Flight School

Title:  Flight School
Author:  Lita Judge

Illustrator:  Lita Judge
Publisher:  Atheneum Books for Young Readers
© 2014
ISBN:  978-1-4424-8177-0
Grade Level: PreK-2
Book Review:  Penguin believes "he was hatched to fly," but despite his enthusiastic participation in flight school his initial attempt lands him swimming in the depths of the ocean.  Committed teachers find a way to let him experience his dream.  They instill such confidence that he brings his friend the ostrich for a chance at experiencing flight. Flight School is a charming text with a positive message that will bring a smile to both children and adults.
Systems Thinking Connections
Habits:  While Penguin may believe that he was hatched to fly, he was not built to fly.  By carefully considering the issue, including Penguin's deep disappointment, the flight school teachers create a structure that allows Penguin to fulfill his dream.  A straightforward lesson for young children on how changing not only your perspective, but also a system's structure can produce a very different result. Systems thinkers recognize that a system's structure generates its behavior.
Tools:  The story is straightforward, and yet it offers an opportunity for students to ask some simple questions connected to the ladder of inference. For example, what was Penguin paying attention to that led him to believe he could fly?  How did his experience (action) reinforce his belief that ostrich too could experience flight?  How were the teachers able to change their approach in order to make Penguin successful.

Library Lily

Title:  Library Lily

Author:  Gillian Shields
Illustrator:  Francesca Chessa
Publisher:  Eerdmans Books for Young Readers ©2011
ISBN:  978-0-8028-5401-8
Grade Level:  PreK-2

Book Review:  Lily loves to read.  She reads all the time. She reads so much that she is sometimes unaware of the world around her.  Milly hates to read. That is until Lily introduces her to the joy and adventures that she can have when she reads. Library Lily is a heartwarming story about both the joys and influences of reading.  As this book is available in Turkish, I dedicate this entry to the enthusiastic teachers with whom I had the privilege of working this summer.
Systems Thinking Connections:  
Habits:  Changes perspectives to increase understanding. The story is a classic example of this habit for both Lily and Milly.  It clearly illustrates that both characters are better off when they incorporate the perspective of the other into their own lives.
Tools:  Given the straightforward presentation of Lily's experiences reading books and Milly's constant need for adventure, the book provides a great means of introducing the concept of accumulation to young children.  The number of books that Lily reads is increasing at a steady and constant rate.  Likewise, it can be inferred that Milly's experiences accumulate at a similar rate.  Once the characters meet they both experience an accelerated accumulation of books read and adventures experienced. The concept of accumulation is at the heart of this story and re-readings could support children in acquiring a deeper understanding of the concept of accumulation.
The book would also be an excellent basis for a primary lesson the ladder of inference.  Students could compare Lily's ladder about her attitudes toward reading with Milly's ladder.  Milly changes her mind about reading based on the influence of her new friend, Lily. Students could offer lots of evidence about what Lily and Milly believe, what they are paying attention to and ultimately what they choose to do based on their beliefs.

Rise and Shine Mrs. Field!

Title:  Rise & Shine Mrs. Field!
Author:  Four Sisters, Nancy Atkins
Martha Field, Sue Petrick, Kakie Sawyer
Illustrator: Sean Murphy
Publisher:  Four Sisters, ©2014
ISBN:  978-0692204207
Grade Level:  PreK-2
 

Book Review:  Life on a small family farm may be unfamiliar to children living in a modern, urban settings, but no doubt they will be enchanted by this carefully crafted rhyming tale that explains what happens when Mr. Fields must go away for the day on business, leaving Mrs. Field to feed the animals.  Mrs. Field sleeps soundly through the pleas of each of the farm animals until one clever animal manages to awaken her to the great relief of the rest of the animals on the farm.  Careful attention has been given to the language in this book making it an exceptionally delightful read aloud.

Systems Thinking Connections

Habits:  Considers long-term, short-term and unintended consequences of actions. Mrs. Fields is just enjoying a few extra minutes of sleep, but her decision has some consequences that will bring about lots of great dialogue amongst young readers.
Tools:  This book is an excellent example of a basic story structure pattern of "no, no, no. yes."  It can be represented in a behavior over time graph (BOTG) by asking the question, "do the animals get fed?"  Students will quickly see the common story pattern and be able to compare it to other familiar stories with a similar structure.
Students could also use a BOTG to represent the number of animals that want Mrs. Field to wake up and feed them breakfast.

Elsie

Title:  Elsie
Author:  Cybille St. Aude
Illustrator:  Marie Cecile Charlier
Publisher:  One More Book, ©2013
ISBN:  9780615706313
Grade Level:  PreK-2

Book Review:  Elsie lives in Haiti with her family in a small house near the water.  Elsie tells her story in this first person narrative.  The story is that of a typical day in the life of an optimistic young girl, who is a keen observer of her surroundings and who communicates her gratitude and optimism for the future.  While there is mention of the earthquake and need for rebuilding in parts of the country, the emphasis in this book is on the normalcy, beauty and joy experienced by people living in this island country.  The author liberally peppers the book with Haitian words, clearly explained in a glossary at the end.

Systems Thinking Connections:
Habits: Changes perspectives to increase understanding.  Told in first person from Elsie's perspective, the narrative clearly articulates how her personal experience is impacted by those around her. Elsie is a keen observer who naturally practices this habit through her interactions with others.
Makes meaningful connections within and between systems.  While clearly set in Haiti and richly infused with the culture of that island, the experiences of Elsie are very typical of a young girl.  Exploring her perspective will no doubt provide multiple opportunities for children to make text to self connections while reading and discussing this story.


Systems Thinking Tools: Each page is a different event in Elsie's day.  This could serve as a scaffold for students learning to create Behavior Over Time Graphs independently.  They could graph Elsie's level of enjoyment or enthusiasm for each experience.  In explaining what level they choose, there would certainly be lots of rich language and opportunities for students to connect to their own personal experiences.