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.

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.

Ray Charles

Ray Charles by S Mathis





Genre: Non-fiction, Biography, Music, Coretta Scott King Award
Grade Level: 4-6
Summary: This book is about Ray Charles and the troubes he had as a young child. It goes through the journey of Ray falling in love with music as a young boy, and learning how to read and write music in Braille. It tells about his experience and all of the plaves he went and played. He became a world-reknowned jazz and blues musician. At the end, there is an update of his life today.
Theme/Skill: People who do not have the best of luck many times end up making some of the biggest and most surprising differences. Ray Charles was a very successful and famous man in our history!
Pre-reading activities: Has anyone ever heard of Ray Charles? Has anyone heard any of his music? What is the Great Depression? During this time, how were black individuals accepted? Discuss what it means to have strength, independence, and determination to succeed. What other qualities does it take to have when becoming famous?
Post-reading activities: In the beginning of the story when he is getting laughed at, pair share how this must have made Ray feel. Encourage involvement and questions.
Assessment: If you were Ray Charles, do you think you would have been as determined? Have small groups discuss the book. As a group, make a road map of his life with a timeline. Be prepared to discuss and present the poster to the rest of the class.
Reflection: This is an excellent way to introduce musically inclined figures into lives of our students. Many kids can learn and share a connection with Ray Charles because they are fascinated by music and the hard work and dedication that is involved.

The Hatchet

The Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

             


Genre: Non-fiction
Grade Level: 5
Summary: The Hatchet is a non-fiction book about a boy who was stranded in Northern Canada after a deathly plane crash. He needed to come up with survival skills in order to stay alive. He spent 56 days in the wilderness before getting rescued. The students who read the story were very intrigued in how Brian, the main character, surpassed obstacles and made it through the hard times.
Theme/Skill: Learn about obstacles in wilderness and strategies to survive.
Pre-reading activities: Role play characters and get in the mind-set that the end is near  but to stay positive and push through for a miracle to happen.
Post-reading activities: Comprehension questions, added vocabulary to the word wall, and went on a nature walk outside to collect items for the shoebox dioramas.
Assessment: Participation points when answering the online comprehension questions. Students made dioramas and came up in front of the classroom to share what scene their diorama was from.
Reflection: This was an excellent book to read to my students. One of my students can't read so it helps to have me read it aloud. The students would draw as I read and they could instill what information was being read into their minds throughout each chapter read daily.