467 Writers

Publishing on the Sidewalks

2011-11-13T07:30:00.000-08:00

After collecting or creating quotations, students published their work on the sidewalks around campus:

Final Project: Lesson Plan - The Transition to Spring!

2011-06-04T22:34:00.000-07:00

Age group: Elementary school students, grade 3 and grade 4; ages 8 years – 10 years old

Objectives of lesson plan: The goal of this plan is to give students a sense of spring weather. This plan would be ideal for a transition between winter and spring, between the months of February and March. Students should be able to identify different variables concerning Groundhog’s Day, various insects and animals that are present during the spring, and weather patterns throughout the season.

Length of lesson plan: 3 hours minimum. Lesson plan would be good for early morning activities before lunch or afternoon activities before school is dismissed. A break during the session, whether it be lunch or a short 10 minute break, may be required to keep children alert and attentive. Teachers should plan to use 3 or more hours for the lesson plan in order to read all 3 books and have the class discussions.

Materials Needed: Groundhog Weather School book

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs book with CD-Rom and Movie

In the Tall, Tall Grass book

Barbecue meatballs, pancakes/syrup and juice for a snack, in reference to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Paper plates, forks, cups and napkins

Students should sit in a group setting, possibly in a circle or different shape. The objective is to help students transition from winter to spring and get them thinking about the activities that may take place during this season. There are some non-fictional facts read in Groundhog Weather Day that can be used for testing questions to evaluate the students' understanding.

Books: All of the books used for this lesson will be picture books. Two thirds of the book selection is picture books with extensive texts, using more detail and information in the stories. Third and fourth grade students are at ages when transitioning from picture books to chapter books and novels are important.

The first book that will be read during the lesson plan is Groundhog Weather School by Joan Holub. The book is fiction, but contains interesting, factual information on Groundhog’s Day. I really enjoyed reading this book because they text is laid out in a comic-book-like design, and provides a plethora of information. The book discusses, in an entertaining manner, the meaning of Groundhog’s Day, and why it is vital to the transition of seasons winter and spring. The illustrations are fun and energetic, and the book is sure to keep children entertained while learning. The length of reading takes between 15 and 25 minutes.

After reading this book, the teacher should ask the following questions to the class in a group setting. These questions will assist students in thinking about the objective of the lesson.

Discussion Questions for Groundhog Weather Day:

1) What day does Groundhog’s Day fall on? Hint: It is in February.

2) What is the significance of Groundhog’s Day?

3) How accurate are groundhog weather predictions?

4) What does it mean if the groundhog sees its shadow on Groundhog’s Day? What if it does not see its shadow?

5) Would you rather the groundhog see its shadow or not? Why?

• The questions should evaluate the understanding of Groundhog’s Day and its relevance to the spring season. Questions and answers will take an estimated 15 minutes.

The second book for the lesson is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett. This is a wonderful read that has sold over three million copies since its publication. This fictional book is fun and keeps readers anticipating what will happen to the weather in town Chewandswallow next, especially if the students enjoy eating. The book is vital to the plan because although it is fictional, the weather patterns discussed in the book are very similar to various weather patterns during spring (rain, thunderstorms, sunsets and tornados). The weather that comes from the sky is replaced with food, making the story relatively funny and interesting.

To switch up the style of reading, the teacher has the option to play the CD-Rom attached with the book. Students can listen along as the narrator reads to give students experience with different styles of books. The estimated reading time with a narrated CD-Rom is 30 minutes.

After reading, another discussion will take place.

Discussion Questions for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs:

1) What is the name of the imaginary town in the story told by grandpa?

2) What were some of the foods that rained from the sky? What is your favorite food in the book?

3) What season was it when eggs, toast, butter and jelly and orange juice fell from the sky? How do you know it was this season?

4) What are some recent weather events that were depicted in the book (possibly thunderstorms, tornados, tsunamis, etc.)? When do these weather storms typically take place?

5) How has the community that experienced the weather events been affected? Both in the book and reality?

• The questions should evaluate students’ understanding of major events caused by weather, such as floods, thunderstorms, tornados and tsunamis. A clear understanding should be apparent- these events typically take place during storm season- in the spring. Discussion should last up to 20 minutes.

The third book for the lesson is In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming. I really enjoyed reading this book because of the bright, beautiful illustrations. The pictures look very vibrant and make the reader thing of spring. This is also a good book for this lesson because it discusses different animals and insects that can often be spotted during the spring season that students can identify – caterpillars, rabbits, deer and hummingbirds. It is also a good ending to the reading in the lesson plan- it has shorter texts and the illustrations are enjoyable. The book will take 15 minutes to read.

The last discussion session will take place for 15 minutes.

Questions for In the Tall, Tall Grass:

1) What are some of your favorite animals or insects discussed in the book?

2) Where can you find a caterpillar, ant or bee?

3) What activities can you do in the grass?

4) What are some other animals you may find in the grass?

5) What seasons of the year does grass tend to grow high?

• These questions are meant to help students understand the transition from spring to early summer. Students should be able to identify insects and animals, primarily by picture.

The order of reading the books is vital to the lesson plan. Groundhog Weather School should be read first because Groundhog’s Day takes place in February. The book portrays the transition from winter to spring. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs should be read second because it helps to identify many weather events that take place during the spring. In the Tall, Tall Grass should be read last to get students thinking about late spring and early summer weather. It should also help students identify various animals and insects that appear often in these seasons.

After the stories and discussions, the teacher should ask for 2 helpers to help him/her pass out napkins, plates, cups and forks. The snack for the students is barbecued meatballs (that can be cooked in a Crockpot overnight the night prior), orange juice and pancakes and syrup. Small portions are recommended- this is meant to be a snack. Over consumption of these foods may cause a stomach ache. Mini pancakes can be purchased for about $3 at any grocery store, as well as orange juice and syrup. The food will get students thinking about the second book read, and how the people of Chewandswallow may have felt when these foods fell from the sky. While students are eating, the teacher should play the movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Students can evaluate the movie compared to the book afterward:
- What were some main differences between the book and video?
- Which style of book did you enjoy best, hardcopy and audio or video? Why?
- What were some of your favorite parts?

. The movie will also give students experience to alternate ways of reading. The total time for snack and the movie is 1.5 hours.

Ms. Rubinstein's Beauty--Angela McKenzie

2011-05-18T21:47:00.000-07:00

Ms. Rubinstein's Beauty

Ms. Rubinstein's Beauty is all about a woman who is very beautiful in every aspect except she has a beard. However, since Ms. Rubinstein has a beard no one sees her beauty until she meets Mr. Pavlov who no one notices because of his elephant trunk. They see each other's beauty and fall in love.

I think this is a very cute book to introduce to children. Although the title may appeal to girls I think the book can appeal to both females and males because of the characters being both male and female but also the circus theme usually appeals to all children. On top of appealing to both genders the book sends a great message in a fun and creative manner. It lets children know that it is ok to be different. I love that it encourages children to like people who are different and gives children who feel out cast a sense of hope that they are wonderful people and will be noticed and that they can fall in love too. The illustrations aren't amazing but they are very eye catching because of all the reds and blacks the illustrator uses.

I think this book would be ok for a classroom but not my first choice. It is a very serious book and may lose the attention of some of the boys because the whole first half of the book talks about Ms. Pavlov. Also, I think that if you use this book with the wrong age group children won't be able to relate to the charters because they are so old. Nonetheless, the book does send a very important message to children that I really like. So, in my opinion I would have this in my class library and encourage children to pick it up but probably not use it as a class during story time.

Montserrat, Pep. Ms. Rubinstein's beauty . New York, N.Y.: Sterling Pub., 2006. Print.

How I Became A Pirate--Angela McKenzie

2011-05-18T21:13:00.000-07:00

How I Became A Pirate

I chose to review this book because I actually considered using it with a class a while back. The book is about a boy who goes to the beach and meets a group of pirates while he is there. The pirates invite him to go along on an adventure to bury their treasure.

I like this book because it is just a fun read. It's very relate-able for children because it talks about all kinds of things that kids do in everyday life. It also talks about all the things kids wish they did not have to do like brush their teeth or eat their carrots. On top of that it lets kids use their imagination as they learn all about how to be a pirate. I don't know how much learning a child would get from just reading the book but an adult could definitely guide their learning by talking about the scenarios in the book. For example, the adult could talk about why we have to eat our carrots and brush our teeth. So overall I think it is a great book to introduce to children just for fun and to get them reading and using their imagination but probably not a lot of real learning going on from this book so I probably wouldn't try to make this into a unit but possibly use it as part of unit or theme. I also think the pirate theme would be useful as part of a unit to draw in boys' attention.

Long, Melinda, and David Shannon. How I became a pirate . San Diego: Harcourt, 2003. Print.

Pirates Don't Change Diapers--Angela McKenzie

2011-05-18T20:58:00.000-07:00

Pirates Don't Change Diapers

I chose to read Pirates Don't Change Diapers because I really enjoyed the book How I became a Pirate. I must say I was disappointed in this book. It was funny and fun but it was not as exciting as the first book at all. I think children would enjoy reading the book if hey had already read the first book. I say this because the first book really introduces the pirates and tells how Jeremy meets the pirates and becomes one. Without the background I do don't think the story would be as fun to read. It's all about a kid whose mother leaves him home to babysit his sister. While he is babysitting his pirate friends show up to look for their treasure. However, they end up waking up the baby. This means that the pirates have to help babysit before they can find the treasure. Through the book the boy is teaching the pirates how to babysit. They use a lot of play on words to add humor. Like when the pirates think that babysitting means sitting on a baby. I did really like this aspect of the book because it would be great to teach kids about how words can have different meanings. However, there really was not a suspenseful adventure throughout the story like there was in the first book.

Long, Melinda, and David Shannon. Pirates don't change diapers . Orlando, Fla.: Harcourt, 2007. Print.

Kibitzers and Fools: Tales My Zayda Told Me--Angela McKenzie

2011-05-18T20:56:00.000-07:00

Kibitzers and Fools: Tales My Zayda Told Me

I chose to read this book simply because it looked fun and I had never heard of it before. This is a book with 13 separate stories that were supposedly told to him by his grandfather who spoke Yiddish. Each story as a funny but true moral at the end.

To say the least I absolutely loved this book. Every story is humorous with an eye catching picture. On top of this the book teaches you new Yiddish words in each story. At the end of the book it has a glossary of all the Yiddish words and their meanings that you learned in the book.

Yiddish is such a fun and silly sounding language that I think kids would love trying to learn the words and use them. On top of that it points out some Yiddish words that we already use in the English language. Even more the book shows what it means to have a moral to a story and some of the pages teach valuable life lessons like how to read a thermometer. Overall, I think this would be a great book to use in a class room both as a group read and an individual read.

Taback, Simms. Kibitzers and fools: tales my zayda (grandfather) told me. New York: Viking, 2005. Print.

Jungle Song-Angela McKenzie

2011-05-18T20:54:00.001-07:00

Jungle Song

I chose to read Jungle Song because I really like music and I think music is great to use in the classroom. This is a children's book about a little tapir who goes on an adventure through the jungle listening to the beat of the jungle. The entire book except for the begging and end are in song.

I enjoyed reading this book. This book is a great opportunity for children to learn about all the different creatures in the jungle or rainforest. Making learning into a song and adventure allows children to learn without even realizing they are learning. I thought that the illustrator also did a great job at including pictures of each animal on every page. The illustrations were fun to look at and try to find each animal the song is talking about. Another thing I really enjoyed about this book was that it had an underlying moral that we should not wonder away from our parents and also that our mothers love us very much.

You could do so many activities with this book. It would be easy to create a unit around this book. You could teach the class the song. Use the book to introduce different creatures in the jungle. You could find all kinds of crafts to go with the book. You could even have the children write a song about what the song of their “jungle” sounds like. Overall, I think this would be an excellent book for the classroom but it would have to be read as a group because there are a lot of semi-complicated words and children may not understand the the book is a song unless you explain it to them or sing them the book.

Moss, Miriam. Jungle song . New ed. London: Frances Lincoln, 2005. Print.

Holes- Stefanie Dimofski

2011-05-18T20:31:00.000-07:00

Holes- by: Louis Sachar

Summary: The book, Holes,by Louis Sachar is about a young boy named Stanley Yelnets and his endeavors at a juvenile delinquent camp. Stanley is unjustly accused of a crime and sent off to Camp Green Lake in order for him to be disciplined. The disciplining at this camp includes all the young boys having to dig huge holes in the ground. Stanly believes that he is at the camp due to his bad luck, which is from a family curse dating back to his great- grandfather. Stanley begins to realize that the Warden at the camp is actually having the boys dig holes because she is looking for something. As the story goes on, Stanley makes friends with a guy named Zero, and together they overcome the powers of the warden. Eventually Stanley lifts his family's curse and he and Zero serve justice to the campers of Camp Green Lake.

Review: Growing up, Holes, was definitely one of my favorite books. I thought that it had all the great elements to make a story and had plenty of action, drama, and relationships that were tested. After re-reading this book, I definitely was able to pick up on some more less detailed parts of the book which I normally would not have in the past. I think that the book nicely blends the past in with the present and the story truly is written well to tie in Stanley's family curse with the present day time and the location of the camp. I was really impressed at how well written the plot was and how much sense everything made in terms of Stanley's great- grandfather and everything in between. I feel as though even minor details such as the onions and the healing powers of them, to the yellow spotted lizards, all had a proper place within this book.

Throughout this book I noticed a few themes that struck me as very important. The first was the truth within friendships. I believe that Stanley and Zero were such an odd pair of friends at first, but as they struggle with one another throughout the book, their friendship truly makes sense. They are definitely one another's support system and could not have survived without one another. I believe that this book allows kids to realize what a true friend should be and how much one should be able to rely on that friend. I believe that in a classroom setting, it would be beneficial to use this idea of friendship and point out qualities in a good or bad friend. A bad friend example, would be the character X-ray. Students would be able to write out good qualities in which they are looking for within a friend and maybe base some of these qualities even off of Stanly or Zero.

Another theme in which I noticed was how important history was within the book. There are so many stories tied into one and they all build off one another. It is important that Stanly knows these stories from his great-grandfathers past in order to help him in the present. This sense of history also ties in with the idea of fate and how Stanley is destined to go to this camp and break the family curse. Reading this book now made me pick up on some more minor details of the past within Stanley's life and I was able to draw into deeper connections between the stories being told from the past and the present story in which I was reading.

I believe that this book could be used for an older elementary school classroom and even be read by middle school aged children who could analyze the text a little more thoroughly. There could be many activities done with this book and as a class students could compare this book to other folk-tales and analyze the reality of these folk tales and the idea of the Yelnets curse. I also think it would be interesting to see how if we as a class changed parts of the folk tales, how it would affect Stanley throughout the book. For example, if Stanley didn't know certain parts of stories he had heard of his great-grandfather, would he still be successful in breaking the curse? Overall, the story can be analyzed and would provide for an enjoyable read and great discussion within a classroom.

Sachar, Louis. Holes. Turtleback, 2003. Print.

So Far from Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl- Gillian M.

2011-05-18T17:47:00.000-07:00

Summary: Mary Driscoll is a 14 year-old girl living in Ireland in 1847 during the potato famine with her parents. She grew up hearing stories about America and the wonderful opportunities there. Mary finally gets the chance to go to America when her Aunt and older sister (both of whom live in America) sent her a ticket. After almost a month long voyage to America alone, Mary lands in America and soon realizes the hard work she must endure in an overcrowded cotton mill to raise enough money to send her parents over to America so her entire family can be together again.

Review: Mary Driscoll has bittersweet feelings about leaving the only home she has ever known in Skibbereen, Ireland. While she realizes Ireland is not a good place to be because of the famine and the increasing poverty, she does not want to leave her parents in such a bad position. After receiving an invitation and ticket to come to America from her Aunt, Mary’s mother decides it would be best for her to go. Mary gets on a boat for about a month and finally arrives in Boston. Mary’s sister is a housekeeper for a rich family in Lowell, Massachusetts and gets Mary a job as a spinner in a cotton mill nearby. Mary is happy she is somewhat independent and is not just cleaning for a rich family all day. Mary works hard so she can eventually raise enough money for her parents to join her in America.

I would recommend this novel for grades three to five. I was first drawn to this series because it involved history which one of my areas of concentration. This series has diaries for many girls from different time periods, such as the Civil War, Trail of Tears, and the Industrial Period. A downside of this book is that it is told from a girls’ perspective, which may be hard to encourage boys in this age rage to read. Besides this, I found Mary’s diary very informative about the time period and gave good insight into the struggles that immigrants faced when first coming to America. In Mary’s case, many of her co-workers in the factory disliked the Irish because they worked for less money which caused the owner to hire more and worsen the working conditions so he could make a larger profit.

If I were a teacher, I would recommend this book for my history class, or any book in the series depending on what material we were learning. Although it is not a real diary it does contain many facts about the time period in the story, and even pictures from the time period in the back. For example, Lowell, Massachusetts was actually the center of textile manufacturing in 1847. I would also take the time to discuss discrimination with this novel in the class. I could use examples from the text and discuss stereotypes Mary’s coworkers had about her before even getting to know her. Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I found the diary entries made it easy to read.

Citation:

Denenberg, Barry. So Far from Home: the Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl. New York: Scholastic, 1997. Print.

Second book review: Holes by Louis Sachar Maleah O'Neal

2011-05-18T09:57:00.000-07:00

For the second book review, I chose to read Holes by Louis Sachar. I read this novel when I was in fifth grade, but I was not very fond of it. My objective with reading the novel for the book review was to see if I understood it better and if I enjoyed reading it as an adult.

Stanley Yelnats is the main character in the novel. He is falsely accused of stealing a pair of shoes that were donated by a basketball legend to a celebrity auction, when in reality, the pair of shoes mysteriously fell from the sky. Stanley is given a choice of sentences for his "crime" - to either go to jail, or go to bootcamp, Camp Green Lake. Stanley chose to attend camp, where he is directed by the warden to dig holes every day that are 5 feet wide and 5 feet deep. The book details Stanley getting to know other inmates and getting used to the dreadful work life, but he is suspicious of the warden's directing. Although it is said that the holes help to build character within the camp inmates, Stanley believes the warden has other motives- to find something. The book is based around Stanley unraveling the mystery of the holes, what Stanley's family curse from his "dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great grandfather"truly means, and the legend of Kissing Kate Barlow.

When I read this book in fifth grade, I was not genuinely interested in it. The fact that I did not enjoy reading may have played a part, but the main reason was because of the characters. The main characters were inmates, and this did not appeal to me- I did not care if they were innocent or guilty. I was, however, fond of Zero, an inmate at Camp Green Lake and Stanley's friend. His mysterious character attracted me the most- he never smiles, and fought often. I liked that he stuck up for Stanley when need be, and that he always finished digging his holes first. I really liked the fact that he was one of the most important characters and served a major purpose in the conclusion of the book.

Reading Holes as an adult is much more intriguing than as a child. Although it is a child's read, I found myself understandind the concepts of the story much better than I did before. For instance, the holes symbolize the negativity of Camp Green Lake. They are called graves throughout the book. The boys that dig them hate the holes because they are a symbol of punishment. I understood that the holes were looked at as punishment when I was younger, but I did not grasp the concept that metaphorically, all the holes needed to be filled in order for the story to end happily. This was one of the first concepts I thought about when analyzing what I read. I also realized how the setting of where the characters were affected their personality when re-reading the novel. The boys at Camp Green Lake were very unhappy and more prone to violence when they were in the desert digging holes (honestly who wouldn't be unhappy digging holes in the heat?). When Stanley was away from the desert, he was more content, and satisfied. The landscape affected all of the boys' attitudes, something I did not notice when I first read the book.

I think this novel would be a good read for children ages 9 and up. There are some concepts of the book that are hard to grasp, and I realized this when I re-read it. Summary dialougue and discussion is important surrounding the book because children may need assistance in understanding the themes and the vivid descriptions of characters. I also think it is important for parents to read along with their children because there is some mentionings of past and present racism throughout the story. Overall, the book is humorous and creative, and it would make a good addition to a book club. It would also be good to compare the novel to the movie that was created, recognizing differences between print and screen play.

Michael Chinn - Book Review 2

2011-05-17T17:12:00.001-07:00

Osborne, Mary Pope. Magic Tree House #2: The Knight at Dawn New York: Scholastic, 1993. Print.

This is the second book in the Magic Tree House series with Jack and his sister Annie. This time they visit a castle in Medieval times. The story follows a similar pattern as the first book where they choose a book and visit that location. The difference being this time that the time of day is different than the last book.

This book and the other books in the series are a great foundation for generating interest in history. Rather than history being a boring list of facts, names, and dates to be memorized using these books as a foundation to build interest could bring history to life. The book could be done as a read aloud or possibly in small groups and then based on the reading choose a facet of Medieval times that interests them and research it. This gives students an opportunity to explore an aspect of history that interests them rather than what a school board or curriculum determines they should learn. Students could also compare and contrast how closely the book matches what actual history is thought to have been like.

The research might even be expanded into a project where students create a presentation and educate the class on the aspect of Medieval times they learned utilizing the student as expert idea. The students could research an a facet or facets of Medieval times alone or in groups and compare what the book said about that aspect and how experts generally think it was.

This book provides a wide variety of choices for teachers to incorporate activities into history and change history from a dry, boring subject into a lively, interesting one. The book lends itself directly into history as it focuses on many of the aspects of history that might interest students.

Second Book Review- My Name is America: The Journal of James Edmond Pease. - Kellie V.

2011-05-16T18:01:00.000-07:00

Summary:

James Edmond Pease is a sixteen year old orphan during the American Civil War. He discovers that his Aunt and Uncle do not want to keep him and decides to lie and say he is eighteen so he can join the Union Army. He seems to have good luck while in battle and has good hand-writing so his commanding officer designates him as their scribe. His job is to write a description about each man in their party and write about any skirmish that they get in with the Confederate Army.

Theme:

For my two reviews, I chose two novels which both had male protagonists and were set up to be read like a journal.

Analysis:

Absence of Female Characters:

While reading this novel, I noticed that there was only a few female characters while there were countless male characters presented.

Normally, I would not agree that a book should have an absence of either gender; but, in this book, the omission of female characters presents a sense of camaraderie amongst the male soldiers. The main character begins by describing each of the men in their company in a very indifferent manner while towards the end of the story he feels protective of them and thinks of them as his brothers.

There are two females which really stood out while I was reading the book. The first is James' distant love interest named Sarah. She is actually one of the other soldier's sister who begins to write James after she hears about his close encounter with an enemy soldier. Throughout the novel, we never actually meet Sarah or read her letters, James simply states that he receives letters from her and then tells us what he writes back to her. I believe her absence from James is used to represent the possibility of what his life can be if he can only make it out of the war.

The other female character is a slave named Sally who nurses James back to health after a battle that left him very weak and unable to find food. While Sally is actually there taking care of James, she speaks French instead of English so James is unable to communicate properly with her. After he has regained his health, James' inability to make a connection with Sally allows him to leave her easily in order to find out what happened to his friends.

Discussions:

Historical Accuracy:

Since I want to be a History teacher, I think it would be interesting for my students to delve deeper into the text by researching what actually happened during this war and then trying to find any inaccuracies in this novel.

Journal Style of Writing:

I would like my students to discuss whether they enjoyed reading from a novel that is set up like a journal or whether they prefer books that are presented in the normal style. I would then have a discussion about whether they would like to write journals of their own.

Age:

I would use this text in 5^th or 6^th grade. That way the students probably already know something about the Civil War and we can use that background knowledge to expand upon what is already present in the text.

Citation.

Murphy, J. (1998). My Name is America: The Journal of James Edmond Pease, A Civil War Union Solder. New York: Scholastic Inc.

Second book review - Maggie D.

2011-05-15T08:05:00.000-07:00

Ivy and Bean Take Care of the Babysitter

By: Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall

Summary:

In this book Bean’s parents decide to go to a play one Saturday afternoon; but unfortunately, their usual babysitter is not available. The parents decide to let Bean’s older sister, Nancy, babysit her, but Bean is not happy about this. As Nancy is putting on makeup, Bean sneaks her best friend, Ivy, over and the two of them climb into the attic and get stuck. Eventually Nancy helps them out and Bean and Ivy decide they basically babysat themselves all day. Nancy tells her parent she is not ready to babysit again.

Review:

I would use this book for a group of second grade females to read individually or with a partner. Then I would have my students do projects and have discussions to reflect and interact with the text. I found this book to be very cute and entertaining with a lot of life lessons throughout it. I know I would have enjoyed this book as a second grade girl.

This book is a chapter book, but there are pictures on every page. I think this is very helpful for children. I feel like kids understand stories a lot more clearly when they can read the words, comprehend them, and see a picture of what is going on in the story to clarify what they read. For example, when Beans and her friends are pretending to play volcano, the picture is of a huge mound of dirt. I love using pictures to interact with text. After every chapter I would have my students draw a picture of themselves or their family or friends doing something that relates to the characters and the story. It is very important for children to make these connections. I think a lot of second graders would be able to relate to not liking a babysitter, putting on their mom’s makeup, or playing pretend with their best friend.

I believe this book would create a lot of discussion amongst second grade girls. I would want to come together as a group after every chapter and discuss what the students had read individually. I would want them to talk about what happened in the chapter, why the characters did what they did, what they were feelings, the consequences of their actions, and/or how they can relate. I want them to tell me how they feel about the book, if they like the plot, the pictures, etc. For example, I want them to tell me if it was a good idea for Ivy and Bean to go up into the attic when they knew they were not allowed. Then I want them to acknowledge that because they broke the rules, their consequence was getting stuck up there.

The last major activity I would want my group of students to do with the book is to make a storyboard as they read the story. I think it is sometimes hard for children to remember what they read previously in a book, especially in a longer book like this one. This way before they begin reading each day they can look back and see the plot so far. I would want them to draw a small picture and write a sentence for each main part of the plot that took place. For example, I would want them to draw Bean’s parents leaving her with Nancy to babysit. They would write what was happening in the same box. I feel like children would find this very beneficial to look back on and it will also help them comprehend what they read.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I think it was a fun story that a lot of students will be able to relate to. I liked that it was long and a chapter book, but also had pictures on each page. There are many activities I could do to help my students interact with the text. I would highly recommend this book to any teacher of early elementary school female.

Citation:

Barrows, Annie, & Blackall, Sophie. Ivy and Bean Take Care of the Babysitter. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 2008.

Second Book Review - Kaelie C.

2011-05-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

Goosebumps: Attack of the Jack-O-Lanterns Book Review

Introduction:

Goosebumps: Attack of the Jack-O-Lanterns is one of many books in the R.L Stine series that involves mystery, crazy twists, and science fiction. Because this book is mainly about friendship, revenge, and jack-o-lanterns, it would be a great read for the fall season. Students, at the appropriate age level, can gain satisfaction through literature and a sense of adventure. Even with the exciting adventure and mystery, the story also includes social aspects, especially with friendship. While teaming up, Drew and Walker experience many crazy twists and scary situations throughout the story.

Summary:

The Goosebumps book series encompasses many different mystery, science fiction, and fantasy aspects. In Goosebumps: Attack of the Jack-O-Lanterns, the main character named Drew Brockman gets revenge on the other kids for a practical joke played on them last Halloween. Drew and her best friend, named Walker, put pumpkins on their heads to go scare the jokesters. All of the sudden, the pumpkins seem scarier and actually turn into monsters that shoot fire and hiss. Drew and Walker began to wonder if this has to do with two other friends, Shane and Shauna. Eventually, they find out that it was Shane and Shauna scaring the jokesters and that they are aliens. The story ends with Drew seeing if Shane and Shauna are joking about eating humans.

Critical Thinking:

Friendship and Bullying

In the beginning of the story, the reader is introduced to Drew and Walker who had a practical joke played on them during Halloween. Since they are such close friends, they decide to get their revenge on the jokesters by scaring them with pumpkin heads. Ultimately, with the help of Shane and Shauna, they were able to really scare the kids. Since this book is appropriate for middle school and late-elementary ages, the reader can gain a sense that he or she is not the only one getting singled out. The reader is eager to learn what happens because the book is written in Drew’s perspective, especially since she wants revenge. By using pumpkin heads to scare the jokesters, a young reader will gain satisfaction and understanding. Through the dialogue, friendship is made to seem important and meaningful. The alien fantasy twist at the end of the book helps to completely establish adventure and mystery for the reader. This final point of the story can encourage readers to pick up and read more Goosebumps series books.

Book Format

Goosebumps: Attack of the Jack-O-Lanterns is one of many books in the series and is an example of how formatting can affect the reader. In this book, chapters are very short and packed full of action and twists. For instance, chapter 27 summarizes the climax where Tabby and Lee (the jokesters) are terrified and run away in fear. The chapter ends with the lines: “’Please –!’ I begged. ‘Please – no!’”; these chapter-ending lines give the reader immense excitement and definitely peaks his/her curiosity about the next chapter. Even though this book is completely science fiction and fantasy, it really helps the reader keep reading until the very end of the story. The font is also friendly to younger readers, especially with the italicization to describe important story aspects. Also, having chapters short helps to give readers satisfaction and motivates him or her to finish. At the appropriate age level, readers could compete to finish the book or discuss among each other what happens in each chapter. The book covers, both front and back, seem to have many advertisements for other Goosebumps products such as with trading cards, the fan club, and television shows.

Possible Teaching Moments/Class Activities

Since this book series includes advertisements and attention drawn towards younger ages, they would be a great introduction for students to media and social relationships. Having situations in the book involving friendship and bullying helps readers to learn what is appropriate language and behavior. If a teacher wants to use this book, I think it would be great if he or she had the students first analyze the book covers and advertisements and discuss what it means to them. Then at the end of the book, the teacher could have students discuss if getting revenge is appropriate or not in different situations. It would be great to use this book during the late October month since it would get them thinking about Halloween, friendship, and having fun. Also, this might be a good bridging tool to use; if a teacher is trying to teach space or astronomy subjects, the aliens at the end could expand students’ curiosities. This book could also be used as a comparison book; a teacher could use this book to compare against a non-fiction book. Students could look at differences in perspective, tone, plot, and characters.

Appropriate Age/Grade Level

The Goosebumps series definitely attracts many different type s of readers. I think the most interested type of reader would be a young age/grade level. Specifically, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade would be appropriate grade levels for this book series. In these years, students still embrace a sense of adventure and fantasy. Their comprehension skills are further developing in this period, but being a kid is also important. At this developmental stage, children are starting to see value and meaning with friendship and doing things together. Friendships begin to be taken more seriously so if a student were to read Goosebumps: Attack of the Jack-O-Lanterns, this would be further supported and implemented. Even with the outrageous fiction aspects of aliens and pumpkin-head monsters, students can still learn to further embrace friendship. This book series would probably be a good bridge to more complicated fiction or non-fiction such as Lord of the Rings. More complicated books introduce extensive vocabulary and plot, which can further develop in seventh through twelfth grades.

Holidays as Fantasy

Goosebumps: Attack of the Jack-O-Lanterns poses a huge issue: whether holidays are too fantastical. Just from looking at the book covers, one will know that this book focuses on Halloween and how Halloween can ‘go wrong’. Obviously, this book would be a good tool during the fall season, but it seems to support that Halloween is fantasy and science fiction. The aliens being the pumpkin-headed monsters ties in fantasy with science fiction. This perspective can give readers a false perspective on holidays, especially Halloween. Some readers might be scared by this story while others thoroughly enjoy the book and get excited about Halloween. While going through all the different Goosebumps series books, I noticed that they all have exotic science fiction/mystery plots. This can be problematic, especially for readers that take things very literally.

Final Thoughts

This Goosebumps book was a great, exciting read overall. I really enjoyed the outrageous fantasy and science fiction aspects. This book definitely peaked my curiosity and would be awesome to read during the fall. At the end of the book, I was disappointed to see that their friends, Shane and Shauna, were aliens and they helped the main characters with their plan. Other Goosebumps books that I have read were very exciting and scary, especially when I was younger. Since there are many crazy twists and science fiction, there can be many ways to incorporate this series, especially Goosebumps: Attack of the Jack-O-Lanterns, in the classroom. R.L. Stine is a talented science fiction and mystery author and would be a great author to choose from for fourth through sixth grade levels. The many aspects and issues that this book introduces should definitely be considered when choosing this book.

Citation:

Stine, R.L. (1996). Goosebumps: Attack of the Jack-O-Lanterns. New York: Scholastic, Inc.

Novel Review #2 Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

2011-05-13T14:40:00.001-07:00

Kim Smith
EDU T&L 467
Monday Class

Summary
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes is a true story about Sadako, an eleven year old japanese child who was alive and living in Hiroshima during the United State’s Hiroshima bombing. Sadly, as a result of what Sadako refers to as the “thunderbolt,” Sadako is suffering from leukemia and the illness is causing her body to become weak. While coping with her illness, Sadako attempts to make one thousand paper cranes because she has heard that anyone who does so is granted one wish. Sadako dies before she can finish making all one thousand cranes, but after her death people begin to make origami themselves with Sadako in their thoughts. Sadako is then buried with all one thousand paper cranes and the people create a statue of her as a way to commemorate those who lost their lives as a result of the bombings. The statue also serves to advocate peace worldwide.
Analysis
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, written by Eleanor Corr, is a novel much different than the light hearted books often incorporated into young children’s literature. Unlike elementary school favorites like the Clementine series, Judy Bloom books, or the Magic School Bus series, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes presents itself as a historical novel with depth. The novel touches on sensitive subjects that are more likely to be censored in schools, like death and pain. The emotional connection linked with the novel is both strong and lingering. Though the book based on a true story does not boast of humor, children are still able to enjoy this read with its refreshingly unique context.

I would most likely incorporate this book into a fourth grade curriculum. Due to the topic of the book, I think that students would get the most out of it if it were directed to the class as a read aloud. I would plan to first talk to students about the events of WW2. This would allow the students to have a sense of background before diving into the book, as the book itself directly mentions the bomb falling as well as people being stricken with illness and dying. This book would be even more so beneficial if it coincided with our class history lessons. Having an even greater understanding for what was going on during Sadako’s lifespan and during the setting of the book would only enhance student’s comprehension.

After each reading of the book, I would allow time for class discussion. In order to ensure that students are engaging with the text, I would make sure to ask questions. Questions about what they think about Sadako, and similarities between students lives and Sadako’s may help give students direction. Perhaps the students will note that they too have a collection of some sort, just as Sadako is collecting paper cranes. If students needed additional help to make connections between their lives and Sadako’s, I would ask questions and have students raise their hands if the question applied to them. For example, I would ask, “how many of you guys have a best friend, like Sadako?” “Go to school?” “Have a brother or sister?” It is important that students know that they aren’t so different from this foreign character living decades before them.

By the end of the book, I would question students about the importance of peace. This book should act as a reminder to students that wars do have consequences and that human life is fragile. Though it should be expected that if this book is read to fourth graders, as oppose to being taken home and read by sixth graders, the analysis of the book will vary. It would be assumed that different age groups would take away different things from the book and appreciate it in their own ways. The idea of peace being imperative, however, should be a central concept to all age groups.

To further children’s connection with the book, I would have my fourth grade class attempt to make origami themselves. In doing so, the students would feel more actively engaged with the text as a whole. Assuming that most students will struggle with the task, and that the process of making origami will take up a decent amount of class time, I would then ask students to try to relate with Sadako and her dream of making one thousand paper cranes. Students will get the sense that the task itself is difficult, and that Sadako was very determined. Students should be reminded that Sadako’s battle with leukemia enhanced the difficulty of the task. In addition, it should also be noted that the challenge of making all one thousand paper cranes helped Sadako to keep distracted from her illness as well as to find the strength to continue to fight for her life. At the end of class, I would collect all the paper cranes and explain to the students that we will be using them again at a later time, but explain that they won’t know when we use the paper cranes again until the book is completed.

After finishing the book, students may be a little uneasy because the book doesn’t end with Sadako surviving. However, the book does not end graphically, which is another reason why I believe that the book is not too advanced for a group of fourth graders. Eleanor Corr chooses to narrate Sadako’s death by explaining that the girl fell asleep and did not wake up. It may also be interesting to challenge the students understanding of the book by questioning weather they believe that the book had a happy ending or not. Though the main character did die, it is relevant that after her death, people were moved and began to show their support. Her story became inspirational, and Sadako’s death initiated what could be explained as a peace movement. I would explain that paper cranes are sent to Hiroshima annually in remembrance of Sadako and those who died because of the bombings. After explaining this, I would pull out the paper cranes collected earlier, and ask the students if they’d like to send their paper crane to Hiroshima as a symbol of peace.
Citation

Coerr, Eleanor, and Ronald Himler. Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. New York: Puffin,
1999. Print.

Book Review Revised - Maggie D

2011-04-20T16:29:00.000-07:00

Junie B. Jones Is (almost) a Flower Girl

By: Barbara Park

Summary:

In this book Junie B. Jones wants to be a grown-up lady. She invites herself to become the flower girl of her Aunt Flo’s wedding; however, Aunt Flo already had a flower girl picked out. Junie B. Jones becomes the alternate flower girl. She attempts to steal everyone’s attention and prove that she is a lady.

Revised Review:

The perspective I would like to use to consider this text is the discussions it would open up for students. I found this Junie B. Jones book to be a great read for younger females. They would find it both enjoyable and humorous, while also learning a few lessons from the text.

I would probably make this book an optional read aloud among a small book club of females in the first and second grade. I think Junie B. Jones books are very entertaining to read aloud because of the attitude Barbara Park gives the characters when they are speaking. This also gives the reader a chance to practice reading aloud and using different, fun voices. Before the reading began, I would like my students to have a discussion about what they know about weddings. I would want them to talk about the gender roles with the groom, best man, bride, maid of honor, flower girl, and ring bearer. Hopefully a good amount of my students would have attended a wedding and can relate. For the students who are unfamiliar with weddings, this pre-discussion would be very helpful. I know I enjoyed looking at the pictures throughout the book, so I would want the reader to make sure to show each picture throughout the story when reading aloud. These pictures are not in color; however they give the reader a great image of what is happening in the story. I would want my students to have a discussion about each picture and what is happening in them.

I would also like my students to discuss what Junie B. Jones is doing wrong throughout the text. In the beginning she uses force and causes her “boyfriend” to break up with her. Then she refuses to go inside after recess. Later, Junie B. Jones invites herself to be in her Aunt Flo’s wedding. During the wedding she grabs the flower basket away from the real flower girl. There are many mistakes Junie B. Jones made and I would like my students to discuss these situations, the outcomes, and what would have been a better way for her to handle them.

The last part of the discussion I would open up for my students is to discuss how they felt about the book. I believe it is important for students to express their opinions, whether they are positive or negative. I feel like some students would not enjoy the book as much as others if they did not pick up on all the small jokes. For example, Junie B. Jones’ parents were teasing her at the dinner table and she did not notice. Barbara Park uses a lot of humor around Junie B. Jones without her noticing it. I also want my students to try to make a personal connection with one of the characters in the story. This could be Junie B. Jones, her mother, her aunt, her boyfriend, etc. I think it is important for students to learn from characters and examine them.

I really enjoy Junie B. Jones books because they are entertaining for most people. Using this text as a tool for discussion is something I would consider in my classroom. Having a discussion about the story is a great learning opportunity while it also lets young readers reflect and comprehend on what they read.

Park, Barbara. Junie B. Jones Is (almost) a Flower Girl. United States of America: Random House, 1999. Print.

First Review:

I would probably make this book a read aloud among a small book club of females. I think Junie B. Jones books are very entertaining to read aloud because of the attitude Barbara Park gives the characters when they are speaking. This also gives the reader a chance to practice reading aloud and using different, fun voices. I know I enjoyed looking at the pictures throughout the book, so I would want the reader to make sure to show each picture throughout the story. These pictures are not in color; however they give the reader a great image of what is happening in the story. I would want my students to have a discussion about each picture and what is happening in them.

Tuesdays with Morrie- Stefanie D.

2011-04-20T07:51:00.000-07:00

“Tuesdays with Morrie”

Summary:

Tuesdays with Morrie is a non-fiction novel which tells the relationship about the author, Mitch Albom with one of his college professors, Morrie Schwartz. The book starts off with Mitch reminiscing on his college years at Brandeis University where he met one his Professor Morrie Schwartz. Mitch states early in the book how close he was to Morrie and how he truly valued him as a teacher and role model. After graduation, Mitch moved onto pursue writing as a sports columnist. One evening Albom was watching the evening news when he saw his old sociology professor, Morrie, being interviewed by Ted Koppel on ABC nightline news. Morrie was being interviewed about his odd disease, ALS amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Albom saw this as a great opportunity to contact his old role model. The story soon unfolds to Albom visiting Morrie every Tuesday leading up to the week of his death. They simply sit, eat, and talk about life and death. Albom ends up learning a great deal about himself, Morrie, and the true meaning of living life. Morrie leaves Mitch with the aphorism, “When you're in bed, you're dead.” The story continues with life lessons being taught until Morrie’s expected death.

Analysis:

Tuesdays with Morrie exemplifies life and death and all that is in between. It is one of the greatest books with the message of how to truly live one’s life. It explains how one should constantly be striving to achieve a greater attitude towards life and our hardships as human beings. There are many applicable themes within the book which any human can relate to. Morrie discusses a range of topics from education, health, love, communication, acceptance, values, death, and many more. These topics happen to be enduring ideas, which transcend time. These ideas are not only applicable to our generation, yet they will easily be applied to the lives of people who will live in the near future, and applied to the human lives of those from 2,000 years ago. I believe that Tuesdays with Morrie nicely dives into the deeper issues which we start questioning at a young age.

This young adult novel seems excellent for a middle school class because it is an easy read, but has so much substance and depth. I think that although many middle school aged students have not experienced some of the larger themes within the book, such as death or disease, it is imperative that they are introduced to the ideas and can accept them at a younger age.

I read this book for the first time this year, and I am twenty-one years of age. Although I have a different interpretation of the book than my thirteen year old self would have had, I can still greatly appreciate the book and it’s universality to human existence. This book would open up a great discussion for life goals and ambitions. It could also be easily used to help students examine and develop their own set of values and sense of self. I believe that the book would be an excellent tool to open up the idea of students interviewing older people at a nursing home or even their grandparents. I really value older people and their life experiences and think it is extremely important for young students to appreciate these people and learn from them. Students would be able to interview elders and send in a written report of life advice they learned.

This book explores a life on a deeper level that many young students do not have to face until they are of an older age. I believe this book would definitely help students to at least be aware of life's great turmoils. Tuesdays with Morrie not only opens up room for in depth class discussions, however, it gives many students advice and aphorisms to live by. I took a great deal away from this book and was greatly touched after reading it. I believe that many students would appreciate this book even at the middle school level and they would be able to take a lot of life lessons away from it.

Citation:

Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays With Morrie. USA: Random House, 1997. 192. Print.

Picture Book Review- Kelsey M.

2011-04-20T06:50:00.000-07:00

I decided to review the “How Do Dinosaurs…” series because they are great books for preschool-aged children and they teach social skills. I would love to teach in an integrated preschool classroom for students with special needs as well as typically developing peers. As I read these books I was constantly thinking of how I could use these stories in my class and the kinds of lessons that could be paired with the books.

1. Yolen, Jane, and Mark Teague. How Do Dinosaurs Go to School? New York: Blue Sky, 2007.

How Do Dinosaurs Go To School?

Dinosaurs have to go to school just like you and me. Good little dinosaurs know exactly how to get on the bus, say good-bye to their parents for the day, and go off to school in a pleasant way.

This book provides a perfect example of role-playing in a fun light-hearted manner. The dinosaurs have a hard time going to school just like many preschool aged children. The book gives example of how a child entering school for the first time might behave or might want to behave, and also shows the type of behavior that is appropriate. This book would be a perfect first day of school book. The illustrations in picture books are much brighter and more colorful than the pictures in the board books. I think that the picture books will wear out easier than the board books, but the bigger and brighter illustrations are worth the wear and tear.

2. Yolen, Jane, and Mark Teague. How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? New York: Blue Sky, 2005

How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?

Even young dinosaurs are very big and they have a hard time sitting at their chairs when it’s time to eat. However little dinosaurs do their very best when sitting at the table. They keep their bums in their chairs and have perfect table manners.

Table manners are something every child should have, but these skills may or may not be taught at home. This book could be used as a great introduction for a lesson about table manners. Table manners are an important social skill for preschool children to learn because within the next year they will be in school the full day and this means eating lunch at school with their peers. This book focuses on eating at home with parents and the manners children need to have at the dinner table but I think that this can easily be transitioned table manners for snack time or lunch time. The dinosaurs in the illustrations are so large it’s amusing to see them scolded by their human mothers for blowing bubbles in milk or sitting a chair that looks far too tiny. I think that the illustrations will be funny for the kids and draw them into the story and the not so secret lesson on table manners.

3. Yolen, Jane. How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends? New York: Blue Sky, 2006.

How Do Dinosaurs Play With Their Friends?

Dinosaurs may have a hard time sharing their toys with their friends. They have much more fun when they learn how to play together.

Some preschool aged children who are attending school for the first time may not have social skills of their peers who have siblings or have spent time in a daycare. Learning to share and take turns are both important for children to develop friendships. This book is offered as a board book. I think that this book may need to be more durable than some of the other books because it’s a story that you can read again and again to keep especially when there needs to be a reminder about good behavior.

4. Yolen, Jane. How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends? New York: Blue Sky, 2006.

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?

Can I have another glass of water? I don’t want go to bed. Dinosaurs want to stay up all night but they act like good dinosaurs and turn off the lights. They read a book, kiss their parents and say goodnight.

Sometimes little dinosaurs have to do things that they don’t like to do, such as go to bed. There are things that we do not like to do but they are good for us. Putting things off does not make them go away. I think that this would be a great story for children to have in their homes because it’s all about bedtimes. I think that the idea of doing things when you are asked and not trying to put things off would also be helpful in the classroom. When it’s time to say good-bye or clean up toys the lesson in this story would be extremely beneficial. This could also lead to a lesson about sleep. Student can learn about why sleep is so important and what can happen to our bodies when we do not sleep enough.

5. Yolen, Jane. How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends? New York: Blue Sky, 2006.

How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon?

No one likes to be sick. There are a few ways to get well and some of them are not very fun. Dinosaurs show you that the medicine might taste yucky and maybe you think the doctor is scary, but the little dinosaurs get better and you will to.

Being sick is never a good experience; it’s hard for the little dinosaurs to remember to cover up when they sneeze or to try not to whine or complain. Sometimes it takes a little extra work to get well and that means a trip to the doctor. Going to the doctor can seem like a frightening experience for many small children (and even some grown-ups to). When dinosaurs get sick they have to go see the doctor and take medicine. This book could be used at home for children and in school as well. This would be a good story to read before someone such as the dentist or the school nurse comes into to visit. This story could also lead to lessons about things we need to do to stay well like eating healthy foods and spending time exercising.

Judy Moody Goes to College- Gillian M.

2011-04-20T06:07:00.000-07:00

Summary:Judy Moody Goes to College is about a third grade student who is sent to a college campus and is tutored by a college student in mathematics. Judy learns many lessons from her tutor, the most important being that ones attitude can make a large impact on the ability to learn in the classroom.

Review: Judy Moody is a stubborn third grade student who is not happy when she finds out her teacher is out of town. Her class substitute notices Judy is having trouble learning mathematics, so she recommends Judy get a tutor for some help outside of the classroom. At first, Judy is dreading going to a tutor and practicing mundane math problems. However, once Judy meets her hip college tutor Chloe, she begins to realize that math is everywhere and it can be fun! Soon Judy is relating math to several parts of her day in which she never realized math was involved.

I found this beginning level chapter book to be appropriate for second to third graders. Judy Moody is part of a series, and I have never read one of Megan McDonald’s books. Her character seemed very relatable to children her age, which I found refreshing. Judy did not always want to comply with the rules, which is typical of any child. I found the theme of this book to be attitude. When Judy has a bad attitude it is difficult for her to enjoy a task. However when her attitude shifts towards a positive light, she is more excited to learn material and share her knowledge with those around her.

A teacher could use this book as a lesson about the way people approach school. If one does not have good feelings on a certain subject, they may be hindering their growth by not wanting to learn. A positive attitude can make a difference for any student and help them have fun learning. An activity a teacher could use with this book would be asking the class if Judy’s attitude is beneficial in a specific scenario.

Citation:
McDonald, Megan. Judy Moody Goes to College. 1st ed. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2008. Print.

Book Review 1 - Michael C

2011-04-20T05:44:00.001-07:00

Osborne, Mary Pope. Magic Tree House #1: Dinosaurs before Dark. New York: Random House, 1992. Print.

The book is about an eight and a half year old boy Jack and his seven year old sister Annie who discover a tree house in the woods near their home in Frog Creek Pennsylvania. They find out the tree house is magical when they find themselves in the time of the dinosaurs and have to find their way home.

The story provides an interesting case of gender roles. Jack is portrayed as a serious, bookish, thinker and his sister Annie is portrayed as wild, adventurous, and fearless. The classic idea is that the girl should stay home and help her mother not running around playing with dinosaurs while the boy is supposed to be a bold adventurer fearlessly exploring the unknown. In almost every case in the book Jack is the cautious one while Annie is the risk taker.

Jack was against going into the woods, going into the tree house, approaching dinosaurs, etc. He is contrary to the idea that males should like the outdoors and going on adventures. Instead he is almost like an adult. He does not believe in pretend and prefers real things. When he and Annie are in the time of the dinosaurs rather than enjoying the experience he is trying to act like a scientist and make detailed observations. His first instinct always seems to be caution is the better part of valor. In many ways Jack is like an adult rather than an eight year old boy.

Annie is the exact opposite, she approaches everything with the same attitude of curiosity and openness despite Jack's fears. She is always willing to push the envelope and try new things. Her motto is “Don't think. Just do it.” She exemplifies that motto throughout the story. She is not the delicate daughter who stays at home with her mother and knits. She is bold and assertive and does not heed advice she disagrees with. She ignores Jack's advice in almost every instance to pursue her own path rather than a path defined by others. Annie is the antithesis of Jack, she is bold where he is timid, she is adventurous where he is cautious, and she is fearless where he is afraid.

Mary Pope Osborne has reversed the gender roles in Jack and Annie. She pushes the boundaries of what is proper for males and females and expands the idea of what is appropriate behavior.

Book Review: Angela McKenzie

2011-04-19T23:16:00.000-07:00

Horton Hears a Who
By: Dr. Seuss

Horton Hears a Who is whitty story about an Elephant named Horton who hears a voice in Jungle of Nool one day. He soon discovers the voice is coming from a spec of dust where there is an entire town of Whos. Early o in the story he vows to protect the spec. However, the other animals in the jungle can't hear the Whos like Horton can so they try everything they can to stop him from protecting the spec. In the end all the tiny Whos must come together as one voice to save thier town and Horton.

As a child I didn't catch all the morals in this fun rhyming book by Dr. Seuss. As an adult reading this book I notice what the true meaning behind this book is. The book finds such a creative, fun way to let children know that they are important no matter how small or big they might be. The Pictures and rhymes make it fun for children to read. This would also be a great book for a unit on rhyming. It is also a great book because the fun words make it easy to read over and over. This is a timeless book that I believe people of all ages can enjoy. It reminds everyone that they are important.

As far as the illustrations go I think that the book has fun and exciting pictures that would keep children engaged. However, some of the expressions on the characters don't seem to match the story. Nonetheless, Seuss does a great job at combining fun, creative illustrations with great wording to make this book a fun and exciting read.

Noodle & Lou

By: Liz Garton Scanlon

This is a book about a worm named Noodle who is having a bad day. Noodle is feeling quite negative but luckily is friend Lou is there to cheer him up and remind him how great he is.

The illustrations in this book really bring the story to life. I really like how the illustrator put expressions on the characters faces even though they are not humans. I believe the way he portrays the characters in his illustrations helps children relate to the characters. The characters where things like hat's and sunglasses that I believe helps children relate better to the characters. I also really liked the wording of this book. It was fun and witty but all the wording was at a level that children can understand and know the meaning of. It's great how the characters point out the good in both characters. I think this would be a great read for a group of young children and could easily be tied into activities such as optimists vs pessimist, a lesson on what a child thinks is good about ten or a lesson on friendship.

Round Trip
By: Ann Jonas

This is an interesting book that takes you on a road-trip. Forward, backward, and upside down. You start in a small neighborhood, take a drive through the city, then flip the book over and go back.

At first I was not sure if I liked this book or not because I was a little confused about how to read it until I go to the end. The book as words on the top and bottom of every page. However, the words at the top of the page are upside down. For how complicated the book is I was a bit disappointed after reading it because I didn't feel like the story it self had a lot of depth. On the other hand, the book would probably be really fun for children to look at and read because it is a book with really good illustrations. If you flip the book over on every page the picture goes from night to day and looks like a new picture. I did have fun really looking at each page to see what the upside down picture looked like. I'm not sure this book would be great to use for a lesson but it could be a good book to have in like a reading corner because it makes children think as they flip the book over and have to be able to depict the new picture from the picture they just saw. Over-all I think it is an interesting book but not one of my top choices

The House in the Night
By:Susan Marie Swanson

This is a simple book about things that you find, see, or hear in at night such as a key, book, light, or bed. The book takes you through a house and then back out.

This words in this book are very simple and few. This makes the book great for new readers. However, the illustrations are what make this book good, in my opinion. The book is all in black and white except for a few things on every page that are highlighted in yellow. Despite the fact that the book is mostly in black and white, each page is filled with extravagant illustrations. This makes the book appealing to children of all ages because the pages are fun to look over and try to find all the special things in each picture. I also really liked how half way trough the book the story flips and goes back to the begging. This book would be great to use for a few activities, such as, matching or activities where a child would make there own story like this one.

Into the Forest
By: Anthony Brown

This book takes you on an adventure through the woods with a boy and a big imagination. When his grandmother gets sick the boy's mother asks him to take her a cake. However, the boy disobeys his mother and cuts through the wood where he encounters all kinds of characters. In the end he finally makes it to his grandmas house where he finds his dad who he has been missing, as well as his grandma.

I found this book very creative but a little disappointing. As the boy walks through the woods he encounters several strange things. Each thing he encounters relates to a popular fairy-tale. However, I felt that the author cut the middle of the book off too soon. It gave some fun creative scenarios in the woods but I think it should have included a few more. I also felt like the ending was a little abrupt. I was left wanting to know more about a lot of things in the book.

I did like the illustrations in the book. They were all in black. and white except the boy was in color. On the way through the woods you can search each picture for all kinds of things that are hidden in the forest. Overall, I don't think an older child would enjoy this book as much as a young child. The book is a bit wordy but easy to comprehend. It would have to be used as a class. You could consider activities asking children if they have ever disobeyed or have them figure out each fairy-tale to make it fun.

Book Review - Maggie D.

2011-04-19T21:00:00.001-07:00

Junie B. Jones Is (almost) a Flower Girl

By: Barbara Park

Summary:

Review:

Citation:

Park, Barbara. Junie B. Jones Is (almost) a Flower Girl. United States of America: Random House, 1999. Print.

Maleah O'Neal: First Book Reviews

2011-04-19T14:06:00.000-07:00

For my review, I wanted to focus on picture books that identified with the African American culture. African American-cultured books tend to be written by African American authors, have black characters, and are created around a particular aspect or common experience African Americans have endured.

The Secret Olivia Told Me, N. Joy

Joy, N. (2007). The Secret Olivia Told Me. East Orange, NJ: Just Us Books.

The Secret Olivia Told Me by N. Joy, is a picture book written for elementary-aged children. It depicts what may happen when a secret cannot be kept, and how the message of the secret can be discombobulated into something that it is not. It is a Coretta Scott King Award- winning book, and contains a valuable moral lesson.

I consider this book to be an African American-cultured reading because the main characters are African American. The plot of the story is not based on a cultural experience, but many African American children may enjoy the book because they can physically identify with some of the characters.

The design and illustrations of the book are very interesting to me. The characters have visible features of a human, but everyone appears in the color black. One can make out each characters hair style, face and expressions and style. The reader can distinguish the race of each character, but I believe the author was trying to stress that the race of the characters were unimportant. The background of each picture is also in black and white, except for the red balloon, which is hypothetically the message or “secret” being passed around. I enjoy the way the illustrations are designed to represent the message of the story- because the “secret is in red, and everything else in the book is in black and white, the colors stress the importance of the characters keeping certain messages private from their peers. This is an excellent way to display this moral to the targeted age group because it productively teaches children the importance of secrecy in a fun, and interesting manner.

Running the Road to ABC, Denize Lauture

Lauture, D., & Ruffins, R. (1996). Running the road to ABC. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Running the Road to ABC vibrantly describes the details of its plot using poetic and intriguing verbs, and adjectives to express simple nouns. For example, “They run over the sweet-potato mounds like fish dancing with the sea waves” (Lauture, 1996). The book energetically expresses a group of young children’s morning trip to the schoolhouse. This would be a fun read for elementary- aged children, as a free-time reading, or a group reading with a teacher. The story is poetically written, and could assist in teaching children the aspects of creative and fictional writing. I love the title because it details the story in a short, creative sentence (“Running the Road”  the trip taken to; “ABC”  the schoolhouse).

Running the Road to ABC is culture-inspired mainly through the illustrations and plot of the story. The pictures are soulful and depict scenery of crop farms, portraying an older African community.

Tree of Hope, Amy Littlesugar

Littlesugar, A., & Cooper, F. (1999). Tree of hope. New York, NY: Philomel Books.

This is a reading for older elementary-aged children, probably best for fourth and fifth grade students. It would also be a good read for sixth grade students. The story is based around the time of the Great Depression, depicting the lifestyle of Harlem residents in the 1930s. The author bases the plot around a play, Macbeth, written by Shakespeare, but in the book, she puts a cultural, African American spin on it. There is strong reference to racial issues that were prominent in that era. The tree in the story is symbolic for dreams and hope. It was used for Florrie and her father to make wishes during the hard times of the Great Depression.

This book would be perfect to open a discussion about the Great Depression, and segregation. I consider this book to be culturally written and illustrated because of the African American characters and the theme and plot of the story. I enjoyed the pictures because the style of clothing, hair and choice of words perfectly depicts the style of the 1930s.

Keisha Ann Can! By Daniel Kirk

Kirk, D. (2008). Keisha Ann can! New York, NY: G. P. Putnam's Sons.

Keisha Ann Can! Is a great reading for students who are learning to be productive and successful throughout the school day. I would recommend this book for preschool- and kindergarten- aged students. Keisha Ann, the main character, can count, spell, clean up, eat lunch, nap, and more, with confidence, and while learning. This is an inspirational reading that teachers could use to assist in teaching children to be successful in the classroom, throughout the school day. The pictures are fun and energetic, illustrated with bright colors and realistic, human characters. This book would also be great for beginning readers because the text throughout the book is short and brief, but the vocabulary used is important for a student to know (ex: “lunch”, “classroom”, “pencils”, etc.) I would use this book to teach my students or children the importance of performing well in school, and how it can be fun and exciting at the same time.

This book is culturally inspired because the main character is African American. African American students, particularly young girls, can experience self-efficacy- evaluating how well they could perform a particular action, because they identify with the character. Children can identify with the success the character is experiencing in school because they are familiar with the physical aspect of the character, and may be able to successfully apply it to their own lives.

This Little Light of Mine illustrated by E.B. Lewis

Lewis, E. B. (2005). This little light of mine. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

This Little Light of Mine identifies greatly as an African American-cultured book. The text of the book is an African American spiritual that dates back to the days of slavery. The illustrations tell a story of a young African American boy having a good day, no matter the trials or tribulations put in his way. The author applies each individual line to a picture of the boy enduring in various events throughout the day- helping the elderly, playing with other children in the neighborhood, and even eating dinner. This book would be a good read for students during free-time, and when teaching the lesson of staying positive. My Mother read this book to me while growing up, and I always wanted to be happy just as the main character was in the book. He kept a smile on his face no matter what was going on throughout the day, and I mimicked this action because the book portrays him staying happy. “This little light of mine” is referring to the happiness of the character, and “I’m going to let it shine” refers to staying positive and happy no matter what issues one may experience. This is a great story for discussing this moral during a group reading session, or for an assignment of analyzing the main themes in the book.

Robert Munsch Picture Books- Megan H.

2011-04-18T09:45:00.000-07:00

Robert Munsch is a popular children’s author, writing over fifty books. His most popular book, Love you Forever, has sold over 6 million copies. He often uses repetitious words in his books. Also, his stories feature a young child as the main character, a characteristic of his stories that make them relatable to young children. I enjoyed his books as a young child, so I chose to reread five of his short stories. I thought I would try and gauge how my perceptions of the stories’ have changed from when I first read them as a young child to now. Also, I tried to look in each story for a theme, writing style, targeted age group, and illustrations.

Purple, Green, and Yellow

Munsch, R. (1992). Purple, green, and yellow. Buffalo, NY: Annick Press.

Brigid loves coloring with her super-indelible-never-come-off-till-you’re-dead-and-maybe-even-later markers until she becomes bored with drawing on paper.

There are certain interesting aspects to this short story. First, whenever Brigid goes to her mother to ask for new, improved markers that are better than the ones she has, she always asks her mother if she drew on the wall, on the floor, or on herself. Her mother always replies with a drawn out “nnnooo”. Robert Munsch is known for using repetitious statements that are supposed be accentuated by the reader. The target age range for this book can be anywhere from toddlers to elementary school children. I feel that elementary age children will enjoy this book because they are learning to write and color using pencils, crayons, and markers. This book will spark the creativity in any child who reads it. This book could inspire a teacher to plan an art project in her class. For example, a student could lie on the floor and have a classmate trace the outline of the student. Then, the student can color his or herself with super-indelible-never-come-off-till-you’re-dead-and-maybe-even-later markers, just like Brigid did in the story.

Murmel, Murmel, Murmel

Munsch, R. (1982). Murmel, murmel, murmel. Buffalo, NY: Annick Press.

Robin finds a baby in a hole in her sandbox and tries to find someone who needs a baby.

I do not remember reading this story as a child, but chose it because the storyline that Robin tried to give away a baby that she found in her sandbox was really entertaining. At the same time, I also found it weird that the premise of the story was that Robin asked people if they would like a baby. It would seem more realistic if Robin was asking whom the baby belonged to, somewhat like the story “Are You My Mother?” by P.D. Eastman. The illustration of this story differed from “Purple, Green, and Yellow” in that the illustrations were in color, yet not as many colors were used, mostly because “Purple, Green, and Yellow” was a story about the most colorful markers. It was hard for me to find a theme in this story because it seemed that it was a lighthearted story meant for pleasure.

The Paper Bag Princess

Munsch, R. (1980). The paper bag princess. Buffalo, NY: Annick Press.

A dragon steals Elizabeth’s fiancé, Ronald, away from her. Elizabeth successfully outsmarts the dragon in order to get Ronald back.

I also really enjoyed this book as a child. Reading it as an adult, the theme of gender roles stood out to me more. In a typical princess book, it is the princess who usually needs rescued from the evil villain by a handsome prince. In this version, the princess, Elizabeth, has to fight to win back her fiancé, Ronald, from a dragon. She does so by outsmarting the dragon, making him very tired and unable to blow any more fire, and rescues Ronald. Only Ronald is not impressed by Elizabeth’s feat, or her appearance. Elizabeth decides that Ronald is a bum and she does not want to be married to him after all. I found this story to be especially appealing to young girls. It is anti-Disney in the sense that Robert Munsch is telling girls that they can be smarter than boys, and do not need to find a prince to sweep them off their feet. This theme especially rings true today where female empowerment is much more supported and encouraged.

I Have to Go!

Munsch, R. (1987). I have to go!. Buffalo, NY: Annick Press.

This book deals with a young boy named Andrew who has a problem telling his parents when he has to go to the bathroom!

This book would be a great tool to use for children who are learning to use the bathroom on their own. The book tells the story of Andrew, who has trouble discerning when he needs to use the bathroom. His parents always ask him if he needs to go to pee, before they get in the car, before he puts on his snowsuit, before bed, yet every time he tells them no. Not a few minutes later, Andrew declares that he must go pee. This routine becomes very annoying to his parents. One night, Andrew wets the bed. After everything is changed he gets back into his bed, but this time he asks his Grandpa is he has to pee. His Grandpa replies that he does, and they go the bathroom together. From then on, Andrew never has another accident. This book could be a great tool for young children who are being potty-trained. This could help them decipher when the appropriate time is to tell parents that they have to go pee.

Thomas’ Snowsuit

Munsch, R. (1985). Thomas’ snowsuit. Buffalo, NY: Annick Press.

Thomas is an ornery young boy who will do anything in his power not to wear his ugly, brown snowsuit.

Thomas is angered when his mom buys him an ugly brown snowsuit. He refuses to wear it, and his mother struggles to put it on him. When he gets to school, the teacher and principal have the same problem, and a hilarious struggle ensues. Even though Thomas hates his snowsuit and refuses when an adult tries to dress him in it, when his friends call him to play he happily puts it on. It was hard for me to find a theme for this story because it is seems to be just a fun, lighthearted story. A teacher could incorporate an activity with this story. After reading the story to students, the teacher could asks his or her students something that they hate to do, such as go to the doctor or clean their room. Then, the class could come up with a fun, creative idea that would make an unpleasant activity fun. For example, students hate to do go to the dentist. To make the situation more bearable, the teacher could provide a lesson plan on what the dentist does, why there is no reason to be scared, and have the students count their teeth and learn the names.

Frindle Analysis -Kimberly Smith

2011-04-17T20:51:00.000-07:00

Kimberly Smith

EDU T&L 467

MLA: Clements, Andrew, and Brian Selznick. Frindle. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 1996. Print.

Intro
Frindle, written by Andrew Clements, is a sensational book that targets children between the ages of 8-12, especially. Clements, a former fourth grade teacher himself before going into publishing, actually incorporated his own experiences with a group of students into the novel. As a winner of the Christopher Award and a book often used in classrooms today, the children’s novel proves itself as an outstanding piece of work.

Summary

Frindle tells a story that primarily focuses on Nick Allen, a fifth grade boy with a huge imagination and a knack for coming up with creative ideas and then bringing them to life. Nick’s sense of creativity is somewhat challenged by Mrs. Granger, the fifth grade language arts teacher with a reputation for ruthlessly enforcing rules, giving students a plethora of assignments and tests, and above all else, her unmeasurable love for the dictionary. When Nick’s ambitiously replaces the word ‘pen’ with ‘frindle,’ Mrs. Granger tries her best to stop the evolving idea from taking over Lincoln Elementary School, but soon realizes that the impact of Nick’s invented word is hardly limited to their local school.

Analysis

In exploring Frindle, I realized that there are several benefits that this book comes paired with. In my opinion, this book would best fit students who are in the fourth grade or in the fifth grade. This is mainly because the book centers around students who are currently in the fifth grade, and readers would be best able to relate to the book when they are in an age group similar to the characters they are reading about. I think the book would be best assigned to the class as a read out-loud. This is because the book, though it isn’t too eccentric, does have some challenging vocabulary and concepts that students would be better able to understand with the guidance of a teacher. Reading the book out loud would allow the teacher to emphasis certain perspectives and parts of the book that may otherwise be passed over by a student who cannot fully grasp all that they are reading. I may also use this book in class as a tool to get children more comfortable with using dictionaries. In addition, as a class exercise, I would encourage students to invent words and then show the students examples in history for how words have been invented or changed over time.

Ideally, I think that Frindle could be used to extend on a few key concepts that are important for kid’s to pick up on. First off, I think that the book can be used for something as simple as having readers get a better idea of what the purpose of vocabulary is and how words evolve. Moreover, this book highlights the idea that imagination is important and can truly influence our world. Frindle encourages readers to be creative and invent. Readers see how Nick’s decision to incorporate the word ‘Frindle’ into his life led to huge media coverage and attention and eventually, to his made-up word being added to the actual dictionary. This gives readers hope that they’re own ambitions not only have purpose, but that their outlandish ideas can be very real when they make the effort.

Frindle also touches on other issues. The issue of rules and what it is to be a “trouble maker” is brought to light. For example, though Nick breaks academic rules at school, he is not being disrespectful to his teachers, and thus his parents do not condemn his behavior. Teachers like Mrs. Granger challenge his attempt to break school rules, but other figures of authority in the book can’t quit pinpoint why what Nick is doing should be deemed as “bad.” Thus, though at first Nick is seen to be reaping havoc, it is later explained that his idea to challenge school rules was actually something rather commendable. The idea of free speech is also a popular issue throughout the book, and is a valid reason to why Frindle’s popularity is acceptable, and as to why the reporter did no wrong in parading through Nick’s school and helping to make the word ‘Frindle’ explosive. Towards the end of the book, as it becomes clear Mrs. Granger was actually rooting for the success of Frindle the whole time, readers become more certain with the idea that Nick’s explosive idea was perfectly innocent, and moreover, that hard teachers aren’t automatically villainous teachers, but may actually want the best for their students.

Clements does an especially good job of writing in a way that students can relate to. He purposely uses clever descriptions to explain things in order to appeal to the demographic of readers who will pick up his book. For example, when describing the weight of the dictionary, Clements explains that it is “the kind of book it takes two kids to carry.” The illustrations, by Brian Selznick, also serve a valid purpose by reinforcing small details from the text. For example, on page 9, when we first see a picture of the villainous teacher, Mrs. Granger, we see her sitting amongst dictionaries, with one dictionary open to a page that defines the word “Quiz,” a concept very important to her method of teaching.

Kellie V.- First Book Review- Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

2011-04-17T19:55:00.000-07:00

Summary:
              Greg Heffley is a normal middle-schooler who has a very creative view of the people who surround him. He constantly is expressing his own self-interested views and comparing them to the views of the other characters. Greg finds out that he doesn't really fit into any specific social group in his school yet constantly tries to impress his peers in various comical ways. From creating his own haunted house or by writing comics for his school newspaper, Greg explores multiple ways to discover who he wants to be.

Analysis:

A Male's Perspective.
              Diary of a Wimpy Kid is one of the few novels that is directed at middle-schoolers and also has a male protagonist. Greg is ornery and unafraid of expressing his views of the middle school environment which he has leaped into.
              The beginning of middle school has Greg feeling uneasy about his size and stature. It also has him questioning his past friendships which could possibly deem him as "uncool". Through these disadvantages we see how Greg tries to prove himself as a tough, smary, saavy guy to his peers through acts, such as: attempting to become class treasurer, gaining muscle to seem tough, and giving up home economics because he was too good at embroidery. All of these instances have caused Greg to question and prove his masculinity to his classmates.
              Whereas, if this text was from a girl's perspective, it would have a very different outlook on the people in middle school. The fact that Greg is a normal kid, if a little scrawny, has a tremendous impact on how we view the characters of his middle school. Most novels which are written from a female protagonist's view point are centered around how well their clothes look, who the new couples are, and what new romantic comedy is playing in theaters. Through Greg's eyes we can see the complete 180 of what subjects are really worrisome to boys. Since there aren't many books with male protagonists, it is refreshing to see the silliness and the absurdities that are presented.

The Selfish Adolescent.
               In many instances in the novel, Greg is faced to make hard decisions which not only affect himself but other people around him. Oftentimes, Greg does not make the "right" decision, instead he decides on what will get him in the least trouble or what will put him in the best light.
               This is a common occurrence when considering adolescents' choices, they always seem to choose an option which makes them look good to their peers or their supervisors. Greg seems to be the king of misinterpreting other people's views and construing them to make sense when considering his own thoughts. An example: On Halloween, Greg taunts some high-schoolers while hiding out in his Grandma's house. The next morning on his way to school, Greg notices that his Grandma's house has been covered in toilet paper. He decides that it is lucky his Grandma is retired so cleaning up that toilet paper will be something for her to do that day. An adult would feel guilt over the matter, but instead Greg is optimistic about not having to clean the toilet paper himself.

Discussions.

The Stereotypes of Middle School.
              I think this book offers a great chance for students to dwelve into some of the hardships they face as new middle-schoolers. We could talk about the different cliques of middle school and if they ever feel left out of these. Also, we could talk about the pressure they feel to fit into their peers, even if they think they are "morons" like Greg does.

Development of Their Own Identity.
             Throughout the whole novel we see Greg trying to make decisions base upon who he wants to become. He is trying to decide who to be friends with and whether or not being smart is as good as being popular. It would be interesting to discuss what real middle school students think is the most important aspect of their identity.

Age.

I think this text would be perfect for sixth graders since they are facing the hardship of adjusting from elementary school to middle school. As mentioned in the above discussion topics, this text represents a great way to address many different aspects of middle school. Sixth graders would hopefully be able to read this without getting bored because it has so many pictures which could help them form ideas about the text.

Citation.

Kinney, J. (2007). Diary of a Wimpy Kid. New York: Amulet Books.

First Book Review - Kaelie C.

2011-04-17T16:57:00.000-07:00

Wishworks, Inc. Book Review

Introduction:

Wishworks, Inc. is a children’s novel that stood out to me while I searched for a book at the Columbus Public Library. This book has many lessons in it, especially involving social skills, and had me interested to figure out if Goldie returns to Max’s life and family. The main concepts of this book include bullying, making friends, and family. Also, Max learns how to appreciate what he has and to help his family be happy. Wishworks, Inc. had many important aspects that Max shares with the reader throughout the story.

Summary:

Out of all the different types of children’s literature, Wishworks, Inc. stands out for its uniqueness and real-life experiences children have. Max is the main character in this novel and on a daily basis, imagines a world where he and his dog, King, conquer dragons and bullies. His mother and sister, named Polly, play a big role in his life as Goldie enters the family’s lives. Max imagines a store named Wishworks, Inc. where he buys wishes and discusses his wish dilemmas with the cashier. He makes three wishes throughout the novel: first, he wishes for a real dog, then he wishes that Goldie, aka Ratty, would go away, and finally, he wishes for the exactly right real dog. Following Max’s imagination, Goldie comes into his family’s lives, runs away, and is returned by a friend’s father. Throughout the story, he creates imaginary scenarios but comes to realize that he can share his imagination with a friend named Jerome. In the end, Max realizes that he can still have both dogs, his imaginary dog King and Goldie, and learns to appreciate family and friends.

Critical Thinking:

Bullying

Throughout the story, Max experiences many situations involving a bully, named Nick Berger. In the beginning of the book, Max describes Nick as a powerful, intimidating person and Max would constantly imagine things happening to Nick, such as a dragon attacking him. Because of Nick, Max experiences isolation, depressive thoughts, and constantly creates imaginary scenarios involving King’s protection. Towards the end of the book, Max finally accepts and befriends Goldie and goes on a walk with his newly-made friend Jerome. During their walk, Max and Jerome run into Nick Berger and his mother. Goldie immediately defends Max and Jerome against Nick while Nick begins to cry since he is scared of dogs. Even though Nick was a powerful bully in the beginning of the book, Max ends up becoming the more powerful character because of Goldie. This approach to bullying could show students that bullying is never the answer and that even bullies have fears. When Max doesn’t take advantage of Nick’s dog fear, it shows readers a good way to not become a bully and make friends instead.

Gender Roles

Gender roles seem to be another aspect that is implemented in Wishworks, Inc. Towards the middle of the book, Max imagines himself sleeping with King in his bed and the family cat, Ali Baba, sleeping in his sister Polly’s bed. This associates dogs with boys and cats with girls, which can be considered stereotypical gender roles. Also, Max’s imaginary dog being named King shows that this dog is very powerful and masculine. King acts like Max’s protector and defender in Max’s daydreams and does everything Max asks him to. Throughout the book, Max’s dad briefly discusses with him how to handle bullies at school. The only parts of the conversation that Max thinks about in the book involve Max stopping his daydreaming and going out to make real friends. As the reader, Max’s opinion on this seems to be that he doesn’t agree with his dad and wants to continue daydreaming. Towards the end of the book, Max seems to realize what his dad was trying to tell him and becomes a more confident with himself. With his last wish, Max becomes the hero and saves his mother and Polly, since they had both been depressed with Goldie’s disappearance, by wishing Goldie’s return back to their family.

Pictures/Illustrations

While reading Wishworks, Inc., the reader is able to see many different illustrations depicting Max’s story. In the beginning, the illustrations show Max’s imaginary scenarios and what King would look like. When Max makes his three wishes, the reader sees pictures of the shop and cashier. When Goldie becomes the family dog, there are illustrations of Max, Polly, and her, which do not involve Max’s imaginary world. The pictures in the book seem to go along with how Max grows and learns that his imaginary world is fun, but his real world can be enjoyable as well.
Possible Class Activities

Max and his imagination throughout the book allows for there to be many different class activities that can involve this story. One activity could be to have students create a wish list, trade with another student and discuss, and then have a class discussion about the lists. Some questions the teacher could ask would be what the students’ wishes were and how they could achieve them. Another classroom activity could be using this book as an introduction to bullying; students would learn what bullying is, what they should do in a bullying situation, and how to prevent it. This activity would help expand their social and safety skills. One last activity that a teacher could have involving this book is having the students write a story about an adventure in their imaginary world. This activity would help nurture the students’ creativity and imagination. The topics covered in this book allow for a wide variety of classroom activities and can help students learn important life lessons.

Appropriate Age/Grade Level

Wishworks, Inc. would be a great book for children in 4^th or 5^th grade and at ages of 10-12 years old. There are many features of this book that make it appropriate for this age level. One feature is text size; the text size is larger than regular 12-point which allows for better letter recognition and comprehension. Also, chapters are generally short to medium length; this age level would be appropriate since their attention span is longer and comprehension skills are more developed than with younger children. The book language includes many big words, such as guarantee and immediately. This language can be challenging to some students, which would be great for expanding vocabulary and comprehension skills. As previously stated, the bullying and creative concepts in this book would also be great for those topic introductions, respectively. Wishworks, Inc. allows for many lessons to be learned, but the appropriate age needs to be considered when choosing this book.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Wishworks, Inc. was a good book with some quirky qualities and definitely would be good for students to learn about bullying. Max definitely goes through many stressful experiences in the book, but ends up becoming a more confident boy; I think Max’s transition is a realistic example of childhood development for 4^th and 5^th grade children. As a reader, I could definitely relate to Max’s experiences and felt like Goldie taught him more about himself. I think that bullying is a really important topic this book addresses and could be utilized in the classroom for effective education and prevention. Wishworks, Inc. is a book that has many important lessons and is a good read for children at the appropriate age.

Citation:

Tolan, S. (2009). Wishworks, Inc. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books.

Mary Beth Z. First Book Review

2011-04-16T15:41:00.000-07:00

Summary:
Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business is about a misunderstanding that occurs. Junie B. Jones thinks that her new baby brother is really a baby monkey, and when she shares this with her class at show and tell, the news creates excitement and inevitably trouble.

Analysis:
           I find this particular Junie B. Jones novel really informational as well as enjoyable for kids of all ages. Children who read this book can learn about the process of a family having a new baby and how it will affect people who are already in the family, including themselves. As a teacher I would incorporate a fun art project where we draw and color a nursery for a new member of our family. Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business would also be educational for children as well because if their own family is going through the process of having a new brother or sister, the child could relate with Junie B. and understand that everything will be okay in the end because Junie B. was able to conquer this experience in her book while having fun.
           In response to the illustrations (usually one per chapter), the illustrations demonstrate the perspective of Junie B. and also demonstrate the perceptions of the people around her in each particular scene. In a classroom setting if I were reading this book aloud to my kids I could ask them to reflect on how something made them feel and allow them to share with the class either in art form or in an open discussion format.
            Another idea I had is when Junie B. is describing her cute little monkey brother to her class during show and tell, to have the kids draw out how they perceive Junie B's little brother as I am reading the description aloud to the class. This would provide for creativity in the classroom by giving children the opportunity to picture this new baby in their minds and then transfer that image onto paper. Junie B. Jones books are all very comical and relatable for children. Junie B. is a kindergartener exploring her world and reporting back to her readers on it. This provides new readers a way to see themselves in her books and get lost in the world of literature. As a child the only books I truly enjoyed were Junie B. Jones books and I feel strongly about having these books in the classroom.

Works Cited:

Park, B. (1993). Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business. New York: Random House.

Blubber Book Review By Taylor F

2011-02-20T18:20:00.000-08:00

BLUBBER

CITATION

Blume, Judy, Blubber, (New York: Random House Inc., 1974).

INTRODUCTION

For my first book review for this class, I read Judy Blume’s Iggie’s House and I liked it so much that I decided I would try another one of her books for my second review. As I had previously mentioned, I never read any of Judy Blume’s books. Blume is a hugely successful American author who has written numerous novels that span a variety of age groups and often address some of society’s most controversial topics. Blume’s books are often inspired by her own life. The previous book which I read, Iggie’s House, is focused on racism. The main theme in Blubber is bullying.

SUMMARY

The main setting for the book is a fifth grade classroom. Jill Brenner, a student in the class, is the main character. A pretty and popular girl in the class, Wendy, leads the entire class into bullying another student, Linda. Linda is overweight and is picked on both mentally and physically and is dubbed the nickname, “Blubber.” Jill follows along with the bullying until things get to a point where she decides that it’s just all ridiculous. Once that happens, Wendy, the pretty popular girl, quickly becomes friends with Linda (Blubber) and the focus for Wendy’s bullying is now on Jill.

This book would be ideal for late elementary and early middle school aged children and is probably best for students in grades four through six. It would be a great book for class discussions.

CRITICAL THINKING

BULLYING

As mentioned, the major theme of the book is bullying. Linda (Blubber) was given her nickname because she is overweight and she presented a project to the class on whales and described the thick layer of fat on whales as blubber. The bullying is extreme. Her house is toileted papered and silly string is sprayed all over. Her sidewalks are decorated in chalk with “Blubber.” In one incident, the girls trap her in the girls’ bathroom and hold her down. They strip her clothes off of her with said intentions of removing her fat from her body. Linda isn’t allowed to leave the bathroom until she curtsies to one girl and kisses another girl’s foot. It gets worse when the school nurse weighs all the girls and openly announces their individual weights, with additional public comments for Linda that she weighs too much. After that, the girls made Linda repeat the phrase, “I am Blubber, the Smelly Whale of Class 206,” before they would let Linda use the bathroom, eat her lunch, use the drinking fountain or get on the bus.

PERSONAL CHARACTER AND ADVERSITY

Another major theme in the book is how important it is to stand up for what is right. Although Jill goes along with the bullying, she often questions what is happening. Finally, when the class decides to have a trial to decide whether or not Linda (Blubber) told on Jill for playing a prank on a neighbor, Jill gets to the point that she’s had enough. During this awful trial, Linda (Blubber) is forced into a closet and locked inside when she doesn’t want to participate. When Wendy denies Linda a lawyer, Jill realizes that Wendy really isn’t a nice or fair person and she decides to stand up to Wendy. When she does that, everything changes. Friendships are torn apart and former enemies soon become friends. Wendy is still as mean as ever, but now leads the class into bullying Jill. Even Linda (Blubber) is an eager participant and she and Wendy become best friends. Jill doesn’t regret what she has done and her long –time friendship with Tracy, who is another classroom, grows even stronger as Jill realizes that Tracy is and has always been a good person and a good friend.

RACISM

Wendy, the master at bullying, also involves race as a target. When Tracy, Jill’s friend, says something that Wendy doesn’t like, Wendy later retaliates by referring to Tracy, as Jill’s “chink friend.” This, of course, further helps Jill to realize that Wendy is not a good person and not someone that she wants to be friends with.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This book was written in the 1970s, and bullying is still an issue in schools today, nearly 35 years after it was written. When I read the book, I could relate to the main character, Jill, and even at times, to the bullied student, Linda. However, I was extremely surprised at far the bullying went, especially when it involved physical contact. It was even more shocking to me that nearly all the bullying took place at school. I can’t imagine a nurse today making announcements and public comments regarding a student’s weight. Although I am well aware, that bullying is still a hot topic today, it seems like it is much less tolerated at school and by society. It also seems like today’s bullying has taken new shapes and forms, with so much focus on today’s cyber-bullying, which of course wasn’t part of 1970’s society.

Kayley De Rovira's picture book reviews

2011-01-23T15:47:00.000-08:00

Kayley De Rovira picture book reviews 1

1. Butterworth, Chris. Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea. (2006). Massachusetts: Candlewick Press.

Sea Horse is a story about sea horses, specifically the Barbour’s sea horse. In this book students learn many things about sea horses; camouflage, the way they look, food, mating rituals, birthing, swimming, and growth and development.

This book is very helpful to young students wanting to learn more about sea horses, especially because the bottom of most of the pages gives extra information like the scientific name of sea horses. The pictures are interesting and informative; showing how the sea horse camouflages and changes color for protection and mating, how the sea horse’s eggs grow into baby sea horses, and how they use their tail to swim and hold onto coral. As a teacher you can read the book aloud as part of a lesson on sea horses or in a unit plan about sea animals.

2. Coles, Robert. (1995). The Story of Ruby Bridges. Scholastic Inc.

The Story of Ruby Bridges is an inspirational story of the first black child to go to school in New Orleans in 1960. Through mobs of white men and women shouting for inequality, Ruby walked to an all-white school as the only student, praying for all of those who hated her. Eventually the mobs died down and the white students went back to school with Ruby, showing that faith and determination prevails.

I read this book when it first came out, and quickly fell in love with Ruby Bridge’s story. Ruby struggles with discrimination, but sticks to her schoolwork and her faith in God to help her through it. This is a great introductory book for a lesson on racism and discrimination in America.

3. McGrath, B. B. (ed.). (2006). The Storm: Students of Biloxi, Mississippi Remember Hurricane Katrina. Watertown, Mass: Charlesbridge Pub Inc.

Through The Storm, students, teachers, and faculty of Biloxi share their experiences of Hurricane Katrina. They express their grief, anger, acceptance, and thankfulness through stories and illustrations that McGrath compiled.

This book would be beneficial for students of any age, as the children in the book are from grades 1-11. For those not living in an area affected by Hurricane Katrina this book provides an insight into the lives of the victims. One teacher said, “What was once a faceless storm all of a sudden became personal” (16). This allows students who didn’t feel the storm was personal to see it from different perspectives. At the end of the book, some students and faculty express their thanks to everyone around the world that helped the Biloxi community restore it’s homes and schools. This book provides hope to victims of natural disasters while showing how important it is to help out others in a time of crisis.

4. Mortenson, Greg, & Roth, S. L. (2009). Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg & Three Cups of Tea. New York, NY: Dial Books for Young Readers.

Listen to the Wind is the story of Greg Mortenson’s first building project in Korphe, Pakistan. Mortenson ended up cold, sick, and hungry in Korphe, Pakistan on his way to climb the mountains. In order to repay the village for it’s kindness he came back a year later to build a school; first creating a bridge to carry supplies across, and then building the school with the help of men, women, and children of Korphe.

The pictures in the book are collages, created by Susan Roth, which moves the story along. They show the interactions between the villagers and Mortenson through the use of various textiles. A teacher can use this book to show the differences between our cultures. An open discussion about how there are many people who are less fortunate can help the students understand the world better. Community and helping others are themes that can be discussed further as well.

5. Penn, Audrey. (2004). A Pocket Full of Kisses. Indiana: Tanglewood Press.

A Pocket Full of Kisses is a story about the reassurance and love a mother Raccoon gives her son after he becomes jealous of his new baby brother. Chester Raccoon becomes very sad when his mother gives his brother a Kissing Hand, his Kissing Hand, but she explains to him that his brother isn’t taking over his territory, and that her love and kisses will never run out for Chester and his brother.

This book is a great way for students to learn about the feelings that come with a new addition to the family. Chester feels hurt when his mother gives his brother a Kissing Hand, a kiss the mother places on the palm of his hand, afraid that if she gives the baby a Kissing Hand her kisses will run out. The mother Raccoon explains that every night the sun’s rays touch all the stars, and that no matter how many stars are in the sky the sun won’t stop reaching out it’s light to each and every one of them. She explains that when someone loves you their kisses are always there, like the sun’s rays, and that she will never run out. This will help students understand unconditional love.

Iggie's House Book Review By: Taylor F

2011-01-12T10:18:00.000-08:00

CITATION

Blume, Judy, Iggie’s House, (New York: Antheneum Books for Young Readers, 1970).

INTRODUCTION

As a kid, I never read any Judy Blume books, but my mother had always suggested that I read them, as they were popular books when she was a middle school student and a teenager. Judy Blume is an American author who has written numerous books that have gained world-wide recognition and have generated revenues in excess of $80 million. Most of Judy Blume’s books were written in the 1970s and they often deal with controversial topics such as divorce, bullying, religion, teen sex, and menstruation. Many of Blume’s books have been met with censorship in school libraries.

Iggie’s House focuses on racism. It is a book written for mainly for middle-school children or older elementary aged children, and mainly for children aged nine to twelve. The book was written in the late 1960s and published in 1970. It was written during a tumultuous time in the country. It was a time when there were multiple race riots in the United States, when schools were desegregating and when Martin Luther King Junior had been the victim of a horrific assassination.

The book deals with racism through the eyes of its main character, Winnie Barringer, as she works to befriend a black family who has moved onto her street in a white suburban neighborhood.

The book jacket pictures a girl, presumed to be eleven years old, with dirty blond hair and blue eyes, positioned between two similar aged black boys.

PLOT SUMMARY

The book deals with an eleven year old girl who is excited when a black family moves into their suburban white neighborhood. The book deals with a range of emotions and situations that develop as a result of the family’s move into the neighborhood.

CRITICAL THINKING

RACISM

First and foremost, the book presents the topic of racism. The book does a wonderful job of displaying both racist and race based feelings from multiple perspectives. It shows a girl, Winnie, who is enamored with the fact that the Garber family is black. It shows a white suburban housewife who has banned her child from playing with “colored” children and whose feelings lead her to outwardly expressing her feelings in efforts to push the Garber family out of the neighborhood. It shows the how Winnies parents, Mr. and Mrs. Barringer, work through their own personal feelings.

The book also shows how the Garbers dealt with the racism. It explained how Mrs. Garber was devastated and up crying all night and how she ultimately wanted to pack up and move. It showed Mr. Garber, who decided to stay put, as he worked hard for the promotion that had brought the Garber family to this new city. Most importantly, it showed how the three Garber children dealt with race. Herbie, the middle child, who was just starting the fifth grade was the most out-spoken about his feelings. Herbie was very vocal with his negative thoughts towards Mrs. Lanthorn and wished that he could outwardly hurt her, as she had hurt him. Moreover, Herbie was often very cynical with towards Winnie, especially when Winnie had difficulty understanding their feelings, even though Winnie’s main objectives and actions were positive.

PERSONAL CHARACTER AND INDIVIDUAL VALUES

Another major theme in the book is how important character and personal value systems are to humanity. The book demonstrated a person with strong personal character and individual values within the main character, Winnie. Winnie’s dealt with a series of situations where displayed her willingness to be accepting, her courage, her confidence, and mostly importantly, her determination. Her strong values helped her work through a series of events during a one week time span that she’d never experienced before.

The two main male father figures in the book both had minimal roles, but also provided us with a look into how their own personal values helped them make the right decision for their families. In Mr. Barringer’s case, it was his personal determination and independence that lead him to redirect Mrs. Lanthorn when she tried to push the Barrigners to leave the neighborhood. It was these same values that were the foundation for him also standing up to Mrs. Lanthorn when she came to the Barringers in efforts to get Winnie in trouble for circulating a race based questionnaire.

Again, although Mr. Garber’s role was limited it the book, it was her perseverance and hard working principals that provided him with the foundation to keep his family put, although his wife was having a difficult time dealing with the unwelcoming communications that she had received from some of the neighbors.

Mrs. Lanthorn provided us with a source of a value system that should be questioned. Mrs. Lanthorn was a woman who lacked in moral value and demonstrated a series of negative traits, including cowardice, inconsiderateness, thoughtless. She was a woman void of compassion and was very close-minded and hurtful.

DIVERSITY AND FRIENDSHIP

We all know that diversity helps us to understand that individuals are unique creatures and that we should all be recognized for our individual differences. The exploration of our differences, especially as it relates to race, can create both negative and positive outcomes. This book provides both negative and positive elements. By focusing to the positive, and understanding that we are all different, we are able to begin to embrace some of the diverse elements which have traditionally kept us apart.

Winnie was excited to have a black family on the street. She was drawn to the unique and unknown and her desire to become friends with the Garber children lead her to make new friends. A turning point for Winnie was when she noticed that the Garber children ate the same type of peanut butter as her. Shortly thereafter, she realized that same type of parental structure and communication obstacles that existed in the Barringer family also existed in the Garber family. As Winnie began to indentify commonalities between the children and herself, the initial excitement about having new black friends evolved just into an excitement of having new friends period.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I loved reading this book. It kept me engaged and once I started to read it, I didn’t want to put it down. There were numerous elements to the story line that I could personally relate to. I am amazed that over forty years since the book was written, that some of the major themes of the book are still pertinent in today’s world. It helps me to understand how controversial this book must have been when it was written and first published.

I believe that this would be a wonderful book for children to read today. It was extremely well written and deals with multiple topics that are important for children to understand. I believe that although we have made great progress in our country in regards to race based issues, that there is still much work to be done. I believe that if children can understand that diversity is an important and essential element of our society, that they’ll be better equipped to deal with the various situations that they’ll be experience during their life time and that this book can help to reinforce a positive personal value system.

Anthony Perez - Book Review #2 - Holes

2010-11-10T20:06:00.000-08:00

CITATION

Sachar, L. (1998). Holes. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux,.

INTRO

When it comes to young adult books one book stands out from my childhood as a classic, that book is “Holes” By Lois Sachar. “Holes” is one of the books that I actually remember reading in my 6t^h grade reading class. I thought it was a very interesting story that kept me reading the book. I believe my 4^th grade year is when reading books started to get more of a chore, so I am happy that I actually had the chance to enjoy this book and not just write it off as an assignment. This is why I have chosen to share it as a review for my 2^nd book review this quarter!

SUMMARY
The book “Holes” follows the story of a young boy name Stanley Yelnats IV, a young boy who’s family is cursed with bad luck, and his adventure at Camp Green Lake, a camp for boys who have committed a crime or are in trouble. Stanley is sent to the camp because he is wrongly accused of stealing a pair of very expensive shoes from a charity auction. At the camp he meets many of the other characters in the book and they are forced to dig holes as a way to build character, but secretly the warden has the boys digging to find a buried treasure! In the end the boys do find the treasure and it turns out that it actually belonged to Stanley’s ancestor, so it rightfully belongs to his family, which is a huge help.

CRITICAL THINKING

One of the best things about using this book in a classroom is that there is a movie adaptation. One of the things that I would do in my classroom is to have the students first read the book version of the story. Then I would show the movie in the classroom. I would ask the children to explain which version of the story that they enjoyed the most and why. I would also ask them to list noticeable differences between the movie and the book. I believe this is a good book to movie adaptation but there were still differences and I would like my students to be able to notice the differences and express if they thought they helped or hurt the story.

When I remember reading the book, way before the movie had actually came out and even as a reread it, my mind always created an image of what Camp Green Lake looks like in my mind. As a creative piece I would ask that my students create what their view of Camp Green Lake. If I were tying the book in with the movie, I would ask that the students complete this assignment before we actually watched the movie so their imaginations weren’t hindered. I think that by letting the students use there imaginations and create there own version of Camp Green Lake they will be able to share how they connected with the descriptions in the book.

Another thing that kept me reading the book as a child, and even today, was my connection to Stanley. I feel like I connected to him because I could actually put myself in his shoes and see myself in his position and it made me a little scared. It made me think about how anyone could be wrongly accused for a crime and be sent away for something they didn’t do. As a child I didn’t really know the reality of this, but now, as an adult I do know that people are wrongly accused and sent to prison. As a classroom adaptation to this I would have my students try to find a character in the book that they most identified with and write a journal entry as that person. The journal entry would be about a day at Camp Green Lake in the eyes of the character chosen. I believe this would be another way for students to express how they personally connected with the story. This is an assignment that I would probably assign AFTER watching the movie, because students might be able to better identify with a character after seeing them on the screen.

At the end of the book the author leaves us with a pretty good picture of how everything went. I think that the reader is left with the ability to use their imagination at this point in the story as well. I think another great activity for students would be to use their inference skills to write about what might happen next in Stanley and Zero’s lives. Using what they learned from the story and mixing it with their imaginations giving a whole new start to a 2^nd installment of “Holes”.

All in all I believe that “Holes” is a very good book and something that I will definitely share in my classroom one day! If you have read it as a young child and have seen the movie I definitely suggest that you read the book again. It is one of the few books from my middle school years that I actually enjoyed that I was forced to read. I think that it having a touch of “realistic fiction” really made me enjoy it more. It was different then the other books that we were forced to read in class. The spotted lizards, the buried treasures, and the crazy nicknames definitely made the story more interesting and it made me want to continue reading the book until I was finished! It is one of the few books that I actually “read ahead” on.

Ali Boone Midterm

2010-10-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

Lesson Plans Alice Boone

Day 1-5: October 25- October 29th

Day #1 = October 25 (Monday)

Reading/Grammar/ Spelling instruction

8:15-8:55 (40 minutes)

Objectives: Identifying and understanding capital and proper nouns

Materials: New working with words list

Procedure: Introduce new words for the week. Go over the rules for plural nouns. Practice. Spelling plural nouns on dry-erase boards. Give out baseball teams to each student so they can begin to research the teams to use in a paper topic.

Preview Station for 5 day lesson

8:55-9:05 or 1:25-1:35 (10 minutes)

Station

9:05-9:45 (40 minutes)

2:45-2:55 Clean up and pack up

2:55-3:00 Listen to Announcements

3:00 Dismissal

Day #2 = October 26 (Tuesday)

Reading/Grammar/ Spelling instruction

8:15-8:30 (15 minutes)

Objectives: Use correct capitals and plural nouns

Materials: DOL #15

Procedure: Students will do DOL in composition notebook. They will correct the sentence. They will raise their hand when finished to be checked. Afterwards, we will review the concepts plural nouns.

Writing Workshop

8:30-9:10 (40 minutes)

Objective: The student will be able to select, create and use graphic organizers to interpret textual information. We will be choosing from baseball looking graphic organizers to go on with our novel Skinnybones

Materials: graphic organizer

Procedure: I will introduce graphic organizers. Students will then work on graphic organizer.

Station

9:10-9:45 or 1:40-2:15(35 minutes)

Lesson Plans

Day 1-5: October 25-29, 2010

Day #3 = October 27 (Wednesday)

Reading/Grammar/ Spelling instruction

8:15-8:30 (15 minutes)

Objectives: Use correct capitals and plural nouns

Materials: DOL #15

Guided Reading

8:30-9:10 (40 minutes)

Objective: Answer literal, inferential and evaluative questions to demonstrate comprehension of grade level appropriate print texts.

Materials: Chapter 1 and 2 in Skinnybones

Procedure: Introduce background history and vocab for Skinnybones. Then read aloud chapter one as a whole group Skinnybones. Ask comprehension questions as we read.

HW: No HW

Station

9:10-9:45 (35 minutes)

Lesson Plans

Day 1-5: October 25-29 2010

Day #4 = October 28 (Thursday)

Reading/Grammar/ Spelling instruction

8:15-8:30 (15 minutes)

Objectives: Identify and understand uses of words

Materials: Spelling Review

Procedure: We will play a review game over spelling words

Writing Workshop

8:30-9:10 (40 minutes)

Objective: The student will be able to select, create and use graphic organizers to interpret textual information. The student will be able to organize writing, beginning with an introduction, body and a resolution of plot, followed by a closing statement or a summary of important ideas and details. Direct the graphic organizer around specific team that they were given at the beginning of the week, by tracing the locations of the places where the team has visited in the past month.

Materials: graphic organizer/ fact finder/notebook paper

Procedure: Students will start writing their baseball themed paper, I will work with them if they need help.

Station

9:10-9:45 (35 minutes)

Lesson Plans

Day 1-5: October 25-29, 2010

Day #5 = October 29 (Friday)

Reading/Grammar/ Spelling instruction

8:15-8:30 (15 minutes)

Objectives: Use correct capitals and plural nouns

Materials: DOL quiz

Procedure: Students will take their DOL quiz.

Guided Reading

8:30-9:10 (40 minutes)

Objective: Answer literal, inferential and evaluative questions to demonstrate comprehension of grade level appropriate print texts.

Materials: Skinnbones, chapters 3 and 4

Procedure: Students will partner read aloud SkinnyBones and then do the 10 questions that are on the smartboard on notebook paper.

Station

9:10-9:45 (35 minutes)

Stations for the days of Day 1-5: October 25-29, 2010

Stations	Objectives	Materials	Procedures
Creative Writing	Use correct capitals and plural nouns The student will be able to organize writing, beginning with an introduction, body and a resolution of plot, followed by a closing statement or a summary of important ideas and details.	5 Burdich pages/notebook paper	Students will pick one Burdich picture and write a descriptive story about the story.
Word Wall	Identify and understand uses of words	List of spelling words/notebook paper	Students will write riddles for each spelling word. Then exchange riddles and figure out partners riddle.
Computers	Use correct capitals and plural nouns	Hartcourt.school.com games noun duck	Students will get onto Edline and go to this game.
Grammar/Cursive	Write legibly in cursive, spacing letters correctly Use correct capitals and plural nouns	Noun/cursive packet	Students will work on cursive and plural noun packet.
Guided Reading	Answer literal, inferential and evaluative questions to demonstrate comprehension of grade level appropriate print texts.	Skinnybones/ questions/ answer sheet	Teacher and students will read story. Then students will answer questions over story with teacher assistants.
Listening/Pair Reading	Establish and adjust purpose for reading, including to find out, to understand, to interpret, to enjoy and to solve problems	CD/ Skinnybones/poster paper	Students will listen to chapters 1-4 of Skinnybones. Afterwards, they will take a piece of poster paper and draw and write about what they think will happen next.

Maggie Roby: Review of ENCHANTED GLASS by Diana Wynne Jones

2010-10-18T20:28:00.000-07:00

When Andrew Hope’s grandfather passes away, leaving Andrew the master of Melstone House, an enchanted field-of-care, and several cranky servants, all Andrew wants is some peace, quiet, and a computer so that he can begin writing his book. What he gets instead are vast quantities of improbably large vegetables, a blunt and beautiful secretary who can predict the future based on the day’s racing results, and a twelve-year-old boy named Aidan Cain, whose late grandmother instructed him to seek out Andrew’s grandfather in times of danger. Times certainly have become dangerous as the insidious Mr. Brown begins to encroach upon Andrew’s field-of-care, bent on destroying Aidan, his heir and only rival to an ancient and mystical power. Together, Andrew and Aidan must explore the boundaries of their field-of-care, learn how to harness the magic within themselves, and discover the power of certain mysterious panes of colored glass if they are to have any hope of preserving the balance of magic in the world.

In this story, there are two protagonists: thirty-year-old Andrew and twelve-year-old Aidan. The first chapter focuses exclusively on Andrew, and I was initially taken aback to find myself reading about a middle-aged academic rather than the middle school student I had been expecting. While I found his University existence and desire for independence easy to relate to on a personal level, I questioned his prominence in what is clearly a piece of young adult literature. But as I continued reading, Aidan’s arrival in Chapter Two having restored my equilibrium, it became clear that the characters of Aidan and Andrew are meant to function together. That they are meant to be juxtaposed is evidenced by the fact that the two look remarkably similar, both use their glasses to do magic, and are later revealed to be relatives. But more importantly, it is through Aidan that Andrew is able to reclaim specific memories about his childhood that he “had made himself forget…because he had decided that magic was not an adult thing to know” (204). It is only when Aidan sneaks out of the house to meet Groil that Andrew remembers that he had done the exact same thing when he was a boy staying at his grandfather’s house. While these revelations are integral to the plot (Andrew must assemble the memories of his grandfather’s magic lessons piecemeal before he is able to harness the power of the enchanted glass), they have much larger thematic significance in that they refute the notion put forth by such works as Peter Pan and The Chronicles of Narnia that one must needs “grow out” of magic. Peter Pan himself so fears this eventuality that he refuses to grow up at all, and when C.S. Lewis’ characters reach a certain age, they lose the ability to travel to Narnia. Diana Wynne Jones rejects this idea, suggesting instead that it is only the demands of society that keep us from retaining the magic of our childhood. Just as Andrew is able to remember and harness his magic by finding himself in Aidan, one need only try to see themselves in the words or actions of a child to reclaim some of the magic of childhood. And that, I think, is a beautiful idea.

One of the most interesting concepts in this novel is that most of the characters have what are called counterparts. Counterparts are magical beings who are similar in appearance to humans who live in the village. Some counterparts are similar in terms of personality, as well. For example, Groil, a giant who eats all of the prohibitively large produce, is the counterpart of Shaun, a slow but sturdy young man with a flair for fixing things. Neither Shaun nor Groil is particularly bright, and they get along wonderfully. However, Tarquin, a loyal ally, has for a counterpart the Puck, who is undeniably a villain. I find this disparity intriguing. Counterparts are not simply reflections or foils, but vague distortions of character that reveal aspects of their personalities that may not be otherwise apparent. There is no dichotomy of good and evil—the line is blurred. What does it say about Stashe, who ends up marrying Andrew, that her counterpart attempts to seduce him? Though one is good and the other bad, both share the same attraction to Andrew and are therefore more similar than Stashe would like to admit. Shaun and Groil accentuate one another. Shaun seems gentle, but is it possible that he too, like Groil, is capable of (at least metaphorically) eating people? For an assignment, I would have the students create their own magical counterparts, drawing a picture and determining which of their hidden personality traits their counterparts reveal about them.

In the novel, the character Stashe (Andrew’s eventual love interest) uses the results of horse races printed in the newspaper to predict the future. Naturally, even the most ridiculous names prove relevant to the development of the plot. I liked trying to guess how names like “Dogdays” and “Heavy Queen” were going to fit into the story, and I feel that this creative, entertaining, and humorous device lends itself to a lesson on foreshadowing—how it can be used to pique the reader’s interest and heighten the tension of the piece. In addition, the concept of fortune-telling brings with it the issue of fate. Is it inner strength that renders Andrew powerful enough to drive out Mr. Brown, or is it fate? Is man master of his own destiny? Is the name “Heavy Queen” vague enough to refer to, say, a chess match rather than an overweight counterpart disguised as a social worker? Is fate but another one of man’s inventions, twisted to the whim of his interpretation? I think that we would have quite enough material for a rather rousing class discussion. Also, a fun in-class writing assignment would be to get a set of actual racing results from a newspaper and then have the students write stories guided by the names of the selected horses, allowing them to put their new knowledge of foreshadowing to practical use.

While Enchanted Glass does not displace Howl’s Moving Castle on my list of favorite Diana Wynne Jones novels, I found this book enjoyable in the extreme. It would not be my first choice for use in the classroom, but it is certainly worth the read, particularly for those who enjoy Jones’ other work: it has the same delightfully outlandish characters, magically ridiculous circumstance, and charming wit and humor. The ending (which I refuse to divulge), particularly the final grand reveal about Aidan’s parentage, takes much of the tension and significance out of the plot, and I felt a bit cheated because the resolution seemed so effortless. This book also features the world’s fastest and most random marriage proposal, which is so abrupt that I laughed aloud when reading it. Ultimately, I quite liked this book and would recommend it to anyone seeking magic, adventure, the power of family, and, above all, a happy ending.

Jones, Diana Wynne. Enchanted Glass. New York, NY: Greenwillow, 2010. Print.

Beth Montgomery First Book Review

2010-10-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

Harper, C.M. (2006). Fashion Kitty. New York, NY: First Scholastic Printing.

The Kittie Family is unusual in three different ways. First they own a pet mouse and are vegetarians. Second the two daughters in the family KiKi and Lana get to pick out all their own clothes. And third they know the secret identity of 'Fashion Kitty.' Throughout the story the identity of 'Fashion Kitty" is revealed as she goes through many adventures helping those challenged in their fashion. In the end she helps a friend who was being bullied along with helping her fashion needs.

    I choose this book because it went along with our discussion of graphic novels, the pictures and first few pages intriqued me as I thought this was going to be a book about choosing your own fashion style, and being happy with your own unique self. In the beginning couple of pages it leads you on to believe this as Lana the youngest daughter is talked about as having her own fashion style; wearing stockings on her neck, underpants on the outside of her jeans, two skirts, and running off saying " you're not the boss of my fashion" In the end I did not like this book and how it potrayed fashion and the characters in it, I will discuss this book by certain pages that stood out to me and made me dislike the content.

   The first thing comes in how Fashion Kitty(who is actually kiki) is described, she has a brain that can mix and match hundreds of outfits in a second. But in the beginning of the book its states that the Kittie family is one where the two girls can wear whatever they like, not having a mother who controlled what they wear. Who is to say that what fashion kitty can mix and match is 'fashion'. Also if they are aloud to wear whatever they like then why should KiKi be controlling or telling other people what to wear when she turns into fashion kitty? This made me confused on the moral of this story.

Another thing that turned me off to this story was how the family was described as having a mouse as a pet. That this would be compared to 'a human having a chocolate cake as a pet' where they would have a urge to eat their pet, but in fact the Kittie family were vegetarians. The story goes into great detail about how the mouse has a special smell-proof clubhouse in the closet of Kiki's room, and any time cats would come over the mouse would run into the room and lock the door. It also talked about how Mother Kittie sprays blue-cheese air freshener all over the house to be safe when vistors come over. This mouse seemed to be very special to them in all they did to protect it as a pet. I was expecting this mouse to come up as an important part of the story, but it only had an appearance in the very beginning which confused me on the importance of that pet. I just took the importance as that the family was different then all the others.

   One of the efforts of Fashion Kitty was to help Mary Jane who was going to wear polka-dotted shorts over her pants the next day at school because, 'Priscilla Persian, the most popular kitty in school', gave her a note to say that all her friends were doing it. I liked that Fashion Kitty was helping someone who was being bullied and tricked as a joke, but as fashion kitty helps her to go through her wardrobe and change her style for what she was going to wear the next day in order to look 'just as good' in Fashion Kitty's eyes as the most popular girl in school. If Fashion Kitty was going with her ways of wear whatever you wanna wear, her message would be to be yourself and wear whatever makes you comfortable, not what you think the most popular girl in school wants you to wear.

Overall I disliked the book in that I felt it was choppy and didnt follow a story line that seemed to make sense. I did like the easiness of the reading to get those to read that may not often pick up a book, along with the fact that it is a graphic novel. There were a few good lessons in the book including how the family handled stress by thinking about how things werent that bad and could be worse. There is a picture saying it could be worse if: KiKi had not woken up, Lana had hit her head, Father Kittie has fallen down. This shows good stress management skills.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

2010-10-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

If the message of S.E. Hinton’s 1967 novel The Outsiders is that “nothing gold can stay” than someone must have forgotten to mention that to her. Over 40 years after its release The Outsiders still carries with it a valuable lesson for adolescents today. The classic struggle of youthful alienation and the inevitability of change is still at the forefront of the adolescent experience to this day, and Ponyboy’s captivating narrative paints a vivid picture of two group of friends from different sides of the tracks, each struggling to find their way.

As the story opens up, we are introduced to the type of bullying and violence that the poor “greasers” face throughout the story at the hands of rich “socs”. Ponyboy is walking home from the theatre when he is jumped by a group of socs, luckily he is saved by his brothers and the rest of their gang. There are many more similar conflicts throughout the book, culminating in an all out gang fight between the greasers and the socs. The most important conflict happens when Ponyboy and his friend Johnny, who always carried a switchblade because of a beating he received by a group of socs, were confronted in a vacant lot by a group of drunken socs. As one of the socs was drowning Ponyboy in a fountain, Johnny pulled out his switchblade and killed him as the other socs fled. In one night everything would change for both sides.

Bullying and alienation have always been and most likely always will be an integral part of the adolescent experience, whether a student is on one side or the other. The Outsiders provides a valuable chance for students to engage in conversations about the violence and bullying they read about in the book and translate it to their own experiences. The kids that are often the target of such violence are likely to interpret it in a different way than the kids who are often the perpetrators of these acts. However, I don’t believe that either interpretation is more or less valuable than the other when it comes to examining their own adolescent experience.

Kids that are bullied in their school and even kids who simply feel alienated can look at the story Ponyboy tells and realize that they are not alone in their unfortunate circumstances. In fact, with such dramatic displays of violence in The Outsiders, these kids may be able to put their experiences into an even better perspective. On the other hand, kids that are often bullying others are offered the chance to see life from the perspective of the bullied, and hopefully realize that they are not so different. This theme of adolescent alienation provides a valuable opportunity to open up a discussion about bullying and alienation in their school in a non-threatening literary environment where real problems and concerns can be expressed.

It is also important as a teacher to make sure the students aren’t taking the story completely literally as the dynamics of these universal struggles in this day and age are probably not the same as they were for the “greasers” and “socs”. However, no matter the dynamics of the school there will undoubtedly be individuals who feel like an outsider in their own right. It’s difficult to imagine any school in this country being completely homogenized to the point that similar conflicts do not exist. Reading The Outsiders in class and discussing these themes could be an extremely valuable experience if mediated correctly.

The Outsiders also touches on another important theme relating to the adolescent experience, the reality that everything changes. “Nothing gold can stay,” as Ponyboy would say. This poem by Robert Frost seems to be the overarching theme of the text, and is played out brilliantly in the lives of the “greasers”. Dallas Winston is the toughest of the “greasers” and is kind of an allegory for youth lost. He’s seemed to have grown up too fast and made a lot of bad choices along the way. Ponyboy on the other hand is still 14 and holding on to his youthful innocence as much as possible. The incident in the vacant lot would drastically change the lives of everyone involved.

Johnny’s guilt allowed him the courage to run into a burning church to save the lives of a few younger children and was fatally wounded in the process. Looked at by the other “greasers” as their little brother, when Johnny finally succumbed in the hospital, it was too much for Dallas to bare. As the police gunned him down after pulling a gun on them, Dallas death signified the idea of youthfulness lost.

The inevitability of change can be a tough thing for adolescents to accept, and S.E. Hinton brilliantly portrays this struggle throughout the book. This theme provides another opportunity for a class discussion. Students can be asked to expand on this idea by writing a short sequel to The Outsiders and explain how they think the story played out after the ending. This gives students the opportunity to really dig in to the characters of the book by analyzing their actions throughout and creatively explaining how each character is handling his/her lives after the end of the book.

I unfortunately never read this book during school but reading it now really gave me a chance to look back at my adolescence and think about it in a different way. I think this book is perfect for English classes from 6^th to 9^th grade levels. The Outsiders is definitely a book I will consider reading as a class in my classroom. The fact that S.E. Hinton was only 15 when she began writing The Outsiders is another great aspect of the book in a classroom environment. Studentss can use her as an inspiration and set their goals accordingly. Perhaps one of my students will one day write a book that stays this golden 40 plus years after it’s published!

Hinton, S.E.. The Outsiders. New York: Penguin Books, 1967. Print.

Posted by: Lance Buckley

Uglies

2010-10-16T06:56:00.000-07:00

Westerfeld, S. (2005). Uglies. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Summary

Tally Youngblood has lived her whole life anticipating the day she would be surgically changed from her natural, ugly self, into a medically-transformed pretty. On the day of her surgery, however, she is told that she cannot be turned pretty until she betrays a friend by finding where a group of runaways, the Smokies, is living. After finding the town, she realizes the benefits of staying ugly, but accidentally notifies the city officials of the town’s location. The inhabitants of the town are then taken back to the dystopian city where Tally and her new friend David have to rescue them.

Critical Thinking

As a teacher, it is important to create opportunities for children to connect with and think critically about the books they read. The following are topics that I could use to create discussion or follow-up assignments in the classroom. They are ranked by amount on comprehension and maturity that I think would be required by the reader, starting with the simplest:

Honesty

Throughout this book, Tally has to make up an increasing number of lies to hide her true motivation and previous actions. Occasionally, others call her out on inconsistencies in her stories. Eventually, the result of the lying is far worse than if she had just told the truth from the beginning. I really like that, in the end, Tally is held accountable for her decisions, and personally assumes the responsibility for the situation she created. In the classroom, I could ask the students to think of a time when they told a lie, then had to face the negative consequences that resulted from it. Or, I could ask them to think about a time when they had been hurt by someone else’s dishonesty. To incorporate writing into reading, I could ask them to write an alternate scenario in which Tally promptly tells the Smokies the truth about her mission from the Specials.

Body Image

I didn’t love this book, but I know that my teenage sister did. She recommended it wholeheartedly to me and read the entire series. Because it is written about a teenage girl, I imagine this is the audience it appeals to the most. Girls that age face an immense amount of peer pressure to look good— to be pretty. While I didn’t love the book, I did like that it emphasized that fitting into the norm, becoming like everyone else, and giving up your individually actually has a lot of negative consequences. This book does a good job of breaking down the stereotypes of “desirable qualities” that our society has created. In the classroom, I could ask my students to think about their heroes. A few may describe orally what they admire in that person. Chances are good that the majority of these positive qualities would not be beauty. In the book, Uglies were trained to believe they were ugly by the government, teachers, and each other. The nicknames they gave themselves were one of the primary reinforcements to this negative thinking. For students focusing on this aspect of the book, I would challenge them to act out mock scenarios where they give compliments and practice graciously receiving them.

Living Green

I feel like Scott Westerfeld was attempting to make a statement with his descriptions of the Rusty Society. I hope my students would be able to make the connection between the Rusties in the book and our current society. The Rusties relied heavily on oil, which ultimately resulted in their downfall. They did not use renewable energy or attempt to preserve natural resources. In contrast, Tally’s city focused heavily on preserving the environment. Everything was recycled and Tally abhorred the idea of even cutting down one tree. Students could be taught what it means to reduce the size of your ecological footprint. They could read expository articles about climate change, habitat destruction, and renewable energy. I could ask my students to write a short story entitled “A Day Without Gas.” These stories could be humerous, but I would encourage them to consider how their everyday lives would be changed if no gas were available.

Bioethics

The surgery performed in the city to change people pretty also causes lesions on their brains that suppress their desire to repel and their ability to make quick decisions. By the end of the book, the surgery is considered a punishment to the Smokies. They don’t want the surgery to turn them pretty. Today in our society, there are many people who would rather not obtain certain medical interventions. For example, some religions object to blood transfusions, some parents don’t want vaccinations for their children, and some people would rather die than receive extensive treatment. Examples like these could be shared with more advanced children in a classroom. I could ask them to choose one topic within bioethics, and write a persuasive opinion paper as to what extent the government should be allowed to force citizens to receive treatment against their will.

While I think this book is primarily written for teenage girls, there are many subthemes in it that can be analyzed by different genders and maturity levels. Uglies attacks many of the pervasive stereotypes that exist in our society today. It is a great demonstration that you cannot accept everything that you are told from authority figures. I hope this book will encourage children to test the concepts they are taught, look for reason behind action, and question the norm.

by Kelli T

Anthony Perez's Book Review of "The Giver" By: Lois Lowry

2010-10-13T14:42:00.000-07:00

Citation

Lowry, L. (1993). The Giver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
   ISBN 0-553-57133-8
Intro

   For my first book review I chose to read the book “The Giver” by Lois Lowry. I chose this book because it is a childhood favorite that I still enjoy reading and examining. This was my 3rd time actually reading the book so it gave me an opportunity to take a deeper look into the reading.

Summary

     “The Giver” is the story of an 11, going on 12 year old, boy named Jonas who lives in what appears to be a very utopian society. The society Jonas lives in does not have much diversity; all families have 2 children, 1 boy and 1 girl, and all tasks are learned at the same age. People in the community also take pills to suppress feelings of love and sexual desires. When it comes to careers, one does not choose their career; it is assigned to them at the “Ceremony of Twelve”. This ceremony marks the change of 11 year olds to 12 year olds. The Ceremony of Twelve is where the books main focus is; it follows Jonas and his job assignment of “Receiver of Memories”. Jonas’ job is to take on the memories of pain, fear, love, and all other memories that have been forgotten by the community to ensure their utopian lifestyles. After awhile Jonas realizes that his community is no utopia at all, there is no true happiness and people are basically robots living a daily routine. This leads to him fleeing away to an ambiguous place at the end of the novel.

Critical Thinking

   After reading this novel a number of times I have been able to think more critically about things beyond the text. As a future educator I would love to find a place for this book in my classroom. When I think of themes in this book I think of a great spark of imagination, gender roles, the idea of a utopian society, the similarity to the book “1985” by Anthony Burgess, and the idea of no real choices.

   I believe this novel is a great book for early teens and young adults because of its ability to grab the reader’s attention and push to use imagination. As one begins reading the book, Lowry’s description of the society and their way of life is very intriguing and influences one to continue to read. I found myself making many assumptions as to where Jonas’ lived and wanted to learn more about the rules and traditions of his society. When it comes to a book like this I believe description is a very good trait. Since there are no pictures, description is the only thing that our minds can feed on to make an understanding of the environment we are reading about. I believe this book is a good book to teach students how to use imagination. For younger students you could ask them to make pictures of what they think the town might look like.

   Another thing that I found interesting about the book is the depiction of gender roles. When it comes to Jonas’ parents his mother works in the judicial field and his father is a caregiver. In my mind these gender roles go against the “traditional” gender roles of our society. Where the male would be the one working in the judicial field and the mother, being the “nurturer”, would work with the newborn young. This makes me wonder if the author did this on purpose to go against the social norms of our society. Although gender roles are switched back when it comes to the job of “birthmothers”, which is a career that is looked down upon in Jonas’ society. Although it would be a little controversial, I would ask my students to make up some lists of gender “stereotyped” careers and as a class see if everyone agrees. I feel like the females in a younger classroom would have a completely different list than the males.

   One topic from the book that could be open for a classroom discussion would be “Is Jonas’ society truly ‘Utopian’? “. Since there is no real sense of fear, death, or loneliness, people don’t need to worry about crime and other situations that occur in our lives every day. So in that sense the answer would be yes. On the other hand there is no freedom of choice, love, or sexual happiness. So the debate would be, which is truly utopian; to be happy and a little unsure of what is going to happen, or have no true happiness and be safe everyday. I would really enjoy hearing people’s thoughts on the idea of a utopia and what their particular “utopia” entails. I believe this would really engage students’ minds about utopian societies. With this I would have them make a list of what their own utopian would be like.

   Another idea that comes to mind when reading this book is the similarity it has to the book “1985” by Anthony Burgess. If I were teaching a high school course I would also want to have my students compare and contrast “The Giver” and “1985. I think the two are similar in many ways but “1985” takes a more rough approach. It would be nice to have the students thinking about if the two societies really were all that different. Although, portrayed in different light by the text, I believe the actual underlining of the two societies are very much alike.

   Lastly something I think about every time I read this book is the idea of no choice in careers. I believe this is one thing about the society Jonas lives in that really makes it not my idea of a utopia. I would use this idea of the “Ceremony of Twelve” as an activity in my classroom if I were to use this book. I would have all of my student write down a scrap piece of paper the career they dream to have one day and put them into a box. I would also add some low level jobs and labor jobs into the box as well. I would then have my students pick out of the box the career that they would have the rest of their time alive. I would then have the students research their randomly chosen career and give a small paper on their career and how they feel about what they were picked to do. I feel like this would be both a good window into the feeling that the people in Jonas’ society had when they went through the Ceremony of Twelve, and it would be a good educational piece on careers.

Final Thoughts

   I have always loved “The Giver” since the first time I read it in 8th grade. It has and will always be one of my favorite books. I can’t wait to share it with my class and use some of my ideas within the classroom to have students fall in love with the book, just as I have.

Amanda Racher's First Book Review

2010-10-12T18:55:00.000-07:00

Pfister, Marcus. The Rainbow Fish. New York: North-South Books, 1992. Print.

This book was a beloved classic from my childhood, and is about a fish with extraordinary glimmering scales, much different from the dull scales of his peers. He is reluctant to give away his scales, but after some self-discovery, he learns how to share.

The Rainbow Fish draws children in with beautiful watercolor illustrations and metallic scales on the Rainbow Fish. The pictures are beautiful and captivate even older audiences. The story also reveals a very important moral, the importance of sharing. After a brief chat with a wise old octopus, the Rainbow Fish is willing to share some of his precious scales with his friends. The story tells that happiness is reached by giving, which is a very important moral parents value in teaching their children. Using beautiful colors, the book interests children, as well as pleases parents.

Tolhurstm Marilyn. Somebody and the Three Blairs. New York: Orchard Books, 1990. Print.

This story is a "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" spin-off where a family of three, the Blairs, leave the house and a bear comes into their home. The bear messes with the furniture in their apartment, much like Goldilocks, and at the end, the family falls in love with the bear.

I remember being read this book when I was small, and thinking that it was hilarious! It has a quick wit about it, and it is impossible not to fall in love with the little bear that travels into the Blair's home. The pictures are cute and pretty simple, and they get the point across. When I was young, I found the book to be so clever (for expample, the title, where "Blair" rhymes with "bear"), whereas now I feel like the jokes are a bit too cutesy. But it is the type of humor first graders would understand and appreciate, because I know I did.

Scieszka, Jon; Smith, Lane. Squids will be Squids. New York: Viking, 1998. Print.

"Squids will be Squids" is a spin-off of the classic "Aesop's Fables" in which it tells short stories with underlying morals. The stories told in this book, however, are a bit more zany than anything Aesop has written.

Again, this is another childhood favorite of mine simply because of the crazy characters and the situations they somehow get into. What interests me the most about this book is the morals. The morals are very vague, one simply being "squids will be squids". I feel that the authors of this book intended to make extremely vague morals at the end of the stories to encourage conversations between children and the adults reading the book to them. The fables have very clear messages to adults, but to children they may be a bit more difficult to see. This makes it a requirement for adults to give their own interpretations of the morals, making it so the children can understand them in Layman's terms, and therefore apply them.

Jackson, Ellen. Cinder Edna. New York: Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Books, 1994. Print.

Like some of the others I have reviewed, this book is a takeoff on a classic: Cinderella. It compares two women, Cinderella and Cinder Edna and both of their stories. Cinderella is the classic character, beautiful and waiting for her prince charming, while Edna is a savvy, practical girl who is in the same situation as Cinderella, working for her stepmother and stepsisters, but makes the most out of her situation.

This book reminded me a lot of "Somebody and the Three Blairs" because of its up-to-date references (for expample: Edna took the bus to her ball, and wore loafers because they were comfortable dancing shoes). It also had a quick humor about it that interests the reader quickly. It is a refreshing spinoff that highlights female empowerment. Cinderella does not have fun at the ball, and does not live happily ever after even though she has a handsome prince and a ton of money. Edna does live happily ever after, even though she lives a more modest life with a less-handsome prince of her own.

Numeroff, Laura. If You Take A Mouse To School. New York: Laura Geringer Books, 2002. Print.

This book is not a spin-off on an older classic, but is in the series "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie", so it is written in the same fashion. A boy takes his mouse to school and the mouse is very needy, always needing one school-themed item after the next.

I thought that this was a cute story, but I was familiar with the series and predicted correctly what the ending would be like. The cartoon-like illustrations are captivating and humorous. It is entertaining to watch a tiny mouse behave like a human: eating sandwiches, coloring, and shooting a basketball (or trying to, anyway). I am sure many children have fantasized of having a little furry friend specifically designated to make them laugh during long hours in a classroom, and this book fulfills that very wish.

Elise Pitz's Book Review on Families

2010-05-24T09:25:00.001-07:00

Families are an important topic in the classroom because every child in a classroom has some sort of family whether it be friends, grandma, mom and dad, mom and mom or aunt and uncle. There were many books to choose from but I tried to find a variety of families so every child could feel included.

The Berenstain Bears Get In A Fight was a personal favorite from childhood. This book can bring up great discussion for the classroom, the most obvious being arguments between your siblings. Brother and Sister Bear get into a fight and in the end they realize, they don’t even know what they are fighting about. At that age, children usually do fight about something that doesn’t make sense. The children can find humor in this book when they see the Brother and Sister Bear don’t even know why they are fighting, are realize how silly fighting can be. The illustrations are all outlines in black, a very basic “old” illustration. The bears all wear the same outfits the whole time so the main pictures don’t change much.

The Worm Family is a great way to be proud of your family. The worms have to find a home that will accept them and not judge them for being worms until they finally realize they just need each other and they love to be worms. This could be used in a classroom so that children will know that everyone can be proud of a family-even if you are worms! Sometimes children are embarrassed when they aren’t a “normal” family and this will help them realize that anyone can be proud. It does thrown in some facts about worms such as no spine and no chin, so that will inform children as well. This has basic background, just a color usually. The worms all have the same facial expression the whole book except for their mouths, which make a face depending on the situation (smiling, frowning, “Oh” for an excited face).

In Our Mothers’ House covers all the bases! This is a book about three children adopted by their lesbian mothers. Their whole neighborhood loves them but one neighbor does not agree with their sexuality. This book would be hard to describe to children because I don’t know how much they understand sexuality and why people wouldn’t accept it. I would probably make it more simple by just describing a house with two moms instead of a mom and a dad and not go too much into the conflict of the book. The book brings up other great topics such as biracial families since the three children are all from different countries. This book talks about the different cultures and what they stereotypically cook (Italians=pasta). Death is another difficult topic brought up in this book but it is a good way to realize that family tradition can always live on if you want it to. This book also talks about the set up of a house, where the family plays, where they read, where they meet for family meeting. This is what most of the illustrations are about, showing the different activities in different rooms. The illustrations are sketch-like and colors are dull but they are still very descriptive. This book is great because it covers SO many topics and you could create so many activities for children based on just this book. The first activity I would create would be to have the children draw their house and tell me where they play or eat or read.

My Mom is Trying to Ruin My Life is now one of my favorite children’s books! I found myself giggling out loud while reading it as a 21 year old. The little girl talks about all the reasons her mom and dad are ruining her life (not letting her eat snacks, making her do homework) and she wants them to go to jail, until she realizes she won’t have anyone to cook or tell her that her scary dreams aren’t true. This is a great way for children to realize how important their parents are to their life and how all the things they complain about are really just silly. I think this would be a great book to read before we create our crafts for mothers day. The pages have multiple illustrations of different scenes on a page. The pictures are very descriptive of the words and go along very well with the book. This book is also sketch-like using the same outfits throughout the entire book.

The Family Book is an easier read but it covers many topics. This could be the book that is a read alone because it still talks about the set up of a family, death, adoption and different living situations. The illustrations are very basic using only the primary colors and everything is made out of shapes stacked on top of each other. The great aspect of this book is that it talks about similarities of all families too, no matter how different they are. The similarities can make children realize that no matter how different the set up of their family is or how different their houses are every family can be strong together or celebrate together.

Works Cited

Berenstain, Stan, and Jan Berenstain. The Berenstain Bears Get In A Fight. New York: Random House, 1982. Print.

Feiffer, Kate, and Diane Goode. My Mom Is Trying to Ruin My Life. New York: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 2009. Print.

Johnston, Tony, and Stacy Innerst. The Worm Family. Orlando: Harcourt, 2004. Print.

Parr, Todd. The Family Book. New York: Little, Brown, 2003. Print.

Polacco, Patricia. In Our Mothers' House. New York: Philomel, 2009. Print.

Danny Frank Second Book Review

2010-05-20T17:26:00.000-07:00

Howe, Deborah, James Howe, and Alan Daniel. Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery. New
York: Anthem, 1979. Print.

Similarly like my first book review, I decided to revisit one of my favorite books growing up as a child for Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery, was one of my favorite stories growing up as a child. In this story the Monroe family discovers a rabbit in a movie theater, while watching the film Dracula. After bringing the rabbit home, the families two pets, Chester a cat, and Harold a dog, become suspicious of this rabbit and believe the it has some vampire-like characteristics. This book is narrated from Harold’s point of view as he and the rest of the Monroe family soon observe some bizarre occurrences around the house like vegetables mysteriously turning all white throughout the night, which sends Chester into a frantic search to prove that Bunnicula is indeed a vegetable sucking vampire bunny.

Upon briefly mentioning this book in class last week, it sparked my interest in picking the book up once again. Although this would be my first time actually “reading” the story. Although, I am not the biggest audiobook fan, I did have a couple of books on tape that I would often listen to as I fell asleep growing up. Somewhere between the ages of ten and twelve I believe I listened to the book for the first time. Now re-reading the book I can vividly remember the voices of the characters in the book, and it’s interesting that in my mind while reading is exactly how I would imagine them if they were truly real, because of all the times listening to the story falling asleep. My audio book copy was narrated by Lou Jacobi, who I think does an excellent job in bringing the characters to life.

I also believe that due to my expose to these suspense and thrilling stories (like the Bunnicula series and Goosebumps) growing up, has led me to be very adventuresome and always seeking out new thrills. These type of books that constantly want you to turn the page have seemed to be some of the few books that can keep my interest. I feel that the reason this book has continued to stay popular throughout the years is not only because you want to continue reading, but also because it's easily relatable for kids and it introduces an interesting concept in the theme of vampires.

Although the book is obviously fantastical, and we have cats and dogs talking to each other and reading books, I feel that it is fun as a child to read stories from animal's point of view. Adding in the aspect of a rabbit, which has been referenced in being the most tame and shy mammal, having "vampiristic" powers adds to the comedic theme of the book. A couple other funny parts throughout the book is when Chester shouts, "Today vegetables! Tomorrow the world!" referencing to the fact that Bunnicula has the potential ability to take over the world. Another comical part is when Chester misunderstands that he should drive a stake through a vampire's heart and believes that he needs to use a steak to do so.

Overall the suspense combined with the good sense of humor and vampire elements that are not to scary for children make this an excellent book. This book is the first in the many series. Multiple sequels have been written and consist of "Howliday Inn" and "The Celery Stalks at Midnight" as the second and third books, respectively.

Paula Harting's 2nd book review!

2010-05-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

Dahl, R. (1980). The Twits. New York, New York: Penguin Putnam Inc.
Mr. and Mrs. Twit are a nasty couple who are cruel to each other and everyone else. They constantly pull awful tricks on each other and are generally disgusting people.
I first had this book read to me when I was seven or eight years old. My brothers and I were thoroughly grossed out and thought it was the best story ever. I have read it since and still find it quite amusing.
This book is well suited for 4th-6th grade, but older children and adults will enjoy it as well. The short chapters, lively illustrations, and entertaining story make it as easy read, even for struggling readers. This book could be a good teaching tool for creative writing and I would definitely recommend it for independent reading.

Dahl's in-depth study of his characters and his curiosity about certain subjects (see the chapter entitled "Hairy Faces") contains some social commentary as well. The plight of the ill-treated monkeys Mr. Twit keeps in his backyard may be an allusion to slavery, unfair labor laws or, more obviously, animal cruelty. The illustrations by Quentin Blake are also very memorable and contribute to the story.

Some better-known books by Roald Dahl include: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and Matilda.

Second Book Review

2010-05-19T19:15:00.000-07:00

Schwartz, Amy. Bea and Mr. Jones. Orlando: Harcourt, 2006. Print.

Bea & Mr. Jones, written and illustrated by Amy Schwartz

Bea Jones and her father switch places for the day, with Bea going to work at the ad agency and her father going to kindergarten.

I remember enjoying this book as a child, so I decided to revisit it. I found it very enjoyable as an adult and it is definitely a book I would recommend. The idea of a child and parent switching places for the day is fun for kids to think about. I greatly appreciated that this book did not have a “grass is greener on the other side” ending, but that Bea and her father each “[find] their proper niche in the world” (Schwartz 24).

The illustrations are black and white, but very detailed. They definitely are an important part of the story, as they help convey the characters’ attitudes and body language. I especially liked the illustration of the kindergarten teacher, Miss Seymour sighing and swooning at Mr. Jones as he rescues a child from a tree.

This book could spark discussions on future career possibilities and what each student thinks their niche in the world will be. This book could probably best be used in the classroom with younger grades, probably 2^nd grade or younger, although students of any age would find the story humorous.

Wiesner, David. June 29, 1999. New York: Clarion, 1992. Print.

June 29, 1999, written and illustrated by David Wiesner

Holly Evans sends vegetable seedling into the sky on May 11^th. When giant vegetables reach Earth on June 29^th, Holly wonders how it happened.

I chose this book after seeing Tuesday by David Wiesner passed around in class. Unlike Tuesday or Flotsam, also by David Wiesner, June 29, 1999 has text accompanying the illustrations. The illustrations are still the major focus of the book though, and they are beautiful and imaginative.

The story is creative and definitely reminiscent of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, written by Judi Barrett and illustrated by Ron Barrett. It is very imaginative and discussions about the students’ thoughts on extraterrestrial life could accompany this book well. They could draw pictures or write stories about what else they think the space aliens’ life is like.

Wiesner, David. Flotsam. New York: Clarion, 2006. Print.

Flotsam, written by David Wiesner

Told only through illustrations, a boy finds an underwater camera that washes up on the beach.

This is another book by David Wiesner that I chose to read. I was really interested in the fact that it has no text, but the story is told only through illustrations. I ended up loving this book; it is one that I would definitely buy for myself or classroom or to give as a gift.

Since there is no text, students who are not reading yet for any reason would enjoy it. I think children who are ELL would especially like this book. It would be a great accompaniment to a science or biology lesson about the beach (although it does get a little imaginative with the activities of the fish).

DePaola, Tomie. Stagestruck. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2005. Print.

Stagestruck, written and illustrated by Tomie DePaola

Tommy wants to play Peter Rabbit in the spring play. Even though he gets a small role instead, he still steals the show.

I chose this book because I have always liked Tomie DePaola’s style. His illustrations are always excellent, just as they are in this book, and they definitely contribute to the story. Honestly, I did not really enjoy this book as much as some of Tomie DePaola’s other books. I found that Tommy did not really feel sorry for stealing the show, even though he apologizes to his classmates and teacher. Some kids though, who enjoy attention and being on stage could definitely relate to Tommy.

This book would be great to introduce children to acting. This book could be read before having your students perform their own play. They could even read Peter Rabbit and make it into a play to perform in the classroom.

Hest, Amy, and Amy Schwartz. The Purple Coat. New York: Four Winds, 1986. Print.

The Purple Coat, written by Amy Hest and illustrated by Amy Schwartz

Even though Gabrielle always gets a navy blue coat, she wants a purple coat this year. She still needs to convince Mama, who wants to stick with tradition.

This is another great book illustrated by Amy Schwartz. I like that it introduces the concept of going to a tailor, in this case Gabrielle’s grandfather, to buy clothes, instead of buying them ready-made at a store. There are also other elements in this book that children may not be familiar with, such as riding subways.

I think this book would work well to start discussions on compromising with others during disagreements. Kids could think of ways that they could compromise situations through acting out different scenarios.

Theo B.- Second Book Review

2010-05-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

Willems, Mo. Knuffle Bunny. New York: Scholastic, 2005. Print.

Little Trixie and her father go to do laundry at the local laundry mat, but after Trixie leaves she realizes that she left her knuffle bunny behind.

This book was a Caldecott honor book which we learned in class was awarded to the most outstanding children’s illustrations in a children’s book. I selected five picture books that received either the Caldecott Award or the Caldecott Honor. This book was the newest one I selected; it only won an honor even though the artist did something that I felt was rather original. He seemed to have drawn cartoon characters, like Trixie and her father, but then he placed them in real backgrounds like the Laundromat and the apartment building. I felt like this was a very unique and artistic idea, something that I have not seen very often. The artist was able to blend the real world together with the cartoon world and it makes the simplistic story much more interesting. The cartoon characters are brought to life through the real world backgrounds, and it really made me want to stop reading the text and just study the pictures because it was something that I had never seen before.

Pilkey, Dav. The Paperboy. New York: Orchard Books, 2004. Print.

This book is all about the work of a child who works as a paperboy for extra money, he must wake up early and deliver the newspaper to the rest of the community, and when they finally wake up, he's falling back to sleep.

This book was a Caldecott Honor Award and what I loved so much about this book was the illustrator's ability to effectively convey to his audience the weather and time of the story. The pictures made me think about the times that I have had to get out of bed before the sun rises and how cold it is, but you still must awake, get ready, and walk out of the house in the freezing night air to accomplish a certain task. In other words, the illustrations found in this book really add to the story and it makes the reader put themself in that situation. Then by the end of the paperboy's route, when the sun is finally rising, the illustrations almost make you smell the morning dew on the grass and feel the warming sun as it strikes your cold body and slowly warms you. One of the certain pictures really stood out to me as my favorite, when the little boy is on his bike and you can barely see him because the whole picture is taken up by the buildings of the entire city, it really makes it seem like the artist is trying to remind his audience how small we are in the grand scheme of things but how effective we can be if we work together.

Rohmann, Eric. My Friend Rabbit. New York: Scholastic, 2002. Print.

This book is about a rabbit that means well, but every time he helps his fellow creatures, trouble ends up not too far behind.

This book won the Caldecott Award in 2003, it is a picture book with almost no text, but I am sure that children love the wonderful illustrations of all the different animals. By the end of the book, a rabbit and mouse end up riding on an airplane together but they end up getting stuck in a tree. I thought of a fun activity that could be done with a class after reading this book, especially in an early primary classroom. Each child could color and cut out a mask of their favorite animal and could wear them around for all the other children in the class to see. Then one kid could make a mask of a rabbit that wants to help all the other animals, this could build good teamwork and social skills among the students. The teacher could even build an airplane for the rest of the students and get it stuck somewhere in the room and the children, with their masks on of course, would have to find the hidden airplane and the winner would get a small prize or a treat. I think there are a lot of different activities that could go along with this book, it has great illustrations and I believe children would really love it.

Shannon, David. No, David. New York: Scholastic, 1998. Print.

This picture book is about a child named David who is always getting told not to do certain things or activities, not until he finds the right one.

I thought this book would be a perfect one to read to early primary students because they probably feel like every time they do something at home their mom and dad are always telling them not to do it, they're doing it wrong, or they're not doing it fast enough. This picture book would let the students know that they're not the only kids in the world that are being told no by their parents. This book has wonderful illustrations that would really help a student be able to put themselves in the same situations that David gets into, like: reaching for the cookies on the top shelf, tracking in mud from outside, playing with their food instead of eating it, chewing with their mouth open, or jumping on their bed. This book was a Caldecott Honor Award book and even though it didn't win the award, it contains beautiful illustrations that really capture the eye. The artist did a wonderful job of drawing David with very mischievous-looking qualities that indicate to the reader that this child is ready to cause problems, but at the very end when he gives his mother a huge hug, he looks like the most well behaved boy.

Keats, Ezra. The Snowy Day. New York: Viking Press, 1962. Print.

This last book is about a little boy who greatly enjoys playing outside with his friends when it snows, but after his dream, he is not really sure if it is actually snowing outside or not.

This book won the Caldecott Award in 1963, it is nearly 40 years older than the other four books that I decided to review. I thought it would be interesting to compare an award winner from the 1960's to an award winner in the late 1990's or even the 2000's. Out of the other four books that I reviewed only one actually won the Caldecott award but all were at least nominated for the award. But in my opinion all four of those books had a lot better illustrations than the ones found in the award winner for 1963, it really showed me how far children's picture books, and more specifically illustrations, have come in the last couple decades. Back in the 1960's picture books were not nearly as popular as they are in today's classroom, they are a great way to teach children not only how to read but also to develop in themselves a love for reading. The pictures in this last book were so simplistic and easy, they did not really add to the story like the illustrations in the other picture books and they did not make me want to stop and study them. If we have made this much progress over the last couple decades, I am very curious to see what will happen over the next forty years.

Sara McRoberts: Second Book Review

2010-05-18T20:51:00.000-07:00

Bunting, Eve. Little Bear's Little Boat. New York City: Clarion Books, 2003. Print.

This book by Eve Bunting is about a once little bear who grew too big for the boat he loved. He listened to his mama bear's advice and passed the boat along to another little bear.

Littles Bear's Little Boat makes for a great, simple read for young children. The author made the story line short and simple, therefore making it easy for early readers to follow along. Another perk this book had that adds to it simplistic reading is the author's strategy to only having one sentence on each page. Doing so makes it easy for the message of the book to flow easily. This book could open up a discussion with students as to what favorite objects of theirs they grow out of and possibly pass on to others. A silly art project could as well be incorporated into this discussion. Whatever objects the students chose, they could draw a picture of that object and then draw themselves being way to big for the object. This type of activity would have the students relating to little bear, and even bring about some giggles to the funny drawings made.

Suen, Anastasia. Subway. New York: Penguin Group, 2004. N. pag. Print.

Subway is about some of the crazy actions that happen throughout one's ride on the fun, colorful subway.

This book was full of coloful illustrations. The age group of children reading this book would definitely not turn a head away from all the shapes and colors that cover every page. Along with the illustrations that had character, the use of repetition of the verbs made the book a fun read. If this book were to be presented in the form of a read-along, students would get involved in the repeating of words because they know what to expect on the pages to come. To make this book even more interactive, when verbs are being said/repeated, the students could use their bodies to demonstrate how they would do this verb on the subway.

Luciana, Brigitte, and Eve Tharlet. How Will We Get to the Beach? New York: North-South Books, 2000. N. pag. Print.

This book is about a women who has five things she wants to bring to the beach, but is struggling to find a way to take all five items.

This book by Brigittes is an interavtive guessing-game story. This book really gets childrens' minds thinking and involving themselves into the book. The author gave scenrios in which children had to decide which item of Roxanne's would have to be left behind in order to get to the beach. For this book, the teacher could split the students into small groups have each student within the groups come up with some other modes of transportation that would require an item to be left behind. The studetns qould tehn share their ideas to the members in their group and have the others guess which item they think would not be able to be transported to the beach via the chosen mode of transportation.

Rockwell, Anne. Whoo! Whoo! Goes the Train. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2009. N. pag. Print.

Whoo! Whoo! Goes the Train is about a young boy who strongly loves trains and one day is taken on a memorable first train ride.

The illustrator of this book did a wonderful job with color, shapes, and overall pictures. From front to back cover, this book was emersed with eye-catching drawings. Because of the descriptive drawings of each scene written by the author, I believe an drawing activity could come about from this book. The young boy in this book goes passes/sees multiple things on his train ride. Each student could be assigned a site that this boy Allan sees on his train ride. In the end, to show comprehension and sequence of events from the book, each site drawn by the students would then have to be placed in order, ultimatley showing Allan's train ride.

Crew, Gary. Pig on the Titanic. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 2005. N. page. Print.

This book by Gary Crew is about a musical pig who soothes the fear of passengers on the Titanic.

Pig on the Titainc would most likely be a readin for some middle elementary grade readers. The amount of history and little fiction would not necessarily suit the demands for early childhood readeing. However, this book did spice up the story of the Titanic by adding in a musical pig to the mix. To draw discussion during this book reading, I would say the teacher could just have the students think to themselves, if put into this situation, what would they bring that could calm them and others down. And second, if that object could sing, what song would you chose for it. This little amount of discussion can help turn this "dry" book into a more involving read for the students; really get those creative juices flowing.

Crackerjack Halfback By Matt Christopher Review done by Joe Shalek

2010-05-18T15:45:00.000-07:00

Christopher, Matt, and Karen Meyer. Crackerjack Halfback. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 1996. Print.

Freddie Chase is a good football player with one major flaw: He's afraid to tackle. He tries hard to cover up his fear, but soon Coach Sears and the other Sandpipers know all about it. The team is fighting to finish the season at the top of the league, but how can they hope to succeed when one of their players lets the opposition run right by him? Coach Sears has no choice but to take Freddie out of the lineup. Now it's up to Freddie to earn his way back onto the starting team. But can he overcome his fear?

Review

This stroy is great for students who are scared of playing sports. In my physical education class I would use this book as a lesson before an adventure education unit. Many students are affraid of the ropes course or the climbing wall. When students are able to empathize with a character like Freddie they may be able to face their fears a little more. I think that I would have my students write a story similar to a situation they have encountered similar to Freddie's. I would ask my students to explain how overcoming fears in all aspects of life can be different. I think in the middle school years fear of many things is evident. Fear of being rejected by peer groups, failure in sports, or fear of what the future will bring are all common fears for students of this age group. I would hope to have a great class discussion on how simply talking about your fears can help ease them, especially when you learn that your peers have some of the same fears as you. I read the older version of this novel so the cover was "old school" I think modernizing the cover and adding pictures would enhance the chance of kids wanting to read it right off the shelf. Matt Christopher has written a plethora of novels that are sports related. When I was growing up I could not stop reading his books. In my mind his stories have passed the test of time. I think students in today's classroom who enjoy sports and physical activities will like these novels.

Kristyn Malanowski-book review 2

2010-05-16T11:25:00.001-07:00

Holder, Nancy, and Debbie Viguie. Witch. 2002. Ney York: Simon and

Schuster Children's Publishing Division, 2002. Print. Wicked 1.

Witch is the first book in the Wicked series. This series is about an intergenerational feud between two magical families. The main character, Holly, is thrown into the world if witches and warlocks after her parents are killed in a terrible accident. She is flown to live with her aunt, uncle, and cousins in Seattle. Until the accident, Holly never even knew she had an aunt. Eventually, Holly and her two cousins learn about their magical past and the intergenerational feud between her family, the Cahors (what is now Cathers), and a warlock family, the Deveraux. Holly, Nicole, and Amanda must stick together and attempt to fulfill their shared destiny. The first book is more of a lead in to the rest of the series. The characters discover their past and learn about the other family who is trying to kill them.

This book series has recently become my favorite of all time! I recently picked up the special edition of Wicked, which contains both books one and two, and then I bought the other three books to the series within a week. I am a fantasy freak and these books kept me on the edge of my seat. I could not even put them down after I bought them. Even though they are the stereotypical good versus evil, the way the story is told is just thrilling. I was very depressed when I read the last book! I wanted there to be more to the series and was even a little disappointed in how it ended. I love anything to do with witches and warlocks. I loved how there are flashbacks to different centuries and how they allowed you to “see”, or get to know, different generations of Cahors witches. Holly and Jer are possessed, in a way, by their ancestors, Jean and Isabeau, who have been traveling throughout time trying to kill each other. Throughout each book, we are taken back in time and are told how the feud came about and why Isabeau and Jean are trying to destroy each other. It is nice to have a book with a spin on it.

The Wicked series is definitely for young adults. Younger children would have a hard time following the books because of different time eras and how there a multiple leaps between the eras. Sometimes you could be reading about one generation and a page later it could be one hundred years into the future or past. The books also deal with a lot of violence and death. It is possible that younger children, of the elementary age, could be given nightmares due to the descriptive deaths and violence. I personally didn’t have a problem with the blood and guts, but I am also a college student and pretty much expected it.

The storyline is based on two families, the Cahors and Deveraux, who are involved in an intergenerational feud. We associate the Cahors (Cathers) with good and the Deveraux with evil. We are convinced that the Deveraux are evil because they worship the Horned God, or the devil, and that the Cahors are good because they worship the Goddess. In this book, we don’t really understand that both families started out evil. Later on in the series, we learn that both families were evil to begin with and that they both wanted to destroy each other. In the first book, we only get to see that the Deveraux want to kill the Cahors (Cathers) and thus they have to fight back to save their lives. This book seems as if it is going to be the typical good versus evil story. The further into the series you get, the more you learn about their family history and how they were equally bad to begin with. We want the Cahors to be good because they are the ones being attacked, but you almost have to hate their ancestors as well because they were just as evil. It is very confusing for a while, but all in all you have to side with the Cahors because they save the world from being destroyed and maintain the balance between good and evil.

I would associate this book with the love story of Romeo and Juliet. Basically, you have these two feuding houses and a boy and a girl fall in love. At first, their love is forced because their parents want to obtain the secret to the black fire. The only way that the black fire can be conjured is by a Deveraux and a Cahors joining together. The plan was for the two to marry and then there would be an invasion to destroy the opposing family members. It just so happened that the mom put a curse on her daughter and if she didn’t kill her husband, they would travel through space and time and not move on until the deed was done. The sad thing being that the couple actually fell in love and thus didn’t want to hurt each other. Therefore, you have two spirits traveling through time trying to kill each other so they can move on. The spirits, Isabeau and Jean, eventually possess Holly and Jer who have also fallen into a forbidden love. Neither couple wants to kill one another and yet is forced to try because of the feud. You get the whole “we cannot trust him because he is a Deveraux” thing and Holly even references Romeo and Juliet because of the situation. Don’t worry though, because in the end, the two lovers end up together. Eventually you learn that the two families were forced into a feud long before Isabeau and Jer. These higher beings found that when a Deveraux and a Cahors joined together, there would be no power stronger than theirs. Thus, there was a forced feud to keep the families from ever wanting to join powers. I guess the moral would be to follow your heart no matter what others think...oh...and don't play with fire..because you will get burned!

The Magic Mirror of the Mermaid Queen

2010-04-28T20:55:00.000-07:00

Summary: Neef, the Green Lady's Champion and her fairy godmother, Astris are back again, this time its Neef’s mission to return a magic mirror to the very determined Mermaid Queen.

Analysis: The Magic Mirror of the Mermaid Queen is a fun option for a fourth or fifth grade class as an independent reader. It has mermaids, fairy godmothers, and a female protagonist that slays a dragon while on a quest for a magic mirror.

It would also appeal to those children that are interested in eco-friendly causes or the supernatural. I would use it to incorporate environmental science topics, or geography. I found that this book to be gender inclusive, and reinforces that females can be strong and capable.

If used as a pair book, I might pair it with one of the Harry Potter novels. I would like for the student to read both books then write a few paragraphs about the similarities and differences between them. This could be presented, on a voluntary basis, during a writing prompt circle.

As a follow up activity, I might have the whole class write a poem or draw a picture about one of the ideas the student highlighted in his or her book pair analysis.

Citation: Sherman, D. (2009). The Magic Mirror of the Mermaid Queen. New York: Viking Books.

D. Schumacher.139

Children's Literature for Math Class

2010-04-24T19:01:00.000-07:00

Teachers can struggle to make math relatable and enjoyable for all students. Here are five books that will engage students in math-related concepts.

Franco, B. (2003). Mathematickles! New York: Margaret K. McElderberry Books.
Words + Math + Seasons = Mathematickles! Journey through the four seasons as words, illustrations, and mathematical equations combine to paint delightful images through unique poetry.

Not only are the poems found in the book original, but most of them are also correct in their use of mathematical signs and equations. For example: “Pumpkin – Seeds + Face = Jack-O’-Lantern.” This makes the book a great way for upper elementary teachers (grades 3-5) to extend their students’ conceptual understanding of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The large colorful pictures and relatable concepts make the math concepts a little less intimidating for students. It’s also a fresh take on the changing seasons. Teachers could have students observe their environment (whether it be the classroom, the playground, or on a field trip) and then write math poems of their own.

Fromental, J. and Jolivet, J. (2006). 365 Penguins. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
On New Year’s Day, a family of four is puzzled when a penguin arrives anonymously on their doorstep. As they continue to receive a penguin each day, their problems are multiplied. But who is sending these birds? And why?

This humorous book will have students laughing as they learn basic math skills: addition, multiplication, and even geometry! Younger students (grades 1 and 2) will appreciate the story, but students in grades 3 and up will benefit the most from the math concepts included. Teachers might have students write number sentences or equations during a read-aloud to review the concepts presented in the book. Students might also enjoy practicing addition or multiplication facts by drawing groups of penguins as pictured in the book. Finally, the story’s end introduces the issues of global warming and endangered species, which could then be used as the jumping off point for a science lesson.

Nagda, A. W. and Bickel, C. (2004). Polar bear math: Learning about fractions from Klondike and Snow. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
This book chronicles the life of Klondike and Snow, two polar bear cubs that were raised by keepers at the Denver Zoo. Each left-hand page details how fractions and other math concepts were used to raise the bear cubs.

This book is a creative way to introduce fractions and their real-world value to students in grades 3-5. Teachers of younger students may choose to omit the left-hand pages and only use the right-hand ones (which tell the cubs’ story) as a read-aloud. Alternating back and forth between the story and the math concepts might be confusing for students, especially if they have not read the book before. I would recommend that teachers planning on using the book to teach math concepts read only the story (right-hand pages) first to students, then incorporate the math concepts (left-hand pages) on subsequent re-readings.

Pinczes, E. (1996). Arctic fives arrive. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

One day in the Arctic, five snowy owls light on the top of a hill. They are joined by groups of five – polar bears, musk oxen, walrus, ermine, and more – who arrive to view a magical sight.

I’ve shared this book with kindergarten students, who loved the rhymes and silly story. The arrival of each subsequent groups of five led to moans, groans, and laughs among the children. It also provided a terrific opportunity for them to practice counting by fives, which is a skill that primary students must master. However, this book is not without its flaws. First, it is on the long side for young students, as many were squirming and wiggling around before the story was finished. Second, a re-reading of the book in preparation for this post showed a fairly significant discrepancy between the text and illustrations. While the text states that the animals end up on a hill (which isn’t quite accurate as the Arctic tundra is flat), the illustrations show the animals crowding on a very tall iceberg (again, not quite accurate). However, the book overall is still one I’d recommend and use for counting exercises with students in the primary grades if used with modifications as needed (such as building in time for movement such as acting like the animals in the story or only using part of the story).

Smith, D. (2002). If the world were a village: A book about the world’s people. Toronto: Kids Can Press.

Smith, D. (2009). If America were a village: A book about the people of the United States. Toronto: Kids Can Press.
These two books introduce students to economic, social, political, and environmental issues facing the world and country’s population by providing statistics about a village of 100 people.

It can be a challenge to help students (and adults!) understand the extent of issues such as food shortages, poverty, and lack of access to clean water. Part of the reason for this is the huge numbers involved in such statistics. By simplifying to a village of 100, world and national issues are much more accessible. The author provides excellent suggestions for teaching about America and/or developing a sense of “world-mindedness” by emphasizing geography, cultural heritage, and a sense of citizenship. In terms of math concepts, these books provide an excellent real-world context for teaching about rations and fractions, two concepts that upper elementary students often struggle with and question the utility of.

Dinosaur Books

2010-04-22T11:18:00.001-07:00

I choose dinosaurs as the theme of my five picture books. I like the topic because it can be integrated into many different lessons for early elementary students. From these picture books I could teach an art lesson, science lesson, writing lesson and obviously a reading lesson. The five picture books I would base these lessons on are When Dinosaurs Came with Everything, If you Give a T-Rex a Bone, The Magic School Bus in the Time of Dinosaurs, Can I Bring my Pterodactyl to School Ms. Johnson?, and How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?.

The science lesson would definitely start with The Magic School Bus in the Time of Dinosaurs. This book goes on an adventure to the past where they are looking for a dinosaur but keep ending up in the wrong era so they see other dinosaurs they weren’t planning on. The pages are full of side notes with facts about dinosaurs, bubbles of conversations talk about what the different dinosaurs they see and what the dinosaurs eat. This book would get the children excited about the science lesson and they would learn many facts about dinosaurs without me just writing them out on a blackboard. The illustrations are very detailed with plants and dinosaurs that existed. The book also shows time lines of the different eras since the earth has existed, the pictures label all the different dinosaurs that are shown, it introduces definitions such as prey and meat eaters. This book would be a very easy way to teach about the environment, the life cycle, dinosaurs and history.

Another science lesson that would be more focused on dinosaurs could be planned from If you Give a T-Rex a Bone. This would be more specific than The Magic School Bus in the Time of Dinosaurs because it doesn’t introduce as many topics but it is more specific about the life cycle. This goes through different dinosaurs and what would happen in you interfered with their world, then goes to the next dinosaur. This book talks more about which dinosaurs are carnivores and which dinosaurs are herbivores. It talks about how they hunt and what they use as weapons whether it be their claws, teeth, horns or spikes. The book also shows the dinosaurs in the habitat they lived in such as in the jungle, in water or on the beach. I could talk with the students about different animals habitat and what their own habitat is. This book could be used for a specific dinosaur unit, maybe before a trip to the museum.

A reading lesson could be created from How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? Because it is a simpler book. The book has a different situation on every page about what kids do to avoid bedtime but in the end the dinosaur goes to bed easily. The words have a lot of repetition so it would be good for beginners because they could remember the words that are used. The pictures show what the page is talking about so the student could look at the pictures for clues as to what the word may be. This is also an easy book that they could take home to practice with their parents because it is the perfect bedtime story (i.e. the title).

Can I Bring my Pterodactyl to School, Ms. Johnson? And When Dinosaurs Came With Everything are both stories that involve the dinosaurs as characters, but don’t tell any facts. I choose these to include in my lesson plan because I don’t always want to have factual books because children will get bored of dinosaurs, I want them to have fun books too. Can I Bring my Pterodactyl to School? Is about a boy who wins a pterodactyl as a prize and lists all the ways the pterodactyl could help him and the class at school, even though in the end he realizes that he won a woolly mammoth instead. When Dinosaurs Came With Everything is about a town that gives away dinosaurs when you go to the dentist, buy a sandwich or even go to the movies. Both of these books could start children on an art project because it would stimulate their imagination. I could ask them to draw what they would with their dinosaur if they got one with the dentist or won a prize and could bring it to school. This would challenge their art skills along with demonstrating what they learned from the previous science lessons, if they remember the different kinds of dinosaurs and what they looked like. These books would be the wrap up to the dinosaur unit because they would have to build on everything they have learned from the other subjects and books to complete this project.

Danny Frank First Book Review

2010-04-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

Adler, David, and Susanna Natti. Cam Jansen: The Mystery of the Babe Ruth Baseball. New York: Puffin Books, 1982. Print.

Cam Jansen: The Mystery of the Babe Ruth Baseball is a short chapter book, in the collection of nearly thirty Cam Jansen books, in the series written by David Adler. This story tells of Jennifer "Cam" Jansen, a young female detective with a photographic memory who decides to take up a case on a recently gone missing autographed Babe Ruth baseball. Using her detective techniques along with help from her sidekick Eric Shelton, she tracks down the thief who stole the baseball from a hobby show and returns the ball to its' rightful owner.

Although this book is centered around the reading levels of six to nine year olds, I still find story to be very entertaining and have picked up on some of the underlying messages and techniques that I had not readily recognized as a child while reading this book. A common literary element known as a motif is represented by Cam's popular phrase "click"as she enables her photographic memory to remember very specific details about what see has seen. Although it is not required for her to say the word "click" to remember things, it helps young readers identify when she is using her memory. Overall the word "click" is said eleven times by Cam, and is italicized in the text to help readers make note of its importance. Another aspect that I had not picked up on as a child is the important moral issues and good decision making strategies that are filled in the novel. Politeness is personified by Eric as he apologizes to two elderly women by saying, "I'm sorry, excuse me," as Cam and him take off running between the two women after the baseball thief. Another seemingly comical issue although very serious that children learn at a young age is to look both ways before crossing the street. It is reiterated three times in the novel with one specific case where the thief takes off running across the street not even looking as he crossed, unlike Cam and Eric who the author points out look both ways before ever crossing. I feel that this is an issue that six to nine year old kids can relate to and in order for them to be more like Cam and Eric they will want to look both ways if they are ever crossing the street.

I feel that the main reason I was so attracted to this series as a child was because it fell along the lines of a mystery novel, similar to my favorite juvenile series Goosebumps. I enjoy the sense of excitement while tracking the "bad" guy. In this Cam Jansen story readers are given clues to who could be the true baseball thief as Cam tries to solve to case. As she begins to make progress, so do the readers as if they too were detectives themselves solving the case. This story makes children begin to think ahead and try to figure out how the ending will conclude before reaching the last few pages. I feel that as a young child this book helps the beginning stages of logic which are essential in making efficient decisions in one's future.

Another main reason, I feel why I liked this book particularly most out of the series is because of its reference to sports and especially baseball. Growing up I was typically the student who was successful in school but when the 3:10 bell rang, the rest of my day was spent being involved with sports rather then reading. Although it was not that I didn't enjoy reading, I just didn't find it particularly exciting, but that's because I didn't always find books to my interest. I remember after discovering these mystery novels, I began spending more time reading and with the sports references in this book it taught me about great baseball players of the past. Along with referencing Babe Ruth in this story, other famous baseball players like Reggie Jackson, Satchel Paige, and Stan Musial are all mentioned. Although these names probably have no impact on the average nine year old, to some one who greatly enjoys baseball it gives them names of some of the sports' greatest players to play the game.

One final aspect of this book that I did enjoy is the illustrations provided by Susanna Natti. Although this is definitely not a picture book, about every three pages there is a small illustration visually describing what is going on in the scene. Because I find myself to be much more of a visual learner I found these illustrations to be especially useful to keep my attention. Using them as a reference to what the setting and characters in the story looked like helped me imagine the rest of the story in my head. I also find that sometimes a short break from words to look at a picture also helps me stay focused on the book because after awhile my attention span shortens and to look at a picture that relates to the book helps me to want to continue reading. Although the illustrations are done in black and white and there is not much detail to them, I still find the pictures very useful personally. To conclude, I feel that this opportunity has reenlightened my appreciation to one of my favorite series of books growing up, and reading it now again as an adult I can understand why I found these books to be useful and entertaining.

Paula Harting's book review!

2010-04-21T20:56:00.001-07:00

1st Book Review

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1960.
et al. Ninth Edition. Vol. I. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2007. 906-907. Print.
Scout Finch is a lively little girl growing up in the South during a time of tense relations between blacks and whites. Life changes drastically for Scout and her brother Jem when their father, a lawyer, defends a black man in court. Scout is growing up and learning about her world through the things that are taking place in her community and the people that she interacts with.
There are several aspects of this book that I really enjoy and would like to focus on. First is Scout’s non-traditional family. Scout herself is quite a tomboy and does not act in a manner that is considered appropriate for a young girl in her society. She seems to get away with it because she does not have a mother, and her father is often busy. Making his daughter into a proper lady is not at the top of his priorities. Jem and Scout call their father by his first name, Atticus, which at first seems shocking and disrespectful. However, it is apparent through the events of the story that though Atticus’s relationship with his children is not the same as in most other families, he is a loving father and his children have great respect and admiration for him.
Secondly, I really love the authenticity of the characters in this book. Scout always says what is on her mind and is more concerned with the truth than with what is appropriate or acceptable to say. Throughout the story, Jem is becoming a young man, looking out for his younger sister and, though he does not always relate to his father, looking up to him. This could make for an interesting discussion on the meaning of manhood in our society and how it compares to the view of manhood in To Kill a Mockingbird. When Atticus is chosen to defend a black man in court, he accepts the case even though he knows it will cause many in his community to reject him. Even when his personal safety is threatened, he does not back down. But he stands for what is right and just in a quiet and humble way.
This was one of the few books I enjoyed reading in high school and I hope that my students will love it too!

Elizabeth Seiler-First Book Review

2010-04-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

Browne, Anthony. Into the Forest. Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick, 2004. Print.

Into the Forest, written and illustrated by Anthony Browne

A young boy’s father goes missing the day before he is asked to take a cake to his grandma. Disobeying his mother he takes the quick path through the woods, crossing paths with fairy-tale characters.

I originally picked up this book, because I have enjoyed other Anthony Browne books, especially those about Willy the Chimp. As I can recall, I had not previously read this particular book. Anthony Browne’s illustrations are extremely detailed, often with little “clues” or pictures that provide interest. The cover is a mostly black and white illustration of a forest, with a young boy walking on a path in the woods. If you look closely though, you notice that the boy’s shadow looks like a rabbit and there are little objects in the woods like a frog, an apple, and a castle. These details are found throughout the book and could provide interest for both adults and children.

The book starts out starts out with the sudden disappearance of the boy’s father, something that would make any young child scared. The illustrations are stark, reflecting the apprehension of having a missing parent. Children would have fun identifying the different fairy-tale characters the boy meets and look for other details about the characters in the illustrations. The book could be slightly scary, but when the boy reaches his grandma’s house all is well. This is reflected by the full-color, happy illustrations.

This book could tie in with any lesson about fairy tales, showing how they can be incorporated or made into spin-offs. It can also be used to show a child that while things may seem scary, they will end up turning out fine.

Hoban, Russell, and Lillian Hoban. Bread and Jam for Frances. New York: HarperCollins, 1993. Print.

Bread and Jam for Frances, written by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Lillian Hoban

Frances is a picky eater who only likes bread and jam. After having to eat bread and jam for every meal, Frances realizes that variety is the spice of life.

I remember enjoying the Frances books as a young child, so I thought I would revisit them. I found the story funny and charming and the full-color illustrations of the badger family are a beautiful complement. I really liked the many songs Frances makes up throughout the book. She can also be somewhat sassy, although never in a rude way. I also found the descriptions of the enormous and detailed lunches very appetizing: “a thermos bottle with cream of tomato soup…and a lobster-salad sandwich on thin slices of white bread…celery, carrot sticks, and black olives, and a little cardboard shaker of salt for the celery. And two plums and a tiny basket of cherries. And vanilla pudding with chocolate sprinkles and a spoon to eat it with” (Hoban and Hoban 31).

This story would be great for any child who is a picky eater, hopefully showing them that eating the same food at every meal becomes boring. Children could think of foods that they did not used to like, but enjoy now. In the spirit of Frances kids could make up songs about their favorite foods. It could also accompany a lesson on different foods that people eat around the world.

Hoban, Russell, and Lillian Hoban. A Birthday for Frances. New York: HarperCollins, 1995. Print.

A Birthday for Frances, written by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Lillian Hoban

It is Frances’ little sister’s birthday tomorrow, but Frances is not sure whether se will give her a present or not.

This is another book about Frances and her family. I enjoyed this book, just like Bread and Jam for Frances. Again, Frances’ spunky attitude and songs and the illustrations were delightful, and the dialogue was amusing. Many children would relate to the jealousy Frances feels because it is her sister’s birthday. This story shows that even when you feel jealous because it is someone else’s special day, you can feel better if you do the right thing. For this reason it is a great book to lead a discussion on feelings and sibling rivalry. This book could also accompany a lesson on birthday celebrations.

Barrett, Judi, and Ron Barrett. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. New York: Atheneum, 1978. Print.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, written by Judi Barrett, illustrated by Ron Barrett

A grandfather tells his children a bedtime story about the town of Chewandswallow, a place where the weather brings the food, snowing mashed potatoes and raining soup. When the weather takes a turn for the worse, the people must make a decision.

This is another story that I loved as a child. It has recently been made into a digitally animated movie, although I have not seen it. The book starts out slowly, introducing the children and their grandfather. I really became interested when Grandpa began telling the bedtime story. The idea of the weather bringing in the food is fun and interesting. The illustrations are detailed, showing people collecting food while on the go, roofless restaurants, and the unusual sanitation department. When the weather gets worse and the food gets bigger the illustrations become even better with giant pancakes and donuts.

This book would be another fun accompaniment to a lesson on food. It is imaginative and different. Although I have not seen the movie it might be interesting to have children compare the book and movie.

Potter, Beatrix. "The Tale of Tom Kitten." Beatrix Potter, the Complete Tales. Ed. Frederick Warne. London, Eng.: Penguin, 1997. 147-58. Print.

The Tale of Tom Kitten, written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter

Three kittens get into mischief before their mother’s tea party.

Although I remember Peter Rabbit and some of the other Beatrix Potter books well from childhood, I do not remember reading The Tale of Tom Kitten. I read this as part of a treasury of all of Beatrix Potter’s tales, so it was a much larger volume than the smaller books she is known for although the illustrations and words are still printed in their smaller size. I enjoyed this story about the mischievous kittens and as always, I loved the illustrations which really seemed to capture the characters’ personalities.

Overall it is a very sweet, short book that I feel young children would enjoy. It is important to note that the mother cat smacks the kittens for being naughty, which some parents might find inappropriate in a children’s story. This story includes many great vocabulary words, such as affronted, repose, and tucker, which could lead to discussions on vocabulary of the past and vocabulary in different countries such as England. The beautiful watercolor illustrations could also easily accompany an art lesson, in which students could paint common animals like kittens and ducks.