Britannica Common Core Library II

While plays are printed works and are therefore certainly able to be read, they don't truly come alive until they are performed, with actors breathing life into the words on the page. After reading this engaging and informative book, young readers may well want to write and perform their own creative works. Happily, how to do just that is spelled out in the book itself. Also included are excerpts from famous and not-so-famous plays-all to educate, entertain, and inspire young readers, including those students who may well be budding playwrights.

Songs are universal, and every culture has its own. Some are celebratory. Others tell stories. Many are about love. There are national anthems and protest songs. There are lullabies and playground songs. This book teaches young readers about the many different kinds of songs around the world and throughout history. It then compares pairs of songs, allowing readers to think about how each pair is similar or different. Finally, readers are challenged to write their own song using a step-by-step process outlined in the book. Vocabulary boxes and facts about different songwriters round out this fun examination of song.

Stories have been a part of our lives since birth. Many parents were reading and recounting stories and tales to us before we could talk. This instructive volume explains what constitutes a work of fiction as well as why it's written in the first place, and highlights important terminology, such as conflict. Key examples feature famous fiction authors and their work, comparing and contrasting their styles, and highlighting some of the prominent features in fiction that literature has to offer. Aspiring writers can start penning their own stories with simple, easy-to-follow, step-by-step writing tips.

In a nutshell, fiction is made up and nonfiction is real: real events, actual people, true facts, and verifiable ideas. This clear and easy-to-follow book cracks open the nutshell and goes well beyond, providing young readers with clear and engaging examples of nonfiction in action. With excerpts from and comparisons between essays, reports, and more, students will come away with a solid comprehension of what constitutes works of nonfiction. Further, readers are given step-by-step guidelines for how to create their own nonfiction pieces.

This engaging volume introduces readers to the world of technical texts and their uses and is aligned with grade 2 Common Core ELA-Literacy standards. Students learn about the purposes and types of technical texts, and actually analyze sample texts. They review experiments, recipes, and crafts, and compare and contrast the examples. They also discover how specific images contribute to and clarify texts. In an activity section, readers are given the opportunity to write their own technical text. Vocabulary boxes explain "diagrams," "format," "charts," "data," and "warning boxes." Sidebars profile noteworthy writers, including Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Charles Darwin, and Martha Stewart.