Sea Turtles

Sea Turtles is a great beginning informational text that utilizes great real life pictures that children will love. On the first page of the text there is a "Note to Educators and Parents" that explains why this text is helpful and in what areas it can be used. As a teacher I was pleased to see that the text could be used in a guided reading group and then scaffolded into independent reading.

As you read through the text there are bolded vocabulary terms that are relevant to the subject with glossary definitions in the back. The pictures are also labeled with the type of sea turtle it is and the parts of the anatomy. It also has a world map with the locations of where the sea turtles lay there eggs.

I think that not only would this text be good in small guided reading groups but also with a unit on ocean animals where vocabulary would be introduced. I also think that the map on pages 14 and 15 are a good way to insert geography and reading a map key on a very simple level that young children could understand.