A fun but relatively simple science storytime can engage primary graders with stories and facts about Volcanoes and Earthquakes. After reading the stories, we followed this up by making a “Rolling Pin” seismograph, using the instructions found in Cindy Blobaum’s GEOLOGY ROCKS! from Williamson Press, 1999.
Volcanoes:
Sweeney, Jacqueline. LAVA. In this easy reader, illustrated with color photos, animal friends walk up a mountain to view the active volcano. Set in Hawaii, there is an endnote with vocabulary words and activities.
George, Jean Craighead. DEAR KATIE, THE VOLCANO IS A GIRL. Katie and her grandmother view an active volcano in Hawaii.
Lewis, Thomas P. HILL OF FIRE. Based on a real volcano eruption in Mexico in 1943, this easy reader shows Pablo and how his village was affected by the disaster.
Earthquakes:
Lee, Milly. EARTHQUAKE. A Chinese-American family take their belongings to live temporarily in Golden Gate Park after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. The concise text gives the story dramatic tension that really holds the audience.
Enderle, Judith Ross. FRANCIS THE EARTHQUAKE DOG. Edward, who helps his father deliver vegetables to the St. Francis Hotel, befriends a stray dog. When the 1906 earthquake hits, he ooks all over San Francisco for the dog.
Givon, Hannah Gelman. WE SHAKE IN A QUAKE. A purposeful but jaunty rhyming story on earthquake safety procedures.