When selecting books, I try to use NSTA's Outstanding Science Tradebooks and a mix of fiction and non-fiction. The Big Rock by Bruce Hiscock, Atheneum, 1988. This NSTA Outstanding Science Tradebook will be a terrific addition to your classroom. It is the story of a big rock in the author's backyard at the southern edge of the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. The origin of this rock is traced from formation, through uplift and glaciation, to our present time.
Great illustrations enhance the text.
Dar and the Spear Thrower by Marjorie Cowley, Clarion Books, 1994. A boy, alive during the Ice Age, uses rocks as tools which enable him and his clan to survive. This book presents many opportunities for students to grow in appreciation for primitive cultures and the rocks and minerals that they use. Science activities and explanations are clear and succinct in this text. Magic Schoolbus Inside the Earth by Joanna Cole, Scholastic, Inc., 1987.