The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo is a story about a china rabbit named Edward who was spoiled, and did not know how to love anyone but himself.  He gets lost and travels to many different walks of life.  On his journey he learns to love and appreciate things and people.  He becomes wiser, and realizes the real struggles people go through.

This is one of my favorite children's books, now that I have read it.  It has such a good theme, and meaning for children to learn when they are young.

This is a fictional story.

Kate DiCamillo:  She has written many amazing children's books in her lifetime, and also also won an award for them. (Newbery Medal in 2004).  she began writing books when she was 29, but had always loved to write.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/kate-dicamillo

Class activities:

Children love toys!  Knowing that this story is about a china rabbit,  a teacher could help their students make puppet rabbits in class.  Not only will they love them as stuffed animals, with these puppets you and the students would be able to reenact some of the scenes from the book.

Swamps of Sleethe

Swamps of Sleethe: Poems From Beyond the Solar System (2010) by Jack Prelutsky is a book made up of nineteen Science Fiction poems, and it is about fictitious planets.  These planets are not happy ones.  They are scary with freezing climates, and bugs so big, they can eat you, water that shrinks you, and sadness that takes you over.

At the end of the book, it describes how the human race is cruel and greedy, brutal and unlawful.

These poems have high-level vocabulary, so this is best suited for higher level grades.

This book also has provided pronunciations for the words that students do not, and will not know.

 About the Author:

Jack Prelutsky:  He has written more than 50 poetry collections in his life time, some of which include Nightmares:Poems to trouble your sleep (1976), It's Halloween (1977).  These among many others have been written by him in the last several years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Prelutsky

Class activities:

Because The vocabulary words are difficult in the book of poems, you can have your students unscramble the planet names that are anagrams of words and phrases that describe the planets.

Have students write a short poem that is similar about one of the eight planets in our own solar system, based on the real characteristics.

http://packjubileejackprelutsky.weebly.com/the-swamps-of-sleethe.html

Junie B. Jones and The Stupid Smelly Bus

 

Junie B. Jones and The Stupid Smelly Bus by Barbara Park is a fantastic children's book and one of many in a series of Junie B. Jones stories.  This is one of my favorite children's books, and favorite out of the series.

Junie does not want to ride the bus on the first day of school.  she heard scary stories about what happens to little kids when they ride the bus from her two friends.  So, after school instead of of riding home on the bus she hides in the teachers closet, and waits to everyone is gone.  Junie then wanders the school, and then was found by the janitor.

Barbara Parks was born on April 21, 1947 and has won an award for the books she has written.  She is the author of the Junie B. Jones series, and has also written Mike Harte was Here, and The Kid in the Red Jacket.  The award she won is the Dorothy Canfield Fisher award.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Park

Junie B. Jones is a fictional story book.

 Class activities:

Using this book in the classroom, you can have the students study the behavior of Junie.  While they read the book, you can have them list her behaviors, and words and phrases.  The students can then retell the story and act it out.

The students can also compare and contrast their own behaviors to Junie's

Junie is a very witty and adventurous girl.  Children will love to read not only this book
but the entire series!

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/junie-b-jones-lesson-plan

Who was Walt Disney?

Who was Walt Disney by Whitney Stewart is a children's biography about the life of the man who changed children's lives forever.  It start from when he was born, and how mischievous he was when he was young, to him be the class clown of his school. The author tells us the author tells us his journey to fame, and what he had to do to achieve it!

I think this is a great book for children, especially the ones who love Disney movies, and Disney World! not many children know about the man who created all the magic that his for example, Peter Pan, and the Disney Princesses.  

Whitney Stewart always wanted to be a writer.  Even as early as elementary school she started writing stories.  At fifteen, she submitted children's stories to publishers, and traveled to other parts of the world at seventeen to pursue her dreams. To the Lion Throne, and The 14th Dalai Lama were her first two children's books that made her career.

http://www.whitneystewart.com/author.htm

Activities:

I think showing a class some of the first Mickey Mouse shows, and the most recent ones, and letting them compare and contrast them, is a great and fun activity for them to learn the history, and how drastic things have changed in so many years.

George vs. George

George Vs. George: The American Revolution as Seen from Both Sides is a non-fiction children's book by. Rosalyn Schanzer.  This is story the story of both George's.  It explains how similar they really were even though they were enemies in the revolutionary war.  It explains both of their sides, as some people do not know this.  It tells you everything from the Boston Tea Party to the Boston Massacre.   It is a great read for children when learning about their first president!

http://www.powells.com/biblio/2-9781426300424-1

Rosalyn Schanzer who writes about the adventures in History seems to have many adventures of her own, including seeing lions and elephants and kayaking with whales.  This may be what gives her the inspiration to write and illustrate her stories.  She began to write in 1993.

http://www.rosalynschanzer.com/BioPage.html

Activities in the class:

Children love to make treats in the class.  So since this story mentions the Boston Tea Party, I thought that making tea, and bringing in cookies, so that the students could have their own tea party like the British do. 

I also thought that we could make our own British and American flags in the class too. This way students will be able to see the differences in the flags.

 

 

 

I think this would be a great story to read to a class.  It explains things in a very simple way.  I cannot wait to teach my class about their presidents.  It is a really fun topic to teach and learn about!

The Diary of Anne Frank

The Diary of Anne Frank is one of my favorite books that I have read.  This was written by a young Jewish girl named Anne.  She is writing about her time in hiding from the Nazis during the Holocaust.  She, her family and others are hidden in an attic for some time. Unfortunately they are found, and taken to a concentration camp, where she later dies. 

This is such a great story for children to read.  When I read it, I was in middle school, and I fell in love with it.  This was one of the first times learning about the Holocaust and the terror of what it was.

This Diary of Anne Frank is known as a memoir.

Anne Frank  was born in 1929.  She wrote this Diary while she was in hiding, and spent over two years in the attic in Amsterdam.  Her diary was first published in 1947, and is one of the most powerful memoirs of the Holocaust. After Anne and her family were arrested by the Nazis in 1945, she died nine months later of typhus at the Bergan-Belsen concentration camp when she was fifteen.

http://www.carolhurst.com/subjects/biographies.html

Anne was such a brave girl, and should be and is an idol for many young girls and boys in the world.  This book shows young people that they too are strong, and capable of what ever they want.  even though she died in the Holocaust, she died a person that so many look up to!

Activities in the classroom:

If you have ever seen the movie Freedom Writers you would know that in the true story the teacher took her students to the Holocaust museum.  In this museum you get a picture of a person who was in the Holocaust, and when the tour is over you find out if they died or survived.  This may be hard for young students to do, because no one wants to know if someone has died or not.  But, I thought that if I taught this lesson to a class I would do something along the same line.

I would find individual pictures and names of survivors and give them to students.  They would then have time to find out their stories (on computers).  At the end of the class, I would ask what each student found out, and to tell the class one interesting fact about the survivor. 

Another thing that I might do is to have my students keep their own diaries for the time we stay on the lesson.  They would write in it every day, and tell me anything they wanted to. They could say what they did that day, how their day was, or even what they plan to do for the weekend.  This will help them know why Anne wrote her Diary.

Personal Response:
Like I have said, I love this book and think that it is a fantastic choice for students to read!

Balloons over Broadway

Balloons over Broadway tells the story of a young girl who goes to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  She was amazed by the balloons.  So this is her fascinating story of the man (Tony Sarg) who created them.

About the Author:

Melissa Sweet has Illustrated almost 100 books.  From Board books to Pictures, and nonfiction books too!  Balloons over Broadway won many awards including; 2012 Sibert Medal and many more.

Class Activities:

Children can make puppets in the classroom that resemble the ones in the story.  Making puppets is a fun way for the children to learn more arts and crafts, and to actually feel like they are in the story themselves!


Citations:

http://www.curiouscitydpw.com/2012/11/02/balloons-over-broadway-puppets/

http://melissasweet.net/?page_id=2

http://www.kidsvt.com/vermont/book-review-balloons-over-broadway-the-true-story-of-the-puppeteer-of-macys-parade/Content?oid=2136433

Little Women

Little Women is about  the four March sisters as they struggle to overcome poverty and grow into proper young ladies. As they grow up, they bicker like normal sisters, but they still know that they have to keep their family together for when their father returns home from the war.



About the Author:
 Louisa May Alcott was born in 1832 and she died in 1888.  She was known as an American novelist.  She is known for Little Women and Little Men.



This book is considered an Historical Fiction.

Activities:

Re-enact a scene from little women in small groups.

Prepare food dishes from the time line of Little Women, like "Blancmange"

Bibliography:

"Little Women." - Book Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.

"Louisa May Alcott." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.

Little House on the Prairie

Little House on the Prairie is about the Ingalls family.  They travel from the "Big Woods" to out west in the Indian Territory to find new land to settle on.  This book tells the story of their journey, and the things they had to face while traveling. The end up settling just south of Independence, Kansas.

This book is considered an Historical Fiction.

About the Author:

Laura Ingalls Wilder  was born in 1867 and died in 1957. During her life she wrote many books including Little House on the Prairie and Little House in the Woods, and many more.  Her inspiration for writing was due to her own childhood.  When she was young her family, along with her settled on land called the "Indian Territory."  They did not always stay there.  They moved from place to place as she grew up.  When she was fifteen she began her first teaching job.  She married Almanzo Wilder when she was eighteen, and had a daughter (Rose) in 1886.

Activities:

Pioneer Craft:
Homemade Ink from Berries

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of ripe berries (blueberries, cherries, blackberries, strawberries, elderberries, raspberries, etc.
1/2 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Tools:

measuring cups and spoon
strainer
bowl

wooden spoon

baby food jar

Directions:

1. Fill the strainer with the berries and hold it over a bowl.

2. Using the rounded back of a wooden spoon, crush the berries against the strainer so that the berry juice strains into the bowl.

3. Keep adding berries until most of their juice has been strained out and only pulp remains.

4. Add the salt and vinegar to the berry juice. The vinegar helps the ink to retain its color and the salt keeps it from getting moldy.

5. If the berry ink is too thick, a tablespoon of water.

6. Store in baby food jar.

7. Only make a small amount of berry ink at a time and when not in use, keep it tightly covered. 

http://www.easyfunschool.com/article1337.html

Homemade Butter: 

Ingredients:

• Heavy cream
• A Jar with a lid

Preparation:

1. Fill a jar halfway with heavy cream (baby food jars work great for small batches), and screw the lid on tight.
2. Shake the jar up and down until the cream thickens and begins to stick together.
3. Then, open the jar, and pour any remaining liquid into another container; this is the buttermilk. Everything else is butter.
4. Knead the butter under cold running water for several minutes to work out any remaining buttermilk (otherwise the butter will spoil quickly).
5. Knead in salt, if desired.
6. Refrigerate.

Bibliography:

 "Homemade Butter in a Jar." About.com Frugal Living. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.

"EasyFunSchool - Pioneer Craft - Homemade Ink from Berries." EasyFunSchool - Pioneer Craft - Homemade Ink from Berries. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.

"ByGrace." : Book Review: Little House on the Prairie. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.

"Topic Page:." Wilder, Laura Ingalls (1867. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.

Three Little Pigs

This is a classic children's story.  it is about Three Little Pigs who built their own houses.  One was made out of straw.  One was made out of  sticks, and the other made of brick.   One day a wolf who loved to eat pigs came to the first pigs house, and blew down the straw and ate him.  Then he went the the stick house, and did the same.  When he went to the brick house he could not blow it down, so climbed up the chimney, but the third pig was sly, and got the wolf with kettle water!

This book is considered a Fairtyale.


Activities:

Personal Response:

Like I said, this is a classic!  i cannot wait to read this story to my children, because there are so many different versions of it, along with movies, activities, and so much more!

Cite Sources:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/stories/fairytale/threelittlepigs/

How to Train Your Dragon

How to Train a Dragon is a Fantasy book based on a young boy named Hiccup who happens to be the son of a Viking.  Yet, he is short, weak, and scrawny.  He was required to go on a raid on the dragon cave.  This marks the start of the viking initiation ceremony.  The dragon that Hiccup brings back is the most innocent, tiniest dragon, with no teeth.  Vikings in the village doubt him and his strength of a dragon trainer.  The Vikings of Berk go up against and ancient sea dragon , and they cannot seem to conquer him, Hiccup and Toothless, defeat the dragon, and prove everyone that he and toothless are useful and strong!

About the Author:  Cressida Cowell lives in London with her husband Simon.She was born in London on April 15th 1966.  When she was a child she loved to draw and to write stories.  She attended school at Oxford and studied English.  she also went to Brighton and St. Martin's where she studied illustrations.

Discussion Questions:

1.  How did Hiccup meet his dragon?

2.  What was the dragon's name?
a.  Sweetums
b.  Tootless
c.  Babyface
d.  Sugarlips

3.Why does Hiccup feel left out in his community?




Comparison Paper:
Relate this story to another that the student has also read within the school year.  Compare and Contrast them.




Personal Response:
I really enjoyed reading this story.  i think it leaves a good message for children.  No matter who you are, you can do what ever you put your mind to!




Cite Sources:


http://webuploadcontent.next.ecollege.com/pub/content/213266f3-0a76-4d80-af9c-cd97135fbc71/EDU337_syllabus.pdf

Too Many Tamales!

Too Many Tamales is a great family story, especially for Christmas time. It goes into the strength of family, and how you will always help one another when in need, and even though you might have done something wrong, no matter what your family is going to forgive you.


This story is about a young girl and her mother who begin to make tamales.  until she spots her mothers diamond ring, and tries it on. "only for a minute".  she then loses it.  Her and her three cousins join together in order to find the ring that she believes are in the tamales, and they eat all 24 of the tamales, with no sight of the ring.

Author:Gary Soto
Interest level: k-2
Genre: Comedy/ Humor

Reading Response Questions:

1.  Have you ever tried on your parents jewelry, lost it, and had to find away to get it back?

2.What happened after they ate all the tamales, and still did not find the ring?

3.  Have you ever made tamales?  if not, do you have your own family tradition for Christmas?

Citations:

"TEACHERS." Scholastic Teachers. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2013.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/too-many-tamales