First Graders From Mars: Episode 4: Tera, Star Student

First Graders From Mars #4

by Shana Corey, Mark Teague

It's Tera's turn in the spotlight! She's bright and bold, and about to learn there's more to being smart than knowing all the answers.

Tera's always ready to speak her mind, and why not? After all she is a star student. So when Pod 1 is assigned a group project--to build the solar system--Tera is sure she has all the answers. But with her overzealous nature & her know-it-all ways, Tera ruffles a few tentacles (& a fluffernobbin, too). Leaving Tera wondering how being right can feel so wrong.

Shana Corey & Mark Teague are stars who know the meaning of teamwork. Together they have created another out of this world episode of their always humorous martian chronicles.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2003

About the author

Lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband.

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tera is a first grade student in Mars trying to get her Earth project group to do what she wants. This causes issues within her group! This science fiction book is great for younger ages and allows the audience to laugh with the book. The aliens of mars portrayed a great character of science fiction as they allow the reader to indulge in the deeper meaning of the book which is to use team work everyday with of course there alien language! It is hard finding children's science fiction books and I find that this is a perfect representation of one.

[Carolyn Jeziorski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book to use to support discussions about working together. The first graders at my school have been talking about what it means to cooperate when working in groups. They pointed out what Vera should have done and clearly articulated how the others students were feeling. The invented words were good. The story could have been a bit shorter.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tera, star student of Pod1 (and also bossy bully) learns an important lesson about team work.

Tera's been due for a good lesson since the beginning of this series. Glad to see her finally get it. Good message for those who try to take control of the group, and the importance of a good team.

[Kenson and kirra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked how the kids all learned to work together in the end.

[Shelby Rini · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is set on the planet Mars and it's main characters are aliens (making it science fiction). In the story, the main character, Tera learns that bossing people around and being mean makes her friends not want to be around her. When she goes to get her gold star from her teacher at the end of the day, her teacher tells her that she didn't work with her team so she does not get a gold star. Later that night when Tera is reading a book about superheroes, she realizes that teamwork and compromising is better than working alone.

This children's science fiction book is for a younger group of children. It uses humor with the alien's language and the things they say like: "meep, meep" and "we all know earthlings aren't real", etc. Overall, this was an appropriate book for a young age group that taught kids that teamwork is key.

[Topanga · Rating 3 out of 5]

This poem is good for kids because it shows that change of a bully. At first this girl is bossy and tries to tell everyone what to do and tries to control the whole group project and not listen to anyone else. All of the other kids kick her out of the project because they do not like how mean she is so after she talks to her parents she goes back and apologizes to the other kids and they let her back into the group and they make this amazing planet project.

This book is short but it has a strong message for children. Treat others the way you want to be treated. The girl in this book learns her lesson and makes things right but she still goes through changes that the author is able to experience with her.

[Brandi · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this episode, the students participate in a group project. However, some members are more useful than others. This book would be a good read aloud before group projects or in the beginning of the year. Students can discuss the aspects of being good teammates. The book also has nonsense "alien speak" in it. Teachers can use this to teach about context clues or syntax.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a humorous tale about cooperation and getting along. We see occasional bouts of bossiness in our house, so it's good to read about the importance of compromise and working together. This is a fun story and we enjoyed reading it together. The illustrations are terrific, too.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though she is a star pupil, alien from mars, Tera, has trouble working with others. Follow her in finding herself, learning to work with others and realizing that other people have good ideas too. This book is a good way to teach students, at a young age, to be able to work well with others.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humor: The first graders are working together on a project about planet earth (everyone knows earthlings aren't real!) Tera learns that working together to succeed is as important as doing well on your own.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picture Book

Tera was always important and in charge, but when she ends up ruining her group's project she's put in time-out. Tera has to learn to work with others and not always be in charge.

[Deja Bertucci]

sharing, being bossy, learning to work together