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Top 7 Picture Books to Help Introduce Genius Hour

4/11/2015

12 Comments

 
I love using picture books as part of my teaching! And I don't think they are only for primary classrooms! In fact I use them regularly at the intermediate level and even when I teach University students.

Picture books make for great hooks at the beginning of lessons! I think they capture our attention and get us curious about the upcoming learning! And who doesn't love being read to?

So here are my Top picks (in no particular order) for Picture Books to help introduce Genius Hour:
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The Most Magnificent Thing 
By Ashley Spires

I love this picture book starring a little girl and her dog/assistant on her quest to create the most magnificent invention.  The journey isn't perfect though and she "fails" quite a few times. I think this book is perfect for teaching persistence, risk-taking and flexibility--all traits that are on the Genius Hour rubric that we use. I would read this book right at the beginning, after I have introduced Genius Hour and we are about to get started. 

Click here for The Genius Hour Creativity Rubric created by Denise Krebs.

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What do you do with an Idea? 
By Kobi Yamada

Perfect for taking Genius Hour from inquiry-based and passion-based learning to the level of compassion-based learning! In this story a little boy has an idea (represented as an egg) but he doesn't know what to do with it. He carries it around for a long time until he finally learns that ideas are meant to change the world.  I think this picture book is perfect for teaching the creativity traits: originality of ideas, ambiguity and risk-taking--all of these are also on the Genius Hour Creativity Rubric.  It would also be handy to read to your class if you feel like they are needing some fresh inspiration after doing Genius Hour for a while.

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Rosie Revere, Engineer 
B
y Andrea Beaty

Rosie is a fantastic character! She loves making things and embodies so many of the characteristics that we would attribute to Genius Hour and The Maker Movement. I also love the handkerchief that she wears, the same one as the woman in the iconic "We can do it" image.  Rosie is inspired by everything around her and I think this book can be used to introduce the discussion on inquisitiveness, risk-taking and generating ideas (Again, these are traits from the Genius Hour Creativity Rubric). It also teaches an important lesson about failure and persistence.  

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Iggy Peck, Architect 
By Andrea Beaty 


This picture book looks similar to Rosie Revere, Engineer and is indeed written by the same fantastic author, Andrea Beaty and illustrated by the same talented illustrator, David Roberts. I love reading about Iggy Peck and his passion for architecture. I think this book would be great to introduce the concept of passion as well as being used to understand the intrinsic motivation trait on The Genius Hour Creativity Rubric.  The book can also be used to share with students how sometimes our Genius Hour projects can be about building, creating or inventing something (helpful if your students are stuck on research-only type inquiry questions). 

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It's Okay to Make Mistakes 
By Todd Parr

This book is fantastic! I only recently came across Todd Parr books so I have yet to use them with an audience but I just love his illustrations and his style.  This picture book helps us learn that it is okay to make mistakes, and that sometimes things do not go quite the way we thought they were going to but that is part of trying new things! "It's okay to make mistakes sometimes. Everyone does, even grown ups! That's how we learn." Exactly! And this is an important thing to learn if we are going to do Genius Hour.  I would use this book to talk about risk-taking and self-reflection: two of the many traits on The Genius Hour Creativity Rubric.  I would also connect this book to everything we do at school and probably use it right at the beginning of the school year and then again when we are about to start our Genius Hour inquiries.  

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The Dot 
By Peter H. Reynolds

I adore all of the Peter H. Reynolds picture books. The illustrations are wonderful and they all have important lessons in them that connect well to the classroom.  The Dot is one you may have heard of already because SO many teachers love this book and it also has its own day--International Dot Day on September 15th.  The book begins with Vashti sitting in her classroom with a blank piece of paper on her desk.  Her teacher encourages her and says "Just make a mark and see where it takes you." Vashti gives the paper a "good, strong jab" and leaves it with just the dot.  She returns to the classroom on another day and finds that her teacher has framed her dot.  This book reminds me of an amazing teacher I had in high school.  Ms. Morrison did something similar for me: I said something during English Lit 12 and she stopped and exclaimed how profound my statement was. She wrote it down on a piece of paper and I didn't give it another thought. The next day when I walked into the classroom there was a small, new poster on the wall above the chalkboard. She had written down what I had said with quotation marks around it and my name underneath. I remember being shocked and feeling so proud that she thought I was quotable. I think that gesture is what led me to my getting my BA in English Literature. She made me feel smart, capable and confident.  I have never forgotten that moment and I have tried, like Vashti's teacher and like Ms. Morrision, to do that for my students too.  I have used this book as part of an Art lesson, and that is how I would probably use it in future years too, but I think we can also make connections between Vashti's journey and the Genius Hour journey. 

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Q is for Question: An ABC Book of Philisophy
By Tiffany Poirier

Need help thinking about BIG questions? I think that this picture book, written in ABC format (A is for answers, B is for Beauty, C is for Cause, etc) can help us think about our questioning. I would read this book to the class but also make sure that it was on-hand for students to flip through when they need inspiration as it is a lot to take in after only one read through.  I absolutely love how Poirier encourages us to have philosophical discussions and debates with our students and I think this book is a great place to start those discussions.  This book connects to inquisitiveness and generating ideas on The Genius Hour Creativity Rubric. 


So there you have it--7 of my favourite picture books to use during Genius Hour! 
Are there any others you use to inspire students during Genius Hour?

12 Comments
Tiffany Poirier link
4/12/2015 07:20:13 am

Thank you, Gallit, for this awesome list--and I feel insanely honoured to be included! Ooooh, you've inspired me to share one of my favourites by local author, Tom Saunders. "I Want to Go to the Moon" (Simply Read Books, 2012). It's the story of how Neil Armstrong basically initiates his own Genius Hour work...all the way to getting himself to the moon (comes with CD and super catchy music). I love how Neil is shown to actually do little projects, how it builds towards a bigger dream, and how he rises above criticism from others. BOOK LINK: http://www.amazon.ca/Want-Go-Moon-Tom-Saunders/dp/1897476566

Reply
Gallit Zvi
4/13/2015 09:54:16 am

Tiffany,

I am so glad you brought up this book! I recently bought it and it is so wonderful. Love the CD it comes with too!

Thanks for sharing :)

Reply
Joy Kirr
4/12/2015 10:52:08 am

Oh, Gallit! I love these books! My 7th graders really love HOOP GENIUS by John Coy. It's the true story of the man who invented basketball. The love all the classroom habitudes he uses! Thanks for this list - sometimes there are just too many from which to choose.

Reply
Gallit Zvi
4/13/2015 09:56:12 am

Joy,

Thanks for commenting! I haven't heard of this book yet so I am glad you added it to the list...I will order it :)

Reply
Denise Krebs link
4/13/2015 01:03:43 pm

Gallit,

Thanks for sharing!

One of my favorite books to read to my kindergarteners is called <i>You're Too Little.</i> This is what I wrote about it on Joy's list of <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1x_IcZlCt1oUn72sb8mW_sG9JGLGK-lMZ3eRj-mLQoTQ/edit?usp=sharing">Picture Books for Genius Hour</a>.   "A boy is "too little" to help his ship-building family members. However, he is ingenious and asks for supplies from each one. At the end of the story, he's put all the supplies together to make his own small boat. He was not too little after all. A great #makered story."

Thanks, Gallit! I'll be looking for these books when I go back to the US this summer.

Denise

Reply
Denise link
4/13/2015 01:08:16 pm

OopsI didn't realize the html text wouldn't work on comments here. Sorry about that. I learn something new every day!

Reply
Gallit Zvi
4/13/2015 02:57:52 pm

Hi Denise,

Thank you for sharing Joy's google doc! How did I not think of that myself??

And you are right, the link didn't work but people can copy&paste this:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1x_IcZlCt1oUn72sb8mW_sG9JGLGK-lMZ3eRj-mLQoTQ/edit?usp=sharing

Faige Meller
4/13/2015 04:07:21 pm

Wonderful post. Can't wait to look up Q is for Question. I love and have used your other suggestions for geniushour inspirations. One of the first I used is On A Beam of Light about Einstein. That and Cane's Arcade http://youtu.be/faIFNkdq96U have inspired my kinders. Thanks for the link to genius hour rubric

Reply
LeahCippioni
5/25/2015 11:44:02 pm

What a fantastic list!! I often find myself enjoying pictures books more than my daughter :) Thank you for sharing these with your readers. I have to recommend a wonderful book that I think you and your students will love. The book is called "The Little Brown Animal" by DiMari Bailey (http://www.dimaribailey.com/). It's the first book in the "Tales of the Deep Forest" series and it not only teaches children some wonderful life lessons but it promotes story-telling and sparks the imagination. The book follows a little brown animal who doesn't feel like he fits in with his forest companions. He goes on a journey that teaches him just how special he really is. A feel good book for sure and one that my daughter and I reread quite regularly together. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did and perhaps it will make it on a future list!

Reply
Barbara Wilson
12/3/2015 11:03:22 pm

What's the Most Beautiful Thing You Know About Horses? by Richard Van Camp, is one of my favourite books to inspire students to question and see things in different ways. Amazing artwork by George Littlechild is an added bonus.

Reply
Gallit Zvi link
12/11/2015 01:26:06 pm

Thank you all so much for sharing your book suggestions--I really look forward to checking them out :)

~Gallit

Reply
Sun Chasing link
6/26/2024 05:53:56 am

Great blog poost

Reply



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    My name is Gallit Zvi and I am an Elementary School Teacher and Vice Principal in Surrey, BC. I am also a blogger and co-author of The Genius Hour Guidebook.
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