Alejandro"s Gift by Richard E. Albert

Title: Alejandro"s Gift by Richard E. Albert

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC
Pages: 40

Awards/Honors: NA

Summary: Alejandro lives in the desert and often gets very lonely. One day he decides to plant a garden and dig a watering hole. Alejandro soon discovers the animals have found the water but are scared to approach because it is too close to his home. Alejandro builds another watering hole for the animals. He realizes that his gift to the animals has also given him a precious...friends. Alejandro is no longer lonely.

Personal Rating: ***Good! I enjoyed the book. Great lesson on doing for others.

Reading level: 3.0
Interest level: ages 4 to 9

Reading: This book provides the opportunity to focus on cause and effect. I use a power point presentation that incorporates cause and effect, graphic organizers, and think and respond questions. I also use a vocabulary PowerPoint for this story.

Science: The students research windmills and their uses! The students draw a picture of a windmill and label its parts: wind, arms, horizontal bar, vertical shaft, water pump. The students compare uses of a windmill today compare to many years ago.

Social Studies: The students research a variety of plants and animals that can be found in the desert. We find various deserts across the world and discuss similarities and differences of each.

Writing: Students pretend to be Alejandro and keep a dairy of each days events.

Problem?Difficulties: None noted