How Does Your Heart Work?

Scholastic Rookie Read-About: Health

by Don L. Curry

Provides a simple introduction to how the heart and circulatory system work.

Genres: Nonfiction

32 pages, Library Binding

First published September 1, 2003

Reviews

[Tonya Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary: This book begins with what students would normally recognize as a heart shape and talks about what a heart really looks like. It describes the functions of the heart and then explains how the circulatory system works. The vocabulary helps students recognize that the heart has a very important job to pump oxygen and carry blood throughout the body. Ideas that connect the heart to how we breathe in air through our lungs and to our food intake are also included in this text. The book also provides suggestions on how we can take care of our heart and be healthy.

Characteristics to Support Genre: This book explains how the heart works by using several text features to help the reader navigate easily through the text. Diagrams, key facts, captions, and photographs are used to help the reader comprehend the text. This book is a “rookie read-about health book,” and I like that at the end of the book words are defined using pictures to help struggling readers. It also contains an index.

Concepts Integrated: text features, concept maps, body parts and their functions, graphic organizers – concept map, KWL chart, or lists, sequencing

Other Suggestions that could be useful regarding literary content, reading level, and other ways in which the book might be integrated: K-2 reading
Language Arts: Students could write a paragraph about how they can maintain a healthy heart or about how the heart helps the body.
Art: For the younger students, they can create models of the heart using different colored clay to represent the right and left sides of the heart. First and second grade students could draw the parts of the heart and include the vocabulary mentioned in the book: chambers, right atrium, right ventricle, left atrium, left ventricle.
Science: I saw an activity on Pinterest that includes a cut out for students to add red and blue yarn to help students that can help students understand where the blood is being pumped from: http://www.spelloutloud.com/human-bod...

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter was assigned this for school. Currently in Grade 4 in a "classe distincte" for those who have been identified as being behind. We got through it in one sitting (about 20 minutes) with a few pauses and it led to lots of good conversation about the concepts - what was understood - what wasn't. Even took our shoes off to look for our veins and did some deep breaths to feel our lungs filling and so forth. A good read for where we are at. Was relieved she came home with non-fiction as the other GB+ readers she's been coming home with have been cute stories, but clearly targeted for younger children.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought to use in therapy for a child with a heart disease. Kid never returned.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent introduction to the heart and circulation, but I'm disappointed it maintains the myth of blood being blue when it's low on oxygen. Since I was reading it aloud to preschoolers, I just talked about blood turning bright red when it has lots of oxygen.