EDUC 655 Summer 2009

The Watsons go to Birmingham

2009-06-24T05:19:00.000-07:00

The Watsons go to Birmingham by Chrsistopher Paul Curtis

Book Genre: Historical Fiction

Publishing Info: Yearling books 1995

Awards or honors received: Newberry Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Award

Summary: This novel begins with a family called the "weird Watsons" sitting around in their living room freezing cold in Flint, Michigan. The family consist of a mother that is originally from Alabama, a dad, an oldest brother Bryon, a middle brother Kenny, and their youngest sister Joletta. The story follows their life as they deal with Bryon always causing trouble and getting into some kind of messes. The mother and father finally decide that they have had enough when Bryon comes home with a new hairdo that he knows his parents will not approve of. They decide to take Bryon to Alabama to spend the summer with his grandmother. Once in Alabama the children realize what a different world they have entered. Living in Flint the children never experienced any racial issues or segregation. Kenny also decides to be the rebelous child for once and go to the "Whool Pool" that his parents forbid him to go to. He ends up almost drowning, but Bryon ends up saving him. Later on Joletta ends up being at the church when the bombing happens. Kenny feels very upset that he did not protect his younger sister. When the family returns to Flint Kenny has a really hard time adjusting. He becomes very depressed and it's finally Bryon that helps Kenny be able to put it all behind him and move on. Throughout the story you see the characters change, especially Bryon and Kenny. Bryon struggles with getting rid of his hard outer shell and really showing his more caring and sensitive side while Kenny struggles with finding his place within his family and being brave.

Personal rating and reason for rating: Good book for middle school aged (especially african american students and it really gains the interest of teenage boys)

Reading level: 5.0

Interest level: 5th-8th grade

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): It was funny that David presented on this book last night because it was my last book that I just finished reading yesterday. I agree with all his activities that he suggested, but I thought that you could incoroporate map skills and have the students trace their route from Flint to Alabama that the family takes. Also the students could pick a character and role play one of the scenes in the book, because their are so many that are funny that it would be a very fun and engaging activity for the students.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: the topic of segregation would need to be covered before reading, along with discussions about Civil Rights. There are also a few places throughout the novel where bad language is used.

Hope Was Here

2009-06-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer

Book Genre: fiction
Publishing Info: Penguin Putnam Books, 186 pgs.
Awards or honors received: Newberry Honor Book

Summary: This book is about a girl who changed her name from Tulip to Hope, because her real mother did not want the responsibility of raising a child. She moves in with her Aunt Addie who lives in New York until one day she finds out that they have to move to Wisconsin because Addie had to get a new job. Throughout the book Hope and Addie have to learn to believe in themselves and to never give up. They face many struggles throughout their life but in the end they always had faith and overcame whatever obstacles they were faced with. When they get to Wisconsin they both get jobs working at the Welcome Stairways Diner. They meet a special man named GT Stoop that helps the girls out and becomes an important man in their lives. GT has lukemeia, which hurts his chances when he decides to run for major. Addie ends up falling in love with GT and Hope meets a young man named Braveman that she falls for and ends up going off to college with at the end of the book. I think the author shoud write a sequel that follows Hope's life to the next level.

Personal rating and reason for rating: Good book for middle school aged (especially girls)
Reading level: 5.3
Interest level: 5th-8th grade

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): It would be neat to read this book around election time and hold a mock election, since that is a topic that is covered in the book. Also incorporating a math lesson dealing with menus, since the majority of the story takes place in a resturant. The students could design their menu and name their entree's then describe them and add prices. The students could figure out how much the bill would be and then add tax and tip.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: Couple of curse words throughout that book, some slang words that may be difficult for the students to pronounce

The Man Who Loved Clowns

2009-06-22T13:26:00.000-07:00

The Man Who Loved Clowns by June Rae Wood

Book Genre: Realistic Fiction
Publishing Info: G.P. Putnam's Sons New York
Awards or honors received: None noted

Summary: This book is about a young man named Punky who has down syndrome. He has a teenage cousin named Delrita that learns so much from Punky. Throughout the book they go through the heartbreak of losing Delrita's parents, who took great care of Punky. They were killed in a car crash suddenly and D.J. (what Punky calls Delrita) and Punky have to go live with their Aunt Queenie and Uncle Bert. This is a big change for Punky and DJ but they learn to adapt and actually learn to enjoy life. DJ finally decides to let someone get close to her, a little girl, named Avenelle, and lets her meet Punky. DJ has always been embrassed of Punky because he was different. DJ finally learns that Punky is a very capable human being and finally in the end when Punky passes away she sees what an impact Punky had not only on her life but on everyone he met. This is a very touching heart-felt story that makes the reader laugh and cry throughout the story.

Personal rating and reason for rating: Great book...probably one of the best I have ever read..I loved it and recommend it to anyone to read!!
Reading level: 5.1
Interest level: 5th grade through Adult

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): Our science classes at CMS read this book this year while studying genetics and genetic disorders. I also plan on reading it in my special education classes to help my students understand that even people with disabilities have a purpose in life and can have such an impact on others around them. I hope this book will help my students understand that everyone is different but everyone is human, who can care and love.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: The topic would need to be explained so that the students would understand some things about down syndrome and it's characteristics.

The Kissing Hand by Audry Penn

2009-06-22T12:58:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publisher Information: Scholastic Inc., 26 pages

Award: None

Summary: Chester is a Raccoon who is afraid to go to school. He doesn't wan to leave his his mom and his home.. His mom convinces him to go by giving him a kissing hand. She kisses the palm of his hand, and tells him he can hold her kiss in his hand all night at school. This made Chester feel better and safer while he was at school

Book Level: 2.7

Interest Level: k-2

Personal Rating: **** Great. This is a really good book. The pictures are fun and it shows awesome emotion, children can relate to feelings that Chester feels towards his mother.

Possible uses of text in integrated units of study: Great for the first day of school in early grades. Students can write a story about a time they were scared, or a time they were sad.

Possible problems or difficulties: None

A Bad case of Stripes by David Shannon

2009-06-22T12:02:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc. 32 pages

Awards or honors received: none

Summary: This story is about Camilla, who loves lima beans, but does not ever eat them because she doesn't want her friends to make fun of her. Camilla wakes up one morning covered in stripes! Her stripes change colors with just the suggestion from friends. After many attempts to cure her, a lady finally tells her that the cure is just lima beans! Camilla learns an important lesson that she needs to be herself, no matter what other people think.

Personal rating and reason for rating: ***** Great. A great story, children love it! I love the illustrations and the lesson that camilla learns in the end. So many children need to learn to be themselves, no matter what other people say or how other people act.

Reading level: 3.5

Interest level: K-2

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): Can teach a science lesson about seeds using lima beans. Put the lima beans in plastic bags, and discuss what kind of things plans need to grow. In a math unit it can be used to teach patterns, as student color the girls face with different types of patterns.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: None

The Quilt Story by Tony Johnston and Tomie dePaola

2009-06-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

Genre: General fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic, INC, 30 pages

Summary: This was a story about a quilt that comforted a little girl had. She played with the quilt and it got dirty and had holes in it. Her mother had to stitch it up. The little girl eventually packed the quilt away it was found by mice, a raccoon and a cat. One day it was found by a new little girl who had her mother fix the quilt up like new and she played with it.

Personal rating: ***Good This story does a great job at following the quilt through its past and present.

Reading level: 2.5

Interest level: K-2

Integration: This story could be used in a history lesson to talk about how items are used in the past and present. Many items like quilts have not changed much through out the years. The children could discuss items that have changed over time. The teacher could bring in pictures from the internet or from books to show how things have changed. This could even be followed up by taking the class to the museum to see how things in person.
This book could also be used in a unit about quilts and talk about what they are used for. The teacher could bring in samples of what quilts look like around the world. Then have the students design their own quilt square.
This book could also be used to talk about how children feel about moving. Both little girls in the book have to move with their families and use the quilt to comfort themselves.

Potential problems: The only problem that I see is that this story is written with the sentences short and choppy. Children who are having trouble reading fluently may have some trouble with this book.

A Birthday Basket for Tia by Pat Mora

2009-06-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

Genre: general fiction

Publishing info: Simon & Schuster Books, 30 pages

Summary: This is a story about a little hispanic girl who is trying to find the best present for her great aunt. She decides to make a basket full of things that the two of them find special. She puts in their favorite book, a mixing bowl, a flowerpot and lots of other things. Throughout the story the author mixes english and spanish as the characters speak.

Personal rating: *** Good This story has pretty pictures and does a great job of showing the mexican culture.

Reading level: 2.4

Interest level: K-2

Integration: The teacher could use this book to read and talk about hispanic culture. The teacher could talk about how different cultures celebrate birthdays. Then the class could focus on the hispanic culture and study how they celebrate. The class could finish up by having a fiesta of their own by creating a pinata and having chips and salsa. The teacher could also invite any hispanic parents in who might want to share about their culture to the class.
In math this book counts by tens as the little girl counts up to how old her aunt is so the class could practice counting up by tens to ninety.

Potential problems: This book has some words that are native to the spanish language and may confuse children who are not familiar with spanish.

The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins

2009-06-22T11:07:00.000-07:00

Genre: General fiction

Publishing info: Mulberry Books, 22 pages

Summary: Mom made twelve cookies for Tom and Hannah so they could have six a piece. The doorbell starts ringing and each time the door opens there are more people to share the cookies with. Each time the children have to divide the cookies among themselves.

Personal rating: ***Good This is a fun story to introduce the concept of division.

Reading level: 1.9

Interest level: K-2

Integration: This story would be great to read to a class when the teacher introduces division. The teacher could take paper cookies or plastic cookies and have the students act out the story in front of the class.
The teacher could also use this book during a social studies lesson about everyone getting their fair share.
The teacher could finish up talking about this book by bringing in cookies that can be divided up among the class.

Potential problems: The students may have some trouble discussing how division works.

The Giving Bear by Isabel Gaines

2009-06-22T10:49:00.000-07:00

Genre: General fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic INC, 38 pages

Summary: The Giving Bear is a Winnie the Pooh first reader and is a cute story. Piglet and Tigger are giving some things to Christopher Robin to give to people who are in need. They ask Winnie the Pooh if he has anything to give, but he can't think of anything to give. They all go in and help him look through his house. They find that Winnie has too many honeypots so he ends up giving way some of the honeypots. Winnie the Pooh says at the end that his heart swelled with joy knowing he could give something to help.

Personal Rating: ***Good This is a great story with a good message

Reading Level: 2.3

Interest Level: Pk-2

Integration: The teacher could read this book for social studies and discuss how Winnie the Pooh felt when he gave away his honeypots. They could talk about what the students might have at home to give away. Then maybe bring some things in for a clothing drive or food drive for homeless people in the community.
This book could be read with other Winnie the Pooh books and discuss how they are similar and different.

Potential problems: I don't see any problems with this book.

Wonderful Worms by Linda Glaser

2009-06-22T10:29:00.000-07:00

Genre: nonfiction

Publishing info: The Millbrook Press, 28 pages

Summary: This book has lots of information about worms. It is written in a way that will be enjoyable for young children. The pictures show what earthworms look like tunneling under the ground and what kinds of things happen around the worms. It describes how worms dig and eat dirt as they go stretching out and squeezing. Worms are important because they mix and turn dirt so the plants have soft soil to grow in. The story also tells what worms look like and what they need to survive. The end of the book has two pages full of facts about worms.

Personal rating: ****Great! This story has cute pictures that realistically show what worms do and eat. It is written in language that children can understand and has good information.

Reading level: 2.2

Interest level: K-2

Integration: This book could be used in a science unit about gardens and things that live there. The teacher could have the children do a KWL chart before the unit and talk about what the students know about worms and what they they want to learn about worms. After reading this book they could answer their questions. If they didn't find the answers in this book then they could do research on the internet to find them. The teacher could bring in worms and have the students write about them in their science journals. They could label the different parts of a worm.
The teacher could read A Diary of a Worm and have the students compare/contrast the two books. Then the teacher could have them write their own story about the life of a worm using the information from Wonderful Worms.
The unit could be ended with the teacher bringing in chocolate pudding with oreo cookies and gummie worms stuck in it.

Potential problems: I don't foresee any problems while the students are reading this book.

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

2009-06-21T18:27:00.000-07:00

Genre: Historical Fiction
Publishing Info: Houghton Mifflin, 137 pages
Awards or Honors Received: Newbery Medal

Summary: Ellen and Annemarie are ten year old girls living in Denmark. The German Nazis have occupied their town, forcing Ellen's family to flee. Annemarie's family keeps Ellen, pretending that she is one of their children. Ellen and Annemarie face many different adventures while at Annemarie's Uncle Henrik's house. Uncle Henrik is helping Jews escape to Sweden, and Ellen's family is among those he helps. Ellen is united with her family and they make their way to Sweden where they can live without the Nazi control. Annemarie learns about courage and what it really means to be brave.

Personal rating and reason for rating: *** Good. I really like this book. Some of the topics may be a little hard for students to understand at first, and they take some serious discussion. The story keeps the reader engaged, though, and I think it teaches an important lesson about bravery.

Reading Level: 5.1
Interest Level: 4th -7th grades

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study:
Social Studies: The story is set during WWII, so some background information is needed for students to really understand what is happening. A study into WWII and into the Nazi occupation easily ties into a unit with this book.

Geography: Using a map of Europe, find Denmark and Sweden. Then have students use the details in the book to trace the path of the escaping Jews.

Writing: Have students interview a grandparent, or someone else who lived through WWII. They should prepare questions ahead of time, then write what they learned in interview format. They can share what they learned with the class.

Character Education/Math: Have students create a recipe for peace, courage, or bravery. Have students write an ingredients list, and directions for creating of of the topics. Students can write their work on recipe cards or publish them in a class "cookbook."

Potential Problems or Difficulties: There are some sensitive topics in the story. Students need to understand that not everyone believes the same things, and that what some people think, others may not. Students need some type of historical background to be able to understand some of the events in the story.

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig

2009-06-21T18:12:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Aladdin, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: The Caldacott Medal

Summary: This is a story about a donkey named Sylvester, who loved to collect pebbles. One day he found an awesome pebble, that seemed to be a magic stone. After playing with it for a while, he saw a lion, and in order to save himself from him, he wished that he would be a rock. When he turned into a rock, he couldn't get his stone back to wish to be back into a donkey. His family was sad because they thought he had gone missing. A long time past, and his mother and father went on a picnic and his mother sat on salvester, saw the pebble and thought of him. She set the pebble down and he was able to wish himself back to himself.

Personal rating and reason for rating: ***** Great. Very good story, illustrations are beautiful and I love how the author portrays emotion with all the characters.

Reading level: 4.0

Interest level: K-4

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): This is another great book to discuss fantasy and reality, or fiction and non-fiction. This book would be a great way to teach emotion and feelings, either how authors and illustrators show them in different ways, or use the books to show how they can show feelings in their own writing and illustrations

Potential Problems or Difficulties: This book would be mostly just a read aloud in younger grades, but a great story and lesson.

Be careful what you wish for!

The Black Pearl by Scott O'Dell

2009-06-21T18:08:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction
Publishing Info: Yearling (Random House, Inc.) 100 pages
Awards or Honors: Newbery Honor Book

Summary: Ramon, the son of a pearl dealer, begins to help his father in his pearl shop. After learning about selling pearls, Ramon wants to learn to go diving for the oysters with the other men that work for his father. When Ramon's father leaves on business, and Ramon decides it is time to learn how to dive for oysters. A Native American that works with his father agrees to teach Ramon to learn to dive, making sure to stress to him that if he doesn't respect the waters, the Manta Diablo (a giant manta ray) will come for him. Ramon learns to dive, then decides to go out on his own. He finds the largest pearl that has ever been found, the Pearl of Heaven, and finds out that the Manta Diablo is more than just a myth the Native American was telling him. Ramon goes on an adventure trying to get the pearl back to the Manta Diablo before any of the other pearl dealers can steal it from him

Personal rating and reason for rating: ****Great. This book was full of adventure while still teaching an important lesson. It is short enough that even students who do not like to read chapter books can feel successful at reading a novel. Scott O'Dell does a great job at keeping the reader engaged in the story and making it hard to put the book down.

Reading Level: The book says 5.2, AR says 5.4
Interest Level: upper elementary

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study:

Math: Many of the measurements are given in non-standard units. Students can learn about leagues, fathoms, and other units of measure mentioned in the book and how they compare to US customary units and metric units.

Social Studies: The story is set in a seaside village in Baja California. Students can learn about the differences in the culture of the people in the story and their own cultures. They can extend this study by learning about their family's ancestors and completing a family culture project.

Science: The story focuses a lot on the Manta Diablo and other manta rays. There are many different versions of what the Manta Diablo looks like and how it behaves. Students can use the internet to research manta rays and find out which statements about a manta ray could be true and which are false.

Potential Problems: None.

Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin

2009-06-21T17:40:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: Caldacot Honor Book

Summary: This book is a book about Farmer Brown and his typing cows. His cows has learned how to type on the typewriter, and they start writing him notes asking for things to make them more comfortable. When they didn't get the blankets they asked for, they went on strike, not giving out any milk. They asked for blankets for the hens also, and when they didn't get those blankets the hens refused to give eggs. This went on until they decided to exchange their typewriter for some blankets.

Personal rating and reason for rating: ***** Great. This book is really fun. Young children think it is hilarious, and it is a really fun story to read aloud. Many children at the end of first grade can read it themselves, and below level first graders have been read it many times they can read it from memory and gain confidence.

Reading level: 2.3

Interest level: k-3

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): This is a great book to intoduce or reinforce the difference between fiction and non-fiction. It includes many things that animals wouldn't do, and would not need. For a social studies lesson, students can come up with many things in their own words that they think is unfair, and they could write a letter to someone asking to change it.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: None

(P.S I thought this was a really nice website, with great activities http://www.teachingheart.net/clickclackmoo.html )

Clam-I-Am By: Tish Rabe

2009-06-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Non-Fiction (book about the ocean)

Publishing Info: Random House Books for Young Readers (May 24, 2005)

Honors and Awards Receive: None listed

Summary: Norval, the fish is hosting a seaside talk show for the Fish Channel and the Cat in the Hat and Thing One and Thing Two appear as the camera crew. The little boy and girl get introduced to many sea creatures. Clam-I-Am, horseshow crab, hermit crabs, sea star, seagulls, jelly fish and sand fleas. They even get to learn about seaweed and ocean tides. Norval then goes on to explain the second part of his show. (Question/answer section) The book answers questions like (1) Why is the ocean blue? (2) Why is seawater salty? (3) What makes waves? This book is perfect for having a quick overview about the ocean.

Personal rating and reason for rating: ****Great! I really liked this book because it was not only illustrated brilliantly but it had simple facts about each of the sea creatures listed above. In our ocean unit we talk about each one of these animals. So I was thinking this would be a good book to introduce our ocean unit with. It gives a quick overview of each animal that I can add to when I actually teach about that specific animal. This book is full of a lot of our kindergarten sight words that would be great extra practice for the children.

Reading level: 3.4 (Third grade, fourth month)

Interest level: K-5

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study:

Reading: Complete a circle map before we read the story and put the word ocean in the middle. Ask students what they think of when they hear the word ocean. Take their answers and branch it off the word ocean. While reading, I would ask comprehension questions, for example: after reading the page about star fish I would ask….What happens when a star fish looses one of its rays (arms)? I would hope that all children would be able to answer this question correctly. I would continue to use this technique throughout the story. At the conclusion I would ask the students to pick their three favorite sea creatures. We would vote until we found our favorite three. We would then complete a brace map. (As I publish this book on the blog the brace map format does not copy correctly) Sorry!

Ocean

Star Fish * If it looses a ray, it grows back. * Has five legs. *It moves slow. *Has tiny cups on it's rays.

Clam *Lives in the sand. *Has rings that tell how old it is. * Clams have one foot.

Seagulls *Can drink salt water. *They eat trash and left over food.

Writing: Students could pick their favorite sea creature from the book and tell me two facts that they learned. They will then need to illustrate their sentences with a detailed picture. You could also incorporate writing by having them copy the brace map. (Which we have learned is not very effective)

Potential problems or difficulties: None that I can see at this time.

2009-06-19T19:15:00.000-07:00

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Dell Publishing Company. 159 pages.

Awards or honors received: Newberry Award Winner

Summary: Tired of her routine middle class life and feeling unappreciated as the oldest of four children and the only girl, Claudia Kincaid decides to run away from home. Prefering comfort to nature, she chooses to hide in the Metroplitan Museum of Art and takes one of her younger brothers, Jaime, with her. While hiding in the muesum, the children must stay out of sight of museum guards, learn to take care of themselves, and even investigate whether a mysterious statute had been carved by Michaelangelo. Ultimately the statue leads them to Mrs. Frankweiler (who narrates the story as a letter to her lawyer Saxonberg.). Claudia's quest to learn the truth about the statue provides for her a sense of purpose that she had lacked and leads to Mrs. Frankweiler learning the truth about Claudia and Jaime (that they are Saxonberg's grandchildren).

Personal rating and reason for rating: Good. Interesting, creative story. Characters are realistic and children can relate to the feelings of being overlooked, unappreciated, and the longing for adventure.

Reading level: AR reading level 4.7. Fry reading level grade 7.

Interest level: 3-6

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study:

Students could explore the ideas of familial loyalty, longing for adventure. Students could write about these topics as well as write newspaper articles describing the children's disappearance and/or the mystery of the angel statue. Students could do creative writing describing their own fantasic plan of running away "to" somewhere or could do persuasive writing focused on lobbying a parent for an increased allowance.

In other subject areas, students could take a virtual tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art or could study about the work of Michaelangelo or could do a more in depth study of the Renaissance.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: Vocabulary may be difficult for younger students.

2009-06-19T17:28:00.000-07:00

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Book Genre: Historical fiction

Publishing Info: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Copyright 1989, 137 pages.

Awards or honors received: Newberry Medal Winner

Summary: Annemarie and her best friend Ellen Rosen are young teenagers in Nazi occupied Denmark. Having lived several years under the Nazi regime, the girls take for granted the presence of the occupying troups until the Nazis begin intensifying their persecution of Jews. Realizing the danger, Annemarie's parents decide to help the Rosens escaped Denmark to the freedom of Sweden along with the help of Annemarie's Uncle Henrik. Along the way Annemarie learns more about the Danish Resistance movement, including the truth about her older sister's death. In the end, Annemarie must summon her own courage to confront the Nazi soldiers and help save her friend's life.

Personal rating and reason for rating: Great! As a fan of history, I think this story stays true to historical fact while portraying a intriguing account from a child's perspective.

Reading level: AR level 4.5. Fry readability level 6

Interest level: 4-7

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study:
Historical tie-ins are fairly obvious. Students might study the countries of modern day Europe and how German forces proceeded across the continent. Students might prepare a timeline of German occupation. There is also a perfect opportunity to compare different types of governments, particularyly American Democracy and Nazi Dictatorship.

Concepts of friendship, loyalty (to friends, family, and country), bravery and patriotism could be explored. Students could write about any of these concepts.

The concept of percentages could be studies with math. Students could calculate the percentage of Jews in Europe, Germany, and various occupied countries. Depending on how you choose to treat the topic, these percentages could be compared before and after the war.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: The harsh realities of Nazi Germany are difficult for even adults to deal with and must be dealt with carefully based up on the age of the students. Two instances of Nazi creulty are portrayed with the deaths of Annemarie's sister Lise and Lise's boyfriend Peter Neilsen

The Lottery Rose

2009-06-19T11:32:00.000-07:00

Book Title and Author: The Lottery Rose by Irene Hunt

Book Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Publishing Info. – Berkley Publishing Corp., 185 pages

Awards or honors received:

Summary:
The book is about a young boy who was abused both mentally and physically by his mother and her boyfriend. Growing up in an unstable home being raised by an alcoholic mother with no support or love, Georgie had few friends, did poorly in school and distrusted mostly everyone. He was able to hide his feelings and find comfort in a library book filled with beautiful gardens. He won a rosebush in a grocery store lottery given to him by a lady whom he trusted. He finally found his purpose in caring for and loving through the only thing he’d ever owned, his rosebush. After an abusive night when the rescue was called, Georgie was finally taken from his mom and sent to a home for boys where he learns for the first time to feel safe, trust in others and feel loved. He also learns to give and to receive love through his experiences, giving him hope for a future in society.

Personal rating and reason for rating:
It was a great book. You could witness the difference one can make in a person’s life by caring and giving of one’s time.

Reading level: 5th grade
Interest level: 5th grade – adult

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study:
Reading/Comparison: the rosebush and Georgie’s life

Potential Problems or difficulties: subject content may be disturbing with child abuse and violence.

Combat Fighters: F-22 Raptor by Steve White

2009-06-19T07:26:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Non-fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic (48 pages)

Awards: None

Summary: This book describes the newest military fighter jet that the United States has to offer. Not only does the book give information about the F/A-22 Rapture, but it also gives a brief history of fighter aircraft that came before it, but also possible next generation fighter aircraft. The illustrations are excellent. There are close-up photographs of the aircraft in the hanger being manufactures, in flight, weaponry, and cockpit views.

Personal Rating: ****Great. I like the organization of the text. It contains a contents page, an introduction, a glossary of new words and their definitions, and an index. The book also contains resource pages, excellent illustrations and pictures, and lists citations for other books written about the F/A-22 Rapture aircraft. Finally, the author gives some technical specifications for the aircraft and its armament yet still remaining appropriate for younger children..

Reading Level: 6.2
Interest Level: 5-6

Possible uses in reading and writing across the curriculum:
Science: Both 5th and 6th grade science curriculums include objectives in technological design. This could include any of the various technologies associated with this aircraft: Stealth technology, engine design, aerodynamics, weapon systems, etc...
Math: Develop lessons on graphing speed, thrust, or maneuverability; also, comparing this aircraft to previously built aircraft used by the U.S.; and comparing this aircraft to the potential opponents built by other countries
Reading and Writing: For children who are interested in airplanes, this could be a good book to begin creating and writing research reports.

Potential Problems or difficulties: This is a high interest book for children who enjoy reading about military aircraft. Not every student will care to read it.

Kindness is Cooler, Mrs. Ruler by Margery Cuyler

2009-06-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: fiction

Publishing Info: Simon and Schuster, 50 pages

Awards or honors received: N/A

Summary: At the beginning of the story the students in Mrs. Ruler’s class stuck inside because it had been raining all week. The students began to misbehave and treat each other badly. So Mrs. Ruler kept 5 of the students to speak to them about kindness. She told them they each needed to perform 5 acts of kindness and share what they did at show and tell. The next day at show and tell some of the kids couldn’t wait to share their acts of kindness with the rest of the class. The whole class was excited and they decided to design a class project where everyone would participate. Everyday the class shared their kindness acts. Everyone was excited except for one little boy , David, who couldn’t think of anything to do. The class continued to share their random acts and wrote them down. Everyday they would count their acts of kindness. One day the class gerbils go out of the cage and everyone panicked. David ran around the room collecting the gerbils and his act was added to the kindness wall.

Personal rating and reason for rating: **** This is a cute book with a great theme, and the teacher speaks in rhymes. Students will love it and get ideas for random acts of kindness.

Reading level: 3.7

Interest level: K-5

Possible uses of the text: Social Studies - have your class participate in random acts of kindness. Read the book and discuss examples of how to be kind. Then have the students/teacher/parents write each act of kindness and display. Try for 100 acts of kindness. Expand your kindness to the school by picking up trash on the playground, bringing the principal a snack, holding the door open for other classes, etc. Get your community involved by collecting toys to give away, collecting food to donate to a food shelter, makes cards for a senior center, etc.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: none

The Best Teacher in the world by Bernice Chardiet and Grace Maccarone

2009-06-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: This book is about a litle girl named Bunny. Bunny is in Ms. Darcy's class, and all of the boys and girls in her class though Ms. Darcy was the best teacher in the whole world. When Ms. Darcy asked the students to take a note to Mrs. Walker, Bunny volunteered quickly. When she got the note and got into the hallway, she realized she had no idea where Mrs. Walkers classroom was, and she got very embarrassed. Without delievering the note she returned to the classroom, Bunny lied to Ms. Darcy and said that she had. She thought about her lie all night long, and stayed home from school the next day. She told Ms. Darcy the next day the truth, and She learned her lesson never to lie, and to ask questions about things she doesn't know.

Personal rating and reason for rating: ***** Great. Awesome book to show feelings and emotion. Children and adults can relate to Bunny and how she feels and how she acts.

Reading level: 2.3

Interest level: k-2

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): This book is filled with character value lessons. Every child has been in a situation where they are afraid to ask questions, told a lie they felt bad about, or been embarrased in front of friends. This is a great book to teach how to act in any of these situations.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: None

The Popcorn Book by Tomie de Paola

2009-06-17T15:44:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Informational Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: This book is about two little boys who want to pop some popcorn. They were curious about popcorn so they decide to look it up. The author uses word bubbles and these two little boy character to explain facts about popcorn and teaches readers about the history. After reading a lot about popcorn, and learning lot of different facts, the boys decide that the best thing about popcorn is eating it!

Personal rating and reason for rating: **** Good. Very informational, only a read aloud for younger grades, but would be an awesome picture books for 3rd and 4th grade also

Reading level: 4.3

Interest level: 1-5

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): For younger children, this story can be used to show all of the cool things you can find out about something when you are curious. Looking words up in the dictionary, encyclopedia or even on the internet can be great ways to look up words and topics you are unfamiliar about. For older grades, this is also a good book to talk about popcorn, which is a very interesting food with an fun history.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: Students need to know how to read the book and follow the speech bubbles to understand the order of the dialogue.

Are Trees Alive? By Debbie S. Miller

2009-06-16T08:08:00.001-07:00

Book Genre: non-fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic

Awards or honors received: N/A

Summary: This book compares trees to humans. The beginning of the book compares tree roots to feet that help you stand. The trunk of the tree is compared to the body of a person. It is used for support. Then the author compares the branches of a tree to the arms of a human which hold things. Trees can be dark or light, like skin color and the bark of the tree protects it like our skin protects us. The branches and leaves of the tree make a crown on top like the top of our head. Humans breathe with our mouth and nose and a tree breathes through its leaves. Sap traveling through the tree is compared to veins inside a human body transporting blood. The fruit and flowers on a tree are like a smile on a face, that draws people toward you. Seed grow up to be trees just like babies grow up to be adults. Some people grow very old, just like some trees do. Winter is a time for trees to rest, like the night is the time for humans to rest. Then Spring comes and the trees become alive again. The story ends rather suddenly by comparing a picnic to the food that trees provide
Personal rating and reason for rating: *** This story will get your students thinking about how trees and humans are alike. It has some really good information in it.

Reading level: 3.5

Interest level: K-5

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): Science - this story could be a great way to introduce living/non-living objects. It could also be used to identify what living things need to survive. Students could participate in a web quest about trees.
Math - Seasons could be discussed with this book as it identifies what the tree does during each season. Students can draw and label a tree during each season. A Venn Diagram could be used to compare and contrast a human and a tree.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: The story just ends very suddenly and you wish there was a better ending.

The Chalk Box Kid by Clyde Robert Bulla

2009-06-15T18:23:00.000-07:00

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Publishing Information: Random House Children's Books, Sept. 1987 (64pp.)
Awards/Honors:

Summary:
Gregory finds himself moving on his birthday. His father has lost his job, and they had to relocated closer to his new one. At first Gregory had his own room in his new house, but he wasn't able to keep it to himself. His Uncle Max came and took over. At his new school, things weren't going well for Gregory either. The only place Gregory felt at peace was the burn-out chalk factory behind his house.

Personal Rating: This is a great book. The book is so realistic that any child can find a way to relate to Gregory or one of the other character in the book.

Reading Level: 3.2
Interest Level: 3-5

Integrated Unit:
Science: Make chalk, learn about vegetable, and plant a vegetable garden
Reading and Writing: make and write about connections
Social Studies: Character Traits - Bullying
Math: Measuring ingredients for making chalk

Potential Problems of Difficulties: Difficult for students below reading level to read

Did You See Chip? by Wong Herbert Yee

2009-06-15T11:06:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 24 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: Kim is a little girl who is lonely because she has no friends in her new city. Her dog runs away and as her and her dad chase down her dog, Chip, she meets all kinds of new friends who help her find her dog.

Personal rating and reason for rating: **** Good. A fun story, children love it and it is fun to have them read on their own in second grade.

Reading level: 1.2

Interest level: k-2Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): This book is a fun book to use as a readers theater. A lot of characters and dialogue. This is also a good book to use to read as a read aloud or shared reading while teaching students to write using quotation marks. One good activity would be for students to choose a scene, and draw their own pictures using speech bubbles instead of quotation marks to show what the characters are saying.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I don’t see any problems or difficulties.

The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen

2009-06-15T10:14:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction
Publishing Info: HarperCollins; 40 pages
Awards or honors: Caldecott Medal

Summary: During the summer a mother duck's eggs hatch. When the eggs hatched the mother duck had 6 beautiful yellow ducklings. One large egg hatched and was very big, gray, and ugly! The barnyard animals made fun of the gray duck. He could not take all the teasing and ran away. He came to a swamp and met two geese. They said he was ugly but they liked him and he could stay with them. Winter came and the duckling was left alone as the geese flew south. For the rest of the winter he stayed by the swamp. When spring arrived he was able to fly, his feather were a beautiful white color! He flew by a pond and noticed two beautiful swans. He wanted to join them but he knew he was too ugly. When he looked in the water he noticed he looked like them! The beautiful swans greeted him and welcomed him to join them!

Personal Rating: *****Great! Excellent story for all ages!

Reading level: 3.4
Interest level: K- adulthood

Possible uses of the text:
Art/Reading: Student divide paper into two sections. Have them draw the duckling at the beginning of the story and at the end of the story.

Science: Discuss/illustrate the cycle of a swan.

Math: Using different colors/sizes eggs students sort and graph them.

Possible Problems: none

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

2009-06-15T09:54:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Realistic Fiction
Publishing Info: Puffin; 20 pages
Awards: Caldecott Medal

Summary: A boy living in the city awakes to new fallen snow. He is excited to go out and explore in the snow. He gets dressed and makes footprints in the snow, watches a snowball fight, makes an angel in the snow, makes tracks with a stick. He hits the a tree with a stick and snow falls on his head. He puts the snow in his pocket and heads home. He takes a warm bath and goes to get the snow out of his pocket only to find that it had melted!

Personal rating: ****Great! Awesome story for winter reading!

Reading level: 2.5
Interest level: K-3

Possible uses of the text:
Art: Give students blue construction paper and a piece of chalk. Students can make a snowy scene! Add black strips of construction paper so that it resembles a window.

Science: Discuss the seasons. Divide a paper into 4 sections and students illustrate each season.

Reading/Writing: Give students pictures from the story and have them put them in order according to the story and write a caption about each one.

Possible Problems: None

Its Not Easy Being a Bunny by Marilyn Sadler

2009-06-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

Genre: Fiction
Publishing Info: Random House Books for Young Readers; 48 pages
Awards or honors: none

Summary: P.J. Funnybunny is sad because he did not like being a bunny. Bunnies have to eat carrots everyday and he has long ears. He sets off to become a bear and decides he does not like being a bear. He decided to become a bird, a beaver, a pig, a possum, and a skunk. He did not like being any of those animals. He decides that being a bunny is best for him!

Personal rating: ****Great! Terrific story/pictures for young student. Helps students understand to like who they are!

Reading level: 1.7
Interest level: K-2

Possible uses of the text:
Art/Writing: Have students cut out bunny ears one pink and a smaller one white. Attach the ears to construction paper. Attach a smaller paper with writing lines. Students will write and illustrate why it is not easy being a kid!

Science: Discuss rabbit behaviors/habitats

Potential Problems: none

Bubble Bubble by Mercer Mayer

2009-06-15T09:05:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction
Publishing Info: School Specialty Publishing; 35 pages
Awards or honors received: none

Summary: A boy went walking one day and came across a man selling magic bubbles. The boy bought a bottle and began to blow bubbles. He started blowing bubbles and the bubble turned into a vicious snake that was about to eat him. He blew another bubble and it became a cat that chased away the snake. The cat began to chase the boy so he blew another bubble to take care of the cat and the story continues on this path. In the end the boy popped all the bubbles and poured them out.

Personal rating: ****Great! Funny story small children will love!

Reading level: 1.4
Interest level: K-2

Possible uses of the text:
Art: Give students an outline of a bubble and have them create an animal they think would appear if they had magic bubbles.

Writing: Have students write a short story about their magical animal.

Math: Using some, some went away stories (subtraction) to go with the bubbles in the story.

Potential Problems: none

The Mitten by Jan Brett

2009-06-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction
Publishing Info: Penguin Putnam; 27 pages
Awards received: National Education Association Educators' Top One Hundred Children's Books 2007, National Teachers Association Top Ten Titles for Elementary Students 1999, American Library Association, Booklist Magazine Best Children's Books of the 1980's, New Yorker Magazine Best Children's Books 1989

Summary: A boy named Nicki was visiting his grandmother and she was going to knit him some mittens. Nicki wanted white mittens. His grandmother, Baba did not want to knit white mittens because if he dropped them in the snow he would never find them. Baba finally gave in and made white mittens. After the mittens where finished Nicki went out exploring in the snow. His grandmother told him when he came back home safe and sound she would check to see if he still had the mittens. As Nicki was exploring it wasn't long before he lost a mitten in the snow. A mole came along and tucked himself inside. Later a rabbit came along and tuck himself in the mitten with the mole. The story continues with different animals getting into the mitten. The mitten was stretched out when all of a sudden when a mouse came along and sat on the bears nose the bear let out a big sneeze. The mitten shot up in the sky and the animals went everywhere. Nicki saw the mitten high in the sky and he ran to catch it. He went home safe and sound with both mittens however, one was stretched out!

Personal rating: ****Great! Children will love this story!

Reading level: 3.9
Interest level: K-4

Possible uses of the text:
Science: Discuss the similarities/differences of the animals in the story.
Art/Reading: Give students copies of the animals in the story, string, outline of a mitten (2) with holes around it. Have the students color the animals and weave the string around the mitten. When completed have students retell the story while using the mitten.
Math: Use some, some more stories (addition) using the story line and characters.

Potential Problems: none

The Berenstain Bears in the Dark by Stan and Jan Berenstain

2009-06-14T20:30:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: General Fiction

Publishing Info.: Random House New York, 32 pages

Awards or Honors Received: N/A

Summary: This is a story about Sister Bear being afraid of the dark after reading a scary mystery book with Brother Bear. Sister's imagination takes over and every sight and sound turns into some scary creature in her mind. After a night with no sleep, Papa Bear decides to give Sister his old night light. This does the trick and helps Sister to not be afraid of the dark again.

Personal Rating and Reason for Rating: ****Great! I loved this book. Most children can relate to being afraid of the dark, and I think that young children would enjoy this story. The topic is about something that is very real, but the book offers a solution to the problem. The illustrations are wonderful and the bear family and their treehouse will spark the imaginations of little ones.

Reading Level: 3.1

Interest Level: K-2

Possible Uses of the Text in Integrated Units of Study (Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum): This story could be integrated with students writing about the dark and what they do to not be afraid. Since this story was about Sister Bear thinking she saw monsters, math could be incorporated by students making shape monsters. The teacher could cut out several different shapes in assorted colors, and students could create funny, silly, cute, or scary monsters. Before creating the monsters, students could sort, count, or make patterns with the colored shapes. After making the monsters, students could write a story about their shape monster.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I do not see any problems or difficulties with this book.

I Just Forgot by Mercer Mayer

2009-06-14T20:06:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info.: Golden Books Publishing Company, Inc., 24 pages

Awards or Honors Received: N/A

Summary: This story is about Little Critter and a day full of things he forgets to do, and things that he says he does not forget to do but does not want to do. Little Critter is a bit mischievous and does not always remember to feed the pet right away, pick up his toys right away, or turn his bathwater off right away. Although he is very forgetful, Little Critter never forgets his bedtime story with mom or to give her a kiss goodnight.

Personal Rating and Reason for Rating: ***Good. This cute Little Critter and his mischievous ways will appeal to young ones. Although he does not intend to get in trouble, he forgets to do things during the day, and that gets him in trouble. His crazy antics and the funny illustrations are sure to get the attention of young readers.

Reading Level: 2.7

Interest Level: K-2

Possible Uses of the Text in Integrated Units of Study (Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum): This story would be a great way to teach recall of events and sequence of events. Teachers could use various graphic organizers to record this information with students. Writing could also be integrated by students writing about a time that they forgot to do something or chores that they have to do at home. To incorporate art, students could draw or paint a picture about something that they have forgotten to do.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I do not see any problems or difficulties with this book.

The Rain Came Down by David Shannon

2009-06-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info.: Scholastic Inc., 32 pages

Awards or Honors Received: The Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration

Summary: This is a story about some animals and several people in a town who are arguing and shouting at one another because the rain is ruining their plans. When one person acts out in anger, it affects another person, and then another person. However, when the rain stops and the sun comes out, everyone is happy again and the story recaps and shows how each character's attitude improves when the weather improves.

Personal Rating and Reason for Rating: ****Great! This story has very vivid and funny illustrations that would appeal to young readers. It also teaches how we affect other people when we have a bad attitude about things that we cannot control.

Reading Level: 1.8

Interest Level: K-2

Possible Uses of the Text in Integrated Units of Study (Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum): This book would be a great one to use when working on retell and sequencing with students. A word web could be used to list characters and events in the story. This story would also be a good one to use if the focus was on problem-solution. Writing could also be integrated by students writing about something positive that they like to do on a rainy day. After writing, the teacher could write the various rainy day activities on the board and the class could do a graph to figure out their favorite rainy day activity.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I do not see any problems or difficulties with this book.

I Love You All Day Long by Francesca Rusackas

2009-06-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Realistic Fiction

Publishing Info.: Harper Collins Publishers, 32 pages

Awards or Honors Received: N/A

Summary: This is a sweet story about a little pig named Owen who is nervous about going to school. His mom reminds him that no matter what kind of day he is having, good or bad, that she will love him no matter what and that she will be waiting for him with open arms when school is over.

Personal Rating and Reason for Rating: ****Great! I loved this book. This would be a great book to read to children at the beginning of the year or to children who are having a difficult time adjusting to the school setting. The illustrations in this book are adorable and the heartwarming characters are sure to be a hit among young children.

Reading Level: 2.1

Interest Level: K-2

Possible Uses of the Text in Integrated Units of Study (Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum): This would be a great book to read and then have students write about how they felt on the first day of school. This could also be a great story to get children to open up and share their feelings about being away from parents. Socialization would be the focus of this lesson. If this book was being used at the beginning of the year, an art lesson could be used by students creating a painting mural of their first day at school.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I see no problems or difficulties with this book.

Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems

2009-06-14T18:21:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Comedy and Humor

Publishing Info.: Scholastic Inc., 48 pgs.

Awards or Honors Received: Caldecott Honor

Summary: This is a story about two girls who both decide to take the same bunny to school for show and tell. The girls argue all morning over the bunnies and eventually the teacher takes the bunnies away. The bunnies are returned at the end of the day, but it isn't until the middle of the night that the two girls realize they were given the wrong bunnies. Their dads arrange a place in town to meet and the correct bunnies are returned. In the end, the girls become best friends and share their bunnies all the time.

Personal Rating and Reason for Rating: ***Good. This story has a cute way of relating to young children and the attachment that they feel towards their toys. I think the illustrations are funny and would capture the attention of young children. The main character in the story, Trixie, makes funny faces and says funny things. Young children would really enjoy this story.

Reading Level: 3.7

Interest Level: K-2

Possible Uses of the Text in Integrated Units of Study (Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum): This would be a great story to integrate with a writing lesson. Students could bring something for show and tell and then write about why the brought it. Students could also write about a toy that they have lost before and how they felt when they realized their toy was gone. A math lesson could also be integrated by sorting the show and tell items, counting the items, or comparing the items.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I do not see any problems or difficulties with this book.

Fire Fighters by Norma Simon

2009-06-14T18:07:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Informational Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: Using Dalmation dogs as characters to act as firefighers, this book describes to the reader what happens from when the fire bell rings to getting to the fire and helping the people. Then the author explain how firefighters try to see how the fire started, and how the firefighters put away their equipment and go back to wait for the fire bell to ring again

Personal rating and reason for rating: **** Great. This book is awesome. Besides the illustrations being unrealistic, all of the information about firefighters is completely fact. It is a great way for young children to learn about the job of firefighters.

Reading level: 2.0

Interest level: k-2

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): Using this book as an informational read aloud during fire safty week would be a good idea. Also before a field trip to the fire department. Also would be a good read aloud for young children during a community helpers social studies lesson. It does an awesome job explaining the job of a fire fighter.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I didn't see any

Moon Boy by Barbara Brenner

2009-06-14T15:04:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Byron Preiss, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: This is a book about a little boy and the fantasy that he had one night when he couldn't sleep about a boy that came from the moon. When he couldn't sleep he played with this moon boy and let him keep him company. When the moon boy was set free the boy was able to fall asleep.

Personal rating and reason for rating: *** Good. This book is very strange to me, but my children seem to love it. It is a good read aloud early in the year for first graders, and later in the year they can read it themselves.

Reading level: 1.7

Interest level: k-3

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): This is a great book to show how authors discribe childrens imaginations. Using it in a writing lesson to show the skill, before asking the children to write about an imaginative prompt, like a dream or a daydream they have had.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: This book is just a little strange, and it is not too clear if the boy is dreaming this or daydreaming. But my first graders seemed to love it!

The American Flag By Patricia Quiri

2009-06-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Nonfiction
Publishing Info: Children’s Press and 48 pages
Awards or honors received: None at this time

Summary: This book is about the American Flag. It talks about how the flag came about and the history of it. The book describes how the flag is a symbol of freedom that stands for the land, people, and government of the United States.

Personal rating and reason for rating: **** Great! I think that this book give great information about our American Flag. I read this book to my students just for fun. The students enjoyed listening to it and asked a lot of question about the American Flag.

Reading level: 4.8
Interest level: K-6 or any if students want to learn about the American Flag

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): This book could be used in a history lesson of the United States of America. Also, this book could be used to talk about holidays around the world and when other countries celebrate their independence day as well.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I don’t see any.

Jumanji By Chris Van Allsburg

2009-06-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction
Publishing Info: Houghton Mifflin and 27 pages
Awards or honors received: The Caldecott Medal

Summary: This book is about a jungle adventure board game that becomes a real life game for Judy and Peter, who are the main characters. The game is not over until one player reaches the golden city. During the game Judy and Peter encounters lions, monkeys, rhinoceros, snakes, and many more animals. After Judy reaches the golden city she yelled “Jumanji” and the game was over and all the animals and messed up house were gone and cleaned up.

Personal rating and reason for rating: *** Great! I enjoyed reading this book. I love animals and this is a great adventure that involves animals. I think that students will enjoy listening and reading this story. I have not read it to my students yet, but when I do I feel that they will enjoy it. I think this book will help students that don’t really like to read, but may need some encouragement.

Reading level: 3.9
Interest level: I would say K-4

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): A wonderful activity to do with your students would be a dialogue response journal. This book could be read for fun before school lets out and for homework have the students write or if they are younger have them draw their interpretation of the story. The next day the teacher can respond to the journal entry. For math the students could graph their favorite animal from the story.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I don’t see any at this time.

African Americans and American Indians Fighting in the Revolutionary War by John Micklos Jr.

2009-06-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Non-fiction

Publishing Info: Enslow Publishers Inc. (48 pages)

Awards: None

Summary: As the title suggests, this book discusses aspects of African Americans and Native Americans during the Revolutionary War. It starts by giving the reader basic background into the roles of African Americans and Native Americans and events that led up to the war. The following chapters briefly describe how the two races chose sides and what their roles and conflicts were during the war. The final chapter describes events that took place and effected there lives after the war had ended.

Personal Rating: ***Good. I like the organization of the text. It contains a Table of Contents, an index, glossary, very good illustrations, and a Revolutionary War timeline. Also, there is a section of the book that lists references by chapter. What I especially like about this book is that there is a section called "Future Reading" that lists content area books and websites for expanded studies. However, the book doesn't go very in-depth with information.

Reading Level: 5.2
Interest Level: 5-6

Possible uses in reading and writing across the curriculum: NCSCOS for fifth grade include teaching about the Revolutionary War. This would be a good book to include in a unit for teaching those objectives. The book is too short to use for a book report except maybe for students who are not on grade level. On the other hand, it does mention several people and events that could lead to more in-depth research.

Potential Problems or difficulties: You might have to have a discussion about slavery and racism but by fifth or sixth grade most students are aware of what went on in the past.

More Spaghetti, I Say by Rita Gelman

2009-06-12T09:53:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: This is a funny book about a monkey named Minnie who really likes to eat spaghetti. She is too busy to play with Freddy.

Personal rating and reason for rating: **** Good. This is a good story for young readers who are ready to read on their own. It is a catchy book with rhyming words, and many young students think it is very funny.

Reading level: 1.2

Interest level: k-2

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): This is a good story to work with young readers on predicting text based on rhyming words.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I do not see any problems or difficulties with this text.

A Big Fat Enormous Lie by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

2009-06-12T09:41:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: This book is about a child who told a lie to his father about eating a jar of cookies. The child feels very bad about this lie. The lie is represented in the photographs by a large green monster, the boy continues to tell the lie to go away, but no matter how hard he tries the lie stays with him. The child finally tells him mom and dad about the lie, and the monster (or lie) gets smaller and smaller until it is no longer with him. The child feels better now.

Personal rating and reason for rating: **** Good. A good story with a good lesson.

Reading level: 1.7

Interest level: k-2

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): Use while teaching about the importance of telling the truth. Also, can be used to teach about the importance of looking at pictures while reading a story. Reading this story without paying attention to the pictures would not give the same amount of comprehension.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: Young may have trouble understanding what the monster in the picture represents something that the boy feels inside.

Alfie the Apostrophe by Moira Rose Donohue

2009-06-11T14:25:00.001-07:00

Book Genre: fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic, 29 pages

Awards or honors received: N/A

Summary: This story is about an apostrophe named Alfie. Alfie was a young apostrophe who went to school with other punctuation marks. The annual punctuation-mark talent show was the next day. Alfie was worried that he didn’t have any talent. He practiced in his bedroom but couldn’t get his magic tricks to work correctly. The next day at school everyone was excited to perform in the talent show. The question marks went first and they told riddles and jokes that made everyone laugh. Then the exclamation points cheered in their cheerleading outfits. Alfie began to get more worried. The parentheses worked with the commas and quotation marks to perform a jump rope routine, but they all got tangled up. Last went a group of periods and hyphens. They performed in Morse code. The director was about to end the show when Alfie raised his hand to present his magic tricks. First Alfie pulled out the words can and not. He covered them with a scarf and said the magic words. When he lifted the scarf, two letters had disappeared and the contraction can’t appeared. He did the same thing changing will and not into won’t. Then for his final act he performed his “possessive” trick. The crowd went wild and Alfie was very happy to be an apostrophe.

Personal rating and reason for rating: *** This was a nice story with pictures of the different types of punctuation marks as characters. Students will see the marks as you are reading about the usage of each one.

Reading level: 3.2

Interest level: 1-4

Possible uses of the text: Literacy: This story would be a good lead-in for introducing contractions. Have student’s create “magic tricks” by changing two words into a contraction. Then they can be the detective to find which of the letters went missing. Make this activity into a game. Practice making contractions and reverse it, so the contraction becomes the two words. Re-read story when you teach about possessive nouns. Have students create a list of things that belong to them and write it with the apostrophe (Linda’s book). Students can then illustrate their belongings.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: this story might be a little difficult for the younger children, teacher will have to explain a lot as she reads.

Substitute Groundhog by Pat Miller

2009-06-11T08:50:00.000-07:00

Genre: General fiction

Publishing information: Scholastic INC, 30 pages

Summary: Groundhog has to find a substitute for Groundhog's Day when he comes down with the flu. He decides to put up a wanted ad, but quickly finds out that everyone applying can't do the job. He needs someone who can go down in a dark hole, come up, and look for their shadow. Eagle, Mole, and Squirrel try out for the job but they can not do it. Armadillo comes to visit from Texas and says that he will be perfect for the job. Groundhog is nervous at first, because Armadillo is from Texas and does not know about their weather. Armadillo does have the right qualifications, so Groundhop lets him do it. Armadillo predicts there will be six more weeks of winter. Groundhog decides to go with Armadillo back to Texas because it is already spring there.

Reading level: 2.9

Interest level: K-2

Integration: The teacher could read this story before Groundhog's Day and talk about what the groundhog does. They could talk about the traditions that go along with that holiday and then have the students do some kind of groundhog art project. Older students could do a research project centered around Groundhog's Day.
The teacher could also use this book to talk about how only certain people can do certain jobs. Everyone has different qualifications for different jobs. The teacher could talk about the other animals and ask what the students think their jobs could be.
The teacher could also have the students talk about how this is a fiction story and what makes it fiction. Then they could read a book that is nonfiction about groundhogs and compare/contrast the two books on a poster board. The students could then write a story about groundhogs.

Potential problems: This book had a some difficult words for a level 2.9 book, some students may have trouble.

Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert

2009-06-11T06:23:00.000-07:00

Genre: Fiction

Publishing information: Houghton Mifflin Company, 38 pages

Summary: Growing Vegetable Soup has interesting pictures that are labeled and kid friendly. In the story a child and his dad are growing a garden so that they can have vegetable soup. The story follows them through the process from beginning to end. Big gloved hands pland the seeds, water the plants, and pull weeds. They bring the vegetables home to cut and wash for the vegetable soup.

Reading level: 2.0

Interest level: K-2

Integration: This book would be great to use with a unit about healthy food. The teacher could read this book and discuss how vegetables grow. After discussing how vegetables grow the teacher could draw and label a picture of vegetables. The students could discuss the food pyramid and all the different types of food on it. The teacher could bring in a bunch of pictures of food and organize them into the different types of food. The students could also use vegetables to make stamps on paper and then decorate them. The large culminating activity could be to have your students plant some vegetable plants and watch them grow. They could use math to measure how tall the plants grow and graph how they grow.

Potential problems: I do not foresee any problems with this book.

2009-06-10T13:51:00.000-07:00

Stuart Little by E.B. White

Book Genre: Fiction/Fantasy
Publishing Info: Harper and Row Publishing Company, 1945, 131 pages
Awards or honors received: None

Summary: Stuart Little is born a mouse to a human family. Stuart is raised and loved as a son by the Little family and is only conflict is with the family pet cat Snowbell. Things change when Stuart meets and falls in love with a bird named Margallo. Margallo disappears after recieving an anonymous note warning of danger in the form of a stray cat. Devastated by the loss of his love interest, Stuart decides to take the opportunity to make his own way in the world and leaves his family home to search for Margallo. Throughout his search, Stuart is sidetracked as other opportunities present themselves and he takes the time to serve as a substitute teacher and pursue the diminutive Harriet Ames. When things fall apart with Ms. Ames, Stuart once more takes to the road and ends his adventures by heading north, pursuing Margallo.

Personal rating and reason for rating: Good story, interesting, engaging plot. Students will become involved with amusing adventures.

Reading level: AR Level 6.0

Interest level: Grade 3-6

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study:

Stuart's relative size presents huge problems. Students could study ratios in math and the concepts of scale modeling.

In science students could study predator/prey relationships as it relates to cats and birds as well as cats and mice. Furthermore they could consider whether, given the relationship of predator and prey a mouse would likely fall in love with a bird.

The story is set approxiametely 60 years ago. In social studies students could compare how aspects of society (prices, culture, transportation, educational practices) have changed from then to now.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: Characters and situations are realistic. So long as you are willing to suspend your disbelief in regards to a personified mouse, there should be no real difficulties with this story.

The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett

2009-06-10T13:43:00.000-07:00

Genre: Fiction
Publishing info: Putnam Juvenile; 32 pages
Awards: Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year 1999

Summary: This is a twist to the original story, The Gingerbread Man. A boy in the story, Matti made a gingerbread man out of cookie dough. Instead of waiting a full 8 minutes like he was told he opened the oven door earlier. A gingerbread baby came out of the oven! When Matti chased him around the kitchen the gingerbread baby would say a chant. Throughout the story an animal or person would chase they baby. Finally, Matti had an idea to catch him. Matti built a gingerbread house and put it in the woods. When the gingerbread baby went to the woods, he went into the house and Matti locked it!

Personal rating: ***Good! Cute story with beautiful illustrations. The original story is still my favorite.

Reading level: 3.5
Interest level: K-5

Possible uses of the text:
Art: Another twist would be to give an outline of a gingerbread man to the students. Have them create a 'modern' day gingerbread baby/man! Use various items such as sequence, beads, or camouflage materials.

Math: Have students measure the 'Modern' Gingerbread Man/Baby they created using inches.

Potential Problems: None

Johnny Appleseed by Tamor Mays

2009-06-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Publishing Info: Scholastic; 32 pages
Awards received: none

Summary: The story begins with squirrels and birds discussing who planted an apple tree they were sitting on. They animals tell the story of Johnny Appleseed and the ways people enjoy animals. The story describes how Johnny Appleseed traveled around the US to plant apple trees.

Personal Rating: ****Great! Storyline is appropriate for the very young to understand!

Reading level: 0.5
Interest level: K-1

Possible uses of the text :
Science/Art: Describe and draw the cycle of an apple seed
Math/Art: On a sheet of paper have an outline of 5 trees. On the trunk of the tree add a number. Have the students draw apples according to the number on the tree.

Potential Problems: None

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien

2009-06-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fantasy Fiction

Publishing Info: Aladdin, 233 pages

Awards or honors received: Newbery Medal

Summary: Mrs. Frisby, a widowed mouse, knows it is time to move her children to their spring house. One of her sons is very sick, though, and will not be able to move. She decides to ask help from the rats that live in a nearby bush. Once inside their bush, however, Mrs. Frisby realizes that these rats are far from ordinary. They dislike the fact that rats steal everything, so they have developed a plan to be self sufficient and no longer have to steal. The Rats of NIMH learned that this was possible after they escaped from a science lab, where they were taught to read and communicate. Because of their intelligence, the are able to help Mrs. Frisby come up with a plan for how to protect her house and not have to move to the spring house until her son is better.

Personal rating and reason for rating: *** Good. I think this book keeps children wanting to read and it uses their imaginations in a fun way. It can be very long at points, though, which is one downfall.

Reading level: 5.1

Interest level: 3rd grade -6th grade

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study:

Science- The students can work as the "engineers" that help Mrs. Frisby protect her house. Students will come up with a way to move her house from its current location to the new location behind the rock where it will be safe from the tractor.

Social Studies/Geography: Students can draw and label a map of the Fitzgibbon's farm including the Frisby's current house, their spring hose, the bolder where they move, the rat's bush, etc.

Science- Students will research information about the habitats and niches of mice, then compare them to the habitats and niches of the Frisbys.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: none

The Year of The Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston

2009-06-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

Genre: General Fiction

Publishing:Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated, Oct. !996 (32pp.) reprint

Awards/Honors:

Summary:
In this story, a little girl is sharing with the readers the story of how her grandma Ruthie and her family had to choose the perfect Christmas tree to give to Pine Grove Church for Christmas. Before Ruthie's father was send off to war, he took Ruthie up into the mountains and they tied her red ribbon around the tree they had chosen to give to the church at Christmas time. Since it was Ruthie's family time to give the tree, Ruthie had the honor of being the heavenly angel in the Christmas play. On Christmas Eve, Ruthie and her mother went up into the mountains where her father and her had marked their Christmas tree and cut it down. They took it to the church and left it. On Christmas day, Ruthie got to play the angel, received the gifts she asked for from Santa, and her father came home from the war.

Rating: Good The story is entertaining and heart-warming.

Reading Level: 3.8

Interest Level: 3-5

Integrated Units:
Social Studies: Discuss Past and Present
Science: Trees - different types, life cycle
Math : Graph - Where do you get your Christmas Tree?
Writing: My favorite Christmas...
Reading: make predictions and inferences

Problems/Difficulties: lengthy

Little Bunny's Sleepless Night by Carol Roth

2009-06-10T11:16:00.000-07:00

Genre: Animal Stories, Bedtime Stories, and General Fiction
Publishing: North-South Books, Dec. 2002 (32pp.)
Awards/Honors:

Summary: One night Little Bunny was loney and couldn't fall asleep. Since he didn't have any brothers or sisters, he decided to sleep over at one of his friends' house. Every friend he visited, he soon discovered he couldn't sleep over at their house for some reason or another. Little Bunny, taking the advice of his wise friend, Owl, went home, went to bed, and went to sleep.

Personal Rating: This is a good book. I talk about friendship and each friend willingness to help his friend out. I believe the students will be able to relate to this story.

Reading Level: 4.2
Interest Level: K-2

Integrated Units:
Lang./Arts - inflectional -ed, story map - sequencing
Writing - write about a sleep over or bedtime ritual
Science- animal habitat
Math: Telling time - morning, noon, night - hours and minutes

Problems/Difficulties: some students can be afraid of the bark or had a bad experience with a sleep over.

Finklehopper Frog by Irene Livingston

2009-06-10T11:08:00.000-07:00

Genre: General Fiction

Publishing Information: Scholastic INC., 36 pages

Summary: Finklehopper Frog is a rhyming story about a frog who wants to jog like everyone else. He went to the store and bought a special jogging suit. When he went out jogging he found out that everyone else didn't like his jogging suit as much as he did. They started making fun of him for his suit and the way he was hopping around. Ruby Rabbit came along and said that he shouldn't feel bad because frogs hop. Finkle came to realize that everyone has their own special things to do and be.

Reading level: 2.9

Interest level: K-2

Integration: This would be a great book to use in a poetry unit. The teacher could read this book and talk about how there are all different types of poetry. This is narrative poetry because it tells a story. After reading this book and discusses it the teacher could have the kids write their own narrative poem about something.
This book could also be used to discuss how everything is different and how we shouldn't make fun of someone just because they are different.
To get the children moving you can have the children jog like the other animals. Then have them hop like Finkle. After that they could come up with other ways the animals move and have them act that out.

Potential Problems: The only problem that I see is this book has some hard words like Finklehopper that are not regular. It is a rhyming book and if a child is having trouble reading fluently they may have trouble with it.

Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks by Margaret Sutherland

2009-06-09T17:43:00.000-07:00

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Publishing Info: Grosset & Dunlap; 24 pages
Awards or honors received: none

Summary: This cute story discusses activities we do during Thanksgiving and the foods we eat. During Thanksgiving we spend time with family and friends. It also discusses things people maybe thankful for such as pets and lollipops.

Personal rating: ****Great! Excellent story to get students thinking about the things they are thankful for. Pictures are great too!

Reading level: 2.0
Reading interest: K-2

Possible uses of the text:
Social Studies/Writing: Compare/contrast the way students celebrate Thanksgiving compared to the book using a Venn Diagram.

Art/Home Connection: Give students an outline of a turkey. Students will take them home and turn the turkey into something else such as: the turkey can be turned into a NFL football player!

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

2009-06-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

Genre: Fiction
Publishing Info: Harpercollins Childrens Books; 64 pages
Awards or honors received: none

Summary: A boy plays with a tree. The tree loves the boy. In the beginning the boy swings on the branches.and plays hide in seek with the tree. The boy begins to grow up and leaves the tree alone because he is becoming interested in girls. One day the boy comes back to the tree and is sad because he needs money. The tree offers his apples to sell. This made the tree happy that the boy was back and needed him. The boy stayed gone for along time once again. When the boy finally returns he is sad wanting more and the tree gives all he has. The story continues as the boy is wanting more and the tree gives to him. Finally all that is left of the tree is a stump and he offers the tree stump to the now an old man as a seat for him to rest on.

Personal rating: ****Great! A wonderful story of how a tree gives to a boy. Students will love this story!

Reading level: 2.6
Interest level: K-to adulthood!

Possible uses of the text:
Science: A great book to reading during Earth Day. Discuss how the tree gives to the boy and how trees give to people on earth.

Art/Reading: Give student a large outline of a tree. Have student draw the things the tree gave the boy. Color

Math: Have a tree with removable leaves. Use tree as a manipulative during subtraction stories.

Potential Problems: none

Webster J. Duck by Martin Waddell

2009-06-09T13:32:00.000-07:00

Genre: general fiction

Publishing information: Scholastic INC, 26 pages

Summary: Webster J. Duck is about a baby duck who hatches from his egg and can't find his mother. He goes all around looking for a duck that could be his mother. He finds other animals but they don't say quack quack like him. The story has a happy ending when he finds another duck who sounds just like him.

Personal rating: *** Good. This is a good spin on a story that's been told over and over, a baby animal is lost looking for his mother.

Reading level: 2.0

Interest level: K-2

Integration: This story could be used to talk about how an egg hatches, because at the beginning it talks about what happens when Webster J. Duck comes out of his egg. The teacher could read this book to introduce the concept of birds hatching out of eggs. The teacher could talk about what happens after the bird hatches out. After reading the story the teacher could possibly culminate everything by having chicks hatch out in the room and talking about whether Webster J. Duck hatched out like the chicks or not.
This book would be great to talk about point of view. The author wrote this book from Webster J. Duck's point of view and he doesn't understand what a duck looks like. He goes around quacking to all different types of animals just to find out that they don't quack like him. The teacher could talk about why he didn't understand. Then the students could write about a time that they didn't understand something.

Potential problems: The only problem that I see is that children my not understand why the duck keeps calling the other animals ducks. That part of the story may take some explanation.

Frogs by Nic Bishop

2009-06-08T18:08:00.000-07:00

Genre: Nonfiction
Publishing Info: Scholastic Nonfiction; 48 pages
Awards or honors received: none

Summary: This nonfiction books teaches children about the difference between a frog and a toad, all sorts of frog facts , and has interesting detail pictures. The book also discuses different types of frogs such as poisonous dart frogs to bullfrogs.

Personal rating: ****Great! Students love frogs and this book really enlightens younger students about these amphibians!

Reading level: 2.9
Interest level: K-5

Possible uses of the text:
Science/Art/Writing-Give students an outline on card paper of a frog. Have student decorate the frog and list 3 facts they learned from the story on the frog. Outline the writing in black ink and put up in room to display.

Potential Problems: None

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

2009-06-08T17:16:00.000-07:00

Genre: Fiction
Publishing Info: Tanglewood Press; 32 pages
Awards or honors received: New York Times number one best seller and won the Distinguished Achievement Award for Excellence in Educational Journalism

Summary: A raccoon named Chester does not want to go to school. He would rather stay home with his mom and friends. He has never been to school before and is scared. His mother assures him he will have fun. To help with his transition she kisses his hand and lets him know that the kiss rushes from his hand to his heart. If he starts to miss her at school she told him to put his hand to his cheek and it will remind him of her. At the end, Chester loves school and his mother missed him. He then done the same thing to her with his kiss on her hand!

Personal rating: ****Great! Excellent first day story for students!

Reading level: 2.7
Interest level: K-2

Possible uses of the text:
Science: Match animal parents to animal babies
Art: Put students hand in red paint and put it on white paper. Attach a heart to the middle of the palm.
Math: Have student estimate the number of acorn in a clear container.

Potential Problems: none

The Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis

2009-06-08T17:02:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction
Publishing Info: Orchard Books; 32 pages
Awards or honors received: none

Summary: Three children in their cute Halloween costumes walk up a hill from their house. They find an enormous pumpkin. The brother wants to take it home by chopping it from the vine. The sister warns him not to. But to the sisters dismay he does anyway. The enormous pumpkin rolls down the hill through the garden, barn, past the father on the tractor. The animals and children chase the pumpkin. It finally stops and mashes. That night the family enjoy lots of pumpkin treats such as their grandmothers delicious pumpkin pie!

Personal rating: ****Great! I love this story. It has a rhyming chorus throughout the story the students will love!

Reading level: 2.5
Interest level: K-2

Possible use of the text:
Science/Writing: Discuss the process of pumpkin from a seed. Draw a diagram with pictures for K.
Art: Make a pumpkin out of tissue paper to resemble a Mosaic.
Math: Have number cards and little pumpkins. Students will match the number card to the correct number of pumpkins.

Potential Problems: none

If You Give A Moose A Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff

2009-06-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction
Publishing Info: HarperCollins; 32 pages
Awards or honors received: none

Summary: The story is about a boy who has a moose. He makes the moose a muffin and the moose eats them all. The moose wants some more so the boy goes to the store. The moose goes with him. When they get to the story it is cold so the moose wants to borrow the boys sweater. When the moose puts on the sweater the buttons become loose then the moose wants a needle and thread. When he begins to sew it reminds hims of the puppets his grandmother used to make. Then we wants socks. The story continues on this path. The moose wants something from the boy and it leads into something else. In the end the moose wants some jam and of course a muffin to go with it!

Personal rating: ***Good. This was not my favorite story, however the students would like it. The boy and the moose would attract the students attention! The storyline is funny and could lead to analogies in higher grades.

Reading level: 2.4
Reading interest K-3

Possible uses of the text:
Science: Discuss a moose. Its habitat, food it eats, etc.
Art/Writing: Have various objects in a paper bag. Students could choose one object from the bag; they would write and draw a picture about what they would want to go along with it similar to the story.
Math: Have student work out addition problems with moose counters-they are available in most education magazines.

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss

2009-06-08T16:20:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction
Publishing Info: Random House Books for Young Readers; 72 pages
Awards or honors received: none

Summary: This book has several short sections of stories. The stories are truly make-believe. The animals in the stories are make-believe as well for example a Yop and a Ying! Rhyming is evident through out the stories.

Personal rating: ****Great! Excellent rhyming book for the young. Children adore the silly stories!

Reading level: 1.7
Interest level: K-2

Possible uses of the text:
Writing/Reading: making up rhyming words and writing them down
Art: Give students different types of materials such as paper of different colors/texture, glue, wiggle eyes, etc. Have students create their own 'creature'' They must name their 'creature' and give three describing words for it.
Math: Give student different color fish. They must sort the fish by color and them graph them on a graph. Have a discussion about the graph; the most, least, etc.

Potential Problems: You may not want to read the entire book. Break it into sections.

Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionni

2009-06-07T18:36:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fable, Fantasy, Folk Tales and Myths
Publishing: Random House Children's Books, Sept. 1974 (32 pp.)
Awards/Honors: Caldecott Honor, ALA Notable Book, and New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year

Summary:
Alexander the mouse always got screamed at or chased by a broom every time he went looking for crumbs to eat. One day when no one was at home, Alexander found another mouse in the house. It wasn't an ordinary mouse, but a wind-up mouse named Willy. Alexander and Willy became good friends even though Willy couldn't move and play with Alexander. Alexander came to wish he was like Willy because he wanted to be cuddled and loved. One day Willy told Alexander about a magic lizard who lives in the garden and who could change one animal into another. Alexander went to see the lizard who told him to bring him a purple pebble. Alexander looked but couldn't find one.When he return home, Alexander found Willy in a box with old toys. Annie his owner was throwing him away. While talking to Willy, Alexander found a purple peddle and ran to the garden to give it to the lizard. When the lizard asked for his wish, Alexander wished that Willy would be a mouse like him instead of him becoming a wind-up mouse like Willy. Alexander return home to find that the box was empty. He believed he was too late until he saw Willy in the hold in the wall.

Personal rating and Why?
This is a good book. I enjoy the story and the pictures. The reading has an easy flow to it.

Reading Level: 4.7
Interest Level: K-2

Integrated units of study:
Science: Talk about animals and their habitat
Reading: Make connection and predictions
Writing: Write about a special friend and the things they like doing together

Potential Problems or Difficulties: The font too small

The Storm Book by Charlotte Zolotow

2009-06-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

Genre: Fiction
Publishing: Harper & Row Publishers 1989 (32 pp.)
Awards/Honors: Caldecott Honor and Horn Book Fanfare

Summary: A little boy watches a storm come up in the country while a young man in the city looks at the storm out his window. An old fisherman feels the rain from the storm splatter against his skin at the sea and in the mountains a farmer herds his sheep to shelter. Evenly the storm rolls over and the sun returns and the little boy sees a rainbow in the sky and asked his mother "What's that?"

Personal rating and Why:
This is a good book to read. It is an interesting book and it is a great to use to make connection. The pictures are very detail and realist.

Reading Level: 4.2
Interest Level: K-2

Integrated Units:
Science: Introduce the water cycle
Geography: Discuss physical features of a region
Lang./Art: - Make connection to the story
Writing: Have the students share an experience that have had with storms

Potential Problems or Difficulties: Students fear of storms

The Frog Prince Continued by: Jon Scieszka

2009-06-07T11:35:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction, Folklore, Fairy Tale

Publishing Info: Puffin Books (32 pages)

Awards or Honors:

Summary: This is a hilarious spin off of The Frog Prince. Where it ends, this story begins. Surprisingly the Princess and the Frog Prince do NOT live happily ever after. He whines because the Princess won't go outside and down to the pond any longer. She complains because he sticks his tongue out, jumps on the furniture, croaks in his sleep, and has lily pads in his pockets. Sad and wishing for a real happily ever after, the Frog Prince runs off into the forest in search of a witch to turn him back into a frog. He happens upon several witches: Malificent (Sleeping Beauty), Grimhilda (Snow White), and Gretchen (Hansel and Gretel). Each time he runs off in fear because they do not want to help, just harm him. He eventually happens upon Fairy Godmother (Cinderella). She agrees to help him, but ends up turning him into a carriage. He spends the rest of the evening scared and longing to be back in his castle with his Princess. He realizes that he was happily ever after and didn't know it. As fate would have it, and just as in Cinderella, at the stroke of midnight the Frog Prince turns back into himself. Once he is himself, the Frog Prince runs back through the forest to his castle. When he arrives the Princess bombards him with questions about where he has been because she has been worried. The Frog Prince is so happy to be home he quickly gives her a kiss. And wouldn't you know, they both turn into frogs and live happily ever after! Or do they?

Personal Rating & Reason: ****Great! I love it! It was so comical and had cute ties into other fairy tales. I also liked the illustrations. Each illustration really made the story come to life. For example, when she is complaining about sticking his tongue out, you can see him trying to catch a dragonfly on the wallpaper with his tongue. Plus, Grimhilda is inside a room labeled "Fairest" reading Hague (a witch magazine) getting her hair done. Funny!

Reading Level: K-3 (3.6 AR)

Reading Interest: ages 4-8 years

Possible Uses: I would use this book in many ways.
Art: You could help the children make a frog from paper plates, construction paper, and google eyes. You could also have them make puppets out of construction paper and paper bags. Make masks out of paper plates and string/crafts sticks.

Writing/Arts: This would be a GREAT book to do a readers theatre with. As as class you could transfer the book to a play. Giving students parts - Frog Prince, Princess, each witch (3), Fairy Godmother, Narrator, and of course costume designers. I wouldn't to too much with costumes. Maybe just paper plate masks held up by craft sticks. Each student would have a task in order to bring it all together in the end. Finally I would invite administration or other classes in for a final performance.

Science: At this time I would lead the children into a discussion about the life cycle of a frog. We could do Flow Maps of the cycle and then write about it. Another idea would be to bring in some tadpoles and watch them grow into frogs. Have the children chart the tadpole/frog progress and keep journals about the progressions.

Potential Problems: The only problem, well not problem, but side note is that the humor is very satirical and a little over younger children's understanding. To fully "get" the humor students would need to be 3rd grade and up.

How Many Stars in the Sky? by Lenny Hort

2009-06-07T11:09:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: General Fiction

Publishing Info.: Scholastic Inc., 32 pages

Awards or Honors Received: N/A

Summary: This story is about a father and son who are both having trouble sleeping because mother is out of town. The son wants to count the stars, just like he does with his mother. His father takes him into the city, but the lights are too bright for them to see the stars. Then they drive out to the country where there are so many visible stars that there is no way they can count them all. They look at all of the stars and talk about the Milky Way and planets. The father and son are too tired to drive home, so they sleep in the back of the truck under the stars. The next morning, the son realizes that the time he spent with his father was special and asks if they can do it again sometime.

Personal Rating and Reason for Rating: ***Good. The content of this book was okay, but the illustrations were amazing. It looked like the illustrator painted the pictures, and they had such great detail. Young children can relate to this story because the child in this story was missing him mom, and his dad was trying to cheer him up. I am sure that all young children can think of a time when they have missed someone.

Reading Level: 3.5

Interest Level: K-2

Possible Uses of the Text in Integrated Units of Study (Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum): This book could be used during a science unit on space. It talks about the Milky Way, planets, and the sun is a star. The book also showed how you cannot see stars very well if it is too bright outside, and that stars can be seen better in darker locations. Writing could be incorporated about the planets and stars, or on a more personal level about a time when a child missed someone. They could describe how they felt and what they did to feel better. Art could be integrated by comparing the illustrations of several books and talking about how some pictures are drawn, some are cartoon-like, and some are painted. Students could create a picture about space and choose the materials they would prefer, such as pencils, crayons, markers, or paint.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I do not see any problems or difficulties with this book.

Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco

2009-06-07T10:36:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Realistic Fiction

Publishing Info.: Scholastic Inc., 32 pages

Awards or Honors Received: N/A

Summary: This story is about a little girl who loves to visit her grandmother in Michigan. However, bad storms pop up there and the little girl is terrified of them. One day, a bad storm is coming and her grandmother tells her they have a thunder cake to bake. She tells her granddaughter that they need to go out to the farmhouse and gather all of the ingredients. They must hurry, because the thunder cake has to be in the oven before the storm arrives. The grandmother and granddaughter do make the cake in enough time. The grandmother tells the little girl how brave she was and the little girl also realizes that she was brave. From then on, she was never afraid of thunderstorms again.

Personal Rating and Reason for Rating: ****Great! I loved this story. This story showed the love of a grandmother and how she wanted to get her granddaughter's mind off of something that she was terrified of. It worked and the grandmother and granddaughter had a new tradition when it came to storms. These two characters definitely had a strong bond and thier love for one another was evident throughout the book. I think that young children could relate this story to something special that they do with their grandparents.

Reading Level: 3.5

Interest Level: 1-3

Possible Uses of the Text in Integrated Units of Study (Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum): This story could be used during a weather unit when discussing storms. The book talked about how you can count between lightning and thunder to see how far away the storm is. Farm animals could also be integrated because the book talked about going out to the farmhouse and gathering eggs from the hen and getting milk from the cow. Writing could be incorporated by having students to write about a time that their grandmother or grandfather helped them to not be afraid or made them feel special. There is a recipe at the end of the story for Thunder Cake (I cannot wait to try it). If your school permits using the cafeteria, you could bring in the ingredients and incorporate math by allowing the students to measure out the correct amounts. If not, you could always bake the cake at home the night before and have it ready for students to try after reading this story to them.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I do not see any problems or difficulties with this book.

The recipe for Thunder Cake is also available if you google it online.

The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll

2009-06-07T10:07:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info.: Scholastic Inc., 32 pages

Awards or Honors Received: N/A

Summary: This story is about two mice, Clayton the house mouse, and Desmond the field mouse. Both mice picked out the same pumpkin and decided to make it grow. However, the two mice did not know about each other. Clayton wanted to use the pumpkin for the town's pumpkin contest, and Desmond wanted to use the pumpkin to carve as a jack-o-lantern for Halloween. During the day, Clayton would water and fertilize the pumpkin and his mother suggested using sugar water. During the night, Desmond would water and fertilize the pumpkin and his brother suggested using sugar water. The pumpkin grew to be huge, but one night there was going to be an early frost, and both mice feared that it would harm their pumpkin. Both mice decided to go and cover the pumpkin with a blanket, and for the first time, they met and found out that the other had been taking care of the pumpkin too. They made a deal that Desmond would help get the huge pumpkin to the town contest and that Clayton would allow the pumpkin to be carved for Halloween. The pumpkin did end up winning first prize, and on Halloween night the jack-o-lantern's face glowed brightly for everyone to see.

Personal Rating and Reason for Rating: ****Great! Although this book was published over 20 years ago, the illustrations are bright and I think that young children would find this book entertaining. I think it is neat how the two mice do not know about one another through the entire story, but when they finally do meet, they decide to share the pumpkin and help one another out.

Reading Level: 3.3

Interest Level: K-2

Possible Uses of the Text in Integrated Units of Study: This would be a great book to use during a science unit on pumpkins. This book somewhat shows the life cycle of a pumpkin by telling how it goes from green to orange. This book could also tie in Halloween. Many Halloween books are questionable because they talk about witches and ghosts, which some parents find offensive. This book does not contain any kind of offensive material. This book could also be used to talk about sharing and working together to help others.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I do not see any problems or difficulties with this book.

The Leaving Morning by Angela Johnson

2009-06-07T09:16:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Realistic Fiction

Publishing Info.: Orchard Books, 32 pages

Awards or Honors Received: N/A

Summary: This story is about a mom, dad, brother, and sister who are moving. The children talk about how they have helped pack their things and told everyone in their neighborhood good-bye. When the moving day finally arrives, the family gets up early and watches as movers take their things. Before leaving their apartment, the children leave lip prints on the window. They also leave lip prints on a window in the deli. The story implies that this is their way of saying good-bye.

Personal Rating and Reason for Rating: ***Good. This story gives children a glimpse into what it would be like to move. The reader can feel the sadness that these children have, but at the same time, excitement that they are going somewhere new. The illustrations in this book are not the best, although they do get a little better as the story goes on.

Reading Level: 3.5

Interest Level: K-2

Possible Uses of the Text in Integrated Units of Study (Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum): This book would be a great story to read if a student in your class were moving, or if you had just received a new student in your class. It could give children who have never experienced moving some background knowledge about what it is like. Writing could be integrated by students writing about a time they moved, or if they could move anywhere in the world, where they would like to go. Social studies could be tied in with this reading by looking at maps to find cool places to live, and technology could also be incorporated by students researching and finding out facts about a new place to live.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I do not see any problems or difficuties with this book.

The Velveteen Rabbit or How Toys Become Real by: Margery Williams

2009-06-07T08:37:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Courage Books (40 pages)

Awards or Honors: IRA/CBC Children's Choice Award

Summary: The story begins at Christmas and a young boy receives a velveteen rabbit in his stocking. He loves Rabbit and plays with it for a couple of hours, until his relatives come for dinner and bring other presents. The rabbit is forgotten and ends up living in the toy cupboard with all the other toys. Rabbit is shy and doesn't make many friends among the toys. His only friend is Skin Horse, an old thread bare worn horse toy that belonged to the Boy's Uncle. Skin Horse is kind and friendly to Rabbit. He teaches Rabbit what it is to be Real and how the nursery room magic can make him become Real. One day Nana, the person who rules the nursery, is putting the Boy to bed and he wants a toy to sleep with. In haste, she grabs the first toy she finds, Rabbit. At first Rabbit doesn't like sleeping with the Boy because he gets mashed, poked, squashed, and rolled on. However, he comes to love being close with the Boy. The Boy and Rabbit become inseparable. They play, eat, and sleep together. Rabbit is slowly becoming very worn from all the love that the Boy gives him. He thinks that he is becoming Real just like Skin Horse had said. However, Rabbit meets some real rabbits outside one day and finds out that he is not Real, he is still a toy. Then one day the Boy becomes very sick with Scarlet Fever. Rabbit stays faithfully by his side and he eventually gets better. The doctor comes by for a final check-up visit and instructs Nana to burn all the toys and linens that the Boy has been in contact with. She does as she is told and places the linens, old picture books, and Rabbit in a sack to be burned. That night as Rabbit is lying in the night air, lonely and shivering, he becomes very sad. As he thinks of his time with the Boy a tear slowly slides off his nose and onto the ground. Suddenly a flower begins to grow from the tear and the Nursery Magic Fairy appears. She takes Rabbit into the woods and makes him really Real. He lives in the woods with all the other rabbits in Rabbitland for the rest of his life.

Personal Rating & Reason: **** Great! This is an awesome, touching story! I was in tears when Rabbit was tossed out to be burned. And again when he actually got to become real. I would recommend this story to any classroom, Kindergarten through college. It has such a warm loving story of wanting to be loved and accepted. There are many life lessons to be learned during this excellent read.

Reading Level: K-3 (3.6 AR)

Reading Interest: ages 4-8 years

Possible Uses: There are several uses for this book across the curriculum.

Art: You could have the children make a sock toy with socks, sawdust/news paper/ cotton stuffing and markers. Plus, you could have the children use construction paper and brats to create some paper movable rabbits.

Science: This book could be used as an introduction into what makes something alive. Then you could teach about the heart, brain, muscles, etc. Here you could do a group project telling why Rabbit was not alive "Real".

Another activity would be to use demonstrations. I would bring in my pet rabbit Chocolate for the class to see. Possibly have a stuffed rabbit and Chocolate together in Circle Time. Have the children list alike vs. different or have them chart teal vs. toy.

Writing: You could have the children draw and write about their favorite stuffed toy. Or you could have the children create their own story of a time when their favorite toy became Real. You could have the children write an extended ending. For example, at the end of the story Rabbit and Boy see each other again and the Boy thinks he looks a lot like his old stuffed toy. Here you could have the children extend the story and possibly have them play together, talk with one another, or the Boy catches Rabbit and takes him home as a real pet. The endings are infinite!

Potential Problems: None at this time.

Just for You! by Christine Leeson

2009-06-07T08:36:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc., 32 pages

Awards or Honors Received: N/A

Summary: This book is about four mice who want to give their mother the best gift for her birthday. They had a vase at the beginning of the story, but when they were getting ready to wrap it, the vase got broken. The four mice went in search for the perfect birthday gift. They found several items, such as strawberries, feathers, and a flower, but all of these items already belonged to other animal friends. The mice seen something fluttering in the sky but became very sad when they realized it was only a piece of paper. However, one of the mice had an idea. They borrowed some of the strawberries, some of the feathers, and pollen from the flower to make their mother a picture for her birthday. The story ended with their mother saying this was the best birthday present ever. The mice were very proud of themselves.

Personal Rating and Reason for Rating: ***Good. This is a cute story that young children can relate to. The mice were in search of the perfect present, and young children also do this when they are trying to find a present for someone. I also like how the story focused on the mice not taking things that did not belong to them just so their mother could have the perfect present. Instead, they had to be creative and make something for their mother. This story showed how sometimes we have to really think and try hard to solve our problems.

Reading Level: 2.9

Interest Level: K-2

Possible Uses of the Text in Integrated Units of Study (Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum): This book could be used during a unit on friends. This would be a great story to point out how we treat others and that we do not take things that are not ours. Social studies could be incoporated by discussing the social skills in this book and how the mice treated their friends. This book could also be used to discuss how sometimes we get disappointed, but that we have to keep trying. Writing could be incorporated by having the students think about a time when they were disappointed and write about what they did to solve their problem. This story could also incorporate literary elements, such as retell, sequence of events, main characters, and plot.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I see no problems with this book.

Maggie and the Pirate by Ezra Jack Keats

2009-06-06T19:38:00.000-07:00

Genre: General fiction

Publishing information: Scholastic, INC 34 pages

Summary: This is the story of Maggie who lives in a tropical place and has a pet cricket named Niki. The little girl leaves Niki in his cage while she goes to the store for her mother. While Maggie is gone a pirate comes and steals Niki. Maggie and her friends go out searching for the pirate and the cricket. Maggie finds the pirate in a tree house that she has never seen before. The two of them scuffle over the cricket and the tree house falls into the water. Niki drowns in the water and the children bury him. The pirate who turns out to be the new kid in town comes to return the cage along with a new cricket.

Personal rating: *** Good. This is an interesting story with beautiful pictures. Children will enjoy this story because it has adventure even though it touches on grief.

Reading level: 2.5

Interest level: k-2

Integration: This book could be used to discuss grief and death. The teacher could have the students discuss how everyone in this book feels. The little girl feels sad and the pirate feels ashamed at what he has caused. The friends show sadness but they didn't understand what made the pet cricket so important to Maggie.
This book could also be used to talk about bullies and stealing. The pirate should not have taked Maggie's cricket and his cage. The teacher could discuss how that made Maggie feel and how it made the pirate feel.

Potential problems: The problem that I see with this book is the fact that the pirate is a bully and steals the pet cricket. The little boy does learn his lesson because he ends up doing harm to the cricket. This book brings up the topic of death and grief which will need to be discussed after reading.

Grandfather's Journey by: Allen Say

2009-06-06T11:20:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Realistic Fiction

Publishing Info: Houghton Mifflin Company (32 pages)

Awards or Honors: Caldecott Medal Book

Summary: This is a touching story written through a grandson's eyes about his grandfather. It begins with the grandfather (a young man) leaving Japan for America. The grandfather travels across the Pacific Ocean for 3 weeks and explores North America by train, riverboat, and walking. Eventually he makes it to California and decides that that is his favorite place of all. However, he soon becomes homesick for Japan and decides to return for a visit. Once back in Japan he marries his childhood sweetheart and they return to America. They make a home in San Francisco Bay and have a daughter. But once again, he becomes homesick for Japan. So, they return with the daughter. The daughter falls in love, marries, and has Allen Say. As Mr. Say grows up he frequently visits his grandfather and hears wonderful tales of America. The grandfather misses America so much that he plans once more to go. However, the war (WWII)begins and he cannot make the journey. Finally, as Allen Say becomes a young man he decides to make that journey for himself and see America. Just as his grandfather did, Mr. Say is in one land only to long to be in the other. At last, he truly understands his grandfather. Along with the wonderful story, there are beautiful watercolors through out the story of all the places that the grandfather visits.

Personal Rating & Reason: ****Great! I really like this book. It brings a new light to what our children are so used to seeing everyday, the norm. The story lets them view things, scenes, and lives through another person's perspective. There is also the additive of being introduced/revisiting a different culture and time from their own. In addition, there are a lot of beautiful watercolors through out the story. They really help give a very vivid visualization.

Reading Level: K-3 (4.2 AR)

Reading Interest: ages 4-8 years

Possible Uses: This book could be used in across the curriculum in many ways.

Social Studies: You could use this book as an introduction to the study of World War II.
SS Additional: Plus, you could use this book to create a timeline for Allen Say's grandfather. The events could be taken and placed on a Flow Map. Then you could have the students create time lines of their own lives.

Technology: As an extended computer lesson you could have the children research their heritage and create family trees.

History/Writing: Once the students have researched their families origin, have them research the country. How is it similar to America? Are there any major differences? Would you like to visit, why? You could also have them make a journal of what they think their ancestors went through (good times, visits, hardships, etc.). And why do they think they chose to come to America.

Art: On the title page of the book there is an origami boat. You could introduce the students to the art of origami and then have them create their own items with origami.
Art Additional: The entire book is illustrated with awesome watercolors. You could branch off using this idea and let the children experiment with the medium of watercolors. Introduce techniques used by artists to create depth and light....

Science: This could also lead to a science lesson....many artists make their own paints, canvases and papers. You could show how fruits could be used to get colors for painting (blueberries make an awesome dark blue/purple hue). Plus, there could be a lesson in paper making (toilet tissue, water, and a window screen) works best in a time constraint situation.

Potential Problems: None at this time.

Have You Seen My Duckling? by Nancy Tafuri

2009-06-06T09:07:00.000-07:00

Genre: general fiction

Publishing Information: Scholastic INC, 28 pages

Awards: Caldecott Honor Book

Summary: Have You Seen My Duckling uses more picture detail with minimal words. In fact the only words in the book are have you seen my ducking repeated many times. The pictures tell the story of a baby duck who wonders off one morning following a butterfly. The mother duck and her other ducklings look all over the pond for the missing baby duck. She asks lots of pond creatures if they have seen her baby. In most of the pictures you can see the missing baby duck in the background. The story ends happily with the mother duck finding the baby.

Personal rating:*** Good. This book has great picture details and a cute story.

Reading level: 1.5

Interest level: PK-2

Integration: This would be a great book to use in a guided reading group or with whole group to discuss picture details. In kindergarten and first grade picture details are a very important part of the story.
In science this book would be great to use in a unit about pond animals. This book shows many different pond animals in their natural habitats doing what they do. There are lily pads, frogs, otters and fish. This would be a great book to begin a pond unit discussion and make a list of animals. The teacher could do a KWL chart before she reads the book and then see if this book answers any of the students questions.
This book could also be used to discuss paying attention and not wondering off from a child's parents. The baby duckling was just playing with a butterfly, but she got lost from her mother.

Potential problems: I don't foresee any problems with this book.

If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff

2009-06-06T08:12:00.000-07:00

Genre: Fiction

Publishing information: Scholastic INC, 32 pages

Summary: Once the little boy gives the moose a muffin he comes in the house for jam. The moose ends up eating all the muffins and wants some more so the little boy goes to the store to buy muffin mix. The moose then needs a sweater, but one of the button are loose. The moose then asks for needle and thread to fix the muffin. The moose continues on and on until he wants another muffin and it starts all over again. This book has great pictures that children love.

Personal rating: *** Good. This is a book from a great series that has been a hit with lots of children. The pictures are good and the story is cute.

Reading level: 2.4

Interest level: K-2

Integration: This book would be great to use to demonstrate cause and effect. Everything that the little boy gives the moose it makes him want something else. As the teacher reads she could ask the class to make a prediction about what the moose will want next. In writing you could have children make up their own version of what would happen if you give a moose a .....? The teacher could also talk about recipes and what you need to make muffins.

Potential problems: I see no problems with this story.

Fall Leaves Fall! by Zoe Hall

2009-06-06T05:59:00.000-07:00

Genre: Informational Fiction

Publishing information: Scholastic, INC 30 pages

Summary: Fall Leaves Fall! is about two kids who are experiencing fall their favorite season. They talk about how the leaves are green in summer but change colors when fall comes. This book shows all the different colors that leaves can be and talks about how they fall from the trees. The little boy talks about what all they like to do with the leaves like crunching and kicking them. The leaves are all different sizes and shapes. The end shows how the trees are bare and have no leaves.

Personal rating: **** Great! This book has lots of ways that it can be worked into the curriculum and it has lots of accurate information that is phrased pefectly for young children.

Reading level: 2.2

Interest level: PK-2

Integration: This book has lots of information about fall which can be used in a unit discussing the season. There are a lot of great ideas that a teacher can use from this book. The teacher could use this book to begin the fall unit and discuss what happens with leaves. After reading the book the students could take a walk outside the school and pick up leaves that have fallen from the trees. The teacher could also bring in a variety of leaves and have the children pick one out. The leaves could then be used in an art activity by laying paper over the leaves and making leaf rubbings. The students could also use the leaves to make collages just like the little boys did in the book. They can glue leaves and other materials to the paper to make animals. The teacher could also have the students to write about their favorite thing is to do with leaves. Then to finish up the unit they can have warm cider and leaf cookies just like the boys did in the book.

Potential problems: I do not foresee any problems with this book.

Three Cheers for Tacky by Hellen Lester

2009-06-06T05:06:00.000-07:00

Genre: Fiction

Publishing information: Scholastic, INC 32 pages

Summary: This story is about Tacky, the odd penguin. He lives with a group of penguins in an icy land. Tacky's school decides to enter a cheering contest where the first place prize is blue shiny bows. Tacky had a lot of trouble in practice following along and finding the right costume. Finally the day before the contest Tacky got it right, but at the contest Tacky messed up. The judges and crowd ended up loving them, because the other teams had been so boring. Tacky's school won the contest and the blue shiny bows.

Personal rating: ****Great! This book has great pictures. Tacky is a funny character that requires a lot of expression, kids would love him. Three Cheers for Tacky has a great message that it's ok to be a little "odd."

Reading level: 2.8

Interest level: K-3

Integration: Three Cheers for Tacky would be great to use in a science unit about penguins. This book could be used before or after reading a non fiction book about penguins. Then the class could compare/contrast the two books. The class could talk aboout what is true in Three Cheers for Tacky and how it relates to real penguins.
This would also be great when talking about differences in people and how Tacky makes life interesting for all the other penguins. The students could talk about what Tacky did that was different and why everything ended up working out in the end.
In writing you could have your students write their own story about Tacky and the penguins.

Potential problems: The only problem I see is that when Tacky speaks there are no quotation marks. This could be confusing for younger children reading this book. They are just learning fluency and using expression and without the help of quotation marks they may have trouble.

Little Cloud By: Eric Carle

2009-06-04T17:59:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Philomel, 6th Print Edition (33 pages)

Awards and honors received: None found, surprisingly.

Summary: Little Cloud, by Eric Carle is written very simplistic with clear text and images as he tells the story of Little Cloud. Little Cloud strays away from his friends and entertains himself by changing into many different objects (lamb, airplane, shark, clown, etc.) before joining the others to form one big cloud that rains.

Personal rating and reason for rating: ***Good. I enjoyed reading this book and would use it when teaching about clouds in my weather unit. Most of the books in our library about clouds are a little too advice for kindergarten, so that is why I liked this book. I also liked how this book would make the children use their imagination and spark creativity. I would defiantly use this book in my classroom and suggest it to other teachers for young children.

Reading level: 2.2 (second grade, second month)

Interest level: Pre-K through 2

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study:

Art: After reading this book I would complete a painting activity with the students in small groups. Idea 1: I would give them each a blue sheet of paper and let them use a paint brush or fingers to create a cloud like the ones in the story. This would let the children pick what type of cloud they wanted to paint. Idea 2: Let the student make a design on one side of the blue paper. I would then fold it (to make a symmetrical design) and students would have to look at it and use their imagination to tell me what their cloud looks like. I think Idea 2 would be more fun but you could do either or.

Writing: The art project from above would tie right into writing. After children have discovered/or chosen what their cloud looks like they would have to write a sentence about their cloud. For example: My cloud looks like a flower. (This sentence uses many of their sight words) I would display their art work with their sentence underneath on a bulletin board in my classroom.

Science: On a cloudy day students could take their science journals outside. They could study the clouds and see if they could interpret what some of the clouds looked like. They would need to draw a picture of what the cloud looks like and label underneath.

Reading: We could do a K-W-L chart about what they already know about clouds. Since this book does not give much actual information about clouds, we could use the internet to complete research if need be. I would read this book through once and then we would go back and find all of our sight words and circle them with a sticky strip. Also, we would take any new words and add them to our word wall.

Potential problems or difficulties: I do not see any potential problems.

GRACIAS The Thanksgiving Turkey By: Joy Cowley

2009-06-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic en Espanol (October 1, 1998), 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None received.

Summary: GRACIAS The Thanksgiving Turkey is about a boy Miguel, who has two main worries. 1.) If his papa, a truck driver, was going to make it home for Thanksgiving and 2.) If his new amiga (the turkey-a gift given from his papa) was going to get eaten for the Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey ends up staying with the boy in a New York City apartment, being walked on a chain, ends up going to church and gets blessed by the preacher. Once the turkey gets blessed, the family decides to eat chicken instead of turkey for their Thanksgiving meal. The turkey happily gets sent to the local zoo after Thanksgiving where Miguel knows his amiga is safe and won’t be eaten.

Personal rating and reason for rating: ***Good. I teach many of our ESL children in kindergarten since my assistant can speak fluent Spanish. I try and incorporate Spanish into my classroom as much as I can. I was excited when I came across this book in our library because I could use this book when teaching about turkey’s in my Thanksgiving unit. I really like how it incorporates Spanish throughout the book and having a glossary in the back which tells what each word means is nice. (Abuela-grandmother and Abuelo-grandfather etc.)

Reading level: 2.8 (2nd grade, 8th month)

Interest level: Pre-k through 3rd

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study:

Reading: Before reading this story, I would introduce the word of the day by playing a game with the students. I would have a picture of a turkey on a large index card with the word turkey next to it. I would give students a clue and then reveal one letter in the word turkey. I would continue until students have guessed the word of the day. (Turkey) I would have the students look at the cover and guess what they think the story would be about. I would ask the question, the boy on the cover is putting his arm around the turkey sitting next to him. Could this really happen? I would read the story and then when completed ask HOTS questions. We would complete a graphic organizer as a class about what happen in the beginning, middle and end. This would also be a good story to talk about problem/solution.

**Before reading the story, I could list all the Spanish words in the book on the board and have my ESL children help me write what they mean. This will help make a connection for my students who do not understand/know Spanish.

Writing: The little boy was excited about hearing the news that his father had sent him a present in the mail. Miguel goes through a list of things that his father could have sent. The writing prompt I would give my students would be. What was the best gift you ever received from your dad? (Make sure you know your students so if a child does not have a dad, you can prepare accordingly so that child does not get upset.)

Craft: Have students make a turkey out of a large white paper plate. Students could make their own feathers and glue on the back of the plate. I would have all the pieces to the turkey traced so all the children would have to do is cut and glue. We will complete this activity step-by-step.

Potential problems or difficulties: I do not see any difficulties at this time.

The Frog Prince retold by Edith Tarcov

2009-06-04T11:01:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publisher Information: Scholastic Cartwheel Books, 1974 (33 pages)

Summary: A beautiful princess has a golden ball, her favorite plaything and accidentally tosses into a well. She can not reach it and sees a frog in the well who offers to get the golden ball for her. She is ever so thankful but the frog asked for something in return. The princess offers her silken dress, her pearl necklace, her crown, but the fog has no use for such things. In return for the ball, he wants to eat with her at her table, sleep with her on her silk pillow, and her promise to be his companion forever. She says she will agree to do this, he retrieved the golden ball for her and she ran away fom the frog, breaking her promise. While dining that evening, there is a Knock at the door and it is the frog reminding her of her promises. The princess's father reminded her to keep her promise and she does, much to her dismay. They dine together, spend time together, and when it comes time to sleep on her silk pillow, she throws him against the wall because she can not tolerate this frog any longer. The frog immediately turned into a prince and told her when she placed him on her silken pillow, she broke the spell of a wicked witch. The next day they were married.

Book Level: 2.7

Book Interest: 4-8

Personal rating and reason for rating: (*** Good) Very Predictable but that is probably because I've read so many fair tales. Young children would enjoy a read aloud of this book, there are lots of rat a tat tats, a and slurps and splishes to read . Older students who are able to read independently will enjoy this book and those still struggling will see alot of basic sight words with which to practice.

Integration of text into study units:

Science: The students will do a unit on the life cycle of a frog, their natural habitat and diet. A student will bring in a container with aquatic frogs for the duration of the unit for direct observation of the students.

Writing: If I were a prince or princess and I was trapped in an animal's body, I would be a/an... a writing prompt for the students using words from the word wall created from words from the text. Another view would be, After the prince and princess got married, they...

Language Arts: Pulling words from the text that will be used on the word wall. A word chain could be made from egg, tadpole, ....

Reading: This book would be a good segue for fairy tales and the lessons learned by the characters is the story.

Social Studies: Are there real Prince and Princess's in the world? What is their life like, where do they live, and what is their job. discussion of Royal families with pictures would be a fun unit.
Also, keeping promises, how do we feel when we break a promise or someone breaks a promise to us, discussion with class.

Geography: The students will find countries with castles and royal homes. The teacher will provide pictures of these homes, including the Biltmore's House in our own state.

Art: Have the boys illustrate a picture of how they perceived the look of a frog prince and the girls would draw what a princess would look like, and some could do a picture of how the witch might have looked.

Possible problems or difficulties: Scaring the students talking about witches. Other than that , I see no problems.

Stellaluna by Janell Cannon

2009-06-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 46 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: Stellaluna is about a baby bat, named Stellaluna. Stellaluna’s mother was attacked by an owl, and the baby bat is knocked out of her arms and fell into a birds nest. The mother bird began to take care of the bird like he is her own, even though they both know he is very different.

Personal rating and reason for rating: **** Good. A very good story, great read aloud. Children generally enjoy seeing how peaceful bats can really be.

Reading level: 3.5

Interest level: k-3

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): Would be great to use this book around Halloween, to go along with a nocturnal animal unit. Also great bat or bird science lesson, and have children make a Venn diagram and compare bats from birds.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I don’t see any problems or difficulties.

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

2009-06-03T13:45:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic, Inc. 184 pages

Awards or honors received: Newbery Medal

Summary: Maniac Magee (which is a nickname) runs away from home and becomes a legend in the town of Two Mills. He runs the streets all day and finds various places to sleep at night. He has many talents that the citizens of the town quickly notice. Because of these talents, the kids in the town try to find out who he is. Throughout the story, Maniac temporarily lives with several different people, but there always seems to be a problem. The West-End of town doesn't like him because he's white, and the East-End of town doesn't like him because he has lived in the West-End. Because of his status as a legend, though, Maniac is able to change the racial opinions and feelings of the residents of Two Mills.

Personal rating and reason for rating: **** Great! I think Jerry Spinelli did and excellent job creating a character that was able to chance social prejudices and do it on a kids level. Students will be able to understand that the town in the story is divided and that Maniac's character helps to change that. Students can be inspired to change things in their towns or schools that they know aren't right, even when some people are against what they stand for. The book is entertaining while still teaching about a serious topic.

Reading level: 5.4

Interest level: 4-7 grades

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum):

Math: Throughout the story Maniac is running. There are several specific times and distances that he runs. Math problems could be created to figure out how far Maniac runs on average each day, how long it would take him to cross North Carolina, and even the country.

Social Studies: Because the topic of segregation is prevalent in the story, students can research racial segregation and integration in the US, in North Carolina, and in our city.

Art: Create a collage that represents all the things that make Maniac a "legend" in Two Mills.

Writing: Maniac learned about life in the past by talking with Grayson (an older man who worked at the zoo). Students can interview a senior citizen about life in the past and write one of their stories to share with the class.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: Maniac Magee contains lots of racial issues. Students may become offended at some of the remarks made by some characters. Make sure to explain that at that time, some towns were segregated, and that blacks and whites didn't always like each other simply because of skin color.

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

2009-06-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Information: Harper Collins, 1964 (49 pages)

Summary: A young boy finds wonderful companionship in a tree. He swings in it's branches, eats it's apples, gathers the leaves for his crown, climbs the trunk, and most of all, loves the tree. And, the tree is glad to share all of it's gifts with him because it loves the boy. The tree is always there for the boy giving all it can offer to make him happy. As the boy grows up, he doesn't have time to play in the tree or spend time in it's shade. He just comes to the tree to tell it how unhappy he is because he doesn't have something he thinks he needs. The tree gives and gives to the boy until it has nothing left but a stump. The boy returns in his old age and realizes that everything he thought he needed didn't make him happy and all his selfish ways just made him a tired old man. He was too busy trying to live his life, he didn't take the time to appreciate the simple things. The tree was just a stump, but even with nothing left to give, the tree offers itself as a place for the old man to sit and rest. He sits with the tree and he is happy and the tree is happy, too.

Reading Level: 2.6
Reading Interest: 4-94

Personal rating and reason: (*******Great, Great, Great) This book is one of the simplest classics, I believe, ever written. The story is an old one, where a loved one gives all they can give to the one they love and eventually they are forgotten, at least until the loved one needs more. The Giver out of unconditional love will give until there is nothing left for the other's happiness, until one day, the loved one returns to find all they ever needed or the one they could always depend on was under their nose or in their backyard all that time. It's a simple but beautiful rendition of unconditional love.

Possible uses of text in integrated units of study:

Reading: Young students will not get the deepest meanings of this book so besides discussing all the things the tree gave the boy, a discussion about people who take care of us, love us, and give to us, would hopefully be thought provoking for students, especially those who don't appreciate what others do for them. A word wall using all the gifts given to the boy would be good for future reading. Also, the teacher would read aloud the poem, I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree... and discuss it's meaning to the students

Math: If the tree gave the boy 10 apples and he sold them for 25 cents a piece how much money did he make? If he needed 5$ for a pair of shoes, how many more apples would he need to sell? There are endless math problems using the apples for many levels of students.

Language Arts: For first and second grade students, interactive writing could be used to write simple sentences about the book. The words are not very hard for students with a working knowledge of initial sounds and blends, C-V-C combinations, context and picture clues, and basic sight words.

Writing: Have the student write about the man's life after he took the gifts from the tree. What did he buy with the apples, what did his house look like, what was his family like, what kind of boat did he build? It would be interesting to ask the students to think from the boy's side of this story. Also, the students could write about a favorite gift they received and from whom did they receive it. What was a favorite gift they gave and how did they feel? Writing prompts for these stories would help the students get started on their stories.

Social Studies: Give a gift day. A day could be designated to make a craft to give to someone special in the student's life besides someone in their family. It could be the school crossing guard, a cafeteria worker, the mailman, any one who gives of themselves for the student, would be a good gift receiver. The student's would discuss how they felt when they gave the gift and how the receiver reacted.

Science: The students would begin a unit about the study of trees, their life cycle, how do they grow in the deep forest with little light, photosynthesis, counting the number of rings in the trunk for age, how we can protect the trees in the rain forests, and all the many facets of the living tree.

Art: Using construction paper, the students will make thank you notes, illustrated with bark, apple slices, and leaves brushed with paint and imprinted on the cards. In honor of the Giving Tree, they will make a collection of these cards to use to say thank you to those who give to them.

Possible problems or difficulties related to this book: None that I can see except it may make us all want to be tree or people huggers and that may not be a bad thing after all.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin

2009-06-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction
Publishing Info: Little Simon; 40 pages
Awards received: none

Summary: Letters of the alphabet are on a coconut tree. The letters tell each other to meet them at the top of the tree. As all the letters are making their way up the tree starts to sway. Once the letter z goes to the top the tree all the letters fall down. All the alphabet family members come running to help the letters that had fallen. The book describes how the letters look after they had fallen out of the tree. Night time arrives and the letter a asks the letter b to meet at the top of the tree again!

Personal rating: ****Great! This story has lot of rhythm! It has several 'catchy lines in the text. Young students such as K will love this story and it helps to recognize the alphabet in a really fun way!

Reading level: 2.0
Interest level: K

Possible uses of the text:
Art: Students cover their arm in brown paint and lay it on paper for the truck of the the tree. Put green paint on their fingers for the tree leaves. Have them write their name going up the tree. It will look like the coconut tree in the story!

Math: Have students sort the upper/lower case letters of the alphabet.

Potential problems: none'

My Five Senses by Aliki

2009-06-03T12:23:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Nonfiction
Publishing Info: HarperFestival; 32 pages
Awards received: none

Summary: The book describes each of the five senses. For each of the senses it describes how you use it. For example you use your sense of taste to eat an ice cream cone. At the end of the book it discusses how you might use more than one sense at the same time.

Personal rating: ****Great! The is a wonderful story line with excellent pictures for the K-2 level. With the use of the pictures it really helps younger readers understand the five senses!

Reading level: 2.0
Interest level: K-2

Possible uses of the text:
Science/Art: Make a booklet for each student. The cover should be: My Five Senses. On page one -Christmas smells like Christmas trees. Put a Christmas tree on the page for the students to decorate and put a piece of real tree or spray the page with the scent. On the next page put-Christmas tastes like candy canes and attach a candy cane. Do each of the senses to finish the book. When the students can read it independently they can take it home to share with their family. This could also be used during anytime of the year such as springtime!

Potential Problems: allow several day to complete the science/art project

The Luckiest Leprechaun by Justine Korman

2009-06-03T12:08:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: This is a St. Patrick’s day book, about a leprechaun who makes shoes and has hidden gold. A dog named lucky comes around, and the leprechaun doesn’t like it at first, but learns to sort of like the dog. The leprechaun’s gold goes missing and he blames the dog, who really was the one who took it to protect it.

Personal rating and reason for rating: *** Good. A really good tale, that teaches a good value of friendship. Good read aloud in first grade!

Reading level: 3.8

Interest level: k-3Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): Using the book around St. Patrick’s day is a great idea. Can be used to teach trust and friendship.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I don’t see any problems or difficulties.

The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

2009-06-03T12:03:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction
Publishing Info: Simon & Schuster 32 pages
Awards received: none

Summary: The story begins with a group of seeds blowing in the fall wind. There is one tiny seed among the group of seeds. The seeds are blown in several different climates. Some of the seeds are killed before they are able to take root. For example one was killed because it froze to death. At the end of the story the tiny seeds survives out of all the other seeds in the group. It becomes a huge flower that people come to visit. In the fall it loses its seeds and they blow in the wind.

Personal rating: ***Good. This is a good story for students to learn about the process a seed goes through in order to produce a flower.

Reading level: 2.4
Interest level: k-2

Possible uses of the text:
Science: Make parts of a plant using a straw for the stem, cupcake paper for the flower, oatmeal for the seeds, brown pipe cleaners for the roots. Have students label each part!

Potential problems: none

Math: Measuring units using inches have different size flowers and the students can measure them with a ruler.

The Letters are Lost by Lisa Campbell Ernst

2009-06-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: This book is an alphabet book. The introduction tells the story of the letters disappearing, and invites the reader to help find them. The book goes through the alphabet, and shows where we found each letter. A was in an airplane, F was swimming with the fish and L landed in leaves. It continues through the whole alphabet, until at last all the letters are together. It asks the reader to guess where the letters might go if they dissapear again.

Personal rating and reason for rating: *** Good. This book is a fun alphabet book, it is an awesome read aloud, and good for higher readers who can use picture clues to help find each word.

Reading level: 1.7

Interest level: Pre K-1

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): I will use this book next year at the very beginning of first grade while we are reviewing the letters. It is a fun book to allow children to explore, and find things on each page that begin with that letter.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I don’t see any problems or difficulties.

Grow Flower Grow, by Lisa Bruce

2009-06-03T09:01:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 20 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: Fran tried to get a seed in a pot to grow. She tries talking to it, and telling it to grow, she tries feeding it some of her favorite foods, pizza and cheeseburger, and chocolate chip cookies and strawberry ice cream. Then she tried to feed it a doggy bone. When none of these things work, she got frustrated with her flower, and through it out her back door. It began to rain outside, and then the sun shone. Fran was surprised when she went outside to play and the flower had grown.

Personal rating and reason for rating: *** Good. This book is a good book for read aloud time. It is also easy enough for students to read on their own. It is predictable, and the children think it is funny.

Reading level: 1.7

Interest level: K-2Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): This would be a good book to read before a science lesson, on what plans need.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I don’t see any problems or difficulties.

The Leaving Morning by Angela Johnson

2009-06-03T08:51:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Realistic Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: A family is moving away. The book describes in detail the feelings and emotions the children had while saying goodbye to everyone they know, and pack up the moving truck.

Personal rating and reason for rating: *** Good. This book is an awesome read aloud.

Reading level: 2.9

Interest level: K-3 (lower grades)

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): This would be a good book to read before a writing lesson on adding detail, feeling or emotions.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I don’t see any problems or difficulties.

Goose and Duck by Jean Craighead George

2009-06-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publisher Information: Harper Collins, 2008 (48 pages)

Summary: A little boy finds an egg by the lake. It cracks open and a goose pops out. The goose looks up at him and he is now the goose's mother. Everything the little boy did, the goose did. They ate spaghetti together, went to bed together, and jumped up and down together. Then one day they find a duck egg that hatched right in front of the boy and his goose. The baby duck looks up and sees the goose and the goose became it's mother. Now, whatever the boy did the goose did and whatever the goose did the duck did and they became quite a family. One night, Duck woke up and called for Goose, his mother, and Goose called for his mother, but the little bloy was fast asleep. They flew out the window, were picked up by a policeman, taken to the station where they caused quite a mess. The boy took them home and all was well until the leaves fell from the trees and Goose saw geese flying south for the winter. Off he went to follow his friends. Suddenly, he knew he was a goose and it was time to go. Duck saw ducks migrating south for the winter and he knew he must leave, too. The boy understood that we all must realize who we are, do what we must do to be ourselves, and he was a boy who had been a mother to a goose and a duck.

Reading Level: 2.3
Reading Interest: 4-8

Personal rating and reason for rating: (*** Good) I always like a story where the animal must be set free to live as natue intended but it tugs on the heart strings when they have to go. This would be a good book for read aloud for those too young to read and an intresting book for those who are able to read independently.

Possible uses of text in integrated units of study:

Science: The cycle of egg, to hatchling, to bird would be a good study, especially is baby quail eggs were hatched so the students could see the actual cycle in the classroom. In continuation of studing the bird cycle, the migration cycle could be introduced and the movie Migration from Discovery Channel is a good movie to show migration of everything from whales to crabs. Also, studying the four seasons would be a great segue for life cycles of birds or animals.

Math: The students could observe and count the number of days until the quail eggs hatch, record temperatures of the incubator, and notate how often the eggs are turned each day. This would be a practice of recording data for statistics and proability. Also, for more simple math, the students could use plastic colored eggs to create math problems such as; if Jenny has 9 purple eggs, Mary has 3 green eggs and Jack has 7 blue eggs what would be the total of all the green and blue eggs, the purple and green eggs and so forth. Subtraction, multiplication, and even selling the eggs to introduce money would a good combination with this book.

Language Arts: Words such as migration, policeman, duckling, neighboor and other words in the
book would be good for interactive writing or a word wall.

Social Studies: Teaching the students about policemen, when to call 911, learning their addresses and phone numbers would be good segments to integrate with this book. Having a policeman speak to the class would be interesting for the students, too.

Art: Have the students cut duck shapes from a stenciled picture and glue feathers to the cut out.

Reading: Students would read books concerning birds, migration, seasons, or policemen. I would want them to pick their own topic and write a summary.

Writing: Students would create a story about how they would be a mother to their favorite animal. What kind of food would the animal eat, where would it sleep, and how would you take care of it? This could motivate students for good creative writing.

Possible problems or difficulties: None that I able to see.

Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney

2009-06-02T18:32:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Non-fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 32 pages

Awards or honors received: None

Summary: A young girl describes her place on this world. She starts in her room, showing a picture of her room and then a map she drew of her room. Then she describes her house, showing a picture and a map. She continues in the same pattern with her street, town, state, country, and then finally Earth. Once we are looking at the earth, she zooms back in, finding her place on each map until we are looking at her room, her very own special place on the map.

Personal rating and reason for rating: **** Great! This book is an awesome way to introduce maps, and to explain how each map is related to one another.

Reading level: 1.8

Interest level: K-2

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): In social studies, this book would be great to use as an introduction to maps. Have students draw pictures and maps of their room, house or street, and find their very own place on each map.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: This book might not be developmentally appropriate for younger or immature kindergarteners, and even some early first graders. It is a bit abstract and some of the children cannot think or understand the map concept.

2009-06-02T18:03:00.000-07:00

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit

Book Genre: Fiction/Fantasy
Publishing Info: Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1975, 144 pages

Awards or honors received: NA

Summary: A young girl Winnie meets a family who has obtained immortality by consuming the water of a hidden spring in the woods. The family having not aged in over 200 years reflects on how times have changed. The family patriarch in particular has come to see this immortality as as not a blessing but a curse and bemoans that fact that he is unable to die, going so far as to attempt at various times over the years to take his life. The family takes to Winnie, particularly, the oldest son who sees Winnie as a potential mate, and offers to grant her immortality by allowing her to drink from the spring. In the end Winnie must weigh the consequences of her decision.

Personal rating and reason for rating: Good, an interesting perspective on a subject, immortality, that most have considered at some point in their lives.

Reading level: AR level 5.0

Interest level: Fifth or Sixth grade

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): Open-mind portraits could be created for Winnie and the Tuck family father.
Debates could be arranged between those in favor or opposed to immortality.
Students could analyze how Winnie changes through this text and how the encounter with the Tuck family influences those changes.
Science could be tied in through the idea of ecological succession as students consider how the woods change over time.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: The topic of death may be difficult for some students.

A Mother for Choco by Keiko Kasza

2009-06-02T14:49:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info.: The Penguin Group, 32 pages

Awards or Honors Received: N/A

Summary: This story is about a yellow bird named Choco. Choco is very sad because he does not have a mother. He asks several different animals if they will be his mother. They all say no because they do not look like Choco; they do not have wings, they are not yellow, and they do not have chubby cheeks. Choco finally meets Mrs. Bear and she asks him why he is sad. When she finds out the problem, she offers to be his mother. Choco does not think this will work because he looks nothing like Mrs. Bear. Mrs. Bear invites Choco to her house for some apple pie and to meet her other children. When Choco arrives, he is surprised to see that Mrs. Bear has a pig, alligator, and hippo for her children. Choco learns that when it comes to having a mother, looks do not matter, only love matters. Choco ends up being very happy in his new home.

Personal Rating and Reason for Rating: ****Great! This is a very sweet book. Choco shows readers that not everyone has a mother, but some are fortunate enough to find someone who will love them like a mother. The illustrations in this book are very cute and young readers will fall in love with Choco. He will melt your heart and the ending will make readers happy for him.

Reading Level: 2.2

Interest Level: K-2

Possible Uses of the Text in Integrated Units of Study (Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum): This book would be great to use during a unit that focuses on families. This would be the perfect reading material to use when talking about how families are all different; some only have moms, some only have dads, some only have grandparents, and some are families through adoption. This could also cover social studies and how families live and work together. Writing could also be integrated with this book. Children could be encouraged to illustrate and write about their own families.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I do not see any problems with this book.

The M&M's Counting Book By: Barbara Barbieri McGrath

2009-06-02T14:19:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Non-fiction, Counting book

Publishing Info: Charlesbridge Publishing (32 pages)

Awards and honors received: Teachers' Choice Award, 1994

Summary: This book is a simple counting book I would use with beginning kindergarten students. The M&M counting book encourages children to use M&M candy in specific color order to practice counting from one to twelve. Also, it has the children form the various sets of 12. (six groups of two, three groups of four, four sets of three, etc.) The book wraps up by having the chilren make shapes with their M&M’s and then moves on to simple subtraction of their M&M’s. (Which is the fun part for the children!)

Personal rating and reason for rating: ****Great! I really liked this book for the simple fact that it incorporates food (M&M’s) into teaching basic math skills. In my past experience any time you incorporate any type of food (manipulatives) the children get really excited and the majority of time remember that skill. Not only did this book teach about numbers, but it also had the children recognizing color words. For example, add a red M&M or add an orange M&M. The children are required to know what those colors are before they can participate in the activity. In addition, the author also made a connection between the number 9 and the word nine. (9/nine) I would recommend this book to any kindergarten teacher.

Reading level: 1.9 (first grade, 9th month)

Interest level: K-2

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study:

Reading/Math: I probably would not read this book during my set reading time. I would incorporate this book into my math lesson. I would use this book the first few weeks of school when assessing students to see how well they know their numbers, colors and one-to-one correspondence. I would have crayons of all the different colors laminated on construction paper. As I read the story students will point to the correct crayon color or number. This will help the students who are lacking with these skills. (I would put the crayons and numbers in a blue chart for all students to see during the reading.) After reading the story and reviewing colors and numbers I would show the students bags of M&M’s and have them make a prediction about what they think we are going to do with the M&M’s. (This will get all the students excited and ready to participate.)

Math: I would give each student a yellow math work mat and a bag of M&M’s. I would then read the story again but this time they would complete the directions on each page of the story. I would conduct this lesson my interactice Mimio so I could model for the students. Be sure to monitor to make sure children understand and are kept on track. (Some students won’t know their colors at this time in the year.)

Potential problems or difficulties: There would be a lot of prep time with this lesson because the book tells the students specific colors to put down so each child’s bag would have to have the same colors and amount of M&M’s. You would also need to make sure students aren’t eating the M&M’s throughout the lesson. Set the rules early on in the lesson so that does not happen. With a little time preparation, this will be a fun and exciting math lesson for the students.

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

2009-06-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Poetry

Publishing Info: Scholastic Press (227 pages)

Awards: This book won a Newberry Medal

Summary: This book consists of free verse poetry that explains the life of Billie Jo, the main character. She is fourteen years old and the story spans a year and a half of her life. The setting is the Oklahoma prairie during the 1930's. The prairie is a dust bowl (hence the name "Out if the Dust" and is portrayed as a miserable place to live.) Her father is a farmer, and they are trying to survive off the land. The poetry is written and sequenced almost like a personal diary. Through family and personal tragedy, she looses her mother and newborn brother because of an accident that her and her father are responsible for. The accident left Billie Jo physically handicapped and her father emotionally handicapped. Afterwards, the two of them had to somehow mend their relationship and figure out how to get on with life.

Personal Rating: ***Good. It's a good story and the author really makes you feel the emotions of Billie Joe but it's so depressing that it's hard to read. In 227 pages, not a single good thing happens to this child!

Reading Level: 5.3
Interest Level: 5-6

Possible uses in reading and writing across the curriculum: Of course, this would be a good book to include in a literature focus unit on poetry because it's a good example of free verse poetry. It would be easy to integrate this literature into fifth grade science because many of those learning objective could correspond with underlying themes of this novel. For example, climate on the prairie was very harsh, they would go through severe droughts and plants and livestock would die. Then rain would pour and the environment would flood. Fifth grade science teachers have to teach about the water cycle, landforms, eco-systems, and ecology. Even fifth grade social studies learning objectives focus on US history the Great Depression and many of the problems faced by this community were related to that era.

Potential Problems or difficulties: I believe that girls would enjoy this book much more so than boys. The reasons are because that it is written from a woman's perspective and it contains a lot of emotional writings that many boys just don't understand.

Officer Buckle and Gloria byPeggy Rathmann

2009-06-02T06:47:00.000-07:00

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile; Unknown edition

Awards/Honors: Caldecott Medal Book

Summary: Oficer Buckle goes around the community giving safety speeches. He takes along his partner and friend, Gloria the K-9 dog. At first officer Buckle thinks his speeches are so successful because of him, but soon realizes it is Gloria who is stealing the show. It isn't until an accident happens that Officer Buckle realizes that he is successfully because of his teamwork with Gloria. That seperate they are not successfully but as a team they are able to make a difference.

Personal Rating: ****Good. This book had great pictures and was entertaining. The kids love it!

Curriculum: A great way to introduce this lesson is by asking the children to brainstorm safety rules for school, home, and the community. The students generate a class list of safety tips. You can also have the children brainstorm ideas on the importance of teamwork, times they have been part of a team, and how team work is important.
Character conflict is another skill that can be taught with this lesson. Two characters are in conflict with each other even though they are friends. How do they resolve the conflict and was it handle in the best way.This is a great story to do Reader's Theater with!
Art: Children design their own safety rule poster.
Social Studies: Discuss community helpers (poilice offers especially). Their role in the community. As part of this acitvity I had a police officer and his K-9 dog come to visit.
Social skills: Students act out ways to solve problems such as 2 friend are playing a game. Both want to go first. How would be the best way to solve the problem?
Writing: Write letters to our poilce officers thanking them for the work they do.

Reading level: 3.0
Interest level: K - 3rd
Problems/Difficulties: None

2009-06-01T21:23:00.000-07:00

The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

Book Genre: Historical Fiction

Publishing Info: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc 1995. 210 pages
Awards or honors received: Coretta Scott King Award, Newberry Honor

Summary: 10 year old Kenny is the middle child of three in a family nicknamed "The Wierd Watsons." Due to his poor vision and his high intellect, Kenny is a social outcast. His older brother Byron on the other hand, having just turned 13 is "officially a teenage juvenile delinquent" and is a god at their school. Kenny has a hard time understanding Byron's actions, actions which often lead to Byron's upsetting his parents. Eventually their parents decide to take Byron to Birmingham to spend the summer with his grandmother and remove him from the negative influences at home in Flint, MI.

In Birmingham, the Watson children experience culture shock particularly when they learn about outhouses. Fiction meets fact on September 15, 1963, when Kenny's younger sister Joetta attends the 16th Street Baptist Church, the church is the target of a Ku Klux Klan bomb which kills four young girls. Kenny believes that in the wreckage of the church he sees the physical embodiment of death, a character he knows as the "Wool Pooh." Kenny had previously met the Wool Pooh during a near-death experience in a whirlpool a few days before (he survives only because Byron arrives in time to defeat the Wool Pooh). Now Kenny feels that he is haunted by this spirit.

Back home in Flint, Kenny becomes reclusive, hiding behind a living room couch in the hopes of encountering some form of magic healing powers. Ultimately a heart to heart talk from Byron convinces Kenny that life must go on and Kenny learns that despite Byron's gruff exterior, he takes his role as big brother seriously and does everything he can to protect both of his younger siblings.

Personal rating and reason for rating: Great. Amusing story with realistic characters and situations. Gives insight into life in working class African American family in the 1960s.

Reading level: AR Level 5

Interest level: Fifth to Seventh Grade

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum): Typically I use this text as part of a unit on the Civil Rights movement. I combine this text with historical information of the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing.

This text could be used to discuss themes such as identity and the need to belong as well as friendship, family and coming of age. It could also be used to discuss how characters evolve. Open-mind portraits could be created at various points for both Kenny and Byron. Students could also compare life in the 1960s to the present day.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: In order to depict Byron as a juvenile delinquient there are several dialogues that involve foul language.

Oliver and Amanda: Amanda Pig, First Grader by Jean Van Leeuwen

2009-06-01T17:02:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Comedy and Humor

Publishing Info.: Scholastic Inc., 40 pages

Awards or Honors Received: N/A

Summary: This story is about an adorable little pig named Amanda. Amanda is starting the first grade and she is so excited about it. She is excited about getting first grade homework, running first grade errands, and helping out friends on the playground. She is optimistic until she realizes that she cannot read. She thought for sure that once she started first grade she would be able to read. After some time, Amanda begins noticing words around her, and she realizes that she is learning new words a little bit at a time. The story ends with her being so excited about reading that she wants to give up her recess time to stay inside and read books. Amanda Pig ends up loving first grade.

Personal Rating and Reason for Rating: ***Good. Amanda Pig is an adorable character who young children can relate to. She has some of the same excitement and fears that many new first graders have. I really liked how the book pointed out some ways that first grade was different than Amanda Pig had expected. This was my first time reading this book, but I plan to use it in the next week before my Kindergartners leave for the first grade. I think this book will be very beneficial in relieving some of the anxiety that my students are feeling.

Reading Level: 1.7

Interest Level: K-2

Possible Uses of the Text in Integrated Units of Study (Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum): This book would be a great way to introduce a writing lesson on what Kindergartners expect the first grade to be like. This writing lesson would give children a chance to voice any concerns that they may have and discuss their concerns aloud. This alone could alleviate some of the anxiety that children may feel about leaving their teachers and friends. This could also be extended to an art lesson where children paint or draw a picture of what they think they will like or dislike about the first grade.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: I do not see any problems with this book.

The Polar Express By: Chris Van Allsburg

2009-06-01T16:42:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Houghton Mifflin and 32 pages

Awards or honors received: Caldecott Medal

Summary: This book takes you on an amazing journey with words and illustrations. The story is about a little boy who is told that Santa does not exist. On Christmas Eve he is awaken by a loud train and he gets on. He and other children journey to the North Pole. After his journey to the North Pole and receiving the first present from Santa he gets back on the train and goes home. The little boy learns that you have to believe in Christmas and that you have to hear the spirit because the spirit of Santa is in your heart.

Personal rating and reason for rating: **** Great! – I just love this book. The students really enjoy this Christmas book. I feel that is a great book because it shows how you just believe in something and that something becomes real to you.

Reading level: 3.8

Interest level: K-3 (this book is great for primary grades)

Possible uses of the text in integrated units of study (reading and writing across the curriculum):
This book could be used during Christmas time. This would be a wonderful book to have the students write about their Christmas traditions. After doing this activity students could discuss different religious beliefs in the classroom.

As a fun activity students could watch the movie. After the movie students could compare the book to the movies using a Venn Diagram.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: If you have students with different religious beliefs.

Frederick by Leo Lionni

2009-06-01T14:56:00.000-07:00

Genre: Animal Stories, Classics
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Awards/Honors : Caldecott Honor
Pages - 28

Summary:

While the other field mice were busy working day and night gathering food for the upcoming winter. Frederick sat in the sun, staring at the meadow gathering words. When winter came and the food supplies started running low, the other mice remembered that Frederick was gathering words ,and encouraged him to share with them. Frederick shared his words and the other mice realized that Frederick is a poet.

Personal rating and explanation:
Great Book: This book is very entertaining. It is easy for the children to understand the concept of others working hard and others setting around and doing nothing.

Reading level: 3.8
Interest level: K-2

Integrated unit:
Reading: This book can be used in guided reading to teach the students how to read phrase or chunk together parts of sentences in order to read with expression.

Potential problem or difficulties:
This book will be too hard for a low level reader

The Colors of Us by Karen Katz

2009-06-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

Book Genre: Fiction

Publishing Info: Scholastic, 24 pages

Awards or honors received: N/A

Summary: This story is about a little girl named Lena. She is seven years old and has skin the color of cinnamon. Her mom is an artist and has skin the color of French Toast. Mom tells Lena that is she mixes red, yellow, black and white, she will get just the right color brown to match her skin. Sonia, Lena’s friend, is the color of creamy peanut butter. This story goes on and describes the different people in the neighborhood. One girl is the color of a chocolate cupcake, another is the color of peaches. Lena thinks of all the beautiful colors of skin she sees each day. Then she gets out her paints and makes all the different people and names their skin the color of food; cinnamon, chocolate, honey, butterscotch, etc.

Personal rating and reason for rating: **** Excellent book for diverse classes, illustrations are kid friendly

Reading level: 3.9

Interest level: K-2

Possible uses of the text: Social Studies/Art: At the beginning of the year - read the story then use multicultural paper and have students choose the color that is closest to their own skin color. Students trace and cut out a “child”. “Dress” the child with pieces of fabric or cloth. Use different colors of string for children to cut up into hair pieces. Read the poem, “A Circle of Friends”. -
We’ve joined together as classmates
As the new year begins…
A year full of learning while,
We become friends.
We’ll share and be kind
As we work and play.
And our friendship will grow
With each passing day!
Write the poem on a circle and put the “children” around the circle. Then students name their own skin color and try to make the color of their skin with paint.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: Some students could get upset that are not “white”, but most students will love this.