Informational Book

Title: Down Comes the Rain

Author: Franklyn M. Branley

Illustrator: James Graham Hale

Grade Level: Kindergarten to Second Grade

Summary:  Rain that comes down from the sky is a lot more of a difficult process than it may seem. In this informational text, it goes through the different steps as rain falls to the earth, dries up from the puddles, and continues its course. The book takes you through the process of water evaporating and then becoming vapor. It then forms water droplets which like to form clouds of all shapes, sizes and colors. The book then goes on to explain all of the different forms the water droplets can form whether its rain, hail, snow or vapor.

Strategies for the Classroom: This book would be of such a benefit in a classroom during their Science lesson and more specifically when they are learning about the weather and rain/clouds. Instead of reading a textbook that could be too strict and many times above the students actually reading or grade level, this book provides informational text that is appropriate for the students learning level. The images are a great resource also as they help the students to visualize what they are learning about. Overall, this book would be perfect to use in conjunction with a Science Lesson because it provides an additional way to learn very important information about a subject that we Floridians have to deal with regularly.

ESOL Applications: The text is essentially fairly simple and easy to read, but depending on the ESOL students level of proficiency, they may or may not be able to comprehend the text of the book. Aside from that, the illustrations in the book are what makes this book. With the illustrations taking up every single page, it allows the learning process to be a very visual process for the ESOL students as they can use the illustrations to learn. The set-up of the book is also very congruent to learning for ESOL students because it presents the information in a somewhat "time-line" and makes it easy to follow the exact process.

Read Aloud: I would read the entire book aloud, time permitting of course. The book is not too long and it covers a lot of valuable information in regards to rain, clouds, rain droplets, snow hail, and much more.

Personal Opinions:  I for one really enjoyed this book. I was never that interested in science but clearly remember learning all about this when I was younger. I think this book is essential for any classroom because it puts a more familiar face on this subject and would appeal to all students, even those who aren't the strongest in science.