A Family of Poems

By Caroline Kennedy

Publisher: Hyperion Books Copyright: 2005

This Collection of Poems is a great assortment for children to read and enjoy. The poems are categorized into different categories so that students have a sense of what the topic of the poem they are reading is.

Reading Level: 4th and up

Suggested Delivery: Read Aloud, independent read

Vocabulary: linnet, perches, aspen, extremity, trodden, impassable, erroneously, and posies, boughs, abash

Electronic Resources: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/12/07/earlyshow/living/parenting/main1103165.shtml This website has an interview with Caroline Kennedy and her love of books and why she decided to write this book.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1098929,00.html  Background information about Caroline Kennedy is really useful for the students to know who the author is and why she wrote this book.  

Activities to Increase Comprehension:

Before reading: Have the students be aware of poetry, the structure of it and the different forms of it. Some students might not be familiar with poetry and therefore might not like or understand when reading this collection. Making them aware before they read about poetry will make reading more enjoyable and meaningful.

After reading: After students are done reading a poem have them analyze what the poem was about, have them fill out a graphic organizer about the poem identifying what point of view the poem is written from, what the poem is about and what kind of poem it is. Students can also write their own poems that they think will fit into one of the categories in the book, or make their own collection of poems like the ones in this book. 

A Long Way from Chicago

By Richard Peck

It is between 1929 and 1935, the years of the Great Depression. Joey and his younger sister Mary Alice live in the city of Chicago. Every year during August they go visit their larger than life Grandmother. Each year that they go something interesting happens. Within the years that they go see their Grandma they see witness some pretty incredible things like a corpse, a sheriff in his underwear, and the Cowgill boys terrorizing the town but Their grandma sure does know how to keep things interesting. Each chapter can be read as a short story or they can be read together for a wonderful novel full of adventure and humor.

 

Publisher: Puffin Copyright: 2000

Reading Level: 4th – 8th Lexile:750L

Suggested Delivery: Independent read

Vocabulary: hazy, misty, superstitious, significance, queried questioned, inquired, asked, lurked, furtively, slink, lope, cadaver, loped, blackmail, bogus, riddled

Electronic Resources:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/clubs/pdfs/longwayfromchicago_t.pdf This PDF offers some great discussion questions and answers, as well as information about the author and the book

http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/richard_peck.html This website offers some really great discussion questions, information about the book and even a lesson plans on how to relate the book to all different content areas such as science, math, social studies and art.

http://eduscapes.com/newbery/99b.htm this is another source that can help connect the book to different content areas. It also provides some electronic resources to help teach the book.

Activities to Increase Comprehension:

Before reading: Have the students research or know something about the Great Depression since that is when this book takes place. Having some background of the time period will help in comprehension of the book.

During reading: The students can do a jigsaw activity where one group become experts on one character ex: Grandma and then another table become an expert on another character and so on then have the students switch and get into discussion groups with someone from each group to talk about the characters that they have become experts on to better inform other students.

After reading: Have the students to a poem from two voices and pick two of the characters for the poem. Students can also participate in a Readers Theater where they pick the chapter that they would really like to read or act out. Because this book is really entertaining to read the students would have a lot of fun acting it out. 

Library Mouse

By: Daniel Kirk

Sam is a mouse that lives in a library. At night he read the children’s books, one night Sam decides to write his own children book about himself, “Squeak! A Mouse's Life”, complete with pictures that he draws himself. After he is done writing his book he slips the book into the shelves. One day a girl finds the book and brings it to the librarian’s attention. Sam is then invited to meet the author day at the library. Sam is too shy to be introduced to the people at the library but he encourages them to write their own books and to be creative.

Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers Copyright: 2007

Reading Level: 4th – 6th Lexile: 830L

Suggested Delivery: Read Aloud

Vocabulary: Reference streamed aisles illustrations imagination, brimmed, mysteries, biography, and autobiography

Electronic Resources:

http://danielkirk.com/dankirkbookspread22.html This is the Authors website, this gives information about the author, the book as well as reviews from other sources. http://danielkirk.com/dankirkactivity.html This is the activities section of the author’s web page, this is a great resource to use to get handouts and activities ideas for the book. http://issuu.com/hnabooks/docs/librarymousefinal This is a great resource for teacher about how to teach this book and how to integrate it into different curriculums. This also gives information about the author including interview questions and answers.

Activities to Increase Comprehension:

Before reading: Go over some of the vocabulary that may be challenging to the students. There are references to libraries in this book so having the student be familiar with libraries would be a great way for them to understand the book better. Have the students have a session in the library, understanding where to find books and how they are categorized would be a great activity to do before reading.

During reading: Have the students think about what it takes to write a book as they are listening to the book being read this will help them with the after reading activity.

After reading: Have the students write their own story. This book is all about being creative and coming up with your own ideas and making your own book, what better way to enforce that message than having them do it themselves. The students can also do a scavenger hunt in the library where they have to find different genres of books. This is a good book to begin getting students familiar with genres or enforce their learning of genres. 

14 Cows for America

By Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah with Carmen Agra Deedy

Illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez 

"A child asks if he has brought any stories. Kimeli nods. He has brought with him one story. It has burned a hole in his heart."

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks on American, Kimeli Naiyomah returned home to his Maasai village in Kenya, after spending some time in New York City. He told his village of the awful attack that he saw. The Maasai used to be warriors but now raised cattle the cattle to them symbolize life so they sent some of their cattle to America.Thi heartwarming story sheds light on the different cultures in the world and how they can come together and help each other.

Publisher: Peachtree Publishers Copyright: 2009

 

Reading Level: 2rd- 5th Lexile: AD540L

Suggested Delivery: Read Aloud

Vocabulary: Marvel, Embassy, Ritual, Fierce, Injustice, Diplomat, Embassy, Fierce, Mournful, Nomadic, Ritual, Sacred, Injustice

Electronic Resources:

http://14cowsforamerica.com/ The books website offers more information about the book the Maasai

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/books/review/Kristof-t.html this article about the book gives a great description of the book.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YRdKYadnnA This is a video about the book, this can be a great before reading activity to get the students familiar with the topic or a great after reading activity to support what they just read and further comprehension.

http://www.islma.org/2012BluestemResources/14Cows.pdf This is a great resource that offers some great activities to do with the students as well as information about the author and the book, vocabulary and other books that are related to the topic.

Activities to Increase Comprehension:

Before Reading: This book is a good book to read to the class when they are learning about 9/11 or interactions between countries or civilizations. Have the students do research about the background of either 9/11 of the Maasai village in Kenya or both to get a bit of background before they read the book. An anticipation guide would also be a good before reading activity for this book to see what the students think about the topics of cultural interactions and 9/11.

After reading: Showing the students where Kenya is on a map will help them understand the distance between the two countries. Have a discussion about the way the Maasai live and the way we live here in America, have the students compare and contrast. Students could even to a think pair share about the differences. Ask the students to think about how countries or people that are different can help each other and benefit from each other. 

Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring

By: Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan

Illistrated By: Brian Floca

This book takes us on the journey through what it takes to compose a ballet. Martha Graham's is the choreographer who collaborates with a composer, and other dancers to come up with the ballet. Students will get to experience what it takes to work together to get something accomplished and the hard work that goes into creating something wonderful.

 

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press Copyright: 2010

 Reading Level: 2nd and up Lexile: AD710L

Suggested delivery: Read Aloud

Vocabulary: Collaborating, Forge, choreographer, composer, Ballet, artist, Frontier, Pioneer,  

Electronic Resources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/books/review/McDonald-t.html review about the book

http://www.jangreenbergsandrajordan.com/pages/books/marthagraham/videos.html about the book, along with pictures and videos of the actual ballet. Great for before or after reading to really bring the dance alive and elevate the students comprehension of the book.

Activities to increase comprehension:

Before Reading: Have the students talk about collaboration. This book is about people working together to create a beautiful ballet. Having a discussion about things that require people working together would be a great way to get students ready to read this book. Students will not only get a preview to the words that will be used in this book but also the concepts.

After reading: Have the students watch the videos of the actual ballet so that it becomes real to them. Then have them work together and do a collaborative activity with a partner. They could do a found poem about the book to illustrate comprehension about the book and work with others.

 Kirkus Best Books 2010
PW Best Books 2010
Booklist Editor's Choice 2010
SLJ Best Books 2010
Washington Post Best Books 2010
Boston Globe Best Books
Horn Book Fanfare
ALA Notable Book
NCTE 2011 Orbis Pictus Award
ALSC's 2011 Sibert Honor

Umbrella Summer

By: Lisa Graff

Umbrella Summer is a radiant book. 

—Kirby Larson, Newbery Honor author of Hattie Big Sky

Everyone said that Jared was going to be ok after a hockey puck hit him in the chest. They never thought that he would die because of it. Now dealing with the grief of losing her brother unexpectedly, Annie, is scared to live her life or talk about how she feels. Annie’s mother won’t speak about Jared and her father is never around. All Annie does now is read her medical book and cover herself in band aids until Mrs.Finch moves in next door and help her cope with the loss of her brother and reminds her how to live again. This is a moving story that will engage readers.

Publisher: HarperCollins Copyright: 2009

 Reading Level: 4^th -6^th Lexile: 820L

Suggested delivery: Independent read

Vocabulary: plagues, ace bandages, african sleeping sickness, grief, disease

Electronic Resources:

http://www.lisagraff.com/umbrella-summer.html The author’s website gives insight into the book and the author as well as other books that she wrote.

http://readinginaction.org/bookcasts/umbrella-summer Video and Audio preview of the book included in this website.

http://www.teachingbooks.net/book_reading.cgi?id=4698&a=1 Hear Lisa Graff read an excerpt from the book

Activities to increase comprehension:

Before reading: Before reading this book, have students answer questions such as: Have you ever been afraid? What do you do when you're afraid? Hide? Did your fears stop you from doing things that you wanted to do? Having them answer these questions will get them thinking about the concepts that will be brought up in this book.

After reading: students are sure to feel for Annie and her situation. Having the students write a pitch as to why this book should become a movie would be an interesting activity to ensure that the students understood the book, its themes and be able to connect those to themselves and other people. For a book to become a movie is needs to grab the interest of people so creating a pitch as to why this book would be a good movie would encourage them to be persuasive. 

Blueberry Girl

By: Neil Gaiman

This book is a great book about a little girl growing up and the wish for her to have a wonderful magical life. This book is a great book is inspiration and wonder that children of all ages will love to listen to and engage in the pictures.

“Let her go places that we've never been; Trust and delight in her youth…

                             Let her tell stories, and dance in the rain, Somersaults, tumble and run; Her joys must be high as her sorrows are deep, Let her grow like a weed in the sun..”

Publisher: HarperCollins Copyright: 2009

 Reading Level:  Kindergarten and up

Suggested delivery: Read Aloud

Vocabulary: Spindles, merciful, complex, motives, manners, wisdom, paradox, fortune,

 Electronic Resources:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH4lyJWa_84 This is a audio recording of the book with animated pictures.

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/04/review-blueberr/ this website give a background into the  book and the purpose of why it was written.

Activities to increase comprehension:

Before reading: This would be a great book to use as a contrast to the Graveyard Book written also my Neil Gaiman. If students have already read that book reading Blueberry Girl  would be a great book to show the diversity with authors and the different genres that they can write in. Have the students discuss The Graveyard Book and what that book was about and then introduce and read Blueberry Girl to the students.

After reading: Have the students compare the two books by Neil Gaiman and have a discussion about the differences in genre and other aspects such as novel vs.  read aloud.

 

Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey

By: Maira Kalman

 “Fireboat does many things. It sets forth an adventure, helps commemorate an anniversary, offers an interesting bit of history, celebrates the underdog, and honors the fire-fighting profession. Children and adults will respond to it in as many ways.” Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library

In 1995 The John J. Harvey fireboat was considered a useless scrap heap after once being considered the largest, fastest, shiniest fireboat of its time. A group of friends decided to save the boat and fix it up. Then on September 11th 2001 the twin towers were struck by planes causing tragic destruction and sadness. When the firemen arrived they realized that the water pipes were broken and buried so that no water could be pumped to put the horrible fires out. That’s when The John J. Harvey fireboat was called to come and fight the fires. After 4 days and nights the fireboat pumped water to fight the fire. The people of the fireboat felt so proud to help and the The John J. Harvey fireboat received the National Preservation Award on October 18th 2001. This inspiring true story brings New York and its heroes to life. The Illustrations are so vibrant and brilliantly captivate the reader.   

While this book is noted to be for younger students, the content is specific enough that older students can take appreciation for the information about the John J. Harvey fireboat. learning about 911 and the twin towers is something important that students need to know about. This would be a great story to read to them that they are sure to enjoy.

Publisher: Puffin Copyright: 2002

Reading Level: 2-3rd Lexile: AD280L 
Ages: 7-11

Suggested delivery: Read aloud

Vocabulary: Fireboat, The Empire State Building, Babe Ruth, George Washington Bridge, suspended, elegantly, Hudson River, Westminster Kennel Club, Diesel, bustling, The Twin Towers, 911, plucky.

 Electronic Resources:

http://www.mairakalman.com/books/c_books/fireboat-01.html The author’s website offers information about the book and the author.

http://www.fireboat.org/ This website is about the actual fireboat. This is a great website for more background about the boat and actual pictures, facts and information about where the boat will be if the students wanted to go see it in person.

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/us-history/lesson-plan/15431.html good resource for teachers on how to incorporate this book into the classroom.

Activities to increase comprehension:

Before reading: Have the students learn about 911 and the twin towers before reading this book. They will need some background knowledge about what happened and why this was such a tragic day. Some of the vocabulary should be gone over before they read. Students that aren’t from the New York area might need to be taught about specific structures mentioned such as the George Washington Bridge. An anticipation guide would be a really great way to get the students thinking about the content of the book as well as what they already know. The emphasis is not on right answers but to share what they know and to make predictions.

During reading: There are some pages in this book where the text and picture are not in a linear format and the words almost act as captions for the picture that are with them, when reading this book aloud to the class make sure to connect the text with the picture to reduce the confusion some students may have. On one page they talk about the parts of the boat and then have picture of each part, after you read about one part point to that picture so the students can see which picture you are reading about.

After reading: I think that an exit slip would be a good way to see what the students got out of the book, whether they learned something new, had a strong emotion to the content or were confused. Another great after reading activity would be to show the students the website of the John J. Harvey fireboat so they can get a better idea of what the boat is and to get them to actually see that the boat is real and that it really made a difference on 911. 

The first page of the book.

The last page of the book.

When You Reach Me

By: Rebecca Stead

Winner of the 

2010 John Newbery Medal

Miranda is a 6th grader growing up in New York City with her mother and her best friend, Sal. Throughout the book Miranda gets a series of letters from an anonymous writer who seems to know everything about her, even things that haven’t happened yet. Miranda must write back to this person in order to solve the mystery of who is sending the letters she also find out that she has the capability to save someone life. With all the pressure and stress from the letters Miranda is also finds troubles with her friend Sal who has withdrawn from her. There is a lot going on in the 6^th graders life. Set in 1978-1979 readers get to see what it was like for a child growing up at that time without feeling detached from the novel and the characters.

Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books Random House 

Copyright: 2009 

Reading Level: 3-5^th Lexile: 750L

Suggested delivery: Independent read, Whole group, or small group read.

Vocabulary: omen, latchkey child, lob, scoured, fundamental, obstruct, nags, scoured, appreciate 

 Electronic Resources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/books/review/KidsChronicle-t.html

http://misdelar.wikispaces.com/file/view/When+You+Reach+Me+Student+Guide.pdf This PDF offers great before, during and after reading activities that student’s could do as well as a biography of the author and suggestions on how to connect this book to other areas of curriculum such as social studies. The teachers guide is also included and will be useful for teaching this book to students. (http://misdelar.wikispaces.com/file/view/When+You+Reach+Me+Teacher+Guide.pdf)

http://www.rebeccasteadbooks.com/books.html this is the authors website that gives a list of books she has written along with their descriptions and ways to contact her.

http://youtu.be/4ZTzzR4SToc - Rebecca Stead talking about When You Reach Me.

Activities to increase comprehension:

Before reading:  This book mentions A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle quite often. Have the students read this book before reading When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead might be a good idea to offer some good discussion of how the two books are similar or different. Another thing to do before reading would be to give the students a description of the book and from that have them make predictions about what the book will be about.

During reading: This book is a mystery, one way to have the students feel like detectives and get into the book when they are reading would be to have them write down new predictions that they have as the book goes on. While the students are reading you might want to go over the vocabulary that they come across, this book is set in a different time period then the children are used too and some vocabulary they might be unaware of such as “latchkey child”.

After reading: Now that the students have read the whole book you can have them look at all the predictions that they have made from the beginning to the end and then write a paper talking about how they have changed throughout the book and if any of their predictions were right or close.

Sweat and Blood a History of U.S. labor Unions

By: Gloria Skurzynski

From the Civil War to Chinese workers in the central pacific rail road to the stock market crash this book traces the history of unions and laborers in the United States. The chronological recounts of history helps readers understand and organize the information easily. There is also a table of contents and index both of which aid in navigating through the contents of the book. Actual photos with captions bring the history alive and intrigue young readers. If readers didn’t get enough from this book a list of further readings and websites are listed in the back to promote extensive learning on the subject of labor unions in the United States.

Published by: Lerner Publishing Group

Copyright: 2008

 Reading Level:  6 and up

Suggested delivery: Independent read, Whole group, or small group read.

Vocabulary: unions, indenture, revolt, enfranchised, inhabitant, guild, disbanded, posse, militia, strike, bewhiskered, cabinet, bargaining, seizing, corruption, committee, socialist, communist, industrialists, legislation. (There are a lot of historical terms that students might need help with understanding)

Electronic Resources:

http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Skurzynski__Gloria.html this website gives a biography and information about the author including other works by her that the students may enjoy.

http://gloriabooks.com/ this is the authors website with ways to contact her, picture and list of her other books.

http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/la/Labor_union this site gives background information on labor unions and what they are. Students can read this to get more information or teachers can use this to help enforce their students understanding of labor unions. 

Activities to increase comprehension:

Before reading: students can use this book to enforce social studies lessons and projects. It would be beneficial for students to be taught the text structures of this book before they read that way they know how to read it. Some students might not understand the use of a table or contents, index, or the picture captions.

During reading: as students read and come across words that they are unfamiliar with they can write those words down on index cards to look up to further understanding or they can define the words and then put them up on the word wall so that they become familiar with the words as they are reading.

After reading: a RAFT writing assignment would be a great way for the students to get more in depth understanding of the people and events mentioned in the book. Role of the writer includes what you are as a write: the students can take on the role of someone mentioned in the book ex, martin Luther King Jr. or a laborer. Audience includes who you are writing to: the students can better understand the relationship between which they are being and the people around them ex: writing to the union of the workers. Format of the writing ex: a letter or speech. And finally the Topic or what you are writing about and why? This helps the students understand the circumstances of the time and how the people were affected.