Lyddie

Lyddie by Katherine Paterson



Genre: Historical Fiction
Grade Level: 6-9
Summary: Lyddie is a young girl who works at an Inn to pay off farm debts. She becomes one of many factory girls working long hours in dangerous and unsafe working conditions. Living in cramped conditions, Lyddie finds herself becoming friends with her peers and with a controversial worker named Diana, one of the few workers attempting to change the working conditions. Lyddie struggles to pay off the farm debt and watching her friend go through the horrible working conditions.
Theme/Skill: Families, friends, and enemies
Pre-reading activities: Talk about the Industrial Revolution and how our country has changed from predominately farming to a factory based industry.
Post-reading activities: Students can put themselves in the shoes of a factory worker at their same age. Compare and contrast Lyddie's life to their own lives.
Assessment: Hand in Venn Diagram with an essay.

Paterson, Katherine. (1992). Lyddie. New York: Puffin Books. 183 pp.

Our Home is the Sea

Our Home is the Sea by Riki Levinson

      

Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: 2-4
Summary: A boy thinks that the Sea is his home, because his father goes out to the Sea everyday to fish. The little boy wishes he didn't have to go to school. He is extremely anxious and observable to his surroundings. His grandpa and father fish together. He hopes that someday he will get to go out at Sea. Then suddenly, their home is the Sea.
Theme/Skill: When I smell cookies or see a quilt, I always think of home because my mom is always cooking and sewing.
Pre-reading activities: I would read aloud and have the students follow along with their books.
Post-reading activities: Inform the students that their place that they like to call home does not have to be a local place. It could be a dream spot in another city or country.
Assessment: I would have the students make a poster or a diagram of a place where they feel most comfortable and why. I would have them share their poster/diagram and then hang them up on the wall.
Reflection: Students love hands-on activities and enjoy sharing their personal work.

Free Fall

Free Fall by David Weisner

* David Weisner wrote and illustrated Free Fall.

       

Genre: Non-fiction, Caldecott Honor book
Grade Level: 2-4
Summary: This story reflects a young boy and a dream he experiences one evening. In this interesting dream, he follows a map to a human chess game. Next, he goes to a castle and then into a dark, scary forest with a vicious dragon. The young boy jumps between the pages, visits the Grand Canyon, becomes a giant, floats through time, and rides on various geese. Suddenly, he returns to his warm, cozy bed. The next morning he wakes up and notices his only gold fish in its bowl.
Theme/Skill: Have students share with their classmates a fun and interesting dream they have experienced.
Pre-reading activities: What is a dream? Why do we dream? Explain to the students that we always dream, we just don't always remember the dreams. Have students describe with each other "what falling into a dream" means and have them compare it to an experience they can relate to when being awake.
Post-reading activities: Why did this young boy visit all of these places? Do you think he was scared? Why or why not?
Assessment: Students will make a small mobile of their favorite dreams and show them to their classmates.
Reflection: I would like to try this with another book to introduce Native Americans. I would have the students make dream catchers.

In the Small Pond

In the Small Pond by Denise Fleming

                       

Genre: Caldecott Award Winner, Science
Grade Level: 2
Summary: This is an informative story depicting the four seasons and the curious animals that are a part of each season.
Theme/Skill: Show several animals from each season on the Smart Board.
Pre-reading activities: What is your favorite season and why? Why do some animals apear in some seasons and others do not? Where do animals go when they are not seen during a particular season? After deciding your favorite season, use construction paper to create a scene for that season chosen. Encourage students to ask questions and give responses to the story.
Post-reading activities: Were you surprised that some animals aren't a part of all seasons? What was your favorite and least favorite part of the story? Continue poster drawing of scenes.
Assessment: Hand in posters after sharing with a group of classmates your picture that you created. Explain why one animal may not survive in that environment according to that season.
Reflection: Students could go on a nature walk to a pond and collect water to look under the microscope at the living pond creatures. They can predict sounds they would hear outside by the pond. What would they smell? What would they see? Incorporating the senses into their writing can help tremendously with descriptive details.

The Colors of Us

The Colors of Us by Karen Katz



Genre: Multicultural
Grade Level: 1-3
Summary: Seven-year-old Lena and her mother observe the variations in the color of their friend's skin and refer to them as types of foods and other things found in nature. For example, different shades of brown could be described as toffee, mocha, chocolate, honey, etc.
Theme/Skill: Teach the students that no matter what color a person's skin color is; that we are all equal and unique in a special way. If we all looked exactly alike, it would be a boring world to live in.
Pre-reading activities: Ask them to name a relative or friend who may have a different shade of skin as them. Discuss with the class that people who are white have many different shades of skin too. For example, olive, medium, fair, etc. There are all different shades of white, brown, and yellow.
Post-reading activities: Students may ask me if I know anyone who has different colored skin. I would say that I am related to my Aunt from Thailand. I also have relatives from islands south of Puerto Rico. How would you react to someone who made a comment of your skin tone? Would you say something to them?
Assessment: I would have the students go onto the computer or find a book of a country. Then, they would learn more about their culture and ethnicity and share it with the class.

The Bus For Us

The Bus For Us by Suzanne Bloom

Genre: Non-fiction
Grade Level: K-2
Summary: On Tess's first day of school, she wonders what a school bus will look like. Tess waits for the school bus with her older friend Gus. Each time a vehicle drives by she asks, "Is this the bus for us, Gus?" Each time he replies with the correct name of the vehicle. Finally, their bus comes to pick them up.
Theme/Skill: Figuring out what a school bus looks like. Being able to decide what a bus looks like compared to other types of vehicles. Who rides a school bus? Did you already know what a bus looked like before your first time on it? Were you nervous the first  time you rode on a bus?
Pre-reading activities: Using the KWL chart that was constructed and made up before reading the story, and using prior knowledge of what they already knew, what are the uses for the other vehicles in this story?
Post-reading activities: Does everyone ride the school bus to school? If not, what are other ways of getting to school? Which vehicle was your favorite and why?
Assessment: Write a journal entry about your first day of school and getting on the bus. How were you feeling? Where did you sit? Did you meet anyone new or make new friends? Be creative and very descriptive to paint a picture in the readers mind.
Reflection: Helps students think back to a time when they were nervous or excited. They can tell how they overcame that fear or maybe they never rode a school bus before. Students can write about getting dropped off to school by a family member.

Clever Beatrice

Clever Beatrice by Margaret Willey

Genre: Fiction, Charlotte Zolotow Award Winner
Grade Level: K-2
Summary: A young girl living in the Great Lakes has proposed to defeat a giant in order to receive money. She needed the money so her mother could buy porridge. When approaching the giant, she tells him she wants to test him. The giant confusingly agrees, and Beatrice cleverly takes the giant for granted. She took advantage of him. In the end, Beatrice's cleverness defeats the giant and is able to eat her porridge.
Theme/Skill: I want the students to gain confidence while reading about Beatrice's adventure. No matter what size you are, you can achieve a number of goals. Have students list characteristics of a giant on the easel.
Pre-reading activities: Have you ever seen a giant? What do giants eat? Where do giants live? Do they really exist? Read the story with a lot of expression and intonation to actively engage the students. Have students ask encouraging questions and give responses to the story.
Post-reading activities: Were you afraid of Beatrice? Why was she able to beat the giant? What would you do if you encountered a giant? Change the ending of the story by adding a twist into the final outcome.
Assessment: Have students role play the story. One can be Beatrice and the other can be the giant, each coming up with their own ending.
Reflection: Make sure that students were paired up appropriately so the students remained on-task. Have each of the students share their endings by writing them in their journals or saying them aloud.