Volcanoes

Together, read the title of the book and look at the image on the cover. Then discuss what you may already know about volcanoes. Ask your child whether they have learned about them in school, seen one in a movie, or seen one in the news or real life. 

Determine how much of the book you will read today. Read to that point without interruption, then go back to the beginning of the book and reread, pausing to ask and discuss the following questions. Follow the same routine for each section of the book you read. Encourage your child to support their answers with details from the text.  

After the “POP?!” page: What is a volcano? What is the difference between a dormant or extinct volcano and an active volcano? How many volcanoes could be erupting right now?

After the “Don’t step in the crack!” and “Superheroes?” pages: How hot is glowing- red lava? How does lava leave a volcano? What are “lava bombs” and why are they dangerous? What are volcanologists? How do they predict when volcanoes might erupt? How did the Hawaiian Islands form?

After the “TSUNAMIS!” and “The Ring of Fire” pages: What happened when Krakatoa erupted? How loud was the sound? What is the Ring of Fire? How—and where—do volcanoes bring life, and how did scientists discover this? How big was the explosion of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai underwater volcano?

After the “Extraterrestrial volcanoes” page: What is an extraterrestrial volcano? What is a cryovolcano and how is it different from the volcanoes we have on Earth?

Discuss the three big questions that volcanologists are trying to answer. Talk about why you think each of these questions is important and support your answers with details from the text.

Then, revisit the part of the book you read today and reread the sections on each page that seem like poems. Notice how sometimes the text is descriptive (“Plates shift. Land tilts. Gas seeps.”). Sometimes it asks questions (“When will it…POP?!”). And sometimes it offers warnings (“Don’t step in the crack!”).

Together, think of something in nature that you love, admire, or fear. Challenge each other to write a poem about it.

Literacy Tip

About half of the text in this book reads like poetry. The other half—in a smaller type size, on the right-hand side—gives scientific and geologic information about volcanoes.