by Kris Brandt Riske MA

I'll admit that I approached this book with some healthy scepticism. I'm interested in astrology and we all know the sun and especially the moon have gravitational effects that affect the weather, but predicting weather through astrology? I decided to see what the author had to say.

The book begins with a few words about weather prediction in general and the limitations that meteorologists face in predicting events beyond the scope of a few days. She then goes on to claim that Astrometeorology can predict long range weather trends and which planets affect different aspects of the weather.

Some of the astrological jargon gets a little hard to keep up with at this point, but it's only the introduction so I press on to chapter one.

Chapter one launches right into technical information about what charts are to be cast for a location in order to predict the weather. This part will be easier for those already familiar with astrological chart calculations. The different purposes of solar and lunar charts are fully explained, though I had to look up what an ingress chart is. The significance of transiting aspects is also explained clearly.

In further chapters we learn about interpreting planetary positions and aspects and combinations of astro data. Many examples are given of retrospective national & local predictions and what astrological influences were in place at the time.

I have to admit that much of it is over my head, but for a practicing astrologer it should make perfect sense. I'm not going to make a judgement whether I believe that weather can be predicted with Astrology, but will rate the book highly for being clearly written and explaining the process in detail.

Do planets effect the movements of wind as they do the tides of the oceans? I will be taking note of planetary positions during future significant weather conditions. The fact that we've been having an unusually hot Summer as I read this book, just when Mars is conjunct the Sun, hasn't escaped my notice.

Most of the examples of notable weather phenomena in recent years and the planetary influences are US based, but still make good examples for readers in other countries. They include conditions during the drought in the 1930s that turned Oklahoma into a dust bowl and long range weather patterns are figured in.

There are quite a lot of examples of droughts, floods and extreme temperatures in the past and the planetary positions that indicate the potential of these conditions. There are a couple of near future weather predictions that a reader could observe within a few years of buying the book, but I would have liked to have seen more of these and will have to wait until 2018-9 to see if they pan out.

Example forecasts are gives and step by step instructions for how to chart predictions. I'm not sure my limited astrological knowledge is enough to make best use of the information, but I would be very interested to see if an experienced astrologer could make accurate predictions based on the information.

Overall an interesting and well laid out book that is as clear as a book that must include technical information could possibly be.

I absolutely loved reading these books as a kid! I remember reading them with my mom a lot. My favorite part is how she takes things so literal. I think this is something we as teachers need to pay attention to as we talk to students from different backgrounds. They may not always understand what we mean and we have to clarify our directions. I think my students would find this book humorous and interesting. I would like to see how the students interpret the directions by asking them to predict what Amelia Bedelia is going to do when she reads the list.

Lexile: 450L

The Mitten tells the story of a little boy who, despite being warned by his grandmother, loses one of the mittens she made for him. With it being winter time, animals will do just about anything to keep warm. Before you know it, many animals, including a mouse, a skunk, a fox, an owl, and even a bear, try to pile into the glove to keep warm. But how far can that mitten stretch before it breaks? And will the little boy ever be able to find his mitten before he returns home to his grandmother? This story was written by Jan Brett, and it has a Lexile reading level of 800L. It best serves the purpose of teaching sequencing, predicting, and how to retell a story. In my classroom, I would give students diverse sized paper mittens that they could color and decorate. In the smallest one, they would write the first animal that went into the mitten. On the next size mitten, they would write the second animal. Students would continue this until they reach the biggest mitten size, where they will write all the animals seen in the book. They would then take all their mittens, and they could staple them together on the side to create their own little story book based on Brett’s story.

Laura Numeroff’s tale If You Give a Pig a Pancake is a classic story of a little girl who tries to accommodate the whims of one demanding little pig. The pig begins with some pancakes, and from there she finds herself in need of syrup. After using the syrup, she gets a little sticky and needs to take a bath. For her bath, she needs some bubbles and bath toys. Many more events take place from here with the pig needing one thing after another. This book’s Lexile reading level is 570L, and it does an excellent job at helping students practice sequencing and predicting. In my classroom, I would use this book to practice reading fluency with my students. There is a printable script that you can download online, so I would allow students to form groups of two to read this script. Each member in the group would draw a fluency stick that has a different voice to use when reading. Students will then practice reading the story in those voices to develop their fluency.

Because of Winn Dixie is such an amazing story! I enjoyed the book just as much as I did watching the movie. Haha! The book is about a little girl and her preacher father. They have moved to a small town and one day while the girl was grocery shopping in, you guessed it, Winn Dixie, he rescues a dog that was in the store causing trouble. She takes the dog home and tries her best to convince her dad to let her keep the dog. I believe this book could be read in classrooms of 3rd to 5th grade. The actual reading level of the book is 3.9. A way that I could se this book in my classroom is to ntroduce summarizing and predicting. After each chapter I could have the students turn and talk or write in their journals about what they think would happen next or to have them summarize the chapter just read.