Action/Adventure
Genre Definition:
Action/adventure texts tell true stories of survival or life in the great outdoors. The people in these stories often show great qualities such as courage, bravery, and strength.
Classroom Use
Writing Activity: Have students write and publish their own adventure series.
Social Studies Activity: Make social studies units more engaging and interesting by bringing light to the great adventures that inventors and explorers have taken. Give students a different perspective than the textbook provides.
Character Building Activity: Do a unit on bravery and courage. Read several action/adventure books with your class. Have discussions over what qualities or characteristics each of the main characters shared. Have students apply what they learned to themselves and discover ways they can be brave or courageous to address issues in school like bullying.
Selection Process
When looking for quality action/adventure texts one important aspect to look into is to make sure the information is accurate. Many action and adventure stories provide information about the great things that someone in our history has done. Do some research to make sure the information provided in the book is up-to-date, unbiased, and accurate. It helps if the book provides real photographs and specific dates of the event, as well as, recounts the journey that was taken. Action/adventure books should be fun, appealing, and engaging to students. Quality action/adventure books present an easy read, like a fiction book or novel. They are a great way to motivate boys to read.
Texts that I Recommend
Summary: This story follows the first steam locomotive to travel across the entire United States. This could be used within the classroom to teach geography and history concepts.
Text Features: This book includes a map on the inside cover that helps visualize the path the locomotive took. The words are bright and bold which makes it very eye-appealing. It includes detailed illustrations that help tell the story.
Book Reviews: "It’s impossible to turn a page without learning something…multiple wow moments...will knock readers from their chairs. Fantastic opening and closing notes make this the book for young train enthusiasts.”--Booklist
"Readers will come away understanding that the railroad wasn’t just about getting a group of passengers from Point A to Point B; it carried an entire nation into a new, more rapid world" --Publishers Weekly
Awards: This book won the Caldecott Medal and is a Robert F. Sibert Honor Book.
APA citation: Floca, B. (2013). Locomotive. New York City, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Lexile: 840L
Text Complexity grade band: 4-5
Read aloud grade band: 2-3
Support: This would make a great read aloud book. Elementary students will enjoy the vivid images and fun alliteration used throughout this book. It may be necessary to provide some background knowledge for students about different forms of transportation and how steam was used before gasoline in the past.
Summary: This book is an informational text that tells the journey that Lewis and Clark took to explore the western United States. It contains personal experiences and explains what it was like to encounter the Native Americans.
Text Features: This book provides an abundancy of information in an appealing way that a textbook does not provide. It includes informational sidebars and a glossary to help with comprehension. Its use of headings and font style makes it kid-friendly and easy to read.
APA citation: Perritano, J. (2010). The Lewis and Clark Expedition. New York, NY: Children's Press.
Lexile: 880L
Text Complexity grade band: 6-8
Read aloud grade band: 4-5
Support: It may be neccesary to build up students' knowledge of the vocabulary used in this book. The glossary found at the end of the book makes it easy to define hard-to-understand words for students.
