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
Showing posts with label Teresa O'Shields. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teresa O'Shields. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Rocking and Rolling by Philip Steele
Genre: Expository Non-fiction
Publisher: Candlewick (August 5, 1998)
Pages: 24
Awards/honors: NA
Summary: This book takes a look at the earth and some of its geological features. It mentions volcanoes and earthquakes. it gives the students facts and information about the earth. Through the use of subheading and side notes give some important facts.
Personal rating: *** Good.
Reading Level:3.7
Interest Level:3rd to 6th grade
Curriculum activities: Students complete a K-W-L chart to access prior knowledge and find out what we want to know about the earth's features. The student's enjoyed completing reseach papers on earth and answering their "what I want to know."
Science: Earth's geological feautres and discussion on matter. The students identify the types of matter found in and on the earth's surface. Using a diagram that shows the earth's layer, students identify the layers of the earth and measure to compare the layers.
Students viewed videos of earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanos. Then completed a triple venn diagram comparing and contrasting the three.
Problems/Difficulities: Hard for lower level students to comprehend due to the nature of the text. The text doesn't explain or give the full details of subjects. For example: It tells about volcanos but doesn't mention that some are are not active.
Publisher: Candlewick (August 5, 1998)
Pages: 24
Awards/honors: NA
Summary: This book takes a look at the earth and some of its geological features. It mentions volcanoes and earthquakes. it gives the students facts and information about the earth. Through the use of subheading and side notes give some important facts.
Personal rating: *** Good.
Reading Level:3.7
Interest Level:3rd to 6th grade
Curriculum activities: Students complete a K-W-L chart to access prior knowledge and find out what we want to know about the earth's features. The student's enjoyed completing reseach papers on earth and answering their "what I want to know."
Science: Earth's geological feautres and discussion on matter. The students identify the types of matter found in and on the earth's surface. Using a diagram that shows the earth's layer, students identify the layers of the earth and measure to compare the layers.
Students viewed videos of earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanos. Then completed a triple venn diagram comparing and contrasting the three.
Problems/Difficulities: Hard for lower level students to comprehend due to the nature of the text. The text doesn't explain or give the full details of subjects. For example: It tells about volcanos but doesn't mention that some are are not active.
Alejandro's Gift by Richard E. Albert
Title: Alejandro's Gift
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Publisher: Chronicle Books (March 1, 1996)
Pages: 40
Awards: N/A
Summary: Alejandro is an older man living out in the desert. He is very ;onely and his days pass slowly. One day Alejandro decides to plant a garden and too his surprise it brings with it and unexpected "gift". Alejandro realizes that his "gift of the gardern and watering hole has become home to a varitey of desert animals who soon become his friends.
Persaonal Rating: ***Good. Lessons to be learned doing something nice for others. I like that you can tie in a variety of subjects with this book.
Reading Level: 3.5
Interest Level: 2nd thru 4th grade
Reading/writing: The students did a character anaylsis of Alejandro comparing him at the beginning and the end of the story. This is a great story to use to discuss narrative story elements such as setting, character, problem, solution, etc. Also I used a cause and effect lesson with this story.
Science: The students looked a various other deserts and did a compare/contrast activity. Not lonly we did compare and contrast the deserts we researched but the one in from our story as well.
Writing: We wrote letters to Alejandro.
Problems/Difficulties: None
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Publisher: Chronicle Books (March 1, 1996)
Pages: 40
Awards: N/A
Summary: Alejandro is an older man living out in the desert. He is very ;onely and his days pass slowly. One day Alejandro decides to plant a garden and too his surprise it brings with it and unexpected "gift". Alejandro realizes that his "gift of the gardern and watering hole has become home to a varitey of desert animals who soon become his friends.
Persaonal Rating: ***Good. Lessons to be learned doing something nice for others. I like that you can tie in a variety of subjects with this book.
Reading Level: 3.5
Interest Level: 2nd thru 4th grade
Reading/writing: The students did a character anaylsis of Alejandro comparing him at the beginning and the end of the story. This is a great story to use to discuss narrative story elements such as setting, character, problem, solution, etc. Also I used a cause and effect lesson with this story.
Science: The students looked a various other deserts and did a compare/contrast activity. Not lonly we did compare and contrast the deserts we researched but the one in from our story as well.
Writing: We wrote letters to Alejandro.
Problems/Difficulties: None
Thursday, May 28, 2009
The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling
Title: The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling
Genre: fantasy
Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for young readers a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Croup, Inc.
Pages: 87
Awards: NA
Summary: John Midas loved chocolate more than anything. His parents are very worried about him because he spends all his money on chocolate and that seems to be all he thinks about. One day as John is going down the street, he finds a shiny coin that just happens to have his intials J.M. on it. John sees a new candy store and goes inside. When the store owner offers John chocoate for his special coin he accepts it.
When John eats the piece of chocolate from the box he discovers later that everything he touches becomes chocolate. At first John is thrilled at his new gift, but it isn't long before he realizes that this new gift isn't as great as he thought. When his mom turns into chocolate that John rushes back to the store for help. The store owner helps John to realize that his greed with chocolate is what is causing everything to turn to chocolate.
Personal Rating: *****Great! Very funny and entertaining!
Reading level: 3.o
Interest level: ages 9 - 12
Reading/writing ideas: I started the lesson with a predicting activity. The student predicted the genre, narrative story elements, etc. After completing the lesson we reviewed our predictions and made changes if necessary. I used a vocabular activity and quiz for every two chapters. This allowed me to measure comprehension as we read the story. The student completed various other activities as we explored the book.
Science: We learned about the history of chocolate. I used this website as part of this unit. http://www.mce.k12tn.net/chocolate/history/name.htm
this website has various activites concerning chocolate that will allow you to incorporate math(graphing your favorite choclate bar), making a choclate dessert, compare similar books, mini lesson on describing a Hershey Kiss, etc.
Problem/Difficulities: The book is a little difficult to comprehend for lower level readers
Genre: fantasy
Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for young readers a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Croup, Inc.
Pages: 87
Awards: NA
Summary: John Midas loved chocolate more than anything. His parents are very worried about him because he spends all his money on chocolate and that seems to be all he thinks about. One day as John is going down the street, he finds a shiny coin that just happens to have his intials J.M. on it. John sees a new candy store and goes inside. When the store owner offers John chocoate for his special coin he accepts it.
When John eats the piece of chocolate from the box he discovers later that everything he touches becomes chocolate. At first John is thrilled at his new gift, but it isn't long before he realizes that this new gift isn't as great as he thought. When his mom turns into chocolate that John rushes back to the store for help. The store owner helps John to realize that his greed with chocolate is what is causing everything to turn to chocolate.
Personal Rating: *****Great! Very funny and entertaining!
Reading level: 3.o
Interest level: ages 9 - 12
Reading/writing ideas: I started the lesson with a predicting activity. The student predicted the genre, narrative story elements, etc. After completing the lesson we reviewed our predictions and made changes if necessary. I used a vocabular activity and quiz for every two chapters. This allowed me to measure comprehension as we read the story. The student completed various other activities as we explored the book.
Science: We learned about the history of chocolate. I used this website as part of this unit. http://www.mce.k12tn.net/chocolate/history/name.htm
this website has various activites concerning chocolate that will allow you to incorporate math(graphing your favorite choclate bar), making a choclate dessert, compare similar books, mini lesson on describing a Hershey Kiss, etc.
Problem/Difficulities: The book is a little difficult to comprehend for lower level readers
How to eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
Genre: fiction
Publisher: Yearling, an imprint of Random House Children's Books a division of Random House
Pages: 116
Awards/Honors: NA
Summary: Billy makes a bet with his friends that he can eat 15 worms (one a day for 15 days). If he wins the bet, Billy, will get $50 which he needs to buy a minibike. Billy and Tom, Billy's supporter, are creating clever ways in which Billy can eat the 15 worms. Alan, who has the pay the $50 if Billy eats all 15 worms is coming up with schemes to keep Billy from winning the bet. Will Billy win the bet or will he "worm" out of it?
Personal Rating ****Great! The book was fun to read and the students were very entertained by it.
Reading Level: 3.7
Interest Level: 9-12 year old
Curriculum:Pre-reading: predict what the story might be about using the title and then the picture on cover. Discuss other books by author the students may know.Brainstorming many, various, and unusual things you may have eaten.
During reading: check for understanding by questioning, complete quizzes after every few chapters
Post: comprehension quiz, Make and eat "chocolate covered worms", make mud for chocolate covered worms then eat, complete a book report on story. Examples of book report ideas: diorama of scene from book, interview one of the characters, create an ad to sell book, dress up as a character from story, small group dramatization, etc.
Writing activities: Keep a daily journal using topics such as: Write a recipe for "How to....", a bet you may have made with a friend, five ways you would eat fried worms, how would you motivate a friend to eat fried worms, etc.
Problems/Difficulties: The book was difficult to read in some chapters. The slang words and pronunciation was difficult for some. At times it was difficult to follow and you had to pay attention to what was happening in each chapter.
Publisher: Yearling, an imprint of Random House Children's Books a division of Random House
Pages: 116
Awards/Honors: NA
Summary: Billy makes a bet with his friends that he can eat 15 worms (one a day for 15 days). If he wins the bet, Billy, will get $50 which he needs to buy a minibike. Billy and Tom, Billy's supporter, are creating clever ways in which Billy can eat the 15 worms. Alan, who has the pay the $50 if Billy eats all 15 worms is coming up with schemes to keep Billy from winning the bet. Will Billy win the bet or will he "worm" out of it?
Personal Rating ****Great! The book was fun to read and the students were very entertained by it.
Reading Level: 3.7
Interest Level: 9-12 year old
Curriculum:Pre-reading: predict what the story might be about using the title and then the picture on cover. Discuss other books by author the students may know.Brainstorming many, various, and unusual things you may have eaten.
During reading: check for understanding by questioning, complete quizzes after every few chapters
Post: comprehension quiz, Make and eat "chocolate covered worms", make mud for chocolate covered worms then eat, complete a book report on story. Examples of book report ideas: diorama of scene from book, interview one of the characters, create an ad to sell book, dress up as a character from story, small group dramatization, etc.
Writing activities: Keep a daily journal using topics such as: Write a recipe for "How to....", a bet you may have made with a friend, five ways you would eat fried worms, how would you motivate a friend to eat fried worms, etc.
Problems/Difficulties: The book was difficult to read in some chapters. The slang words and pronunciation was difficult for some. At times it was difficult to follow and you had to pay attention to what was happening in each chapter.
Centerfield Ballhawk by Matt Christopher
Title: Centerfield Ballhawk by Matt Christopher
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Awards/Honors: na
Summary: This story is about a young boy who discovers that his dad is very proud of reguardless of his ability to be a great hitter like his father. jose Mendez is struggling with being great at hitting homeruns like his dad. Through the story Jose learns that it his character andd his ability to catch baseballs in the outfield that makes him special.
Jose realizes when his father comes to one of his baseball games that his father is proud of his accomphlisments.
Personal Rating: *** Good.
Reading Level: 3.4
Interest Level: 2nd- 5th
Reading: The students will access prior knowledge about baseball and ways we try to please our parents. This allows the students to make connections to real life.
The students talk about ways we can be teammates and offer examples ways we have been a teammate. Using the following website students decide how to be a good teammate or what makes a bad teammate. http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/book_buddy/centerfield/building.html
Writing: Students complete a writing/sequencing activity on this website.
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/trophies/rsr/new_news3_a.html
Students complete a daily writing journal on teamwork. The students write an imaginative story "You hit a homerun inn a baseball game and the ball suddenly starts to grow bigger. Write a story about what happens. Be sure to a beginning, middle, and an end.
Students use the computers to research youth baseball.
Social Studies: Students will compare and contrast their role in their family and their community. Students will identify characteristics of what makes a good citizen and think of ways they can impact their community.
Problem/Difficulities: N/A
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Awards/Honors: na
Summary: This story is about a young boy who discovers that his dad is very proud of reguardless of his ability to be a great hitter like his father. jose Mendez is struggling with being great at hitting homeruns like his dad. Through the story Jose learns that it his character andd his ability to catch baseballs in the outfield that makes him special.
Jose realizes when his father comes to one of his baseball games that his father is proud of his accomphlisments.
Personal Rating: *** Good.
Reading Level: 3.4
Interest Level: 2nd- 5th
Reading: The students will access prior knowledge about baseball and ways we try to please our parents. This allows the students to make connections to real life.
The students talk about ways we can be teammates and offer examples ways we have been a teammate. Using the following website students decide how to be a good teammate or what makes a bad teammate. http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/book_buddy/centerfield/building.html
Writing: Students complete a writing/sequencing activity on this website.
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/trophies/rsr/new_news3_a.html
Students complete a daily writing journal on teamwork. The students write an imaginative story "You hit a homerun inn a baseball game and the ball suddenly starts to grow bigger. Write a story about what happens. Be sure to a beginning, middle, and an end.
Students use the computers to research youth baseball.
Social Studies: Students will compare and contrast their role in their family and their community. Students will identify characteristics of what makes a good citizen and think of ways they can impact their community.
Problem/Difficulities: N/A
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Readers Theatre
Summary- Readers theatre provides the students the opportunity to become the characters presented in the story. Students must interpret the characters emotions and feelings and be able to make connections to the character in the story that they are portraying. The students must present the content through their voice and vocal and facial expressions. The students are exposed to a variety of literature that allows them to interpret the text and have a better understanding of the text. It is a valuable resource for english language learners because it allows them to read the text in small chunks and gain more experience reading the text aloud. This will help increase their reading fluency. Students take an active role in choosing their parts, therefore increasing their motivation in the learning process.
Steps
1. Select a script
2. Rehearse the reading
3. Stage the reading
Steps
1. Select a script
2. Rehearse the reading
3. Stage the reading
Stone Fox
Title/Author: Stone Fox, John Reynolds Gardiner
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Publisher: HarperTrophy is a registered trade mark of HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
pages: 83
Awards/Honors: NA
Summary: A young boy struggles to keep his grandfather's farm from being taken due to taxes owed. He decides to enter a dog sled race in which the prize money is enough to save his grandfather's farm and his grandfather's life. The boy encounters many obstacles along his journey and learns a lesson in the greatest sacrifice one can make.
Personal Rating: ****Great!!! I loved this book and so did my students. Near the end of the story we were all crying when the greatest sacrifice is made.
Reading Level: 4.0
Interest Level: third grade to sixth grade
Problem/Difficulties: When the dog dies at the end of the story some of the children became emotional. It was overwhelming, but sad for some. It did give some of them a chance to share personal experiences.
Reading activities: There is a comprehension quiz that is given for every two chapters of the story. Character Analysis of Little Willy and also a character comparison of Little Willy and Stone Fox.
Math Activities: The students complete various exercises that involve taxes. The students also make Twice-Baked Potatoes. They need to measure the ingredients and follow the directions for time and temperature.
The students create a daily schedule of Little Willy's activities and the amount of time he spends on each of his daily activities. The children have to factor elasped time.
Art: Design a T-Shirt that could be given out as part of your entry in a dog sled race.
Writing: Write a different ending to the story, write letter to Little willy encouraging him to do his best, Write a letter for the town newspaper describing the dog sled race.
Social Studies: Locate on the map, Complete a KWL chart of Wyoming, plan route that would take the dog sled racers to various parts of the United States, Find other areas that hold dog sled races and compare and contrast.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Publisher: HarperTrophy is a registered trade mark of HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
pages: 83
Awards/Honors: NA
Summary: A young boy struggles to keep his grandfather's farm from being taken due to taxes owed. He decides to enter a dog sled race in which the prize money is enough to save his grandfather's farm and his grandfather's life. The boy encounters many obstacles along his journey and learns a lesson in the greatest sacrifice one can make.
Personal Rating: ****Great!!! I loved this book and so did my students. Near the end of the story we were all crying when the greatest sacrifice is made.
Reading Level: 4.0
Interest Level: third grade to sixth grade
Problem/Difficulties: When the dog dies at the end of the story some of the children became emotional. It was overwhelming, but sad for some. It did give some of them a chance to share personal experiences.
Reading activities: There is a comprehension quiz that is given for every two chapters of the story. Character Analysis of Little Willy and also a character comparison of Little Willy and Stone Fox.
Math Activities: The students complete various exercises that involve taxes. The students also make Twice-Baked Potatoes. They need to measure the ingredients and follow the directions for time and temperature.
The students create a daily schedule of Little Willy's activities and the amount of time he spends on each of his daily activities. The children have to factor elasped time.
Art: Design a T-Shirt that could be given out as part of your entry in a dog sled race.
Writing: Write a different ending to the story, write letter to Little willy encouraging him to do his best, Write a letter for the town newspaper describing the dog sled race.
Social Studies: Locate on the map, Complete a KWL chart of Wyoming, plan route that would take the dog sled racers to various parts of the United States, Find other areas that hold dog sled races and compare and contrast.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Coco Ice by Diane Applebaum
Genre: Informational Fiction
Publisher: Orchard Books (NY) (September 1997)
Pages: 56
Awards/Honors: N/A
Summary: Two young girls, one from Santo Domingo and the other from Maine, learn about the life and culture of each others world. As the story tells of life in Santo Domingo, the reader learns of the rainforest and the harvesting of cocoa beans. As traders from Maine come to trade their resources with the people of Santo Domingo, the reader is given information about each place and the resources that are important to each region. As the two girls learn, their lives are similar and the both love "cocoa ice".
Personal Rating: **** Great! Great way to learn of two different areas of the world. This is story allows for many enriched learning opportunities for the children.
Reading Level: 3.6
Interest level: 2nd-4th grade
Curriculum: Great unit for integrating across the curriculum.
Reading: Venn Diagrams comparing/contrasting the two girls or the two locations. Triple Venn comparing yourself to the girls or a triple Venn comparing North Carolina, Maine, and Santo Domingo.
Make "Cocoa Ice" (Chocolate milkshake)
Social Studies: locate on map the locations from the story and chart the path the trade ships may have taken. Discuss the people, culture, life, weather, history and other information of each place.
Science: Study the history of chocolate and how it is made from the cacao beans.
http://www.chocolatelovers.com/history.htm
Study the rainforest.
Students can do research papers on different rainforest.
Math: Graph our favorite type of chocolates
There are many ideas and other activities that can be incorporated into this unit. Especially if you look on the Internet.
Problems/Difficulties: The story is long and tedious to read. For slower readers it may be too overwhelming to read independently.
Publisher: Orchard Books (NY) (September 1997)
Pages: 56
Awards/Honors: N/A
Summary: Two young girls, one from Santo Domingo and the other from Maine, learn about the life and culture of each others world. As the story tells of life in Santo Domingo, the reader learns of the rainforest and the harvesting of cocoa beans. As traders from Maine come to trade their resources with the people of Santo Domingo, the reader is given information about each place and the resources that are important to each region. As the two girls learn, their lives are similar and the both love "cocoa ice".
Personal Rating: **** Great! Great way to learn of two different areas of the world. This is story allows for many enriched learning opportunities for the children.
Reading Level: 3.6
Interest level: 2nd-4th grade
Curriculum: Great unit for integrating across the curriculum.
Reading: Venn Diagrams comparing/contrasting the two girls or the two locations. Triple Venn comparing yourself to the girls or a triple Venn comparing North Carolina, Maine, and Santo Domingo.
Make "Cocoa Ice" (Chocolate milkshake)
Social Studies: locate on map the locations from the story and chart the path the trade ships may have taken. Discuss the people, culture, life, weather, history and other information of each place.
Science: Study the history of chocolate and how it is made from the cacao beans.
http://www.chocolatelovers.com/history.htm
Study the rainforest.
Students can do research papers on different rainforest.
Math: Graph our favorite type of chocolates
There are many ideas and other activities that can be incorporated into this unit. Especially if you look on the Internet.
Problems/Difficulties: The story is long and tedious to read. For slower readers it may be too overwhelming to read independently.
Title: Freckle Juice by Judy Blume
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Four Winds Press- a division of Scholastic Magazines
pages: 40
Awards/Honors : N/A
Summary: Andrew Marcus is a boy obcessed with wanting fleckles. He is constantly getting into trouble at school and home and feels that if he has freckles he would not be getting into so much trouble for not paying attention. He purchases a recipe for "Freckly Juice" from Sharon, the meanest girl in class, that is suppose to make Andrew grow freckles. After making the recipe and drinking the juice, Andrew discovers that he has been tricked. Anddrew learns a valuable lesson about himself, school, and his teacher.
Personal Rating: ****Great! I really enjoyed this book! My children at school love reading it.
Interest level: 2nd thru 5th grade
Learning ideas: as part of the unit I have incorpated voabulary, spelling, comprehension, and a series of quizes to be taken over the course of the unit.
The students complete character analysis of the main characters and in small groups compare and contrast each of the characters. We create a new cover page for the book, new recipe for Freckle Juice, and a new ending to the story.
Problem/Difficulities: None
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Four Winds Press- a division of Scholastic Magazines
pages: 40
Awards/Honors : N/A
Summary: Andrew Marcus is a boy obcessed with wanting fleckles. He is constantly getting into trouble at school and home and feels that if he has freckles he would not be getting into so much trouble for not paying attention. He purchases a recipe for "Freckly Juice" from Sharon, the meanest girl in class, that is suppose to make Andrew grow freckles. After making the recipe and drinking the juice, Andrew discovers that he has been tricked. Anddrew learns a valuable lesson about himself, school, and his teacher.
Personal Rating: ****Great! I really enjoyed this book! My children at school love reading it.
Interest level: 2nd thru 5th grade
Learning ideas: as part of the unit I have incorpated voabulary, spelling, comprehension, and a series of quizes to be taken over the course of the unit.
The students complete character analysis of the main characters and in small groups compare and contrast each of the characters. We create a new cover page for the book, new recipe for Freckle Juice, and a new ending to the story.
Problem/Difficulities: None
Friday, May 22, 2009
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Barbara Robinson
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Harper Trophy is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
pages- 80
Awards/Honors: NA
Summary: One Christmas a group of troublesome siblings, The Herdmans, decide to take part in the local Christmas Pageant at church. The Herdmans are well known in the small town for their ability to get into trouble. One faithful Sunday after attending Sunday school, the Herdmans decide to play the main parts in the Christmas Story. Everyone in the town is outraged at the thoughts of such delinquents taking part in something so Holy as the The Christmas Story. The town as well as the Herdmans realize the true importance of Christmas and that there is "good" in everyone.
Personal Rating: ****Great. I really enjoyed this story of how we can learn a lesson from even the most unlikely source. The story kept me laughing and I especially enjoyed how I could visualize the characters of the story as real people. The lesson learned is important to everyone.
Reading Level: 3.2
Interest Level: 2nd - 5th grade.
Writing activity: Response journals- As the students complete each chapter, they record their thoughts, feelings, connections, and ideas in a journal.
Diary from a selected character's point of view: The students will record daily entries of the character they have chose from the story. They will include what the character is feeling, thinking, what the character did or may be planning to do, etc.
Art: Because the story is centered around Christmas time, the students will make Christmas ornaments, create a Nativity Diorama using a shoebox.
Math: Students can bake sugar cookies. Students will need to be able to follow recipe, measure ingredients, calculate elapsed time.
Science; Plant a pine tree. Pine trees are the traditional Christmas tree in America. Students will plant tree and complete a research activity on pine trees.
Problem: There are some words that are inappropriate for children. i would recommend re aloud for this book and substitute or omit words that are inappropriate for children.
Publisher: Harper Trophy is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
pages- 80
Awards/Honors: NA
Summary: One Christmas a group of troublesome siblings, The Herdmans, decide to take part in the local Christmas Pageant at church. The Herdmans are well known in the small town for their ability to get into trouble. One faithful Sunday after attending Sunday school, the Herdmans decide to play the main parts in the Christmas Story. Everyone in the town is outraged at the thoughts of such delinquents taking part in something so Holy as the The Christmas Story. The town as well as the Herdmans realize the true importance of Christmas and that there is "good" in everyone.
Personal Rating: ****Great. I really enjoyed this story of how we can learn a lesson from even the most unlikely source. The story kept me laughing and I especially enjoyed how I could visualize the characters of the story as real people. The lesson learned is important to everyone.
Reading Level: 3.2
Interest Level: 2nd - 5th grade.
Writing activity: Response journals- As the students complete each chapter, they record their thoughts, feelings, connections, and ideas in a journal.
Diary from a selected character's point of view: The students will record daily entries of the character they have chose from the story. They will include what the character is feeling, thinking, what the character did or may be planning to do, etc.
Art: Because the story is centered around Christmas time, the students will make Christmas ornaments, create a Nativity Diorama using a shoebox.
Math: Students can bake sugar cookies. Students will need to be able to follow recipe, measure ingredients, calculate elapsed time.
Science; Plant a pine tree. Pine trees are the traditional Christmas tree in America. Students will plant tree and complete a research activity on pine trees.
Problem: There are some words that are inappropriate for children. i would recommend re aloud for this book and substitute or omit words that are inappropriate for children.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Post one
I am looking forward to reading children books that will be benefical to use in my classroom. I require students to read books weekly. By reading the books that the students are reading will give me the opportunity to discuss books with them in more detail. It will also provide me the opportunity to introduce books that students are not familar with.
I am feeling the most nervous about intergrating technology with this course. I feel it will be benefical to me overall, but it will a challenge to effectively use the technology.
I am feeling the most nervous about intergrating technology with this course. I feel it will be benefical to me overall, but it will a challenge to effectively use the technology.
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