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 With all the pressure and stress from the letters Miranda is also finds troubles with her friend Sal who has withdrawn from her.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.

The Graveyard Book

"The Graveyard Book is endlessly inventive, masterfully told and, like Bod himself, too clever to fit into only one place. This is a book for everyone. You will love it to death."

 -- Holly Black, co–creator of The Spiderwick Chronicles

Published by: HarperCollins copyright: 2008

The 2009 Newbery Medal winner :The Graveyard Book  by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Dave McKean, and published by HarperCollins Children's Books.

“A delicious mix of murder, fantasy, humor and human longing, the tale of Nobody Owens is told in magical, haunting prose."

After the tragic death of his family by a man named Jack, Toddler, Nobody “Bod” Owens, escapes and seeks safety among the ghosts and ghouls of a nearby graveyard. After finding out that the Man named Jack is still out their looking for the escaped toddler, the residents of the graveyard promise to raise and protect him. Bod is adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Owens and looked after by his guardian Silas. Throughout the book Bod learns valuable lessons of how to live in the world of the dead and the world of the living. Bod listens to tales of life long ago and makes priceless friendships with the spirits of the graveyard. We go along the journey with Bod as he explores the wonders of life, death, friendship, family and what it means to grow up. 

Reading level: 5/6 Lexil: 820L

Suggested Delivery: Independent read or small group read

Vocabulary: Oblige, gargantuan, zenith, antagonize, quarry, mausoleum, consternation, tangible, brooch, convocation, surreal, palpable, enormous, alter, tentatively, triumphantly, mercy, welling, debris, amphitheater, obelisk, inhabitants, gratitude, enthusiasm, historians, scrutinized, perplexed, immutable

Electronic Resources:

 http://www.mousecircus.com/videotour.aspx Listen to Neil Gaiman read the graveyard book aloud chapter by chapter and answer questions. Great to introduce the author to the students and watch and listen to him read his own work. Great for an after reading activity or a during reading activity.  

http://www.neilgaiman.com/works/Books/The+Graveyard+Book/ the author’s website gives information about him and all of his work. There is also frequently asked questions and information about tour dates. Great for before reading, getting to know the author and an after reading for any questions or information on his other work.

http://www.enotes.com/the-graveyard-book Summaries of the book and the chapters. During reading to help with what happened if there is confusion.

Activities to Increase Comprehension:

Before reading: Go over the vocabulary words that might be difficult for the students. This will get them prepared for the words that they might struggle with and it might give them glimpse of the reading before they start.

During reading: going over the vocabulary even when they are reading will help them learn how to look up words that they don’t know when they are reading and possibly use context clues to figure out the meaning of the words. Another activity to do during reading would be to have the students put together a character map of all the characters, who they are and a little bit about them. There are a lot of characters in this book and the students might get confused, having them organize the character will help them follow all the characters.

After reading:  Using questions can enhance the students understanding of the book. Some questions can be found at… http://www.bookbrowse.com/reading_guides/detail/index.cfm?book_number=2184

Additional Resources:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_UUVwTaemk - watch a preview of the book