Rochelle+N.+Lee+Review

1. Smith, L. (2011). //Grandpa Green//. New York, NY: Roaring Book Press. 978-1-5964-3607-7 //** 2012 Caldecott Honor **//

 ** Summary: ** This is an amazing recalling of a grandfather’s life by his grandson. The story goes through the life of the grandfather with beautiful topiary images of his grandfathers past. The grandson points out that Grandpa Green was not always a gardener, but most importantly he was an artist. He retells the visions of his grandfather growing up on a farm (before cell phones) going to war, getting married, as well as having kids and grandkids. This book has an amazingly brilliant artistic twist by showing the past events in topiaries and all of the present events of the story drawn with pencil.

I really loved this book. The illustrations are eye catching as well as enhance the purpose of the author to convey the story. This young boy lovingly narrates the story of his grandpa’s life and all of the differences in their lives as well. There are many images of the man growing up on a farm with topiary carrots and other objects that you would see on a farm. His grandpa got the chicken pox in fourth grade so there is a bush shaped like a boy with red berries on him. The part of the story that tells about him going to war also pictures a topiary airplane and a man descending in a parachute. When he recounts all of his grandfather’s events in his life, the memories are all expressed in sculpted green shrubs. At the end, the boy picks up a pair of shears and sculpts a bush into the image of Grandpa Green.
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** Curriculum Connection: ** Common Core Language Arts Literature #3: 1st Grade – Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

 ** Genre: ** Fiction—Picture Book

 ** Classroom Activity/Promotional Activity: ** Strategy 26 from //Promoting Literacy Development// (2012), “Visualize It!” (pp. 154-157) would work best to help the first grade students to visualize the setting of the story. There will be many vocabulary words that will be knew to all of the ELL learners in the classroom as well as the students lacking good communication at home. The students will have a chance to draw what a garden looks like, what a carrot looks like, and other things that are found in a garden. The instructor could take this opportunity to build background knowledge of topiary, airplane, parachute, and other unfamiliar vocabulary in the story by offering the learners a large amount of images to support their learning of the setting.

2. Perkins, L.R. (2005). //Criss cross//. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers. 978-0060092740 //** 2006 Newbery Medal ** //

 ** Summary: ** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is a story of teenagers trying to find out who they are and where they belong. This story revolves around two main characters, Debbie and Hector. They are both living as they are trying to find their way and end up crossing paths with each other. This is a story about relationships, choices made, and how the choices impact our lives or do not impact our lives. Criss Cross is a glimpse into a teenager’s normal, drama-filled summer life.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Depending on who you are and what you look for in a book, you may have differing opinions of this book. There is no real plot, just a story of things that may happen in a teenager’s life of trying to find themselves or where they fit in. However, I loved this story! It reminded me of a book that I might have read when I was in the fifth grade; just a story about life. The details are so amazingly vivid that it is truly hard to put the book down as the author describes everything in the story. Her words are so real and common that they are hilarious. I found a lot of humor in this book that I may not have understood at a younger age, but definitely get a kick out of today! For instance, in the story the author writes, “So often in real life, one person wants to be understood, but obscures her feelings with completely unrelated words and facial expressions, while the other person in trying to remember whether she did or didn’t turn off the burner under the hard-boiled eggs.” WOW! I know that I’m very guilty of having wondering thoughts while someone is pouring their heart out to me. There is so much that I loved about this book and I have absolutely nothing negative that I can say about it. Criss Cross is perfectly written and even includes some illustrations to enhance what the author is trying to convey. The pencil sketches add wonderful character to this story.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Common Core Language Arts Literature #3: 5th Grade – Compare and contrast two or more characters, setting, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> ** Genre: ** Realistic Fiction

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> ** Classroom Activity/Promotional Activity: ** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Strategy 24 from //Promoting Literacy Development// (2012), “Character Mapping” (pp. 138-143) would be the perfect aide to helping the students to understand the character development in this story. It would be beneficial to split the class into two groups and allow one group to complete the character map on Debbie and the other group to complete a character map for Hector. Then the two groups can share out their ideas to the class and afterward individually compare and contrast the two characters.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">3. Greenfield, E. (1992).//Africa dream//. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers. 978-0064432771 //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">** 1978 Coretta Scott King Award ** //

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> ** Summary: ** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A story about an African-American girl who dream of returning to Africa. She dreams of all of the people and animals that she will see, the places that she will go, and the things that she will see.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is a great book with lots of adventure and information. I love the illustrations which are pencil sketched with a lot of details. The pictures are not colorful, but the words are. The author’s words paint a vivid image in your mind as you read about her adventure in her dreams. She dreams of going to Africa and paints a magical picture of the ancestors that she will see with the faces of her family that she knows so well. She speaks of magically reading books in other languages that she doesn’t really know. The story takes the child through a marketplace with items to buy and artifacts that are commonly known in Africa. This story is a beautiful way of teaching about other cultures and opening the eyes of African American children who wonder about their home in Africa.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Common Core Language Arts Literature #2: Kindergarten – With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.
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 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Genre: **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Realistic Fiction

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> ** Classroom Activity/Promotional Activity: ** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Strategy 22 from //Promoting Literacy Development// (2012), “Story Retelling” (pp. 128-132) would work beautifully with ensuring comprehension of this fun story. The teacher will help the students predict what will happen based on the title and the pictures in the story. The teacher will then read, confirm, and review the story with the learners. Lastly, the teacher will allow the students to retell the story orally to a partner with prompting questions that include the characters, setting, actions, and key details if needed.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">4. Bridges, R. (1997).//Through my eyes: Ruby Bridges//. New York, NY: Scholastic Press. 978-0590189231 //**<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">2000 Orbis Pictus Award **//

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> ** Summary: ** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is a story about a 6 year old girl that was the first to attend a school free of segregation. This story tells each step for Ruby Bridges as she rocked the United States in a great change for the Civil Rights Movement.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> __Through My Eyes__ is a wonderful true depiction of a little girl named Ruby Bridges who was the first African-American student to be accepted to an all white school. In this wonderful biography, she gives us her firsthand account of how everything happened from her view point. This is a step away from the history books for a true depiction of how this little girl saw all of the events that happened in Louisiana. From the Federal Marshalls escorting her through mobs of angry crowds to her first years at the school, Ruby allows the reader to feel and see the events that took place in her life with a more personal experience than just reading the facts from history books. The book does include newspaper articles and quotes from John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as a timeline that depicts the important events in the Civil Rights Movement. The tidbits of information given are okay, but I think that they really take away from her perspective and could have been omitted or moved to the end of the book as a reference. It is important to note that this book does have scenes that are full of hatred and discrimination that may be hard for younger audiences to handle. I believe that this book is more appropriate for a third or fourth grade level than the age of the main character as a first grader.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Common Core Language Arts Literature #6: 3rd grade – Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.
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 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Genre: **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Autobiography

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> ** Classroom Activity/Promotional Activity: ** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Strategy 25 from //Promoting Literacy Development// (2012), “Double-Entry Journals” (pp. 144-148) will help the students connect to the text in this story. The events in this story took place a long time ago and most students will not be able to imagine a world of segregation today. I believe that double-entry journaling will allow the students to respond to how they would feel if these events were happening to themselves and allow them to walk more closely with Ruby Bridges and sympathize with her. The teacher will choose different passages for the students to read and respond to. The following questions would enhance their responses: Tell how this part makes you feel. Visualize what you have read. What did you see? Draw and describe. There are more questions to refer to on page 146 from //Promoting Literacy Development.//

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">5. Thomson, B. (2010).//Chalk//. New York, NY: Amazon Children’s Publishing. 978-0761455264 //**<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">2010 Kentucky Bluegrass Award **//

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> ** Summary: ** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A wordless picture book that delights in the imagination of children when given a bag of chalk. The chalk drawings seem to literally come to life on the pages. The story is full of sunshine, rain, dinosaurs and other beautifully drawn images.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">At first glance of this book, I thought that the pictures were photographs or digitally produced pictures, but after researching the author and illustrator of __Chalk__ I found out that he literally drew each of the pictures. The images are so life-like that they are breath taking. I love the use of reflections in his pictures and how the colors work together so well that you feel like you are walking through the pages of the story. My children loved making their own story to go with the pictures and I believe that they have found a new love for sidewalk chalk. I will most definitely be purchasing this book for my home and classroom library.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Common Core Language Arts Foundational Skills #2d: Kindergarten – Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words.
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 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Genre: **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Picture Book (Wordless)

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> ** Classroom Activity/Promotional Activity: ** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Strategy 4 from //Promoting Literacy Development// (2012), “Sound Sort” (pp. 18-21). The teacher will take the students on a picture walk with the book __Chalk__. The students will be given the opportunity to look at each picture and point out different objects they see in the pictures. The teacher will model finding two words that begin with the same sound; butterfly, bag. The teacher will write the words on the board and circle the beginning sounds that are the same; /b/. The students will then begin to complete the activity by working with a partner. Partner 1 will say a word of a picture in the book and partner 2 will find a picture that begins with the same sound. The partners will take turns switching roles and the teacher will rotate around the students listening at each group and providing assistance if needed.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">6. Canon,K. (2001).//Bakit matagal ang sundo ko?// Philippines: Adarna House. 971-508-127-4 //**<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">2001 International Book Award **//

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> ** Summary: ** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This story is about a little girl who lets her imagination run wild instead of worrying about why her mother is late picking her up.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I love this story because it shows children how to brave in a time when they might be scared. The main character in this story was trying to battle her fears by allowing her imagination to come up with reasons that her mother is late like flying with an eagle or playing with turtles. She found humor in her situation instead of letting the fear overcome her.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Common Core Language Arts Literature #3: 2nd Grade – Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
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 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Genre: **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Picture Book

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">** Classroom Activity/Promotional Activity: ** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">For this book I would use an interest display before reading. The teacher will take a rolling suitcase like the one in the book and fill it with the following items from the story; stuffed animals such as giraffes, monkeys, turtles, whale, and an eagle. The teacher will also include toys such as a policeman, cars, trees, a little girl, and a mom. The students will be allowed to get out all of the objects and interact with the story before reading it. This activity will help to grab the attention of the students and help them to begin differencing about the story. After reading the story, the students will draw a picture and write a description about how the little girl reacted in the story.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">7. Munsch, R. (1985).//50 below zero//. Toronto, ON: Annick Press Ltd. Retrieved from [] <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">9780920236918 //**<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">E-Book **//

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">** Summary: ** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is a story about a young boy named Jason whose father is a sleepwalker. Jason can’t get any sleep because his father’s sleepwalking keeps waking him up in the middle of the night.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is such a sweet story about a boy named Jason trying to care for his father that is sleep walking during the night and ending up in the most peculiar places. His father ends up outside where it is 50 below zero. He pulls his father inside the house and defrosts him in the bathtub. He ties a rope to his father to keep him in the house and at the end of the story the mother hears and noise and finds that Jason is sleep walking just like his father. This is a very funny, loving story about families and how they look out for each other.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Common Core Language Arts Literature #2: Grade 1 – Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson
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 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Genre: **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Picture Book

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Included on the website is a lesson plan for this book that focuses on sequencing of events. The lesson plan gives the objective: Use chronological sequence to construct meaning while reading a text. The lesson plan also gives directions for the teacher during the lesson and it provides a sequence chart for the lesson. The plan can be found at []
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">8. Seibold, J. (2010).//Other goose: Re-nurseried!! and re-rhymed!! childrens classics//. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books. Retrieved from [] <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">978-0811868822

//**<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Option 1 **//

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> ** Summary: ** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">All of the Mother Goose classics have been amped up a notch in this story book with many stories of our favorite nursery rhymes. This book brings old stories to life again, such as Humpty Dumpty, Little Boy Blue, Miss Muffet, and many more! These stories have new twists and turns with endings that will blow your mind!

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I love the idea of modernizing the old Mother Goose rhymes that I grew up with. This book is full of colorful reinventions of the characters that we all remember from Mother Goose. The stories are elaborate and full of new twists that any child will adore and many adults will find a new love for. I believe that this author has really taken classics and made them better than before.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Common Core Language Arts Foundational Skills #2a: Kindergarten – Recognize and produce rhyming words
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 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Genre: **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Traditional Literature

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Strategy 1 from //Promoting Literacy Development// (2012), “Rhyme Generation” (pp. 6-9). The teacher will share a story from the collection of nursery rhymes and then complete the following steps from this strategy: <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Step 1: Introduce rhyme generation to students. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Step 2: Present rhymes in context. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Step 3: Demonstrate how to manipulate onset and rime. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Step 4: Record rhymes generated from original story. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Step 5: Facilitate students’ application of rhyme generation using any words that the students choose.
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">9. Jenkins, S. (2012).//Living color//. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Books. 978-0547576824 //**<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Option 2 **//

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">** Summary: ** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is a book all about colorful animals. The animals are collage images that are color coordinated. Every color that you can imagine has an animal in this book. With bold images and information about the animals, this book is a real eye catcher and attention grabber. Children and adults of all ages will fall in love with this book for different reasons.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Flamingos, fish, frogs, birds of all colors, and many other animals are depicted in this bright book. I love this book mainly because it is so versatile in appropriateness for age groups. A preschool learner would love this book because of the colors and images of the animals, while a first grade learner might love this book for all of the wealth of information about the animals, and an older learner might enjoy this book for the tables and resources found with the book. I mostly enjoy the collage images that are so bright and the contrasting colors that pop out of the page.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Common Core Language Arts Foundational Skills #3c: Kindergarten – Read common high-frequency words by sight.
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 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Genre: **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Informational

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Strategy 12 from //Promoting Literacy Development// (2012), “Choral Reading” (pp. 64-68). Before the lesson, the teacher will mark the color words in the text by using a document camera and the interactive board. The teacher will model reading the color words fluently as the pages are turned. As the students read the text at least four times, the teacher will monitor the reading. Finally, the group of learners will chorally read the marked color words chorally.
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">9. Tarpley, N.A. (2001).//I love my hair//. New York, NY: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 978-0316523752 //**<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Option 3 **//

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> ** Summary: ** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is a story about a little girl who does not initially like her hair being fixed every night by her mother. However, as she grows older, she learns to love her hair and what her hair symbolizes for her.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This book brings back many memories of me sitting between my mother’s legs as she combed or braided my hair growing up. At first this little girl did not like her mother fixing her hair and she did not like that her hair was African-American hair and that it had to be fixed all of the time. However, as she grows up, she realizes that her hair makes her who she is and she embraces her hair in the many different ways that she can fix it depending on her mood. I love this book and the connection that it has with so many girls of so many different ethnicity groups. All little girls dislike having their hair fixed and I think that this book will help many young girls view their hair in a different way.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Common Core Language Arts Language #5: 1st Grade – With guidance and support from adults, demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meaning.
 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Curriculum Connection: **


 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Genre: **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Autobiography

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Strategy 20 from //Promoting Literacy Development// (2012), “Vocabulary Journal” (pp. 110-114). After a teacher has introduced a vocabulary journal to students, they will utilize their journal to deconstruct the meaning of a new word to enhance comprehension of text. The teacher will read aloud __I Love My Hair.__ The teacher will assist students in finding words that they are unclear of the meaning, next the teacher will use a think-aloud to model how to construct meaning from the words. The students might identify words like tugging, comb, tangled, cornrows, or other words that are unfamiliar. The students will write the word in their vocabulary journal and as a class they will find the meaning of the word through picture dictionary, internet, or pictures from the internet. They students will draw a picture in their vocabulary journal and write their own definition in their words to help construct meaning.
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">10. Smith, L. (2010).//It’s a book//. New York, NY: Roaring Book Press. 978-1596436060 //**<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Option 4 **//

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is such a funny story about technology and books. This book is very cleverly written to make you laugh with each page. Monkey is reading a book and Jackass is perplexed by this book asking question after question. Jackass doesn’t understand that it’s not technology. In fact, __<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">It’s a Book __<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">!
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I love how this book addresses the issue of some children and adults no longer reading books, but having their heads stuck into some form of technology. It reemphasizes how amazing books can be if you just pick one up and allow it to draw you in. There is something about being able to use your imagination and your own background knowledge to assist in building your own story. The humor in this story is enough to make a child laugh, but at the same time sophisticated enough for an adult to appreciate as well. There is some controversy over the donkey referred to as Jackass, but that is the true definition of a male donkey. I think that adults should <range type="comment" id="778997">let go of the negative connotation and explain to children the meaning of the word. I wouldn’t change a thing about this book.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Common Core Language Arts Speaking and Listening #1: 4th Grade – Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
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 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Genre: **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Picture Book

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">To enhance engagement, peak interest in the book, and begin a classroom discussion on books in a technology age, the teacher will show the trailer for the book __It’s a Book__. The trailer can be found at the following link: []
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">11. Richards, J. (2002).//A fruit is a suitcase for seeds//. Minneapolis, MN: Millbrook Press. 978-0-7613-1622-0 //**<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Option 5 **//

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">__A Fruit Is a Suitcase for Seeds__ is a non-fiction book about fruits and seeds. This story tells about seeds, seedlings, how they grow, and what they need to successfully grow. This book is a great informational text for the classroom with beautiful illustrations. It also includes question and answer pages in the back of the book with interesting information for learners.
 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Summary: **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is a great piece of informational text that would be wonderful used in the classroom. I heard that there is a new push from the state for reading to become 50% fiction and 50% non-fiction, so I thought I would check out some non-fiction for my reviews. It isn’t easy finding great non-fiction literature. I like this book. It is well presented, well written, and has nice illustrations, but it did not impress me. I think that this book is average, but not unique or excellent.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Common Core Language Arts Informational Text #10: 1st Grade – With prompting and support, read informational texts appropriately complex for grade 1.
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 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Genre: **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Informational

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Strategy 19 from //Promoting Literacy Development// (2012), “Interactive Word Wall” (pp. 105-109). This word wall will be used to boost vocabulary around plants and seeds. The teacher will target specific words from the text and will write the words on a sentence strip. Before the teacher and students first read the text, the words will be explicitly taught by spelling and word meaning. After the reading of the text, the students will post the words to the word wall. If ever a student struggles with a word, the word wall will be used as a reference. The students will be encouraged to get the word from the word wall at any appropriate time. They may hold the word, spell the word, read the word, or any other activity that assists them in reading the word fluently.
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">12. Lyon, G.E. (2011).//All the water in the world//. New York, NY: Atheneum Publishing. 978-1-4169-7130-6 //**<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Option 6 **//

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This book illustrates the simplicity of the water cycle. The illustrations in this book are just as powerful as the words to enhance the meaning of the water cycle and how precious clean water is to our home, the earth. This book is a powerful, poetic resource to teach young children the importance of the water cycle.
 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Summary: **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The poetic aspect of this book is what intrigues me the most. The illustrations are brilliant, vibrant, with many variations of fonts and art mediums. I love the way the words fall from the pages, pop from the pages, and spill from the pages. The author and the illustrator worked so well together that I at first thought that one person wrote and illustrated the book. However, there is a reference to the reader as “Honey” and I found it hard to connect the purpose. I can’t decide if there is a real connection to the text that I’m missing, or if the author is trying to make a personal relationship with the reader.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Combined Curriculum Science: 1st Grade – **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">SC-P-EU-U-2 **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Students will understand that some events in nature have a repeating pattern. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Common Core Language Arts Writing #8 – 1st Grade – With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
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 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Genre: **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Informational

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Strategy 46 from //Promoting Literacy Development// (2012), “All – About Books” (pp. 264-268). After using this informational text and others for teaching the water cycle, the teacher will guide students to write their own All – About Books. The teacher will guide a discussion of the different readings by focusing on the essential question, “How does the water cycle work?” The teacher will help the students determine the important information found in all of the texts and will demonstrate using a picture and text with their story. After the students complete their format for the book, the teacher will assist in creating a title page and illustrated cover for their book. After the books are completed, the students will share their finished books during a Book Look for the other students in their “family” to see their publications.
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">13. Bauer, M.D. (2010).//My first biography: Harriet Tubman.// New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">9780545232579 //**<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Option 7 **//

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is the story of Harriet Tubman in the simplest form. The youngest of children can learn what is was like to be a slave and the troubles that slaves faced during their lives. This story teaches about the wonderful changes that Harriet Tubman brought throughout history.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Even though this is a simple story of the life of Harriet Tubman, I believe that is why it is so magical. This book can be understood by the youngest of readers and I believe that history is very important for all learners to understand. I love the illustrations because they really express how the characters felt and all of the emotions are captured in the pictures.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Combined Curriculum Informational Text #10 – 2nd Grade – By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 2 -3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
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 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Genre: **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Biography

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Strategy 15 from //Promoting Literacy Development// (2012), “Readers Theatre” (pp. 77 - 82). After reading and discussing the story as a class, the teacher will take the text and break it into roles for the students. Then, the written parts from the story will need to be added to the characters to form a script. Next, the students will select and rehearse their parts through repeated reading. The class will then arrange the room to accommodate the “stage” of the Readers Theatre. Finally, the students will perform for others in the class and then for the other 2nd grade classes.
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">14. Dyckman, A. (2012).//Boy and bot.// New York, NY: Knopf Books. 978-0375867569 //**<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Option 8 **//

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is a heartwarming story about a robot and a boy meeting and becoming friends. The robot and boy play and laugh, until the robot is accidently switched off. The boy tries everything that he knows to do to wake the robot, like reading him a story, feeding him applesauce, and other things that moms do when their child is sick. The boy falls asleep trying to fix his friend and the robot wakes up. The robot then takes the boy home to change the boys batteries and give him oil to fix him.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is such a cute story about the love of two friends. They are willing to try anything to fix each other. I love the parallel look into the worlds of a boy and a robot. The story is so sweet, funny, and dramatic. I love the vibrant, cheerful colors of the illustrations. They really add the perfect feel for the story.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Combined Curriculum Foundational Skills #4 – 1st Grade – Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
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 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Genre: **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Modern Fantasy

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Strategy 11 from //Promoting Literacy Development// (2012), “Paired – Assisted Reading” (pp. 59 - 63). After the read aloud, the teacher will pair strong fluent readers (partner A) with readers with less fluency (partner B). The students will sit knees to knees in a comfortable position in the room and will take turns reading the selected text. Partner A will read first to model good fluency while reading, and partner B will follow along with the reader by using their finger as a pointer. The partners will then switch roles and the more fluent reader can offer assistance if needed.
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">15. Joyce, W. (2011).//The man in the moon (guardians of childhood).// New York, NY: Atheneum Books. 978-1442430419 //**<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Option 9 **//

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is an elaborate story about the Man in the Moon and how he got there. There are other whimsical creatures that help with the Man in the Moon’s mission of being the guardian of Earth children’s dream, but MiM plays the most important role. This is the first story in a series of more adventures to come.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This book is absolutely captivating. The story line, the illustrations, and the idea of the real man in the moon that we all heard about since we were children are all so magical. I cannot say anything negative about this book, only that I can’t wait to read the next book in the series of Guardians of Childhood.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Combined Curriculum Literature #3 –3rd Grade – Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Curriculum Connection: **


 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Genre: **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Modern Fantasy

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Strategy 24 from //Promoting Literacy Development// (2012), “Character Mapping” (pp. 138 - 143). The teacher will explain that reading a book tells more about a character if you study what the text says about the character. The students will listen for traits as the teacher reads the book aloud. Model how to follow a character through the story to learn more about their traits. The students will use the character map included in figure 24.1 as a guide to learn more about their chosen character from the story __The Man in the Moon.__
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