This post is being written as part of the Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2016, and is post four in this series. Please see post one, post two, and post three for more of the books I reviewed for this event as well as free printables to accompany the books. Post one explains about this wonderful event, the authors, the publishers, and the sponsors. Post 5 is here, and post 6 is here!
S.M.A.R.T.S. and the 3-D Danger
This post is about the book S.M.A.R.T.S. and the 3-D Danger book by Melinda Metz which is part of the Science Maker and Real Technology Students series by Stone Arch Books, and is a Capstone Young Reader. The six books I received from this publisher for this event are being donated to Minnesota schools, to help promote Multicultural Children’s Book Day. The protagonist is Jaden, a male middle school student with cerebral palsy, which helps about understanding others with disabilities. The only time this even was mentioned was when there was a scream in the library (that was actually one of joy) and Jaden tells his friends to run ahead. The leg braces slow down his body in situations like that, but his mind is perfectly fine and he faces no other such problems in the book. It is important for children to realize that even with a physical disability, a person’s mind can be fine–and in this case, super smart! He is a #nerd, in fact!
S.M.A.R.T.S. and the 3-D Danger is an inclusive story as the protagonist is Jaden, a male middle school student with cerebral palsy. This novel helps students understand others with disabilities. It is up to the S.M.A.R.T.S. science team to not only clear their own names and be able to access the new 3-D printer at the school when mysterious things begin happening at the school like break-ins and some non-approved 3-D printing going on. Jaden has an alibi the night many attend a secret meeting called by an unknown person, so alibi is included in the list of mystery vocabulary words at the end of the book. Of course, being “cool nerds” they are able to solve the mystery.
There are writing ideas, a vocabulary list, discussion questions, and factual information about 3-D printers at the end of the book. See how the title, S.M.A.R.T.S. and the 3-D Danger, fits the mystery? I like the pictures sprinkled throughout the story, as it is illustrated by Heath McKenzie. Another writing idea would be to possibly have students write their own mysteries and incorporate ALL the vocabulary in the list. See also this interactive student notebook (foldables) mystery writing free printable on TpT.
Student Pages Download
Here is one page of true or false statements for students to circle the answer which is included in this short set of pages. The answers are provided. There is a creative writing page, and a word search with an answer key.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the many blog posts, activities, and freebies at the dozens of participating blogs for MCCBD!
Carolyn
