Laura Bontje

Marian's Big Dig

When rock-loving Marian stumbles upon a perfect, pointy stone in the park, she just knows it is a dinosaur fossil! But her geologist mom and her fossil-hunting hero remain unconvinced, so there's only one thing to do - Marian has to find the rest of the dinosaur. One by one, she excavates more fossils in her backyard (though her parents keep mistaking them for gardening tools and household objects). Piecing them together is puzzling, but Marian's dinosaur is shaping up to be her best discovery yet.This playful story told through the eyes of imaginative Marian is accompanied by real facts about fossils, further reading and details about real life fossil discoveries made by kids.Key Text Featuresillustrationsdefinitionsbackmatterfactsfurther readingfurther information Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.2With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.6With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.5Explain major differences between books that tell stories and books that give information, drawing on a wide reading of a range of text types.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.