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Neubecker, R. (2006). Wow! America! New York: Hyperion.
Each page in this concept book about America has a Wow! statement followed by a sentence of explanation. For instance: “Wow! Party! In New Orleans, Mardi Gras is celebrated with costume parties, music, dancing – and amazing parades" (Neubecker, 2006, unpaged).
Borrowing this format of the interjection “Wow” followed by a word and then an explanation, this following example shows how a 3rd grade student wrote about Abraham Lincoln:
Figure 10: Wow! Abraham Lincoln!
Prap, L. (2009). Why? New York: Kane/Miller.
In this book, a why question is posed about an animal and then silly answers are given along with the right answer and explanation. For instance: “Why are zebras striped? A) Zebras are horses wearing pajamas. B) They escaped from prison. C) Because they can’t decide whether to be black or white.
D) Real answer: Every zebra has a different and unique stripe pattern, just as every person has a different and unique fingerprint. Their stripes can be used to tell them apart, but many scientists believe their stripes also help to confuse predators” (Prap, 2009, unpaged).
Borrowing that format, here are two 4th grade examples written about Nebraska history. The starred answer is the correct one, just as it was modeled in the book:
Figure 11: Why did pioneers get up at 4 am?
Figure 12: Why did boys play with buffalo