Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein

Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein

Written and illustrated by Don Brown

Houghton Mifflin Company

Boston, MA

2004

Reading Levels: Accelerated Reader level – 4.6, Grade – 3

Bcc Blue Ribbon Award for Non-Fiction

"Albert Eintstein, brilliant, childhood, biography, problem solving"

When he was born in 1879, Albert was a peculiarly fat baby with an unusually big and misshaped head. When he was older, he hit his sister, frustrated his teachers, and had few friends. But Albert’s strange childhood also included his brilliant capacity for puzzles and problem solving: the mystery of a compass’s swirling needle, the intricacies of Mozart’s music, the secrets of geometry—set his mind spinning with ideas. In fact, Albert Einstein’s ideas were destined to change the way we know and understand the world and our place in the universe.

Suggested delivery: independent

Electronic Resources:

1. http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/scientists/alberteinstein.html

This site provides students with a lot of background information regarding the life of Albert Einstein. The language used on this site is meant for elementary students, so the information is very easy for students to read and understand. Teachers can use this as a way to build prior knowledge of Albert Einstein or as a resource for extension research activities

2. http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/walking-classroom/7626

This is a link to an alternative lesson plan that provides classroom activities for elementary students to use to learn about Albert Einstein. This lesson does not include “Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein” but it does provide some meaningful ideas for extension activities.

Teaching Suggestions

1. Vocabulary:

• Babble: talk rapidly or foolishly in an incomprehensible way
• Clever: quick to understand, learn, and devise or apply ideas
• Displeased: to feel annoyed or dissatisfied
• Brooding: showing deep unhappiness of though
• Captivate: to attract and hold the interest and attention of
• Astonish: to surprise or impress someone greatly
• Independence: to be independent, to be able to do thing by one’s self
• Linger: to stay in a place longer than necessary
• Solitude: the state of being alone

2. Before, During, and After Reading Strategies

Before Reading

Students may be familiar with who Albert Einstein is, but may not have the prior knowledge to understand his significant role in history and physics. Present the attached video to student before reading the book to build schema about Albert Einstein and his accomplishments and triumphs.

http://www.biography.com/people/albert-einstein-9285408

Ask students to jot down interesting or significant facts from the video and hold a class discussion to assess prior knowledge before reading.

During Reading:

A few events that occur in the story during Einstein’s childhood require some inferential comprehension for reader’s to understand what the author means by saying that Einstein was “different.” Select a few pages from the section of the book describing Einstein’s childhood and model inferential comprehension. Demonstrate to students to use what they already know about the setting, character, and events, with what the author is saying to infer the true meaning of the text.

After Reading:

Albert Einstein is noted for making a number of famous remarks and inspirational quotes. After completing “Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein,” present students with a selection of some of his famous quotes (such as the examples below). Hold a whole class discussion where the quotes are read aloud and have the students respond to what Einstein’s remarks mean and how they relate to his own childhood and life. 

• Life is like riding a bicycle.  To keep your balance you must keep moving.
• The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.
• Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift.
• Imagination is more important that knowledge.  Knowledge is limited.  Imagination encircles the world.
• The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.  It is the source of all true art and all science.  He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead:  his eyes are closed.

Writing Activity:

Review some of the main events that occurred throughout Einstein’s lifetime with the class. Ask the students to choose an event that they find interesting from his childhood, adulthood, or career as a physicist. Have the students further research the event and write a Newspaper article about the major event and its significance. The article should demonstrate literal comprehension of the event (who, what, where, when, and why) and include specific details from Einstein’s life, and explain the significance of the event.