librarians are looking for fresh ways to incorporate informational texts (the preferred term of the Common Core State Standards) across subject areas. In this issue of Quick Tips, we offer creative ideas for implementing the standards with tried-and-true nonfiction series books that you may already have in your collection. Harness your students' enthusiasm for Halloween with units on the science of skeletons that tie in neatly with the STEM curriculum. And Book Links columnist Rob Reid contributes his choices for top biographies to read aloud in the classroom this fall. To start things off, we've compiled a roundup of our favorite new Halloween-themed titles, all recently reviewed in Booklist and ready to be shared during story-hour spook-fests all month long. We rely on your suggestions as we shape our future content. Have tips, comments, or success stories to share? Send me an e-mail, and I'll post your remarks on our Booklist Online blog, Likely Stories.
Happy reading! Gillian Engberg, Editor
gengberg@ala.org 
From stories about vampire piglets to dangerous pumpkins,
these recent titles are packed with Halloween fun for independent reading or sharing aloud.
Bedtime for Boo. By Mickie Matheis. Illus. by Bonnie Leick. 2012. 32p. Random/Golden, $10.99 (9780375869914). PreS–Gr. 1. Dangerous Pumpkins. By Emily Jenkins. Illus. by Harry Bliss. 2012. 160p. HarperCollins/Balzer and Bray, $14.99 (9780061802232). Gr. 2–4. Frankenstein: A Monstrous Parody. By Rick Walton. Illus. by Nathan Hale. 2012. 48p. Feiwel and Friends, $14.99 (9780312553661). PreS–Gr. 2. Halloween Forest. By Marion Dane Bauer. Illus. by John Shelley. Oct. 2012. 32p. Holiday, $16.95 (9780823423248). K–Gr. 2. Just Say Boo! By Susan Hood. Illus. by Jed Henry. 2012. 32p. Harper, $12.99 (9780062010292). PreS–Gr. 1. Pigmares: Porcine Poems of the Silver Screen. By Doug Cushman. 2012. 44p. illus. Charlesbridge, $12.95 (9781580894012); e-book, $9.99 (9781607344575). Gr. 2–6. 811. Princess Posey and the Monster Stew. By Stephanie Greene. Illus. by Stephanie Roth Sisson. 2012. 96p. Putnam, $12.99 (9780399254642). Gr. 1–2. Ten Creepy Monsters. By Carey F. Armstrong-Ellis. Illus. by the author. Oct. 2012. 32p. Abrams, $14.95 (9781419704338). PreS–Gr. 1. Trick or Treat. By Leo Landry. Illus. by the author. 2012. 32p. Houghton, $12.99 (9780547249698). K–Gr. 1. 
By Anastasia Suen
Link Halloween skeletons to the STEM curriculum with these recent titles.
 It's that time of year again. Halloween skeletons are everywhere! Discuss dem bones with STEM in mind. Introduce the youngest students to their own bones, and talk about digging up dinosaur bones, too. For older readers, share stories of bone discoveries to teach narrative nonfiction. Looking for informational texts to connect with the Common Core curriculum? The following recent titles have all received reviews in Booklist.
My Bones My Body, by Andrea Pinnington and Penny Lamprell, explains the basics with large text for emergent readers. Body Actions, by Shelley Rotner, introduces the six main systems of the human body. [read more] 
For more on the books mentioned here, see these related web resources.
  
Series Nonfiction and the Common Core
By Julie Green
Address the Common Core State Standards' emphasis on
informational titles with these books and activities
that will help you implement RI.1.2–RI.6.2.
 The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have increased demand for high-quality informational titles for youth—as well as the need for explicit instruction on how to read and write nonfiction. Tony Stead's Is That a Fact? Teaching Nonfiction Writing K–3 (2002) includes excellent strategies for sharing informational books with young students, and some of his ideas are incorporated into the suggestions below, all of which will help teachers implement standards RI.1.2–RI.6.2. with recent series nonfiction titles. For a longer version of this article, along with more Common Core–related resources, including an archive of Unpacking a Standard columns, visit our new CCSS home page at www.booklistonline.com/commoncore.
[read more]
For more on the book mentioned here, see these related web resources.
Biography Read-Alouds
Share these biographies aloud and sparks students' interest in fascinating lives, from astronauts to activists.
 When we think of read-alouds, we often focus on fiction. The right biography can make as compelling a read-aloud as any work of fiction. The writer must be skilled enough to avoid an encyclopedic writing style and to blend the facts with aspects of storytelling so that both the reader and the audience want to turn the page to discover what happens next. These exemplary biographies are well suited for reading aloud and will take several sessions to complete. Each of the annotations below features a “10-Minute Selection” that showcases a particularly captivating episode of the book that can be read in one brief sitting.
Activists Claudette Colvin: Twice toward Justice, by Phillip Hoose (Gr. 7–12): Nine months before Rosa Parks made her famous stand on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus, a teenage girl refused to give up her bus seat to a white woman in the same city. [read more]
For more on the book mentioned here, see these related web resources.
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