Rachel's Children's Literature Blog

Title I at Glen Alpine Elementary: 5th Grade

2008-12-07T05:21:00.000-08:00

On my last visit to Glen Alpine Elementary, I followed a few of the students after lunch to their Title I class. All the students that worked together were in the fifth grade, and there is five students in the class I observed. The students work on reading sentences and paragraphs, and writing in cursive. The students go to Title I every day except Tuesdays. I went to the lesson with a girl from my class named Kayla. She told me that she really likes going to Title I because it help her to better in all her other classes. She also talked about how she liked how there were only five students and one teacher, and she thought it was better and that she learned more in Title I then in her large, regular class. Another student in the class where I did my practicum was in the Title I program last year, but wasn't invited to it this year. I was told by the other students in Title I that he wasn't aloud back into it because he didn't get enough work done while in Title I. I was a little concerned at what the student was given or put into in place of the Title I program. Obviously there was a reason this student was in the program, and he didn't leave the program because he was caught up to grade level. This particular child was pegged as a problem child, and I have to admit that I didn't view him as that large of a behavioral problem. He asked a lot of questions that seemed a little excessive, but he seemed like he wanted to know why he was doing what he was doing all the time. It seemed that when he asked a question he was regarded as a problem because he didn't listen rather than a student. I really enjoyed my time spend in the Title I program because it allowed me to see the extra help that some of the students needed and were getting. My concentration area is in English, and so Title I programs are something that I am very interested in. I possibly may get my masters in something related to reading. I could definitely see myself being a reading specialist, and this experience really gave me a much better view of what type of skills you need to do this type of job.

Classroom Management Ideas from My Glen Alpine 5th Grade Classroom

2008-12-04T12:17:00.001-08:00

I really enjoyed my time in Mrs. Revilla's fifth grade classroom at Glen Alpine Elementary. I had a lot of fun with the students, and I learned more than I thought through teaching, helping, and observing. When I first got to the school, I wasn't sure how I felt about the teacher that I was placed with, but as I got to know her things got a lot better. Mrs. Revilla is an amazing teacher, and I think our first day was probably not the best behavioral day for the class. An idea I learned about for classroom management has to deal with daily behavior and walking laps. Around the outside playground area there is a track. Each day, each fifth grade class starts out with eight laps. If they behave well during transitions and certain parts during the day, then they can erase a lap. The students have eight chances to remove a lap, so if they behave then they will have their full recess time to play. If they don't behave, then they may have to walk laps around the track before getting to play. This type of classroom management worked pretty well. Students were able to line themselves up and stay quiet, most of the time. It seemed that the students made a clear, conscious effort to transition smoothly and quickly. When it was time to switch for math class from reading class, all the students put away their reading books and got out their math supplies and lined up in the hallway waiting to enter Mrs. Osborne's classroom. Some days the students were too excited, and the most laps I ever saw them walk in one day was four. I would definitely consider this type of classroom management if it was evident that it would have an effect on my class. Each group of students is different, and I think that I may have to use different classroom management techniques depending on the likes and dislikes of the current class. Another form of classroom management that the teachers use is signing the students planners. Every day the students write in their homework and important information into their planners. If a student gets in trouble, then the teacher will sign their planner and give he/she an extra lap to walk at recess. The parents have to look at the planner every night, and if your planner gets signed during the day, then your parents have to also sign that they read why you go in trouble. I do like the idea of signing the student's planner and writing what the student did wrong so that the parents can be informed. Sometimes I felt as though the teachers were a little harsh with their planner signing though. It seemed that if the teacher was in a poor mood that certain students were almost watched until they did something wrong. I'm really glad that I saw this type of behavior from a teacher who overall I respect because it makes me realize how hard it must be to control your subconsciousness. I want to be making a conscious effort to be fair to all my students even if they rub me the wrong way sometimes. I also realize that when I am in a bad mood in the classroom, I need to try and let some things roll off my shoulder. Teachers are human and bound to over-react sometimes. As a teacher, I will need to try my hardest to leave my personal baggage at the door because it isn't beneficial to my future students. I've done a lot of researching on many different types of classroom management ideas, and I think that classroom management is the key to a productive classroom. If the students are in order and managed, then as a whole we will be able to accomplish more in the time we are given. A well-behaved classroom can also participate in more hands-on activities, which I think can truly make a difference in a student's comprehension level. A few websites with classroom management ideas are listed below:

ProTeacher's Classroom Management
The Really Big List of Classroom Management Resources
The Teacher's Corner - Classroom Management
SMARTeacher - Classroom Management: Elementary

Spelling Game (Substitue for Word Game)

2008-11-20T20:49:00.001-08:00

On Wednesday November 19, 2008, Chantel and I did a spelling lesson instead of a word game lesson. The teacher asked us to do the spelling game/lesson instead of a word game because it went better with what Mrs. Revilla had planned that week and that day. A spelling list with all the words we used in our lesson was given to the students on Monday. The class had already done homework assignments on Monday and Tuesday and a practice quiz on Monday. In other words, the students had seen the words before and were fairly familiar with them. After our lesson the students would be taking their second practice spelling test. Mrs. Revilla has the students take a shot at spelling the words when they first get the fifteen word list on Mondays, and next the students take a second practice spelling test on the words on Wednesday. After the second practice spelling test, Mrs. Revilla assigns each individual student ten words to study for their actual spelling test on Friday. I like the way Mrs. Revilla takes the time to individualize the students spelling lists to the needs of each student. If the student knows how to spell a few of the words already, then Mrs. Revilla makes sure that the students are doing homework and working with the words that they may not know how to spell yet. I also really liked how low-stress the spelling tests were because of the practice quizes. The students knew that the first two practices were not going to effect their grades at all, and I think this allowed the students to really try and take chances when it came to spelling the spelling words for that week. The teacher made a comment to us about how the school didn't have a consistent spelling or vocabulary plan. Mrs. Revilla thinks, and I agree, that the school needs to have a certain standard for words that each grade must master. She says that one of her problems is that the students have a wide range of spelling abilities, and that some of the students don't know how to spell very basic words that they should already know how to spell. This is one reason Mrs. Revilla individualizes each students spelling tests each week because she is trying to get them all up to grade level. The lesson that Chantel and I did was called spelling battleship. Below is the general lesson outline:

Spelling Lesson Plan – Spelling Battleship

· Write the word groups on the board & draw an example battleship board
· Word Group 1: Slogan, honest, Shadow, Eleven, and Radio
· Word Group 2: Minutes, Virus, Humor, Balance, and Basis

· Count off the students by 2’s

· Students with # 1 à use word group 1

· Students with # 2 à use word group 2

· Spelling Battleship Instructions:

o Each will get a game board piece and a folder
-> Use the folder as a divider between the students
o Put your word list into any of the spaces on the game piece (one in each square)
o Take turns guessing squares (B2, C4, etc…)
o If you guess a square that has a word in it, your opponent will tell you what the word is.
Spell the word correctly à get a point … Spell the word wrong à no points and end of turn
o Guess a square with a word and spell it right à get to guess again
o The person to spell the most words correctly wins!

· Handout game boards and folders

After we had explained the game, paired the students up, and passed out all of the materials, we walked around the room doing informal assessments on how well the students were doing. The students were extremely enthusiastic about the game, and every student in the class had played the boardgame Battleship at least once. The students played the game for about fifteen to twenty minutes, or until about all of the students had tried to spell all five of their words. Most students were able to spell between 2-4 words correctly, and most of them were spelling 3 or 4 out of their 5 words correctly. I thought this was a good place to be considering it was in the middle of the week, and the students were still learning the words. The informal assessment allowed me to note that all of the students were on the way to mastering their spelling words for that week. I would definitely use this spelling game in my future upper elementary classrooms because the students really enjoyed it, and they really wanted to spell the words correctly so they could beat their classmate!

Guided Reading Lesson

2008-11-20T20:48:00.001-08:00

Chantel and I did our guided reading lesson plan on November 12, 2008. The novel the class was reading is called The Wish Giver by Bill Brittain, and our guided reading lesson was on the epilogue of the book. We split the class into two groups: I led one of the groups in the guided reading lesson plan and Chantel led the other group. Before beginning reading, I led a discussion with my group about what an epilogue is and why it is important to the story; as well as review on what a prologue is. Also before beginning our reading, I led the group of students in a discussion about what all had happened up to that point. I told them to imagine that I had never read the book and collectively as a group the students told me all the important details up to the epilogue. Then I asked the students to share their predictions about what may happen next based on what we already know. I think this is a very important question when it comes to the understanding of a novel. If the students truly understand what they have read so far, they will be able to make an educated guess on what might happen next. I then instructed to the students to read half of the epilogue, on their own (silent reading), and to be looking for clues or details on what might happen next. I informed the students that after they finished reading the assigned pages that we would talk about what just happened, and what is going to happen next. When everyone was done reading the first half of the epilogue, almost all of the students were able to make fairly accurate predictions about how the book was going to end. I was able to feel out the different levels of comprehension from the students as each on shared what they thought was about to happen. Before we finished the book, I told the students to be looking for how the story ended for each character. Did all of the wishes get reversed? Do you think everyone will be satisfied with how the book ends? Then the last few pages of the book we read together in a circle; the students already had reading circles that they used a few times a week. All of the students in the group had a chance to share a few facts about what they remembered happened to a specific character in the book. I was able to get an informal assessment on how well the students comprehended what happened in the book, and also by the students sharing with what they thought about the whole idea of wishing. Our discussion then led into how they felt of the saying 'be careful what you wish for.' I asked the group if they ever met a gentlemen selling wishes at a fair would they buy one, and if so what would they wish? At the end of our group discussions, we asked the students to get out a piece of paper and to do the following: You meet Thadius (the Wish Giver) on a bus, and he leans over and whispers in your ear 'I can give you whatever you want for only 50 cents.' Write how your conversion would go from there. Would you take the wish, and what would it be? If you wouldn't take the wish, how would you get Thadius to leave you alone? Would you move seats, get off the bus, ask for help? The students had a lot of fun with this part of the lesson because they were able to write a short narrative about what they would say to the wish giver. In my own future classroom, I would probably do a longer lesson that consisted of a few activites to assess whether the students understood the chain of events, comprehended the material well, and understood the underlying meaning of the story. A possible assessment could be to give to give a group the written assignment to answer specific questions about the story's plot, characters, chain of events, themes, climax, and other literature concepts. Another thing that I would do differently in my future classroom would be to better choose the groups I put the students into. Because Chantel and I hadn't observed the children in too many group activities, except for their group reading circles, we were unaware of how some children may interact. In a classroom where I know my students well, and I am able to tell who works well with whom, who really helps the children that need the most peer help, which students distract certain others, and which students don't get along. Overall, the guided reading lesson went really well, and the students seemed to have a great understanding of the book The Wish Giver.

Upper Elementary Reading Lesson Plans, Activities, and Ideas for My Future Classroom

2008-11-07T10:21:00.000-08:00

I was having a hard time deciding what to write about for my next journal. So, I thought that I would search the web to try and find some great lesson plans, activities, and ideas for reading in the upper elementary level classrooms. I'm pretty sure that that is the grade level area that I would like to teach in, and I also want to have a large archive of different helpful resources by the time I graduate. This blog in particular has been a lot of help because I am able to put links into my blogs with descriptions, and so I am easily able to navigate through the sites I have already found. Below is a long list of lesson plans and activities by subject that involve literature:

Math:
The Reading Nook - This website has a list of mathematics related literature sorted by concept: fractions, addition/subtraction, multiplication/division, measurement, time, pattern, etc.

ERIC Digests - Literature-Based Mathematics in Elementary School. This article discusses the benefits of a mathemaical literature collection, ways to use mathematics literature in your lessons, the importance of the context, and resources.

Teaching and Learning Elementary Mathematics: Richmond University - This site includes many links for resources in teaching mathematics.

Reading:
Dr. Seuss - A list of links to lesson plans that involve works by Dr. Seuss.

Literature/Reading Activities and Lesson Plans - This website includes a variety of links to lesson plans based on specific books.

Harper Collins - Reading Groups guides on Harper Collins books.

Scholastic - Lesson plans, activities, games, reading groups, etc. for all the book published through Scholastic.

Science:
Terrific Science: Literature-Based Science - According to the site, 'With funding from the Ohio Board of Regents, we developed a professional development program for teachers that promoted the use of children’s literature as a springboard for teaching elementary and middle-school physical science.'

Homeschool Science: Teaching Elementary Science with Great Literature - This website discusses why to use literature to study science, if you don't have a strong background in science, and what books to use and where to find them.

How Do Apples Grow? - An integrated Science, Literature, and Art Sequencing Activity

Social Studies:

Children's Literature with Social Studies Themes - This website has links according to themes and grades.

Opening Doors to Social Studies with Children's Literature - The website was created by students at Utah State University in the Spring of 1997. It has links according to themes, titles, grade level, and author.

Wednesday, Nov. 5 at Glan Alpine

2008-11-07T09:49:00.000-08:00

On my second visit to Glen Alpine I think my teacher was a little bit more relaxed. She didn't seem quite as angry and didn't seem to speak with so much attitude in her voice. The students worked on the first paragraph to their stories today. The writing prompt is you're a leaf! The students are supposed to describe their journey as a leaf. Each day the students work on their stories a little bit. I really like the prompt idea as well as the writing schedule the students were on. The first day they brainstormed ideas, the next day they write their first paragraph, then over the next few days they write their body, and then finally their conclusion. For the most part, the students didn't seem to have a problem getting motivated or finding something to write about. One thing that I noted about the day was that the teacher made a good use of her time in the classroom. The students transitions were pretty smooth and quick, something I definitely hope to accomplish. The teacher met in the back of the classroom with students one-on-one while the other students did individual or group work. Another thing that I notcied and also want to incorporate into my classroom is the fact that the students were always doing something constructive. An idea that I thought sounded like fun is that the students are picking poems or stories to memorize and perform as a speech. I helped type up some of the poems and stories that the students had chosen. I definitely want to use this idea or something similar to it in my classroom. The poems and stories usually tended to be funny and were very entertaining. I really hope that I am there on the day of the performances because I can't wait to see the personal touches the students put on their speeches.

There is one activity in the fifth grade class that I would change somewhat. Every day the students either read their guided reading novel independently or in groups. After they read, they answer more questions on the story in their worksheet packet. I just feel like there isn't very much creativity in this guided reading lesson. The students read and answer the questions. There is no creative art project or further research project or anything creative that could add a little interest into the story. The worksheets in the packet definitely provide a hard copy for important parts in the story and help children remember and understand certain details. I just think that there should be something else; something that allows the students to make it relevant to themselves and their interests. I think that if I were to use this type of lesson in my future classrooms I would be sure to take it a step further and add in some creative activities besides the informative worksheets.

First Day at Glen Alpine

2008-11-04T05:53:00.000-08:00

I am at the school Glen Alpine in Burke county, and Chantell and I are in a fifth grade classroom. Both of us are a little unsure about out teacher. The whole first day we didn't really do anything, and we both kind of felt more like a burden than wanted. The teacher told us at the end of the day that next time we would do something, and we arranged all the dates and details for the lessons Chantell and I will be teaching. Our teacher seemed to have a bit of an attitude that she may not have realized was so strong. One of the first things we saw when we got into the classroom was the teacher as a male student a question about the part of the story the students had just read. The boy could answer the first half of the question, but not the second half. Basically, she called him out and made him look stupid in front of the rest of the class. When he told her he couldn't remember she could easily have said something along the lines of next time try paying closer attention to the important details when you read because this is important to the novel. Instead, the teacher rolled her eyes and said something along the lines of didn't you just read? Didn't you remember anything? God try really reading next time, and the went on to ask another student. The student had volunteered to answer the question, and you could tell that he was hurt by her reaction. I'm glad I really got to see this type of situation because I never, ever want to react that way to a student no matter what else has happened that day. I just don't think there is an excuse. The other thing Chantell and I both agreed on was the teacher's interactions with a new girl. Our first day in the class was also a little girls first day in the class as well. On a more positive note, I'm still excited about working with the students and being in the school all day. The teacher could have been having a very stressful day and our later visits may prove much more fruitful and exciting.

Incorporating Reading Books and Novels into All Classroom Subjects AND Interactive Websites

2008-10-23T06:44:00.000-07:00

I have always loved, and still love, reading, and I want to be able to incorporate them into all different types of subject areas. Books can be such a fun, motivating, and informative tools for all subjects. I want to be able to have a massive classroom library with all types of varieties and genres. I've already started collecting and I have around a hundred to one hundred and fifty books, mostly upper elementary chapter books. I'm constantly on the lookout for great nonfiction picture books, science books, biographical and autobiographical books, etc. The Busy Teacher's Website - Elementary has a variety of great lesson plan links and interactive website links, including science lessons. There is a link to the Cool Science for Curious Kids website which the Busy Teacher Website describes as"Excellent science site explores animal classification, air quality, metamorphosis, and other science topics in a graphical and easy to read format. Includes experiments. Designed by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute." The website combines reading and literature with a variety of scientific ideas. The CyberKids website has a reading room, puzzles and games, a launchpad, and a free online magazine. The Kids National Geographic website has a ton of great interactive links, and although it isn't geared toward reading and literature, it is full of exciting text for children to read and relate to real life. I also found a competition called ThinkQuest Junior that allows submission by grade of an educational website, which my future classes could create some type of reading/literature website. It could be interactive poems or stories, the possibilities for the website ideas are endless even when narrowed down to the reading genre. I just want to be able to provide a fun, fresh place to read and incorporate new ideas to get the children more excited about reading. I also searched the web for history related lesson plans that include a variety of literatures. Through that search I found a great lesson unit called Literature Circles for World Theme unit. The unit uses a wide variety of literature to meet the standards for social studies with learning about various cultures. You could follow the lesson exactly, or I would prefer to research all the countries I will be using and choose my own books, although that is a lot of work. However, I think doing it myself is better in the long run when it comes to teaching the subject matter. I'll know the subject inside and out having researched and read all the material instead of having just read an already prepared lesson plan with a select group of books. I also like the idea of personalizing it to the needs of my classroom.

Word Walls

2008-10-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

I think the general idea of a word wall is a great idea, especially for early elementary classrooms where there is a variety of levels of emergent literacy. In fact, the grade level doesn't really matter because a word wall can be adapted to any educaional level. Word walls also have the ability to be extremely creative and to allow the students to help create the word wall itself. As a class, you can decide what kind of theme you want the word wall to have. What color do you want the background, the border, the background of the words, and the words themselves. Word walls can be used to gain general vocabulary or can be applied to specific books or units. You can create a 'name' word wall at the beginning of the year for a number of great reasons such as simply learning everyone's name in the classroom, to choose the helper of the day, disciplinary measures, etc. I definitely want to have a word wall in my classroom, and a name wall as well. I really want to come up with some creative ideas for a word wall that goes along with an unit or a book. I think that a word wall would be extremely helpful for helping students learn words from particular periods of time, cultures, and specific jargon (i.e. scientific terms). I found a website that is made by a retired California teacher who taught for thirty-two years. She has all kinds of lesson plans and ideas on her website to help teachers. She has a great link to word wall ideas with weeklt word wall ideas and a main word wall and a secondary (smaller) word wall. The idea is to put the general vocabulary building words on the main word wall and have words dealing with a certain book or subject on the secondary word wall. Also, the Teacher's Network website has explicit directions for their version of a word wall. The website gives you step-by-step directions on how to create a word wall (including specific ideas), ideas for practicing the words on the word wall, teacher guided clues to help students find a specific word, and ways to be a 'mind reader.'

Emergent Literacy

2008-10-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

Emergent literacy is something that I was aware of before, but on a very vague level. Now, I feel like I have a real understanding of what emergent literacy is. Children's daily life has everything to do with the knowledge that they bring with them into the classroom. Some children may not see the importance of reading and writing because it is not a part of their life until then. Some children may have evident characteristics that someone reads to them: turning the pages from left to right, pointing at the words, pointing from left to right, telling the story from the pictures, etc. These emergent literacy characteristics are vital to the way the teacher should plan the lessons around the students. Clearly not every student is going to enter into school with the same level of emergent literacy. Therefore, your lesson plans will need to be individualized to the students needs and be flexible. One way to help students who have fewer emergent literacy skills is to pair them with students that have many more emergent literacy skills. Hopefully, the child with more skills will help the other child to pick up and understand certain concepts. On the other side, the student who is helping teach will benefit as well as his or her emergent literacy skills become more concrete. Another way to help students build their emergent literacy skills is to do daily interactive readings. Other ideas that could help are singing the alphabet song, asking comprehension questions during daily readings, creating your own ending to a story, creating some kind of rhyming game with what you're reading, simply talking about what a book is and all the parts to it, etc. The ProTeacher website has some great ideas for helping create emergent literacy skills, some of the ideas above came from this website.

SSR

2008-09-24T07:48:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy self-selected reading because just a small amount of freedom can lead to a large increase in interests. If the main goal is solely to get students to read, it shouldn't matter what reading level the book is or whether or not they had read it before. I had one teacher that wouldn't allow you to read the same book more than once, and my thought always was, "Well what if I don't like the other books?" If I didn't like the book I wouldn't read, I would pretend to read. I consider myself rather smart, but I'm very sneaky. If I don't want to do something, especially when I was grade school ages, you weren't going to get me to do. I may pretend to stay under your radar, but I will win and I will do what I want. The fact that I was so difficult and sneaky makes me kind of thankful that I am aware of that sort of behavior. Forcing me would get the teacher and I no where, I would just fake it. The Education World website has a great link to a list of 25 ways to motivate young readers. Ideas on this page include musical books, scavenger hunts, book-word search, books on tape, green light - go (peer recommended books), etc. Books with repeated lines and repetition are great for early readers, and there are plenty of interactive websites that glorify repetition. Giving children access to a lot of Caldecott books can help their interests. Usually there is a very clear artistic reason as to why the book won the award. There are so many fun types of media used in the books on the Caldecott list, and it may get your students more interested in art as well! Link to the Caldecott information and book lists. Another great website that I found that could be really useful is a page full of reading/language arts interactive websites.

Round Robin and Popcorn Reading

2008-09-14T05:33:00.000-07:00

I did the majority of my elementary schooling in Wilmington, North Carolina at Alderman Elementary School; I went there second through fifth grade. I clearly remember both the round robin and popcorn reading strategies from when I was in school. Round robin reading didn't really bother me much. I would read over what I had to read outloud one time, any more than once and I would make myself nervous, and then I would just listen to what people were reading. Usually, I had a hard time concentrating on what was being read, but I am a much a much more visual learner than oral learner. I would often find myself zoned out in my own head thinking about what had happened at lunch or that morning on the bus. As long as I read along with whom ever was reading than I didn't get distracted. However, when it comes to popcorn reading I dreaded it. I'm not shy, but I hate being called out. I like to know what I need to do ahead of time in order to properly prepare myself. I am very ADD and my mind wanders extremely easy. Popcorn reading was my worst enemy because I always seemed to be called on right after my mind had slipped off to the book I was reading or my favorite tv show. Then I had to scramble to find the place in the reading, and if I wasn't sitting near a friend I was out of luck and had to prepare for embarrassment. I don't think these activities had much effect on my fondness of reading, but I also have a huge imagination and love fantasy and the way you can get lost in a book's world. I can definitely see how multiple dramatic experiences with either round robin or popcorn reading can have negative effects on a child's desire to read. I also remember that my teachers would always make us to do the reading activities for so long. It felts like hours were going by, and you had to read multiple times which meant multiple screw up opportunities! I don't plan on using popcorn reading very often unless it is in a nonthreatening way and for pure assessment. There are better ways to get kids to want to read, not just force them to read.

Night

2008-05-02T15:36:00.000-07:00

A. Title: Night

B. Author: Elie Wiesel - 1986 Nobel Peace Prize Winner

C. Publisher: Bantam

D. Genre: Autobiographical, Historical

E. Reading Level: Grades 6+

F. Summary: The narrator, which is Elie Wiesel, is twelve years old when the book starts. The year is 1941, and Elie lives comfortably in the town of Sighet, Transylvania. A few people try to warn the town of Sighet of their impending doom, but no one really pays much attention. In 1944, German troops entered the town and began to set up ghettos for the Jewish people to live in. Soon after the Jews are forced to live in such horrible, cramped conditions, the Nazi's began to ship them off to concentration camps. The Jewish people of Sighet are forced to squish into cattle-cars on a train; eighty people to one cattle wagon. The conditions are beyond inhumane; there are no bathrooms and the people are given no food or water. On board Elie's cattle wagon there is a woman screaming about fires, furnaces, and people burning, but everyone is the car ignores the woman who seems to have gone insane. When the train ride is finally over, they have arrived at Auschwitz, and all they can smell is burning flesh. Right away Elie and his father are separated from the rest of the family, and they lie about their age in order to keep from being further separated. As Elie walks into the concentration camp he is bombarded by the sight of babies being thrown into a massive ditch on fire. Elie is forced to strip down and shower off, get his head shave, get new work clothes, and to get a number; his number is A-7713. Many of the people that were unable to work due to their physical condition were thrown into the crematory. Elie continuously is witness to many terrible events, especially hangings that were common among the prisoners. While at Auschwitz, Elie suffers a foot injury causing him to be sent to the hospital wing and to receive medical treatment. Soon after he begins to recover, the German's decide to move the prisoners due to the approaching troops. The people are forced to walk from one concentration camp to the other in the dead of winter; many do not survive this long, physically draining trip. Both Elie and his father survive the trek by helping each other through it step-by-step. The trek takes them to another train ride where Elie sees a young boy kill his father for his bread and is completely horrified. The new concentration camp he is at is called Buchenweld, and here he watches his father fall ill and eventually die. On April 11, 1945, American tanks roll into Buchenweld to free the remaining prisoners. Elie is transported to a hospital to recover; when he sees himself in the mirror, he swears a corpse is staring back at him.

G. Response: I love any literature that has to do with the holocaust. Night is incredibly vivid, scary, and shocking. I think it has an excellent mixture of story-telling abilities and real-life horror and shock. There is no sugar-coating the horrible things that happened to the Jewish people during World War II and this book doesn't even attempt to. The images are so shockingly real that this book leaves a lasting impression on every one that reads it. Just the thought of throwing babies into a burning ditch is horrific, but imagine if you're a teenager or a young child; how does one even begin to handle that type of emotional trauma. The most realistic and eye-opening part of the whole book is when the boy kills his father for his bread. The simple idea seems ridiculous, but in the situation those people were placed under how ridiculous was it? I'm sure that type of behavior was common due to the living conditions forced upon these people. Every day was a struggle to survive and Night does an amazing job at bringing that reality into the light it deserves. It's so easy to remember something terrible for a generation or two, but this book will leave a mark on every generation that reads it. I will be teaching in a grade that most likely will not be mature enough to handle this book, but regardless of what grade I teach, I think this book should be a requirement for all fifty states curriculum. Plain and simply, this book has the ability to make a difference in this world and those are rare to come across.

H. Teaching Ideas: Obviously, Night is the perfect candidate when it comes to teaching about World War II and/or the Holocaust. The Web English Teacher website has so many Night and Holocaust resources that you may not even need to find other ideas. There are website links that deal with background information regarding the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp from History.com's "This Day in History" site, a collection of links from the Nobel Archives. Be sure to scroll to the bottom, and an extensive list of links to online sources about several aspects of the Holocaust. Lesson plan links include an entire Holocaust unit project (includes assessment), a project where students create their own Holocaust website, and a poetry unit to remember the Holocaust through poetry. The Holocaust Teacher Resource Center online has a great lesson plan with a pre-reading activity, many discussion questions, additional information about Elie Wiesel, vocabulary, writing topics, and more. A general search in Google produced many great lesson plan ideas; Night is clearly a very classroom friendly novel and an amazing piece of literature on a dark time in human history.

Becoming Naomi Leon

2008-04-28T21:06:00.001-07:00

A. Title: Becoming Naomi Leon

B. Author: Pam Munoz Ryan

C. Publisher: Scholastic Press

D. Genre: Realistic Fiction Novel, Multicultural

E. Reading Level: Grades 4-8

G.. Summary: Naomi Leon is an average upper elementary age girl who is half Mexican and half American; the mother was American and the father Mexican. She has a younger brother, named Owen, that has some physical deformities but who is very intelligent. Both Naomi and Owen live with their great-grandmother, who they call Gram. The three of them live happily at Lemon Tree trailer park in their camper, Baby Baluga. Out of no where, Naomi and Owen's mother, Skyla, shows up; Naomi barely remembers her mother and Owen doesn't have any memories of her. She left the two of them with Gram years ago to "go find her own life." Skyla brings Naomi lots of gifts but falls shy when it comes to giving Owen gifts. Skyla has a boyfriend named Clive, who is a tattoo artist in training, and he has been giving Skyla all the money to buy her children presents. Skyla is a drunk and has been in and out rehab for most of her adult life, and after awhile it becomes clear that Skyla is back for her own purposes and not those of her children. First, Skyla promises to go to after school conferences with Naomi and Owen, but instead she leaves them at the school until after dark when Gram goes to pick them up. Naomi, who at first is thrilled that her mother is back, soon realizes that her mother only really wants her and doesn't really want Owen. It even becomes clear that Naomi is only important to her mother because she can get money from the state for having her and so that she can babysit Clive's daughter. One day while Gram is sewing at the neighbors (who are also very close friends of theirs), Skyla takes Owen and Naomi to Owen's doctor visit. The whole time Naomi and Skyla are waiting for Owen, Skyla keeps sneaking off to the bathroom to drink. By the time Owen is through, Skyla is drunk and yells at the doctors for telling her there is nothing they can do for his physical appearance until he grows up a little more. When the three arrive home, Clive calls and tells Skyla they're reading to move away to Las Vegas. Skyla orders Naomi to pack her things and come, but she refuses. Naomi instinctively protects Owen by making sure that she is in between Skyla and him at all times. Skyla hits Naomi for not obeying her and even threatens to hurt Gram if she doesn't listen. Naomi tricks her mother and gets her to go into the other room while Naomi and Owen run through the avocado fields to where Gram and their neighbors are sewing. They protect the children and get her to leave, but Skyla swears that her and Clive will be back the next day to pick her up. Immediately, Gram goes to the court house to get temporary custody of the children in writing, and then before Owen and Naomi know it, they're driving down to Mexico for a little vacation! In Oaxaca, Mexico, there is an annual soap carving festival that a Leon has been entering for the past one hundred years, every year. Not only are they in Mexico to escape Skyla until the custody trial, but they are also there to try and find Naomi and Owen's father, Santiago. While in Mexico, Naomi realizes where she has come from and finally begins to find out who she is as a person. In the end, they find Santiago, who is beyond happy to be reunited with his children, and establish contact for future visits. Santiago can't drop his life and just move to the US, but now at least Naomi and Owen have an established, healthy relationship with their biological father. When it came time for the trial, the judge almost granted full custody to Skyla until she realized that Skyla only wanted Naomi and not Owen. Naomi got on the stand and found enough courage to speak out against her mother and tell the judge everything that had happened. As soon as the judge realized that Skyla had to intent on taking or raising Owen, she awarded Gram custody. By the end of the book, Naomi was back in the same place she started, but with a whole new outlook on life and herself!

H. Response: I have to start off by telling everyone how much I love this book. It is my absolute favorite book that I have read in a long time. Pam Munoz Ryan does an amazing job of capturing the innocence of children forced into adult-like situations. The author does such an amazing job that I showed real emotion while reading this book. I was on an airplane flying to Pennsylvania when I read the book, and I started to cry while I was reading the confrontation of Skyla and her children. I've known people like Skyla, so right from the beginning I had little sympathy with her. I think Skyla's character is a relatively dead-on, stereo-typical deadbeat mother, which makes the book that much easier to relate to for children. When I first set out to read this book, I had a slight prejudice because it just didn't seem like it would be that entertaining, but I stand completely corrected. The story itself was amazing and heartwarming, but from the first page to the last page I was glued to the book; I just felt like I was looking out through Naomi's eyes. Becoming Naomi Leon will absolutely be a book in my classroom, but I will also do everything I can to try and find a curriculum reason for the whole class to read it. This book has the opportunity to bring hope and love to so many children whose lives are in shambles or are experiencing the same things as Owen and Naomi. This type of literature can help children get through really difficult times; imagine how this book could help a quiet student, who never reaches out for help, going through this type of situation (just like Naomi).

I. Teaching Ideas: The first lesson plan that I found online for Becoming Naomi Leon was on Scholastic's website; the lesson even has a printable worksheet. The worksheet included with this lesson plan helps to match the same words in Spanish and English. The lesson plan itself starts off with general discussion questions such as why do you think the author chose to let Naomi tell the story instead of some other character or an outside person?; why did Naomi think that Mr. Marble was the best person at Buena Vista Elementary School?; Naomi thinks it is good and bad that Skyla came back into their lives. What did she mean by this?; and Naomi took Blanca to see Mr. Marble and then to the library to eat lunch. Naomi thought of it as a place where all the leftover kids came. Blanca thought it was some sort of club. What does Naomi mean by being a leftover kid?. The majority of the lesson is for the students to learn about Mexican culture and its language. Other lesson ideas include exploring Naomi's soap carving hobby, general character discussions, list creating, and creating an alter-ending. Another fun, creative, and interactive lesson plan would be to do a soap carving project. Off the top of my head, students could create a soap carving that they thought best captured the book, or maybe even a soap scene with multiple soap carvings.

Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells!

2008-04-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

A. Title: Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells (P.S. So Does May.)

B. Author: Barbara Park

C. Illustrator: Denise Brunkus

D. Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers

E. Genre: Realistic Fiction, Novel

F. Reading Level: 1-3

G. Summary: It's time for the holidays, and Junie B. Jones is short by a buck for Secret Santa shopping and stressing. May has a few extra dollars, but the money is for her emergencies and no one elses. Junie tries to convince May for the dollar, but she just ended up telling May how they weren't friends and how she didn't even like her. May and Junie B. Jones did not get along. Each student gets a sack to decorate for their secret santa sack; their secret santa would put their gift in their sack during lunch the next day. When it came time to draw for secret santa, guess who Junie B. Jones got? May, she had to buy May a present! Junie B. plans to give May what she deserves in her secret santa sack. Junie B.'s teacher, Mr. Scary, tries convincing her that if she gives May a good gift that it will make her feel really good inside. In the end, Junie B. decides not to give May exactly what she deserves as her secret santa gift. Instead, Junie B. decides to give a real gift instead of teaching May a lesson.

H. Response: I had never before read a Junie B. Jones book before, but I had heard many good things about them. I constantly saw how well they were doing on book lists, and that was part of the reason I decided to read them; I had also seen many elementary school girls reading the Junie B. Jones series during tutoring sessions. Once I picked the book up I couldn't stop reading it because I absolutely love Junie B. Jones; the character's innocense and personality just worked so well for me. She made me laugh with some of her thought process too; for example, when May told Junie that her father said she shouldn't let friends borrow money, Junie told May that that was more than ok because she wasn't May's friend and she wasn't going to pay her back. After May got mad and told her she couldn't have any money, Junie B. couldn't figure out why her best argument skills hadn't worked. The other kids in the class had to explain to Junie B. the few reasons why May would have acted that way. Since reading this book, I definitely plan on purchasing the Junie B., First Grader series, plus the other Junie B. Jones books, for my future classroom library.

I. Teaching Ideas: For all of the Junie B. Jones Series there are many online resources for classroom application. On the Random House's website, there are great Junie B. Jones links including brief information on each Junie B. book in the series, a letter from Junie B. Jones, biographical information on Barbara Parks, activites, and future reading suggestions. Some of the activities included are a Junie B. quiz, coloring with Junie B., word search, picture search, Tic Tac Toad, Junie B. mask, and the list goes on. The website Teachers at Random has a lesson plan specifically for Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells (PS So Does May). Before reading the story, the lesson plan suggest discussing with the class the concept of secret santa. After the class reads the story, this website offers excellent discussion questions that are to help students fully understand what they've read: Why do May and Junie B. have such a hard time getting along?, Do you think they'll ever become friends? Are they both to blame? Why or why not?, Why isn't Junie B. excited to be a secret santa?, Mr. Scary tells Junie B. "If you do something nice for May, you'll feel so proud inside. It will feel like a gift that you've given yourself." What does this mean and do you agree?, In the end, why does Junie B. change her mind? This website also has three links to Junie B. worksheets; one of which is a secret santa shopping list and you have $10 to spend. The Junie B. Jones series just seem like alot of fun and something that will be enjoyable to the students for classroom application. There are also holiday and moral lessons that can be applied to the classroom.

Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (Poems)

2008-04-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

A. Title: Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (Poems)

B. Author: Linda Sue Park

C. Illustrator: Istvan Banyai

D. Publisher: Clarion Books a Houghton Mifflin Company Imprint

E. Genre: Children's Poetry; Sijo Poems

F. Reading Level: 2+

G. Summary: The beginning of Tap Dancing on the Roof has an explanation on Sijo poetry. "All the poems in this book are sijo. Sijo is a traditional Korean form of poetry. Like a Japanese haiku, a sijo is written using a syllabic structure. In its most common form, a sijo in English has three lines, each with fourteen to sixteen syllables. Because the lines can be quite long on the page, sijo in English are sometimes divided into six shorter lines..." The sijo poems that are in this book are both three lines and six lines. The poems are all different with varying topics, and the end of sijo poems usually has a suprise, special twist, or joke. Some poem titles include "Long Division," "Brushing, "Ocean Emotion," "Echo," November Thursday," and "Botany Lesson." The illustrations are drawings done in ink with mostly black, but other colors are present throughout the illustrations. Most of the illustrations are single page spreads, but for a few poems, like "October" below, they're double page spreads.

H. Response: I absolutely love this book because I have never even heard of a Sijo Poem before. In school I was taught all about haiku poetry, but I never learned about the Korean form of poetry. The children's poetry in Tap Dancing on the Roof falls into the category of form poems; the haiku poem also falls into this category. The book itself is extremely helpful in understanding what a Sijo is. The beginning has an excellent page devoted to explaining the Sijo, while the end of the book has an author's note, historical background information, furhter reading suggestions, and tips for writing your own Sijo. This book is basically screaming classroom application because everything you need for a lesson plan is in this book. The illustrations in this book are very interesting and vary greatly between poems. Some illustrations have colored ink and others just have black. My favorite illustration goes along with the poem below, "October." It has a two page spread with the branches, leaves and everyone's hair billowing in the wind, all done in a grey color scheme.

I. Teaching Ideas: Straight off the top of my head, this would be an excellent book for a writing poetry lesson plan. Not only is the book full of fun and interesting examples of Sijo poetry, but there is also a very clear explanation of the sijo poem and tips for writing your own. Tap Dancing on the Roof can be read as a class and then the students can experiment writing their own sijo poems. The whole class could write and illustrate their poems and compile a book and each student could have a copy. There could be a unit that combines sijo and haiku poetry that could involve historical information, reading examples of the poetry, and creating their own.

J. Favorite Poem:
"October"

The wind rearranges the leaves,
as if to say, "Much better there,"
and coaxes others off their trees:
"It's lots more fun in the air."

Then it plays tag with a plastic bag,
and with on gust uncombs my hair!

I love this poem because it is so playful. My favorite thing about it is how the wind takes on personality and characteristics. There are many fun poems in here that would be great for in class exercises.

It's Snowing! It's Snowing!

2008-04-20T18:38:00.000-07:00

A. Title: It's Snowing! It's Snowing! Winter Poems

B. Author: Jack Prelutsky

C. Illustrator: Yossi Abolafia

D. Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc. & An I Can Read Book

E. Genre: Poetry

F. Reading Level: 2-3

G. Summary: This is a wonderful book of winter and snow poems! A cute short poem in It's Snowing! is called "Stuck in the Snow: Stuck in the snow, - dad's pickup truck. 'Sorry, dad, - that's your bad luck.' - 'Shovel it out!' - he smiled and said. - I guess it's my bad luck instead." The book progresses from the last leaf falling and bird leaving to end autumn through to when the snowman is almost completely melted away as spring is on its way. There are short winter days, snowball fights, and ice skating trips. Some of the poem titles include "It's Snowing! It's Snowing!," "One Last Little Leaf," "Winter Signs," "I am Freezing!," "When Snowflakes are Fluttering," and "The Snowman's Lament." Each poem has illustrations to go along with it that are detailed and a lot of fun. The illustration spreads vary depending on the size of the poem and the poem itself. The illustration sizes are full single page, half page, and one fourth page. The medium appears to be watercolor paints, and they are bright, friendly, fun, and great for younger children's literature.

H. Response: I really enjoyed Jack Prelutsky's poems. They have a perfect combination of an essence of childhood and being a kid mixed with all the feelings that come along with the winter season. The book is an easy read, and I had fun reading the whole thing; each poem was a small story inside the whole story of all the poems. The poems in It's Snowing! fall into the lyric or expressive category because the tell about the different characteristics of winter. Some of the poems were about enjoying the winter perks like snow and snowmen, but some of the poems were about freezing or the strong winds; both of the views on winter made a the poems all together feel like they really captured winter. The illustrations are bright and cherie with the cover being my favorite illustration in the whole book. I love the way the snowflakes looking falling down on the little boy's face with the warm yellow background.

I. Teaching Ideas: It's Snowing! would be such an excellent poetry book for classroom application, especially if you were wanting to incorporate seasonal changes: the end of autumn, winter, and into the the start of spring. In the student activities section of Scholastic's website, there is a great exercise where students can learn about Jack Prelutsky's poetry techniques, get help brainstorming for their own poem, steps to help write the poem, and then the students publish them online. The TeachersCorner.net has a lot of great resources for winter activites and lesson plans, thematic units on Jack Prelutsky, and ice and snow units.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Sone

2008-04-18T16:13:00.000-07:00

A. Title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

B. Author: J.K. Rowling

C. Pulisher: Scholastic Press

D. Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction

E. Reading Level: Grades 3+

F. Characters:
Harry Potter is a twelve year old boy attending school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He is an orphan due to the unfortunate death of his parents by Lord Voldemort when he was just a baby; the result of the event left Harry with a scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightening bolt. He has a wild mop of brown hair and glasses. In the wizarding world, Harry is a bit of a celebrity because he is the boy who lived and forced Voldemort from power all because his killing curse backfired onto himself, though Lord Voldemort didn't exactly die.

Ron Weasley is Harry's best friend. The two meet on the Hogwart's Express, the train that takes all the students to Hogwarts for the school year. Ron is also in Gryffindor with Harry, and he is tall, skinny, pale, full of freckles, and one of many children. The Weasley clan of children include Bill, Charlie, Percy, the twins Fred and George, Ron, and the only girl Ginny; the parents are Arthur and Molly. One giant wizard family of flaming redheads!

Hermione Granger becomes friends with both Ron and Harry after a dangerous run in with a mountain troll that was let loose in the Hogwart's castle. She is very into school and grades; she has brown, thick, wavy hair and a cat named Crookshanks. The two didn't previously get alone with Hermione because she was a bit bossy and ended up saying some mean things to make Hermione upset. She was crying in the girls bathroom and was unaware of the troll, which happened to be in the same bathroom as her, and Ron and Harry came to her rescue. The three just barely managed to beat the troll and ultimately save the day. The three have been friends ever since.

Albus Dumbledore is the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He has long, thin, wispy, silver hair and a long, silver beard. He wears half-moon glasses and has a certain connection with Harry that he doesn't have with other students. He is an amazing wizard and the only one that Lord Voldemort is scared of. Harry loves Dumbledore and really looks up to him.

Lord Voldemort is the evil that is present in this novel. He uses dark magic to control and kill people to make them do what they want. His original plan was to take over the wizarding world, but Harry and his mother destroyed his plan when he was at his strongest. In this book, he is not even human, but part of what remains, a wispy, ghost like creature. He overtakes Professor Quirrel and uses him for his body. Ultimately, Voldemort and Professor Quirrel are beaten by Harry at the end of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and the wispy, ghost like Voldemort escape out into the woods once again.

Professor Quirrel is the unfortunate professor that was overtaken by Lord Voldemort. He wore a turban on his head to cover the face of Voldemort and was always very nervous and twitchy. Everyone thought his days out in the field working against the dark arts made him go a little crazy. He is the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts, but that clearly didn't help him against the dark lord's power. Most of the book, Harry didn't even suspect professor Quirrel but rather Snape instead.

The Dursleys are Harry's aunt, uncle, and cousin. Aunt Petunia is Harry's mother's sister, her husband Vernon, and their son Dudley. Petunia is skinny, frail looking, pursed lips, dark hair, and a clean freak. Vernon is a large, porky man with bulging eyes and a red face. Dudley is a spoiled rotten, extremely overweight bully. Harry has been living with them since his parents died when he was a baby until the day he goes to Hogwarts, and now he lives there during the summer when Hogwarts is out of school.

Hagrid is the grounds and gamekeeper of Hogwarts. He is a half man, half giant who is very tall in height and large in size with big bushy, brown hair and beard. He has a massive dog named Fang. Hagrid is the one that came to hand deliver Harry's acceptance letter to Hogwarts and officially escort Harry to the train station to ensure he got to school. Hagrid becomes best friends with Harry, Ron, and Hermione over the school year.

Draco Malfoy is Harry Potter's rival and enemy from Slytherin. He is pasty and pale with almost white blond hair. Draco is constantly looking for a reason to pick on or both Harry, Hermione, and Ron.

G. Summary: Harry Potter is ten going on eleven living with the Dursleys: his aunt, uncle, and cousin. He has a scar in the shape of a lightening bolt on his forehead, an out of control mop of brown hair, and glasses. All of his life they have treated horribly and like an outcast. Harry's room was the closet under the stairs with spiders, and he wore his fat cousin Dudley's hand-me-down clothes that were far too big. They constantly belittled Harry and said nasty things about his parents. A few days before his eleventh birthday, owls started to hangout around the Dursley's and letters began to arrive for him. Uncle Vernon didn't want Harry to read the letters so he did everything possible to keep them away from them; he nailed the mail slot shut, took his family to a hotel, they even went so far as rowing out into the middle of the sea and hiding out in a lighthouse surrounded by the violent ocean. A half giant, half man named Hagrid came to visit them and hand deliver Harry's letter, which happened to be his eleventh birthday. Hagrid told Harry all about how he was a special boy, that he was a wizard. Hagrid also reveals to Harry the truth about his parents death, that they were killed by Lord Voldemort, an evil wizard from the past. The Dursleys protested, Hagrid gave Dudley a tail, and Hagrid and Harry left together to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. On the way to Hogwarts, Hagrid and Harry stop at Diagon Alley, the wizarding world's shopping strip, to purchase everything Harry needs for the upcoming school year: robes, a wand, an owl, books, etc. Hagrid explains to Harry why everyone around him seems to know his name, because he's the boy who lived, the boy who beat Lord Voldemort. At Hogwarts, Harry finally found a place where he felt like he belonged, home. When the students first arrive, they are assorted into four houses where they live: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. His best friends are Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger; Ron is a tall, skinny, red haired, and freckled kid in a large family, and Hermione Granger is a brainy, school loving, skinny, brown haired, bossy kind of girl. Harry finds out how great he is at seeker and joins the Gryffindor Quidditch team; the premier sport of the wizarding world that involves flying on brooms, a golden snitch that flies, hurtling bludgers, and three goals on each side to score in. A natural rivalry at the school is between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and Harry's rival is Draco Malfoy, a proud Slytherin. Harry and his potions teacher, Professor Snape, immediately find that they do not like one another, and Harry become suspicious of his loyalty to the good side of the wizarding world. Following Snape, Harry, Ron, and Hermione find a room with a large three-headed dog protecting a trap door. Curiousity and the need to save the day led the three to go on the adventure down the trap door by lulling the three-headed dog to sleep; through devil's snare with sunlight; flying through a mass of swarming, flying keys to find the one and only key to open the door that stood in their way; and an intense game of real wizard's chess, where the pieces move and actually fight one another. Injured from the game of chess Ron and Hermione stay behind while Harry goes to face evil. He finds Professor Quirrel a room with the Mirror of Erised, and Harry soon realizes that Lord Voldemort is part of Professor Quirrel. The professor removes the turban on his head to reveal Lord Voldemort's face. The two are trying to get their hands on the Sorcerer's Stone to restore Lord Voldemort's health. Only a person who would use the stone for good and not evil would be able to receive the stone, and soon Harry realized it is in his pocket. Harry and Professor Quirrel struggle and fight for the stone, but as soon as Harry touches Professor Quirrel's skin he begins to burn in agony; because Lord Voldemort is part of him, and Harry's mother sacrificed herself to save her son, Harry is protected by the spell cast by his mother's love, something Lord Voldemort has no defenses against. Waking up in the hospital wing of the school, Harry is greeted like a hero for foiling Lord Voldemort's plan to return and everything is explained to him by Dumbledore, Hogwart's Headmaster and Harry's role model.

H. Response: I absolutely love the Harry Potter book collection. I have them all, and I have read them all. I often find myself rereading the series over and over again. I can't wait to be able to share this amazing series and world with my children and my future students! Trying to fathom how J.K. Rowling created this fantasy just blows my mind. I want to be a children's literature author some day, and I can only dream of having the imagination and natural writing skills that she has. When you read the Harry Potter series, you are completely submerged in a different world. She weaves in the perfect amount of real world things to make the reader wish that much more that Hogwarts could be a real place. I still read the books and secretly hope and wish that maybe J.K. Rowling got it wrong, maybe the school doesn't start until after high school, or maybe after college. Basically, I want to live in her make-believe world. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, along with the other books in the series, has many opportunities for teaching connections and lesson plans. There are many themes that run throughout this novel that would be very appropriate for classroom application.

I. Teaching Ideas: Some of the themes that run through Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone are good and evil, love, friendship, bullying, bravery, fear and success, and decision making. The Teacher's Resource File on J.K. Rowling has eight website links to biographical information, ten criticism links, and ten lesson plan ideas for varying Harry Potter books in the series. One lesson plan link has coloring pages/worksheets for the students to incorporate their lives into the Harry Potter world. The worksheets include mazes, both simple and more complex, designing a new crest for Gryffindor, a remembral ball to write everything in about the book that you don't want to forget, and a Bernie Bott's Beans container that allows the students to create their own flavors. At TeAchnology's website is a great resource with twenty-one lesson plan ideas for the Harry Potter series. Lesson plan ideas include a day in the life of Harry Potter, creating a Hogwarts floor map, creative writing exercises, two entire unit lesson plans on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, creating Harry Potter character posters, learning settings with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, make a Harry Potter board game, and the list goes on. With these amount of resources from only two online teacher resource pages gives a pretty good impression about the actual number of classroom application ideas that are available out there. The Web English Teacher website a lesson plan suggestion for every book in the series, discussion topics for each book, an idea for a Harry Potter game show, crafting a Harry Potter Haiku, Harry Potter math stories, and also multiple great resources for each book in the series. With how much children and adults both already love Harry Potter, and that includes me, why would you not use that interest that is present? If you can apply classroom skills and objectives needing to be covered according to the NC Standard Curriculum, or any other state curriculum for that matter, to Harry Potter then the outcome and learning experience is most likely going to be positive. I don't know many children that wouldn't be ecstatic to create a Harry Potter board game or movie posters. If reading the novel together in class, the students could pick their favorite character and keep a first person journal throughout the reading of the novel. The students can decorate the journal cover to show personality about their character, and pretend that they are the character with every journal entry. The possibilities are really almost endless for the classroom connections with Harry Potter novels that to not use them seems like a crime to fun and interactive education.

J. The Mirror of Erised - The Mirror Erised is hidden in the castle away from people. The mirror has the ability to allow whomever looks in it the pleasure of seeing what their heart most desires. For Harry, the Mirror of Erised shows him his dead mother and father because what Harry wants the most is to belong to a loving family instead of the cruel and often thoughtless family of the Dursleys. Dumbledore comes to Harry's side in an attempt to comfort him because Harry had become slightly obsessed with the image in the mirror. Harry spent more time than he should have longingly looking into the mirror of what could be. He needed Dumbledore to bring him back to reality, even if that is a sad reality. Voldemort tries to use the mirror to get the Sorcerer's Stone and cannot understand why the Mirror of Erised is not showing/giving him what he wants. The Mirror Erised is an object that has the potential to be dangerous; its purpose is to show the looker what their heart most desires, but often the onlookers find it hard to look away. The mirror causes them to wish and will the conveyed image to be real; Maybe the onlooker is looking at something in their past, something that never happened, or something that they wish might not have happened. Whatever you see in the mirror is a false image though, almost a false premise of hope because what is in the mirror normally cannot come true. If I was to look into the Mirror of Erised, I think it would show me a childhood where I got to stay put in Wilmington, NC and not have to move around. When I was growing up that is all I wanted, even though now I realize the amount moving enabled me to grow as a person. I don't think that I would be who I am today if I hadn't moved around so much growing up.

Rosa

2008-04-07T16:04:00.000-07:00

A. Title: Rosa

B. Author: Nikki Giovanni

C. Illustrator: Bryon Collier

D. Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Inc.

E. Genre: Biographical Picture Book

F. Reading Level: 4-6

G. Awards: Coretta Scott King Book Award

H. Summary: Rosa is the story of Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa Parks is the African-American woman who refused to give up her seat on a public bus. This picture book takes you through Rosa Parks' day to show her side of the story. She didn't get onto the bus intending to cause a huge scene and be remembered throughout history. Rather, Rosa was tired and just didn't want to have to get up to give someone else the seat just because he was white, or just because she was black. The March on Washington, NAACP, and Martain Luther King's speech were amoung the Civil Rights events that were also discussed in Rosa. About a year after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, the Supreme Court ruled it illegal to segregate on a bus.

I. Response: I really enjoy any picture book that has a lot of historical and educational value. I am a huge history geek, and I think in the classroom is the perfect place to share that passion. We can learn so much from what we have already accomplished or failed to accomplish. This book about Rosa Parks' life really would be a great addition for any elementary classroom library. I really liked the combined use of collages and watercolors to illustrate the different feelings and emotions going on during the heated times. The collages had a neat touch with what looked like small, torn pieces of paper that were used to create some of the illustrations. I also loved the details of the faces and the way the light and shadows fell on them; they are truly gorgeous.

J. Teaching Ideas: The number of resources to go along with Rosa are amazing. I can come up with numerous history lesson plans involving Civil Rights, African American History, empathy, etc. A simple search on Google pulled up so many ideas from credible sources. Scholastic's website has a great resource that has an activity sheet to go along with it. The activity sheet has a list of events that happen during the book Rosa and the students are supposed to fill in the order the events took place in. The lesson plan aims to reinforce the comprehension and understanding of the story and the Civil Rights Movement. Some recommended discussion questions include discuss the jobs Mr. & Mrs. Parks had and were they wealthy, segregation, the typical bus rides for African Americans, what helped Rosa to be so brave and remain in her seat, the term boycott, why does MLK Jr. take the bus boycott to a national level, etc.

Informational Texts

2008-04-07T15:16:00.000-07:00

Not many books come into my mind when I think about informational text picture books. I know that some stories I read before that were informational were really cute and creative, but I think the classification of informational text almost labels it scary or boring. I'm a big history geek and I love to learn things about nature, animals, and the environment, so I think that informational picture books would absolutely interest me. I think children that read informational text are great and responding to the wonderful illustrations and the new information that they're discovering. I think at the age for picture books, most any of them can have positive learning experiences pulled from them.

Saint Patrick

2008-04-07T15:13:00.000-07:00

A. Title: Saint Patrick

B. Author: Ann Tompert

C. Illustrator: Michael Garland

D. Pushlisher: Boyds Mills Press

E. Genre: Biography Picture Book

F. Reading Level: 3-4

G. Summary: Saint Patrick starts off with a forward, which is a prayer by Saint Patrick. A long time ago a boy was born near the Irish sea named Succat, but he would later be known as Patrick. Patrick's father was a well-off man who was also a deacon in the church, but Patrick wasn't a religious child. Patrick also grew up very comfortable with educated parents, but he wasn't very into his studies and so he was kind of bad at school. When he was sixteen, Irish pirates attacked their village and looted and killed. He was captured and sold into slavery. He was sold to a chieftain in Northwast Ireland, and there he took care of his master's cattle and sheep; his master never treated him poorly. While out in the fields, Patrick had alot of time to think, and he thought about he never really payed attention to the teachings of the church; so Patrick decided to fast and pray. At night he heard a voice telling him he would go to his own country and that his boat was waiting for him. Patrick set off toward the Irish sea some two hundred miles away. Along the way Patrick suffered many hardships but he never lost his drive or his hope. He made it to the port and asked the departing ship to go and they said no. Patrick prayed as he walked away and the captain changed his mind. The boat landed and then men wandered for a month in the woods, starving. The men on the ship were pagons and asked Patrick for help; he told them to pray to his god for food, and then the pigs arrived. Patrick made it back home, and he realized that he needed to live his life for God and to teach the Irish heathens. Next, Patrick sailed to France, spent several years preparing for a mission, studied to become a deacon, and later was ordained a priest. Eventually, Patrick was made a bishop, and he and his followers set out on his mission to convert/save many barbaric Irish peoples. The illustrations in this book are done in mixed media.

H. Response: The thing that I love most about Saint Patrick is that the illustrations are so colorful that you just can't take your eyes off of them. They're clearly done in mixed media with what appears to be digetal imagery, collages, different styles and types of papers and materials, etc. Each illustration is full of different types of media, and they all create these bright, eye-poping, vivid images. They're very cool, and I definitely suggest checking them out. The story itself was really interesting to read because I am Irish and Catholic and sadly, I didn't really know the story of Saint Patrick. The story has a lot to do with god and religious topics, but it also had other themes including beating the odds, and never giving up. This isn't my favorite children's picture book, but it definitely had some really great aspects to it.

I. Teaching Ideas: This book doesn't have as many classroom teaching opportunities as many of the others that I've read. One idea would be when discussing or teaching about other countries or religions using this book as a way to start the lesson. Saint Patrick could be used to introduce a unit on Christianity or Irish history.

J. Bio Poem:

Saint

Devout, Compassionate, Trusting, and Brave

Friend of sailor Pagans

Lover of God, faith, and Praying

Who feels scared, nervous, and under prepared

Who finds happiness in spreading the word of God

Who needs God to guide him and protect him

Who gives the knowledge of Christianity to those in need

Who fears the barbaric lands of Ireland, failing, and being killed

Who would like to see the Pagans enlightened to Christianity

Who enjoys fasting

Who like to wear a simple, brown robe when I preach Christianity

Resident of Southwest Britain near the Irish Sea

Patrick

The Magic School Bus: Inside the Earth

2008-04-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

A. Title: The Magic School Bus: Inside the Earth

B. Author: Joanna Cole

C. Illustrator: Bruce Degen

D. Publisher: Scholastic

E. Genre: Informational Picture Book

F. Reading Level: 3-4

G. Summary: The Magic School Bus: Inside the Earth is about Ms. Frizzle's class adventure to collect rocks and go to the center of the Earth. The class and the magic school bus go out to a field and start digging. Ms. Frizzle teaches them about the different layers: soil, sandstorm, shale, limestone, marble, granite. On their adventure to the Earth's core, the students learn about fossils, stalagmites and stalactites, crust, melted rock, mantle (solid rock), outer core (melted metal), inner core (solid metal), and volcanoes. The rock collection at the end includes limestone, marble, shale, granite, slate, sandstone, basalt, obsidian, pumice, and quartzite. The illustrations in this book take up the entire page with the text worked in, and the page spread has both single and double page spreads. The illustrations are line drawings with watercolor and a cartoon format.

H. Response: I loved watching The Magic School Bus growing up, and I always thought the cool adventures they went on looked like so much fun. I think it is a perfect example of a tv show that got me excited about learning. This particular The Magic School Bus book made learning about rocks, fossils, and the Earth's makeup in a fun and interesting way. I love the illustrations and text in this book. There is the story text, but then there are also dialouge bubbles with text so you can read what everyone is saying to one another while they're digging down to the Earth's core. The illustrations have great color and detail; I especially like the way the black ink outlines everything. Ms. Frizzle's dresses really add to the fun and goofiness of the book and do a good job at keeping interest.

I. Teaching Ideas: Right away it is clear that The Magic School Bus: Inside the Earth can be used to introduce or teach a lesson or unit on what the Earth is made of, rocks, fossils, etc. One lesson plan that I found for it actually had multiple objectives: mastering/improving computer basics and science concepts. The lesson plan involved an online internet website hunt and learning more facts about what was covered in the book. There are many other possible lesson plans possibilities such as bringing examples of the different types of rocks (ex. limestone, granite, marble, etc.), creating a type of Grand Canyon type of diagram, and the list goes on.

Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China

2008-04-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

A. Title: Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China

B. Author: Ai-Ling Louie

C. Illustrator: Ed Young

D. Publisher: Philomel Books, a division of The Putnam
Publishing Group

E. Genre: Folktale/Fairytale

F. Reading Level: 2-3

G. Summary: Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China has the same illustrator as the author/illustrator of Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China. The illustrations in Yeh-Shen are done in the same style and media as Lon Po Po: oil pastels and water color with a panel layout. In Yeh-Shen, a long time ago, a cave chief had two wives, which was the custom, and each produced a daughter. Unfortunately the chief and one of the wives died leaving the lone wife to raise both daughters. The stepmother was a very angry, bitter woman because her daughter was not very beautiful, especially in comparison her step-daughter Yeh-Shen. Yeh-Shen was forced to do all of the hard labor chores and had no friends. One day Yeh-Shen caught a small fish to keep in her pond, and every day she would save some of whatever small ration of food her stepmother would give her to give to her fish. The fish grew massive in size, and when the stepmother found out that Yeh-Shen had a secret friend she became furious, caught the fish, killed it, and cooked it for dinner. Yeh-Shen was so devistated when she found her only friend missing that she cried over the pond. Suddenly a old man appeared and told her not to cry; the old man told Yeh-Shen that her fish was a magic fish, and to ask the fish bones for favors but to be very careful with them. Everyday Yeh-Shen would ask the fish bones for enough food to live on, until one day she asked the fish for a gown suitable enough to go to the village feast. This feast is where all of the men and women come together to try and find someone to marry, and Yeh-Shen desperately wanted to go. The fish gave her a gorgeous dress, headdress, and slippers and told her to be very careful with the slippers. Yeh-Shen went to the feast and everyone talked about her beauty; then just before anyone realized who she was she ran away, losing a slipper in the process. When she got home, the fish no longer talked to her and she was once again wearing rags. The slipper ended up in the hands of a prince who was determined to find the owner of the tiny, fragile slipper. Once he found Yeh-Shen he knew that he had found his one true love.

H. Response: Right away I could tell the illustrations in Yeh-Shen were done by an illustrator I had seen before, and that the illustrations were done in the same kind of layout/spread, panel layout. The story itself was a lot of fun to read, and right from the beginning I could see classroom connections with the Cinderella story and with the time the story took place, before the Ch'in and Han dynasties. I really enjoyed this version of Cinderella, but I have to admit that I like the Chinese Red Riding Hood tale, Lon Po Po, better than Yeh-Shen. I also think I like the Irish tale of Cinderella better than the Chinese because in Yeh-Shen the Prince never sees her before searching for her. The Prince come into possession of her gorgeous slipper and wants to find its owner; only after finding out that the slipper belongs to Yeh-Shen does he fall in love with her. Unlike the Disney and Irish versions of Cinderella where the prince falls in love with her at first site and then has to find her by the slipper she left behind. The similarities between the Irish Cinderella and the Chinese Cinderella include a widower parent, each Cinderella has a man or woman help them by giving them the right clothes to wear to the occasion, both Cinderellas being forced to do chores and stay in because of their beauty, happy endings, and the ugly, mean stepsister(s) and stepmother paid for the way they treated the poor Cinderella-like characters. Some of the differences between Yeh-Shen and Fair, Brown & Trembling were the number of stepsisters, one widow was a man and the other a woman, one 'fairy godmother,' AKA the person who helped the main characters get their dresses, that was a woman and one was an old man, one had a church and one had a feast, one had a Prince searching for the owner of a shoe and one had the prince searching for Cinderella herself.

I. Teaching Ideas: Just like in the post below, there a thousands of option for ideas, lesson plans, or units on multicultural Cinderella stories. Teachnet.com has a whole list of ideas for incorporating fairytales and the Cinderella story into multiple subjects. The ideas on this page are mostly for higher grade levels, including upper middle school and high schools levels. Some ideas include writing a short paragraph on a fairytale character (like Cinderella) in the first person perspective, dramatize by having students dress up like a character and read aloud, introduce inventors/explorers who had ideas most people originally thought were only imagination, include geography by discussing different castles around the world and where they're located, and the list goes on to include ideas for math, art, spelling, and Cinderella specific lesson ideas.

Fair, Brown & Trembling: An Irish Cinderella Story

2008-03-31T17:20:00.000-07:00

A. Title: Fair, Brown & Trembling: An Irish Cinderella Story

B. Author: Jude Daly

C. Illustrator: Jude Daly

D. Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

E. Genre: Traditional Irish Folktale

F. Reading Level: 2-3

G. Summary: In Fair, Brown & Trembling, in a castle in Erin lived a widower and his three daughters: Fair, Brown, and Trembling. Every Sunday Fair and Brown wore a new dress to church while Trembling stayed home to cook the meals. Trembling's two older sisters didn't want to let her out of the house because she was very beautiful, and they thought that she would marry before they would. The old henwife came up to Trembling and told her she should be at church. The henwife asked her what she wanted to wear, a white gown and shamrock-green slippers, and the henwife put on her cloak of darkness, chanted some words, and created the most beautiful gown and slippers for Trembling. The henwife also gave her a white horse and told her to stand in the doorway of the church but never go in and be sure to leave before the end of church to make it home in time. Next Sunday the henwife gave Trembling a dress of the finest black satan with scarlet shoes and a black horse. The next Sunday, Trembling wore a dress with a snow-white bodice and rose-red skirt and blue slippers, and she rode a white mare with blue and gold diamonds. Each Sunday everyone in church would wonder who she was, especially all the single men and princes. The last Sunday, the Prince of Emania stayed outside the church and as Trembling tried to ride away he grabbed her slipper off her foot. He searched all over for the foot that fit the slipper. Finally the Prince of Emania found Trembling locked in a closet in her Castle. After that the Prince fought off every other gentleman caller that Trembling had, and the two were married, lived happily ever after, and they had fourteen kids. The illustrations appear to be done in an oil pastel.

H. Response: I really wanted to read the Irish Cinderella tale because I have a lot of Irish decent, and I really enjoyed this version. There are a lot of similarities between the Disney Cinderella story and this Irish folktale: three sisters, one sister is forced to do the work while the other sisters enjoyed the spoils of life, a widower parent, a women who by some type of magic helped the Cinderella of the story, a prince, a slipper, a search for the woman's foot that fits the slipper, and a happily ever after ending. The differences include the fact that the widower is a man, the Cinderella went to church not a ball, the Prince took her slipper off her foot instead of finding it after she ran away, and at the end they have fourteen kids. The illustrations have really deep, rich colors, and the pictures seem very real and deep.

I. Teaching Ideas: There are so many ideas for lesson plans and lesson units on multi-cultural Cinderella stories. One unit plan that I found online had the purpose for students to recognize fairy tales/legends as literature genre and to identify positive and negative character traits. The unit objectives include being able to recall the story elements of the Cinderella story, orally retell the story of Cinderella, listen to different versions of Cinderella (book and video), discuss the univeral themes and traits of fairy tales, make a plan for a service project involving clothes for families in need, recall and make inferences about story events, compare/contrast Cinderella stories from different cultures, compare/contrast character traits, describe and compare character traits of the main characters, review characteristics of fairy tales, role-play a scene from one of the stories studied, and to write an original fairy tale. This is an example of a lesson plan for second grade. This is just one of the thousands of available materials for creating a lesson plan to teach multicultural story of Cinderella.

Traditional Literature Links

2008-03-21T09:47:00.001-07:00

Check out these sites:
Lon Po Po
http://www.vickiblackwell.com/lit/lonpopo.html
http://publish.bsu.edu/00smtancock/CyberLessons/LonPoPo/
http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00514/

Cinderella
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/cinderella.html
http://nancykeane.com/rl/322.htm

Collaborative Internet Projects

v http://www.comsewogue.k12.ny.us/cinderella/traynor/traynor.htm

v http://www.comsewogue.k12.ny.us/cinderella/ross/ross.htm

v http://www.comsewogue.k12.ny.us/cinderella/cardillo/cardillo.htm

v http://www.comsewogue.k12.ny.us/cinderella/fizz/fizz.htm

v http://www.northcanton.sparcc.org/~ptk1nc/cinderella/jacoby/jacoby.htm

v http://www.northcanton.sparcc.org/~ptk1nc/cinderella/ahlbrecht/ahlbrecht.htm

Tall Tales

http://www.42explore.com/talltale.htm

http://www.ferrum.edu/applit/studyG/dialect/argue.htm
(Argument for Appalachian Dialect)

v http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=419 (3-5 Cinderella)

vhttp://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=261 (Cinderella Lesson Plan-Excellent!)

vhttp://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=240#EXTEND

(K-2 Animal Tales)

v http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=387

§ (K-2 Fairy Tales Around the World)

Discover I Poems for 2 Voices!

Class Assignment & Notes (Traditional Literature)

2008-03-21T09:45:00.001-07:00

Tentative Schedule and Assignments RE 3240 (8)

Traditional Literature
A. From the oral tradition—written for enjoyment, entertainment and to explain why the world and people are as they are
B. Types of traditional literature
1. Legend, ballad—quasi-historical stories and songs (King Arthur, Hercules, Robin Hood, Hiawatha, Brown Mountain Lights)
2. Myth—tales of gods and goddesses; explaining the working of the world (Zeus, Athena, Cupid, Mercury, Thor, Neptune)
3. Folk tale—trickster tales, numskull, cumulative tales, pourquoi, beast (Brer Rabbit, Anansi; Three Sillies; The Mitten, The Enormous Turnip; Why the Bear Has a Short Tail; Three Little Pigs, Little Red Hen)
4. Fairy tales—magical events help good overcome evil (Cinderella, Rapunzel, Beauty & Beast)
5. Tall tales—exaggerated stories of super-humans battling a force of nature bigger than him/herself; designed to bring comfort to American settlers on the frontier; elements include: amazing abilities seen at birth and early childhood; real-life landforms such as canyons or lakes explained by fictional actions of hero/heroine; basic theme of underdog beating out forces of nature that are normally impossible to stop (thunderstorms, hurricanes, tidal waves, earthquakes, etc.). Examples include: Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, Johnny Appleseed, Mike Fink, Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crocket and Swamp Angel
6. Fable—short moralistic tales with animal characters (Tortoise & Hare)
7. Derivative Folktales and Spoofs- (The True Story of the Three Little Pigs)

• Discuss Traditional Literature and Creative Venns!
o Lon Po Po
o Swamp Angel

• Why were “literary fairy tales” written down? to teach lessons and morals; these tales often times outlined social functions and places; the virtuous were rewarded and adversaries were overcome.
• Who told these tales? women who wanted to make their opinions known in a time where women had few rights; their voices were unheard politically.
• Who was the primary audience? community and royal courts—not children!

Cinderella
• Folklorists have identified over 3, 000 stories that qualify as Cinderella variants world-wide.
• Cinderella is an entire range of stories where a persecuted heroine responds to her situation with cunning, defiance, ingenuity, self-pity, or grief.
• Goodness is rewarded by some magical intercession
• Continue to read and discuss Cinderella stories in Small Groups: Discuss the motifs (subjects that reappear) in each Cinderella story. Here are some examples of motifs: events occurring in threes, overcoming impossible tasks, transformation in appearances, the wise and the foolish, supernatural gifts, a series of tests/tasks, etc.

Assignments due April 1

• Read 2 culturally specific versions of Cinderella. See these sites for help:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/cinderella.html
http://nancykeane.com/rl/322.htm
• Little Gold Star: A Spanish American Cinderella Tale
• The Turkey Girl: A Zuni Cinderella Story
• Cendrillon: A Caribbean Cinderella
• The Korean Cinderella
• Angkat: The Cambodian Cinderella
• Anklet for a Princess: A Cinderella Story from India
• Domitila: A Cinderella Tale from the Mexican Tradition
• Sootface: A Native American Cinderella
• Jouanah: A Hmong Cinderella

The Way Meat Loves Salt: A Cinderella Tale from the Jewish Tradition
Raisel's Riddle
The Persian Cinderella
Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave

These are some of my favorites. I have ordered extra copies that should be here by the end of this week or the beginning of next week; also, the IMC has several copies of the titles above.

• Think about perspective as you read these stories.
• You may want to create a venn diagram to help you compare and contrast the 2 versions. Focus on setting, characters, and cultural markers.

Research the cultural group relevant to your Cinderella Tale. Check out books from the library and view and visit websites.

• Please check out the following websites:
o http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/tradless.htm
o http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=590
ohttp://edsitement.neh.gov/tab_lesson.asp?subcategory=39&grade=3-5+&Display=Display
o http://www.thinkquest.org/library/index.html

• After completing your research, write an I POEM for 2 Voices from the perspective of your Cinderella characters. Feel free to play around with the form.

Be sure to include culturally relevant information gleaned from your research and from the Cinderella stories.

• Check out these 5th graders I Poems!
• http://web2.burke.k12.nc.us/blogs/cwheeler/about/summer-of-the-monkeys-i-poems/
• Your poem should demonstrate your understanding of the story and the culture. Think about including rich descriptions as well as interesting information. This assignment will take the place of our multicultural study. You will be researching several cultures and writing about them through your poem- from Cinderella’s perspective ☺
• Here is an example and the format on my wiki: (libby)
• http://fryeem.pbwiki.com/I-Poem-for-2-Voices
•Finally, you will publish your I POEM FOR 2 VOICES on your blog, or on the wiki at the above address. If any of you wish to include artistic representations, pictures, etc. please feel free to post those too!
Enjoy!

A House for Hermit Crab

2008-03-16T13:01:00.000-07:00

A. Title: A House for Hermit Crab

B. Author: Eric Carle

C. Illustrator: Eric Carle

D. Publisher: Picture Book Studio

E. Genre: Picture Book

F. Reading Level: k-2

G. Summary: Hermit Crab was beginning to outgrow his safe, comfortable shell in January, and he decided it was time to find a bigger, new home. Even though Hermit Crab was scared, he ventured out of his shell and into the open waters of the ocean. In February, Hermit Crab found a great, big shell that would be perfect for his new home but a little plain. Over the next year, Hermit Crab meets new friends and asks them to join his home to make it better! Hermit Crab meets sea anemones, starfish, corals, snails, sea urchins, and lanternfish, and all of them help to make his home beautiful and cozy. However, when November rolled around Hermit Crab realized that his beautiful home was beginning to get a little too snug because all year long he'd been growing! Hermit Crab doesn't think he can leave his friends when a lonely, scared girl Hermit Crab, just the right size for his place, came walking by asking if he knew where she could find a new home. Hermit Crab gave her his home as long as she promised to be nice to his friends, and he set out to find a new home and new friends to decorate it. The illustrations are done in collage with all different kinds of materials.

H. Response: I really enjoyed the book The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle when I was younger, but I don't remember ever reading A House for Hermit Crab. I loved the way Eric Carle combined the story of venturing out into the world and meeting friends with different sea creatures and the months of the year. The best part about this book has to be the illustrations. The collages have so many very bright and drastically different materials used that they really stand out. With The Hungry Caterpillar, I remembered the illustrations before I really remembered what this book was about. I am very surprised that Eric Carle has not won a Caldecott award for any of his picture books because his media are so unique. His collages have all different kinds of shapes, patterns, and textures, not to mention all the different colors. A House for Hermit Crab is a great picture book that has wonderful collage illustrations and a great story!

I. Teaching Ideas: Before looking up any lesson plans, I tried to come up with a few options off the top of my head for classroom applications. A few lesson plan/topic options for A House for Hermit Crab would be an introduction to marine-life or environment, months of the year/time frames, and venturing out to make new friends. On Eric Carle's official website, I found fifteen lesson ideas and plans; some more specific than others. Some of the lesson plans include ideas like moving and meeting new friends, introducing sea creatures, decorating their own hermit crab and cutting it out, use cut-outs of the creatures in the book for students to decorate their own hermit crab shell, art and clay projects, and the list just continues. On the EekoWorld website, I found a kindergarten lesson plan that included the objectives actively listening to audio information, summarizing information by retelling, making connections between animal and human basic needs, and creating a schoolyard habitat for birds.

Two Bad Ants

2008-03-16T12:03:00.000-07:00

A. Title: Two Bad Ants

B. Author: Chris Van Allsburg

C. Illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg

D. Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company

E. Genre: Picture Book

F. Reading Level: 2-3

G. Summary: Two Bad Ants is a story about an ant community that finds a home with a jar full of sugar. On a trip to collect sugar, the worker ants traveled a long distance at night and traveled up steep mountains to reach the tasty crystals. Two ants decided that this place was heaven, and they wanted to stay behind to enjoy their new found riches. The next morning, while the two ants were sleeping in the sugar jar, a spoon scoops them up and dumps them in coffee! The ants battle the swirling, hot liquid, and manage to get out. Unfortunately, the ants climbed into holes in some bread and got put into the toaster! Once they got out of there, they were drifted away by water in the sink into a garbage disposal. Next, they tried to climb into a outlet and got zapped. Finally, they were so tried they went to sleep in a dark corner and awoke to see the worker ants returned for more sugar crystals. The two ants got back in line, marched home, and were very happy to be home! The illustrations appear to be done in pen and ink; the detailed pictures have a lot of geometric lines and symmetry probably to make the size of the ants to their surroundings pop.

H. Response: I really enjoyed Two Bad Ants for a number of reasons. My favorite part about the book is realizing how tough worker ants must have it. The details in the story and the illustrations of what the ants went through just to get to the food was very interesting. The best part, by far, was the part when the ants were in the home getting tossed around and bruised up because they had no idea what was going on, but as the reader you do know what is happening to the ants! The style of art that Chris Van Allsburg uses in Two Bad Ants is fun, but I like some of his other media styles and choices a bit better. The illustrations were very clear and went along with the story well, but I prefer his style in The Polar Express.

I. Teaching Ideas: Two Bad Ants would be a great picture book to start off a science unit on insects and their characteristics, habitat, or their every day life. On Teacher CyberGuide, I found a lesson plan that includes an activity dealing with Chris Van Allsburg's biography and life, how Chris gets his ideas for stories and illustrations, and ways to create food inspired by insects! I found links on Web English Teacher for multiple lesson plan ideas for Two Bad Ants. Some of the lesson plan topics include collecting information on ants (group work), discussion questions and writing prompts for related creative writing exercises, reading and writing activities to support the book, map-making, different perspectives, etc. I plan to use this book to aid my future lesson plans, especially if ants or insects happens to be the topic.

Little Red Riding Hood

2008-03-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

A. Title: Little Red Riding Hood: By the Brothers Grimm
B. Author: Trina Schart Hyman
C. Illustrator: Trina Schart Hyman
D. Publisher: Holiday House
E. Genre: Picture Book - Folklore/Fairy Tale
F. Reading Level: 1-3
G. Awards: Caldecott Honor Award

H. Summary: This is the common fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood by the Brothers Grimm, retold by Trina Schart Hyman. Little Red Riding Hood, Elisabeth, was given a basket of wine, bread, and sweet butter to take to her sick grandmother's house far away in the woods. Elisabeth's mother made her promise to stay on the path, go straight there and straight back, and to always mind her manners. The walk was about a half an hour away from town, and while Little Red Riding Hood was walking through the woods she met an old, clever wolf. He found out what she was doing, where she was going, and what for before he side tracked poor Elisabeth. She said goodbye to the wolf and left the path to go collect flowers for her sick grandmother. While Elisabeth was picking flowers, the wolf ran all the way to grandmother's house, and he ate her up in one gulp! When Elisabeth got to the house, the door was open and she walked up to the bed. The wolf ate her up too and fell asleep full bellied in grandmother's bed. His loud snoring caught the ear of a hunter passing by, and he came in and cut open the wolf to safe Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother.

I. Response: I've always liked the story Little Red Riding Hood, and I've been hearing it for as long as I can remember. This particular version has gorgeous illustrations that look to be paintings. The pages with the text have detailed flower borders with the other page being a full illustration with no words. The pictures are all bright and very detailed, especially the faces of the characters. I definitely want to incorporate all of the classic fairy tales/folklore into my future classrooms.

J. Teaching Ideas: Little Red Riding Hood is a great fairy tale, but right off the top of my head I couldn't think of very many teaching ideas. The main lesson plan that I could think of is to share this story while teaching a lesson or unit on folklore or fairy tale. The website for ReadWriteThink has a lesson plan dealing with analyzing fairy tales elements and general characteristics, compose an original fairy tale, and presenting the fairy tales to the class. Lesson Plan Central had a web page with links to 14 different lesson plans that deal with folklore and fairy tales. Online searches pull up lesson plan idea after idea, and Little Red Riding Hood is one that should definitely be included!

Lon Po Po

2008-03-15T15:39:00.000-07:00

A. Title: Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China

B. Author: Ed Young

C. Illustrator: Ed Young

D. Publisher: Penguin Putnam Books/ Philomel Books

E. Genre: Picture Book/Folktale

F. Reading Level: k-3

G. Awards: Caldecott Award Winner

H. Summary: The story of Lon Po Po is the Chinese version of Little Red Riding Hood. There are a lot of similarities, but also a lot of differences. A mother and her three daughters lived out in the countryside, and one day the mother left to go visit the children's grandmother for her birthday. A clever wolf lived in the woods nearby and saw the mother leave. That night the wolf dressed up, knocked on the door, and claimed to be the three little girls' grandmother, Po Po. At first the children were deceived and aloud the impostor Po Po to come inside. Then, while in bed, the children noticed the wolf's bushy tail and its' sharp claws. The children figured out that their Po Po was actually the wolf and tricked it! They ran outside to get a nut from the gingko tree, which they told the wolf with one taste you could live forever. The three little girls climbed all the way up the tree and convinced the wolf to get a basket, throw a rope over the highest tree branch, and create a pulley system for them to lift their "Po Po" to the nuts. At first, the eldest tried to pull "Po Po" up, but half way up she dropped the wolf saying she was too weak. Next, two of the sisters pulled the wolf up in the basket even higher than the first time, but again, they were too weak to pull the wolf all the way up. The wolf was growing very angry, but all he could think about was the gingko nut and living forever. Finally, all three sisters pulled the wolf up all the way to the top of the tree and dropped him to his death. When the mother arrived home the next, the children told her all about how they had outsmarted the impostor Po Po. The illustrations are done in pastels and water color, and each page varies on the spread layout (panel layout).

I. Response: I have always really enjoyed myths, fairy tales, and folk tales, which is why I think I enjoyed Lon Po Po so much. Little Red Riding Hood is such a common tale that you're sure to hear it if you grow up in the United States! Many of my friends said that they read this Chinese version during their elementary school days, but I was not so lucky. I love the similarities between the two stories, but I have to admit that I like Lon Po Po better than Little Red Riding Hood. The thing that I like the most about it is the creative way the young children outsmart the wolf. Just like Red Riding Hood, the children in Lon Po Po are smart enough to realize that the wolf is not their grandmother, but the Lon Po Po characters go even further and trick the wolf. The illustrations are just amazing. I am a big fan of the way pastels can be combined, rubbed, and molded into unique colors specific to the story it's telling. The color choices are bright, fun, and really compliment the natural settings that they depict.

J. Teaching Ideas: After reading Lon Po Po, I had a few vague ideas for lesson plans right off the top of my head: comparing/contrasting America's folk tales to those of other countries, and teaching Chinese culture. Once I started to look online I found resource after resource for Lon Po Po; this is definitely a book I would suggest using in a lesson plan because of the number of lesson plan opportunities it presents. Right away I found three great lesson plans: TeacherVision lesson plan, UVM (Vermont) lesson plan, and a scholastic lesson plan. The first lesson plan has five great ideas for incorporating this book into the lesson plan including creating a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting Lon Po Po to Little Red Riding Hood, creative connections for art, social studies, and math, discussing the book from the wolf's point of view and creating another character to present the story from their view point, Chinese inventions word search (have students find out what products/inventions they've used from China), and reproducing Chinese symbols. The UVM website has a lesson plan that includes discussing what the story tells about the culture it's from, how do Lon Po Po and Little Red Riding Hood compare, etc. The Scholastic lesson plan allows children to have a discussion about which story they liked better and why, explore the aspects and create panel art, and appreciating the vocabulary in the Chinese version such as "Hei yo."

Beware of the Storybook Wolves

2008-03-15T10:39:00.000-07:00

A. Title: Beware of the Storybook Wolves

B. Author: Lauren Child

C. Illustrator: Lauren Child

D. Publisher: Scholastic Press, a division of Scholastic Inc.

E. Genre: Picture Book/Fairy Tales

F. Reading Level: k-3

G. Summary: Each night, Herb's mother reads him a story before bed. Sometimes it's Little Red Riding Hood with two scary wolves: one big one and one small one with an eye patch (the one on the book's back cover). Before his mother leaves, Herb always makes sure she takes the book with her because of the storybook wolves. In the dark, he hears the low grumbling, growling of wolves, and Herb realizes his mother accidentally left Little Red Riding Hood in his room! The wolves want to eat him, but he convinces them he is dessert and that first they need to eat an appetizer. Then, while Herb is stealing Jell-O from the fairytale book, the wicked witch inside tells the wolves Herb has tricked them. Herb then borrows Cinderella's fairy godmother to protect him. Once all the storybook creatures had been returned, Herb stacked all his books up and put his bed on top to make sure no more storybook creatures decided to come out that night!

H. Response: Beware of the Storybook Wolves has the same media types and styles as I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato, both by Lauren Child. This book also has double page spreads with most of the words worked into the pictures. Lauren Child's media style allows her books to be bright and colorful so that they're both fun to read and to look at. I thought the idea of the fairytale characters coming to life at night is great fun and a great way to introduce different fairy tales. My favorite illustration in the book was when Herb dumped Cinderella's fairy godmother onto the floor and real sequins fell out with her!

I. Teaching Ideas: Scholastic has a lesson plan for Beware of the Storybook Wolves dealing with reading comprehension and can be taught k-3. The goal of the lesson plan is for the children to make connections between the fairy tales that are present in the book, and others not included, and then the students will have the chance to create their own "fractured" fairytale; drawing paper, chart paper, and crayons and markers are all you need. Children get to draw their favorites characters or favorite parts in the story. The lesson plan really sounds like a lot of fun and something younger elementary aged students would really enjoy. I also found a website called "Fairy Tale Resources and Books" on TeacherNet that has a lot of great lesson plans and lesson resources dealing with Fairy Tales, myths, etc.

I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato

2008-03-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

A. Title: I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato
B. Author: Lauren Child
C. Illustrator: Lauren Child
D. Publisher: Orchard Books/Candlewick Press
E. Genre: Picture Book
F. Reading Level: k-2

G. Summary: The illustrations are done in mixed media. Charlie gets asked by his parents to feed his little sister, Lola, dinner. Lola happens to be an extremely picky eater and doesn't like anything, especially what was for dinner that evening. To help get Lola to eat the food, Charlie made up stories about foods from different planets, from under the sea, or from the clouds on the highest mountains of Fuji. In the end, Lola asks to try the tomatoes without Charlie having to make up a story!

H. Response: The illustrations in this book are very creative, bright, colorful, and fun. I love the way Lauren Child incorporated multiple types of media into the illustrations: drawings, real-life pictures, digital imagery. The illustrations are double page spreads with the words mostly written into the pictures. I think the creative, funny tales Charlie made up made a perfect story to list and teach young students about foods. I also loved how Lola trusted her older brother and wanted to be like him. Not only does this book make it easy for young children to associate food words with the matching pictures, the stories about each food are very entertaining.

I. Teaching Ideas: I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato is a great book to teach young students about different types of foods and the food pyramid. There are many creative ways to incorporate this book into a lesson. One way would be to read the book as a class, name all of the foods in the book, and in groups, color and cut out pictures of the foods to place in a giant food pyramid. One lesson plan I found online included parental involvement with tasting new foods from the book! There is also a suggestion for having a "name the food day" in the classroom that allows the students to taste the different foods and put the correct name with them. These are just two ideas, but there are many other creative lesson plans that could be derived out of I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato.

Swamp Angel

2008-03-07T13:33:00.000-08:00

A. Title: Swamp Angel

B. Author: Anne Isaacs

C. Illustrator: Paul O. Zelinsky

D. Publisher: Penguin Books Australia Ltd.

E. Genre: Picture Book - Folktale

F. Reading Level: 1-3

G. Awards: Caldecott Honor Book

H. Summary: Swamp Angel is a fun twist on a legend like Paul Bunyan. The book is about a gentle giant that is a woman, Angelica Longrider AKA Swamp Angel, who enters a competition to rid the towns of Tennessee from a bear named Thundering Tarnation. Thundering Tarnation had eaten out storages of food for winter in at least half of Tennessee! Many men signed up to try and defeat Thundering Tarnation, but not one of them could overpower such a massive bear. Then Swamp Angel and Thundering Tarnation get into a wrestling fight that lasts for days and nearly destroys the countryside! Trees fell down left and right, and the two wrestled for so long that they soon fell asleep. The snores from the two of them was enough to continue to knock down trees, and the tree that killed Thundering Tarnation in his sleep was one that fell down from a snore! The meat from the bear was enough to feed the starving people of Tennessee all winter, and Swamp Angel got to keep his fur as a rug. But don't worry Thundering Tarnation isn't forgotten, during the fight he was thrown into the sky and made a lasting impression in the stars as a constellation. The illustrations are oil paintings on cherry, maple, and birch veneers.

I. Response: I really enjoyed Swamp Angel!! I've never even heard of this story, but it's nice to see a women in a position like Paul Bunyan. It's also a story in the Appalachian region! I also love how even though she was larger than life, the people of Tennessee still didn't think that she could take on a bear like Thundering Tarnation... that was a job for a man. But guess who is the only one that can stop the bear, Swamp Angel! Not only is the story fun, it also has a great message: don't let anyone ever tell you what you can and cannot accomplish; if you try hard enough, you can achieve anything! I also absolutely love the way Paul O. Zelinsky illustrated this book. The pictures have great warmth, depth, and detail in them, and I thought it was a great touch since the story took place outside in the Tennessee woods. It's very easy to see why this book is a Caldecott Honor Book, though I think it should have won!

J. Teaching Ideas: Swamp Angel can be used a fun classroom folktale or has a way to teach a moral lesson: never let anyone tell you that you can't achieve your dreams. I found a lesson plan on folktale and folk art that can be taught with Swamp Angel. The lesson plan can be used in the age range of 9+ years old. The lesson includes a hands on experience where the students get to create their own art mimicking the style of Paul O. Zelinsky. There are also many lesson plan connections that could teach characteristics of folk art and/or folktales.

My Friend Rabbit

2008-03-04T06:28:00.000-08:00

A. Title: My Friend Rabbit

B. Author: Eric Rohmann

C. Illustrator: Eric Rohmann

D. Publisher: Roaring Book Press, a division of the Millbrook Press

E. Genre: Picture Book

F. Reading Level: K-1

G. Awards: 2003 Caldecott Medal

H. Summary: My Friend Rabbit is very clever and funny story for beginning readers. The story is a mix between text and picture pages and also just picture pages. The illustrations are done in hand-colored relief prints and are very bright and fun. The background is a pretty blue sky, each character has a thick black outline and detailed features. The narrator is a tiny mouse who has a friend that is a rabbit, and everywhere rabbit goes trouble follows! Rabbit accidently gets their toy airplane stuck high up in a tree, but he has a plan. He stacks an elephant, a rhino, a hippo, a moose, an alligator, a squirell, a bear, and a goose and all her young ones one on top of the other. The plane is still just out of reach so rabbit and mouse climbed up and stretched, and then all of a sudden everything shook and everyone fell. The animals were not happy, but the plane had fell and rabbit was mouse's friend; so the mouse scooped up rabbit in the plane and they flew away. As they were flying away rabbit wanted to hug mouse to show his appreciation but was actually covering his eyes!

I. Response: My Friend Rabbit is a great picture book. It has the thrity-two pages, two-page spreads, and wonderful illustrations. My favorite page is the one where all the animals are looking at him very angry because they had all just fallen down on one another. The expressions, details, and colors are amazing and very vivid. This story is sure to remind kids of an older friend or sibling who is bigger than them and sometimes wild.

J. Teaching Ideas: Scholastic.com has a k-1 lesson plan for mathematics and number sequencing using My Friend Rabbit. It includes making copies of a page for each student, cutting, gluing, and rearranging the animals in certain orders. Lessons dealing with friendship and trouble would be easy to apply. The illustrations would be a lot of fun to try to immitate or make your own using the style. Once you read this book, it's really clear why it won the Cadlecott Medal in 2003. The teacher could also just read this book for fun and enjoyment because the students will definitely love it.

So You Want to be President?

2008-02-29T09:44:00.000-08:00

A. Title: So You Want to be President?

B. Author: Judith St. George

C. Illustrator: David Small

D. Publisher: Philomel Books, a division of Penguin Putnam Books

E. Genre: Picture Book - Informational Text

F. Reading Level: Grades 3 - 5

G. Awards: Caldecott Honor Book, ALA Notable Children's Book

H. Summary: So You Want to be President? is an extremely entertaining and hilarious children's picture book about our country's presidents. This book goes over what it takes to become president mostly by grouping the presidents together by characteristics that they share. Some of the information about our former presidents has been on who has served in one of our country's wars, what fun activities they've done in the White House, common names, birth places, age, sense of humor, physical appearance, related presidents, siblings, and the list goes on and on. The book has a great combination of real facts, fun facts, and hilarious images (Presidents included go from George Washington to Bill Clinton). The illustrations are done in ink, watercolor, and pastel chalk. The backgrounds are all colorful, lively, and entertaining. Each page has a pictures of presidents, and in the back of the book is an index that tells which president is on which page. The back of the book also has section of information on all of the presidents up to Bill Clinton; each president has a few lines devoted solely to them.

I. Response: I absolutely love So You Want to be President? I wish in fourth and fifth grade, when I remember studying the presidents and our nation's history, that we had had this book as a resource. I think the book has the perfect combination of real facts, fun facts, and comedy to get students interested in the topic of our former presidents, and to maybe even lighten to mood and the amount that the students have to learn. The illustrations are enough to keep any child entertained; the pictures are very comical and the presidents' faces and features tend to be over-done, kind of like the cartoon artists that draw a picture of you surfing or roller skating with the giant head.

J. Teaching Ideas: Reading So You Want to be President? would make the perfect book to read as a class, or to the class, as a transition into a unit on our nation's former presidents. Not only does this book discuss facts about many of the presidents, it gives some great facts on what it actually takes to become president: age restrictions and the oath that all presidents have to take. When I did a simple search online, I found lesson plan after lesson plan. One website I found, TeacherVision, had ten ideas to use in the classroom; some of the ideas include creating a game show about that presidents with 'life-lines' and 'phone-a-friend,' students could pick one president to research for a presentation (dress up like your president), make a running for president speech, etc. Scholastic also has a lesson plan on So You Want to be President? This lesson plan involves writing details and characteristics of students' lives, creating a time-line, students should also include what they plan to accomplish in their life. The number of classroom applications that this book has are so large, I couldn't even sort through all of the internet lesson plans I found. So You Want to be President? is a great addition for the upper elementary grade classrooms!

Big Talk: Poems for Four Voices

2008-02-27T10:14:00.001-08:00

A. Title: Big Talk: Poems for Four Voices

B. Author: Paul Fleischman

C. Illustrator: Beppe Giacobbe

D. Publisher: Candlewick Press

E. Genre: Poetry Book/Picture Book

F. Reading Level: Grades 1-3

G. Summary: Big Talk: Poems for Four Voices is another one of Paul Fleischman's creative poem books for multiple people to read aloud. These books are great for classroom application because kids think they're just so much fun. This book has some similar features to those in Joyful Noises and I am Phoenix, but it only has three poems: "The Quiet Evenings Here," "Seventh-Grade Soap Opera," and "Ghosts' Grace." At the beginning of the book there is a two page spread that has instructions on how to read this book, helpful hints, and the table of contents. This book is most noticably different than its sister two-voice poem books because there are four voices. Each reader chooses a color at the beginning (green, yellow, orange, or purple) and that is the line they read throughout the book. The illustrations in this book are made using Photoshop and Painter. The book is overall very bright and there is color everywhere, unlike the black and white sketches in both Joyful Noises and I am Phoenix. The poems in this book have even more of a melodic sound to them.

H. Response: I loved the illustrations in this book; the whole thing is very colorful, bright, and vibrant. The book's illustartions kind of scream fun and they do account for a good portion of the fun. Each page pops because not only are there colorful, childlike illustrations but each reader's section is coded in a different color. I enjoyed the poems themselves because they were a lot of fun, they are amazing to look at, they had a great sing-songie flow to them that made them all the more entertaining. The only negative thing about this book is that I see it more as a fun book rather than a impressive educational text.

I. Teaching Ideas: I would suggest using Big Talk: Poems for Four Voices with younger to middle grades in elementary school. The book can be a great resource for aiding children in their reading/oral reading. The kids can break into groups of four and practice the poems and present them orally as a way to increase their oral reading skills. This book can also be used to teach lessons on poem structures and characteristics because Big Talk has so many fun words that create rhythms and there are rhyming words, the list does in continue on a bit in the subject field. Like I said above though, I would use this book as more of just a fun classroom addition, something to get kids interested in Poetry, but not neccessarily the best book to plan many lessons around. Paul Fleischman's books Joyful Noises: Poems for Two Voices and I Am Phoenix: Poems for Two Voices are much better resources for class lesson plans.

The Half-A-Moon Inn

2008-02-26T18:16:00.000-08:00

A. Title: The Half-A-Moon Inn

B. Author: Paul Fleischman

C. Illustrator: Kathy Facobi

D. Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

E. Genre: Fiction

F. Reading Level: Grade 5-6

G. Summary: An adolescent boy named Aaron, who happens to be mute, has a coming of age experience. His mother goes to the market over night and leaves Aaron alone at home for the first time in his life. A snow storm hits, and Aaron's mothered is delayed. Worried, Aaron dresses warm, brings his mother's warm coat, packs a sack of food, and goes out in the snow to find his mother. Along the way he realizes he doesn't quite remember the long journey to the market town, and soon realizes what he needs now is to find people. Aaron meets some interesting people on his search for his mother, some good and some bad. He also has difficulties communicating to everyone that he was mute because not everyone he met could read. Aaron came across The Half-A-Moon Inn and met an old, innkeeper women with dark motives. With plans of kidnapping, holding Aaron against his will, and possible robbery, Aaron has plenty of adventure while becoming able to take care of himself and being able to overcome his disability. The few illustrations in the book are simple pen sketches, but they're very detailed. The page is covered in tiny pen strokes, and the shading techniques the illustrator used are really impressive.

H. Response: Again Paul Fleischman wrote a book that I really enjoyed. I just feel as though when he sits down to write a new book, he makes sure to incorporate plenty of opportunities to make classroom connections. I love how this book has underlying tones for an adolescent boy becoming comfortable with himself and adapting to his mute disability. It seemed to be a book that a young teenager could relate to; the reader may not be mute, but don't all teenagers feel like no one hears them when they talk like they're mute? Readers can also relate to feeling different and being treated differetly because of it. I also liked the little fun, slightly unrealitic factors about this book. I really liked the ending when the bad, old innkeeper and the criminal froze to death because a blizzard came and those who aren't truthful can't light a fire. The people with no morals or respect in this book seemed to get what they deserve and the good guy came out on top.

I. Teaching Ideas: This book would be a great addition just for accelerated reader or connecting with a text. It also could be used in a literature lesson for teaching specific differences between fact, fiction, and opinion. There are a lot of real-life topics and details in this book that students would be able to identify, but there are also some fictional details mixed in. Students could group together to make a big chart to separate the differences. The Half-A-Moon Inn could also be used to teach a lesson about the disabled, politically correct terms, how they're just as equal as everyone else, etc. If children understand disabilities, they'll be less inclined to make fun of someone who has them and more inclinced to offer help with books or doors. There are also a lot of great moral characters and immoral characters to do great camparisons. I was unable to find any specific lesson plans on the internet, not in a library, but I was able to think of quite a few classroom applications anyway.

I am Phoenix

2008-02-26T17:26:00.000-08:00

A. Title: I Am Phoenix

B. Author: Paul Fleischman

C. Illustrator: Ken Nutt

D. Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

E. Genre: Poetry Books - Informational Texts - Picture

F. Reading Level: Upper Elementary, Grades 5+

G. Summary: Paul Fleischman wrote this book after he wrote his Newbery Medal for Joyful Noises: Poems for Two Voices. Just like that book, I Am Phoenix is also a book for two voices. However, there are two things that are different between books. I Am Phoenix is about birds, instead of insects, and the poems are written about the birds, not in the birds' voice. The poems discuss the way different birds move, where they live or habitat, distinct characteristics, birds of prey's hunting habbits, etc. The poems have a lot of onomatopoeia words like fluttering and flitters, a lot of words that give you great sensory details. The illustrations are amazing and are done by the same person who did the illustrations for Joyful Noises. Just like its brother book, I am Phoenix has illustrations that are sketches and are very elaborate. Ken Nutt has some great at night sketches, especially for the poem "The Wandering Albatross," which has a gorgeous ocean, ship, and a detailed clear, starry sky.

H. Response: Just like Joyful Noises: Poems for Two Voices, I really enjoyed I Am Phoenix. Both book have great teaching opportunities, but this book has a lot of older classroom applications that pop out to me as well. Like I touched on in the above section, the illustrations are great, pretty much captivating. There is a great sketch of a man pulling a stallion and you can see every detail in the man, the stallion, and the dry, cracking mud they're walking on. There are poems and sketches on birds like finches, albatrosses, pigeons, doves, the phoenix, sparrows, and the list goes on. The poems were also really informative, and by the end of the book I had learned something new about pretty much every bird I read about in the book.

I. Teaching Ideas: There are a ton of teaching ideas that I can think of off the top of my head before ever looking for a lesson plan. For younger students, group projects on birds or habitats would be great; that doesn't even have to be restricted to the younger grades. This book is definitely more difficult than Joyful Noises and so I think it would be most useful in upper elementary school and middle school. The book has great references and information on habitats, environments, survival characteristics, and the list goes on. The class could split into groups, make costumes and have an oral presentation of their poem and their research. The students could do a general research project on the bird, or get even more specific and do a more specific topic like just habitats, characteristics, etc. Then there are also a ton of Language Arts and English applications: copying the poem format, studying terms like onomatopoeia, and again the list keeps going. This is definitely another great addition of Paul Fleischman's books for the classroom.

Baseball Saved Us

2008-02-25T16:58:00.000-08:00

A. Title: Baseball Saved Us

B. Author: Ken Mochizuki

C. Illustrator: Dom Lee

D. Publisher: Lee & Low Books Inc.

E. Genre: Picture Book, Historical Fiction

F. Reading Level: Grades 3-5

G. Awards: 1993 Parent's Choice Award

H. Summary: During World War II, the American government sent Japanese-Americans to desert camps. The camps were surrounded by a barbed wire fence and soldiers with guns; the conditions were horrible with sandstorms, hot days, and cold nights. The people soon became restless because there was nothing to do, and the children soon began to change and become disrespectful. The father of the main character decided to build a baseball field to give the community something to do. At first just a few helped to build it, but eventually a lot of the people in the camp joined in. The main character, a young boy, tries hard to get better at baseball and succeeds. When the government finally let the Japanese-Americans go home, playing for the school baseball team is what helped him to become adjusted and accepted at school. The illustrations were done on paper with encaustic beeswax; then the illustrator scratched the images in the wax and painted them with oil paint for the color. Some of the pictures were inspired by photographs from an internment camp in 1943.

I. Response: I am so glad that I bought this book for my collection. Not only does it shed light on a negative, but important, part of our nation's history, it also shows a great point of view of racism. The point of view of an innocent child makes the story really sink in. I think another reason it struck me so much was because it was a hopeful story about a bad time in Japanese-Americans' lives. The author also took an event that could happen to anyone, being left out of playing a sport in PE class. On top of the racists comments, that we all know is wrong, there is feeling from within of not being chosen or accepted.

J. Teaching Ideas: This book is almost perfect for the using in the classroom. I found one lesson plan for Baseball Saved Us that used the book as a way to introduce historical fiction books. As the teacher reads, the children make a list of characters, places, events, and facts. Then discuss the elements of historical fiction with the class and create a venn diagram. The middle of the venn diagram has the list of things the class wrote down, the left side has historical facts, and the right side has fiction; the teacher uses this exercise to show what historical fiction is and how it is a mix of both. I also found a lesson plan on the discrimination of immigrants. The objectives are as follows, "1. Students will create a dictionary of reform terms. 2. Students will write profiles of several key reformers in American history. 3. Students will examine the impact individual people can have on society. 4. Students will design and implement related community service projects. 5. Students will gain an understanding of the historical context of the reformers and their objectives." The lesson plan also gives lists of specific topics, people, and ideas to use or give as options. The website also discusses what types of skills the exercise is addressing. This book would even just be great to read to the class and just have an open discussion about how the main character must have felt, how the treatment of him made them feel, would they ever treat someone this way, do they know and understand what World War II was, and the list could go on and on.

Math Fables Too: Making Science Count

2008-02-24T14:56:00.000-08:00

A. Title: Math Fables Too: Making Science Count

B. Author: Greg Tang

C. Illustrator: Taia Morley

D. Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

E. Genre: Picture Book - Informational Text

F. Reading Level: PreK-K/Primary

G. Summary: Math Fables Too: Making Science Count is a great informational text picture book that includes counting and mathematics, and science. The beginning of the book has an author's note that discusses Greg Tang's intentions when writing this book. The author's goal is to help kids learn to count and begin to understand the concepts of addition. The author also wrote into the book non-mathematics related objectives: to get kids more interested in science, animals use of tools, and a positive message to kids about mathematics and science. An example of the counting and scientific information is on pages three and four; "Daydreams - One evening 2 Koalas were in search of something sweet. They climbed a eucalyptus tree with nimble hands and feet. This tree is very poisonous to all but just a few. Koalas are immune and so the leaves are safe to chew. 1 took a little nibble and the other 1 a bite. For theses very picky eaters, the leaves must be just right. The 2 marsupials loved the taste and ate the night away. And since they are nocturnal - they planned to sleep all day!" Each page-spread is set up in a way much like this, and the illustrations have a 3-D look to them that makes me think the medium is paper collages; the illustrations' background looks to be painted or digital with the paper-collages layered on top.

H. Response: The reason I love this book so much is because it covers multpile subjects and topics and is so well illustrated. Each page spread is unique to the animal it is about. It clearly has both mathematical and scientific concepts that can be applied to the classroom. Each spread tells interesting facts about the animals and their lives; my favorite pages are the ones that discuss the spitting fish: "These fish have such a sneaky way of catching what they eat. They spit a stream of water that knocks insects off their feet!" I also really like the way the illustrations are done. They are two page spreads with the words in the illustrations. The way the landscape and the animals pop out of the book because of the layering and collages are just so neat.

I. Teaching Ideas: Scholastic has a great lesson plan for another one of Greg Tang's books that is very similar in concept; the lesson plan is for Math Fables, which is a counting book that also discusses the animals environments. After reading Math Fables Too: Making Science Count, you could start a class discussion about whether or not the class knows what a fable is. As a teacher you could ask your students to talk about the animals on the cover of the book and what the students know about them before you read the book to the class. You could have the students locate where the animals in the book live and make a giant floor map. Or "play out the numbers in the story with unifix cubes or another type of counting math manipulative." You could also assign a project for the students to make their own number book, maybe dealing with animals maybe not. The class could also work together and create an animal habbitat such as an ant farm or a butterfly garden. These are just a few ideas I found from the lesson plan built around the original Math Fables, there are plenty of other great ideas that can be applied to this book!

Counting Crocodiles

2008-02-24T12:40:00.001-08:00

A. Title: Counting Crocodiles

B. Author: Judy Sierra

C. Illustrator: Will Hillenbrand

D. Publisher: Voyager Books, Harcourt, Inc.

E. Genre: Picture Book, Fiction/Counting, Folktale

F. Reading Level: K-2/Primary

G. Summary: A clever little monkey lives in a lemon tree on an island in the middle of the Sillabobble Sea. Across the sea there is an island that has a banana tree! The little monkey uses her quick wit to out smart the hungry crocodiles that live in the surrounding water. She tricks them into creating a pathway across the water by counting them. On the copyright page, there is a note: "This story is based on Pan-Asian folktale in which a trickster animal (a monkey, a rabbit, or a mouse deer) persuades crocodiles or sharks to form a bridge over water, under the pretext of counting them." The illustrations are done in oil, oil pastel, watercolor, and gouache on vellum.

H. Response: I got this book in October or November at the math conference in Greensboro, NC and I absolutely love it. First of all the illustrations are phenomenal; the way the illustrator combines the media of oil, oil pastels, watercolor, and gouache on vellum create such breathtaking water/underwater pictures. In the story, the clever monkey counts the crocodiles in so many fun ways: crocs resting on rocks, building blocks, in a box, in polka-dots, juggling clocks, and the list goes on and on. The funny illustrations to go along with the strange things the crocodiles are doing makes this book very entertaining and interesting. Younger kids will love to see crocodiles in the water dressed in tuxedos playing violins, with big blond wigs, dressed up like Goldilocks, or sunbathing. This book also counts up from one to ten and then back down from ten to one. For younger elementary grades, this book could be used in numerous ways to aid classroom mathematics lessons.

I. Teaching Ideas: This book would be excellent to start off a lesson on counting and recognizing numerical order because the book counts up from one to ten and then back down from ten to one. After reading, one way to include Counting Crocodiles would be to draw or paint their own scenes full of ten animals. There is a lesson plan that goes along with a Dr. Suess counting book called Ten Apples Up On Top that could also work with Counting Crocodiles. Each student takes a paper plate and draws a self-portrait of themselves (or to apply it directly to the book, you could have the students draw their favorite animal, a crocodile, or maybe the monkey). Next, each student decides how many apples to balance on their head (or the students could draw bananas to go along with Counting Crocodiles). Once the student has picked how much fruit to balance on the head of their portrait, then they create the cutouts of the fruit to paste on the head. Once everyone is completed, as a class we can decide which self-portrait or animal-portrait will go where, so that the number of fruit is in order from smallest to greatest. There are so many little ways to modify this one lesson plan into working well with this book. The bottom line is that Counting Crocodiles has gorgeous and bright illustrations that can keep anyone interested, a great example of counting and numerical ordering, and is just overall fun. It is a great mathematical book addition for any lower level classroom.

Lost! A Story in String

2008-02-23T07:03:00.000-08:00

A. Title: Lost! A Story in String

B. Author: Paul Fleischman

C. Illustrator: C. B. Mordan

D. Publisher: Henry Holt and Company, New York

E. Genre: Picture Book, fiction - Informational Text

F. Reading Level: Grades 3+

G. Summary: During a storm, a grandmother tells her granddaughter a story about a young girl who gets lost in the woods while looking for her dog. The grandmother uses string to tell the story of how the young girl used her wits and whats available around her to help her survive in the snow. Using logical thinking, the young girl finds her dog and returns both of them homes safely. After the story, there are pages of informational text on how to create, with yarn, all the shapes the grandmother made while telling her granddaughter about the young, lost girl; the young girl in the story turns out to be the grandmother herself! There are step-by-step directions and visual pictures to teach you how to make the shapes. The illustrator, C. B. Mordan, follows in the footsteps of the illustrator for Joyful Noises and I am Phoenix in doing sketches for the illustrations. The illustrations in Lost! A Story in String are definitely hand sketches, but these are made using ink and are drawn onto a clayboard instead of drawn with pencils. This type of media allows for great shadow detail and dense forestry detail. Also, because everything is drenched in snow in the story, the contrast between the white, snow covered areas and the black ink of the forest are phenomenal.

H. Response: Overall, I really like Paul Fleischman's writing style. Everything he writes about can be applied in the classroom because he once considered becoming a history teacher. I loved Lost! A Story in String mostly because while I was growing up my friends and I always had a string playing "Cat's Cradle." The story itself is great as well. The little girl who gets lost is so smart and a great role model. She is grounded and thinks thoughtfully through all of the problems that occur while she is out searching for her dog. She never gets really scared or frustrated; she just takes one thing at a time until she reaches home. Not only does this book have great classroom applications, it also has great life skills: patience, hard work, logical thinking process, and never giving up.

I. Teaching Ideas: Lost! A Story in String can be connected to the classroom in quite a few ways for younger students. Students could learn, from the book and teacher instruction, how to make shapes out of string. Then, working in groups, individually, or as a whole class, the students could tell a story of their own using the yarn to make the pictures. Students could tell and show stories about themselves, their family, subjects in school, other books the class is reading, etc. The flexibility of the story telling with string shapes allows for the possibility of being applied to almost any subject. The book can also teach about never giving up and using your mind to its fullest capabilities, especially when in a dangerous situation such as getting lost in the woods.

Joyful Noises: Poems for Two Voices

2008-02-23T05:46:00.000-08:00

A. Title: Joyful Noises: Poems for Two Voices

B. Author: Paul Fleischman

C. Illustrator: Eric Beddows (Ken Nutt)

D. Publisher: Harper & Row, Publishers

E. Genre: Poetry

F. Reading Level: All ages, 9-12

G. Awards: Newbery Medal

H. Summary: This is a wonderful scientific thinking poetry book! Joyful Noises: Poems for Two Voices is a collection of poems about insects and their lives. The greatest part about this book is the fact that it is meant to be read aloud by two people. A great example from the book would be the poem "Honeybees." The two voices are the Queen Bee and the Worker Bee, and they show the great contrast between their daily activities and lives. Not only is this book extremely interesting and fun to read aloud, it has great facts about the insects the poems are about. Also included in the book are poems about grasshoppers, water striders, mayflies, book lice, moths, digger wasps, whirligig beetles, and more.

I. Response: I absolutely love Joyful Noises: Poems for Two Voices. Each poem was so unique and funny and educational. I believe that the poems in this book are free verse because this type of style gives Paul Fleischman the freedom he needs to create the two points of view (two voices) in each poem. My favorite poem in the book is called "Book Lice" and is about two book lice who meet and fall in love despite their different book tastes! Not only does this book have vast educational applications, it's just an overall fun read. I would absolutely recommend this book to teachers, future teachers, and everyone else. Another great thing about this book are the illustrations. The illustrations' media is definitely pencil sketches, but they're extremely detailed and really aid in the telling of the poems. I honestly have never seen such elaborate and gorgeous drawings, especially the illustrations of the outdoors and nature.

J. Teaching Ideas: There are so many different teaching possibilities that can be pulled from Joyful Noises: Poems for Two Voices. For younger students, Joyful Noises can be used as a fun way to introduce scientific concepts. The students can form groups, pick a poem, research the insect, and then orally present the insect research and perform the poem itself. can also be used as inspiration for writing exercises. Students can use these poems as a reference to create their own free verse poems or their own two voice poems. The class as a whole can make costumes to look the insects and put on a performance of the book for their parents or peers. This book can also be used in much older grades, such as those in middle school and high school. Again, you can use Paul Fleischman's writing style as a guide to write their own poetry. Comparing Joyful Noises: Poems for Two Voices and I Am Phoenix: Poems for Two Voices, another one of Paul's book of poems for two voices about birds, could be a great comparison essay prompt. Other essay prompts could come from Paul Fleischman's literature and poetry being compared to a variety of other writers. Like I said, there are numerous ways to apply Paul Fleischman's Joyful Noises: Poems for Two Voices to the classroom on a variety of grade levels.

Vera Vera - Free Verse Poem

2008-02-19T15:30:00.000-08:00

Never did I realize just how much of me was in my home.
Before the Russians, before the Japanese, before the Americans
The natural beauty of the Aleutian Islands is reflected in the Aleutians peoples.
With the Japanese spying and filtering onto the islands like seagulls,
We're ripped away from our homes by the government in search for a safer place.
Isn't safer supposed to come with food, dry shelter, and medical supplies?
Doesn't safer mean that the government won't forget about you when things get rough?
Day after day, we watch our community dwindle down with the cold and sickness.
Years of neglect happen before we're aloud to return home.
Dirt, ash, destruction, and pain are all I can see as I walk through what is left of home.
The wind blows through to bring in the salty smell of hope.
The Aleutian people are in their homelands once again.

Where I'm From

2008-02-18T09:43:00.001-08:00

I am from the ocean, from the Atlantic and the Gulf.
I am from the East Coast, from Pennsylvania down to Florida.
I am from the sandy shores, the calming blue sea of Wilmington.
I am from big family gatherings, and crystal clear blue eyes, from Tracy and Jeffrey and the Hartmans.
I am from the poor and the well educated.
From always be kind and education is the best tool we have in this world.
I am from Catholics who cherish their knowledge and educational institutes.
I am from the Irish and the Ukrainian, wedding soup and pierogies.
From the time my mother’s strength passed away, to the many times my father was transferred, to the reconciliation of my estranged brother.I am from the photos cluttering up the mountain house walls, from Massachusetts, New Jersey, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, and good old Shamokin, Pennsylvania.

Moses

2008-02-03T13:24:00.000-08:00

A. Title: Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom

B. Author: Carole Boston Weatherford

C. Illustrator: Kadir Nelson

D. Publisher: Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children, 2006

E. Genre: Picture Book

F. Age Range: ages 5-8

G. Awards: Caldecott Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Award

H. Summary: In the book Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, Harriet Tubman is born into slavery and aches for freedom. She listens to the guiding voice of God, who leads her to freedom in Philadelphia, PA. In the process of becoming free, Harriet leaves her whole world and family behind in the south. She soon realizes how much she misses her family;Harriet would give her life to have the rest of her family free. She once again lets God guide her to his church doubling as a stop on the underground railroad. With this resource, Harriet returns back to the south and frees her family! Soon she realizes that her calling was to continuously return to the south and free as many slaves as she could. This picture book was written to be Harriet Tubman's spiritual journey of God guiding her to freedom and the freedom of others. The last page of this book has an author's note that tells about the true life of Harriet Tubman.

I. Response: The abolishment of slavery and the Civil Rights Movement are huge parts of our nation's history, and this book does an excellent job of combining excellent illustrations with a well told story. In my opinion, the illustrations are the best things about this book. Of course the story isn't too bad either! The materials used to create the illustrations are not listed in the book, but I love the effect they have. The colors are so rich, and the pictures seem to have an amazing depth to them; almost like what you're reading the book, you're looking into Harriet Tubman's world. I also like how the author took the spiritual journey of Harriet and connected it fully at the end by giving Harriet Tubman's biographical information. The book is written to easily be incorporated into lesson plans dealing with the Civil Rights Movement, slavery, and the life's of the individuals who helped to shape the free nation we live in today.

J. Teaching Ideas: This would be an excellent book to introduce or to incorporate slavory, civil rights, and underground railroad topics. Education World's website has a lesson plan for grades 3-5, Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, that includes a internet scavenger hunt and some other activities. The lesson plan's keywords are Underground Railroad, Black History, abolitionist, Harriet Tubman, and slavery. I like this activity because it incorporates the learning of history with advancing computer skills. The bottom of this lesson plan has excellent internet resources including The Internet African American History Challenge, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and National Geographic's The Underground Railroad. The options for incorporating Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom into classroom learning, activities, and projects are pretty broad. The Educator's Reference Desk also has lesson plans dealing with these topics, plus many others. One of those lessons is for the Kindergarten grade level and is called Who Was Harriet Tubman?. This lesson helps younger children start to recognize the issues of slavery and to learn who Harriet Tubman was and how she helped many slaves escape.

What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?

2008-02-02T07:37:00.001-08:00

A. Title: What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?
B. Author: Jenkins, Steve
C. Illustrator: Page, Robin
D. Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003
E. Genre: Picture Book
F. Age Range: Grades k-3
G. Awards: 2004 Caldecott Honor Book

H. Summary: What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? is very entertaining and educational book. This picture book goes over what some animals do with their ears, eyes, mouths, noses, feet, and tails in a very interactive way. The creative pictures of the animals in this book creates a very positive interaction and guessing game with the readers. The last page in the book also offers additional information on every animal in the book!

I. Response: I really enjoyed this scientific picture book as a future teacher and just for enjoyment! This book is sure to grab the attention of elementary age school children, grades k-3 at least. The children and readers are able to have fun while learning knew things and putting their brains to work. Before the author reveals what the animals use the designated body part for, there is a page that shows numerous animals and names a specific body part. I love this aspect of What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? because it opens up all kinds of great discussion opportunities. Children reading this book are able to think through the information given to them and come up with their own ideas on how the animals work. The book also describes what the animals actually use the named body part for. The end of this picture book also has an excellent couple of resource pages. Each animal discussed in the book has a paragraph of information on them in the back. I think this book has the power to get younger children interested in science and animals, and to potentially spark an interest in science that may last much longer than just while reading What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?. Another part of this book that I absolutely love is the illustrations. The illustrations are made out of cut-paper collage and have a layered quality to them. The images have a 3-D effect and almost seem to be popping out of the book because of the layered collage. The different colored and textured papers really added to the overall effect.

I. Teaching Ideas: This books can be applied in the classroom environment in a number of different ways. As a teacher, you could use this book to help introduce a project about animals, characteristics, classifications, etc. The Scholastic website has a large variety of lesson plan ideas, including many that are fine tuned to certain children's literature. The link above takes you directly to a lesson plan entitled "A Planet Full of Animals." This particular lesson plan is aimed at children around the kindergarten age. The objectives are to observe that various kinds of animals have similarities and differences and to sort and classify various kinds of animals. Another lesson plan, available from Scholastic, called "Activity Plan Mixed Ages: Animal Sculptures" combines animals, creativity, and imagination. Another idea for classroom application would be to allow each student to pick an animal, maybe from the book maybe not, and for them to do a project all about the unique survival features of their animal. There are so many possibilities for projects to go along with this book. Furthering investigation similar to that in What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? leads to development in the child's scientific observational skills.