Packy the Packrat's mother has had enough! It's time that he sorts through his ever-growing collection of trinkets and puts them away. Told in rhyme, the text leads the reader to participate in the sorting process by categorizing Packy's piles of things according to like characteristics and attributes. The story promotes and reinforces analogous thinking--a critical thinking skill in math, science, and life. In the "For Creative Minds" education section at the back of the book, the reader can explore even more attributes and characteristics of objects, including color, size, texture, shape, and material. This fictional story with rhyming text includes a 5-page For Creative Minds section in the back of the book and a 22-page cross-curricular Teaching Activity Guide online. Sort it Out! is vetted by experts and designed to encourage parental engagement. Its extensive back matter helps teachers with time-saving lesson ideas, provides extensions for science, math, and social studies units, and uses inquiry-based learning to help build critical thinking skills in young readers. The Spanish translation supports ELL and dual-language programs. The interactive ebook reads aloud in both English and Spanish with word highlighting and audio speed control to promote oral language skills, fluency, pronunciation, text engagement, and reading comprehension.
Mariconda, Barbara: - Barbara Mariconda Award-winning author Barbara Mariconda is one of those people who "has done it all!" In addition to authoring Ten for Me and Sort it Out! (2009 IRA and CBC Children's Choice and 2009 Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year List) for Arbordale, she is an educator (K-6), a mentor teacher, an adjunct professor of Children's Literature and Process Writing. Barbara has also written a wide variety of musicals, songs, novels, and numerous professional books for teachers. She frequently speaks on the topic of writing for and with children, and provides professional development for teachers at seminars across the country. She lives in Connecticut where she is a partner in the educational seminar and consulting firm, Empowering Writers, LLC., and is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Visit Barbara's website: http: //empoweringwriters.com/
Rogers, Sherry: - Sherry Rogers spent twelve years as a corporate graphic designer and artist before "leaving it all behind" for the freelance world of illustrating children's books. Through illustrating The First Fire, Sherry remembers her own ancestor, Na Ni, a Cherokee woman from the mountains of North Carolina. Some of Sherry's other Arbordale titles include The Penguin Lady, Ten for Me, Hey Diddle Diddle, Newton and Me, Moose and Magpie, Paws, Claws, Hands & Feet, and The Deductive Detective; as well as her award-winning titles: Sort It Out!, Kersplatypus, Burro's Tortillas, and If You Were a Parrot. Sherry lives in Northern California with her family and their pets.
