Giraffes Can't Dance

By: Giles Andreae, Illustrated by : Guy Parker- Rees

Gerald the Giraffe has never been good at dancing. Like all Giraffes his neck was long and his legs were too skinny and made it hard for him to twirl. At the yearly Jungle Dance the jungle animals were all showing off their dance moves. The chimps did the cha-cha, the warthogs did the waltz and the lions did the tango. When it was Gerald’s turn to dance, they all started to make fun of him because “Giraffes can’t dance”. Gerald started to walk away in shame when all of a sudden a cricket started to talk to him. The cricket explained to Gerald that everything makes music and that everyone can dance as long as it is music that they like. With this inspiration Gerald started dancing and twirling all on his own. All of the animals in the jungle noticed and watched in awe of the wonderful dance moves.

            This wonderful inspirational story is great for including song, dance, culture and rhyme into any classroom curriculum, and the students will love the fun illustrations and the motivational message that the book offers.

Reading level: 1^st -2^nd grade Lexile: AD450L

Suggested Delivery: Whole class read aloud

Vocabulary: crooked, shoots, buckled, prance, waltzing, tango, elegant, cha-cha, reel, clumsy, sneered, clot, clearing, hooves, shuffling, boogied,

Electronic Resources:

http://www.kids-bookreview.com/2010/04/review-giraffes-cant-dance.html good information and reviews on the book.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVzblgpqQnk Watch and listen to a reading of this book.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/giraffes-cant-dance-lesson-plan lesson plan for this book about rhyming words.

Activities to increase comprehension:

Before reading: This book mentions certain dance moves such as the cha-cha and tango, talking about these types of dances and other types of dances can be a great way for children to better understand the book and make connections.  

After reading: Depending on students ages they could research a style of dance and its culture and meaning. They could come up with their own dance moves to music that they like or that is provided to them. They could learn about cultures and the ways that they express themselves through song and dance. 

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.