This book
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Saturday, January 31, 2015
Joyce, William. (2011). The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. New York: Atheneum Books For Young Readers.
This Academy Award winning book is a story about Mr. Morris Lessmore. It begins painting a picture of his love for books and words so much that he even writes his own story into a book daily. One day his story's words were scattered from a storm and he was lost. Then he met a lady who's books were flying her away. He was sad to find his book did not fly. Because he just needed a good story to continue, the lady gave him her favorite, which flew leading him to a library. From that day on, he leaped into every adventure and story as he read every book and continued writing his own story. In the end, his life among the books end, but his story is left behind for another one to continue.
The pictures in this book are exquisitely animated and intriguing. The imagination that each page contains would engross any young and old reader.
This book would be a wonderful way to talk about the power of books and stories with a class. The importance of sharing good books is emphasized throughout this book, so it would be neat to do a project in which students advertised (through art or writing) and then shared to the class their favorite books. Another project idea would be for students to write their own story of their lives with blank pages at the end to continually add to as the year goes on.
The following is a link from the author to the Academy Award winning short film that was inspired by this book: http://morrislessmore.com/
This Academy Award winning book is a story about Mr. Morris Lessmore. It begins painting a picture of his love for books and words so much that he even writes his own story into a book daily. One day his story's words were scattered from a storm and he was lost. Then he met a lady who's books were flying her away. He was sad to find his book did not fly. Because he just needed a good story to continue, the lady gave him her favorite, which flew leading him to a library. From that day on, he leaped into every adventure and story as he read every book and continued writing his own story. In the end, his life among the books end, but his story is left behind for another one to continue.
The pictures in this book are exquisitely animated and intriguing. The imagination that each page contains would engross any young and old reader.
This book would be a wonderful way to talk about the power of books and stories with a class. The importance of sharing good books is emphasized throughout this book, so it would be neat to do a project in which students advertised (through art or writing) and then shared to the class their favorite books. Another project idea would be for students to write their own story of their lives with blank pages at the end to continually add to as the year goes on.
The following is a link from the author to the Academy Award winning short film that was inspired by this book: http://morrislessmore.com/
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Daywalt, D. & Jeffers O. (2013). The Day the Crayons Quit. New York: Philomel Books.
I LOVED this book! This book won the following awards: Goodreads Choice Awards Best Picture Books and the Texas Bluebonnet Award. This award winning book is about a boy who opens up his crayon box to discover a stack of letters each from one of his crayons. Each color crayon has a complaint or thankful thing to say about his use of him or her over the past year. In the end, the boy wants to make all of his crayons happy, so he creates a creative picture using all of the color equally and to draw whatever that particular crayon requested.
I loved this book, and I know I definitely want to teach with it someday! In addition to the link of activities that I found below, I thought of some acitivities on my own. One idea I had was to have the kids look in their crayon boxes and reflect on each color. Which color have they used the most? Which color have they used the least? They would write this down. They would also write down the thing they use each color for the most to draw. For example if they mostly draw dogs with brown, they would write "dogs" next to "brown." After doing this for each color, I would have the students create their own most creative drawing by switching every color's role to draw. For example, if next to "blue" they wrote "ocean," they may switch their blue and brown to draw a blue dog and a brown ocean.
The following is a link to an awesome resource I found that has specific activities, vocab words, comprehension questions, and more for this particular book: http://www.rif.org/documents/us/The-Day-the-Crayons-Quit.pdf
The video below is a book trailer.
I LOVED this book! This book won the following awards: Goodreads Choice Awards Best Picture Books and the Texas Bluebonnet Award. This award winning book is about a boy who opens up his crayon box to discover a stack of letters each from one of his crayons. Each color crayon has a complaint or thankful thing to say about his use of him or her over the past year. In the end, the boy wants to make all of his crayons happy, so he creates a creative picture using all of the color equally and to draw whatever that particular crayon requested.
I loved this book, and I know I definitely want to teach with it someday! In addition to the link of activities that I found below, I thought of some acitivities on my own. One idea I had was to have the kids look in their crayon boxes and reflect on each color. Which color have they used the most? Which color have they used the least? They would write this down. They would also write down the thing they use each color for the most to draw. For example if they mostly draw dogs with brown, they would write "dogs" next to "brown." After doing this for each color, I would have the students create their own most creative drawing by switching every color's role to draw. For example, if next to "blue" they wrote "ocean," they may switch their blue and brown to draw a blue dog and a brown ocean.
The following is a link to an awesome resource I found that has specific activities, vocab words, comprehension questions, and more for this particular book: http://www.rif.org/documents/us/The-Day-the-Crayons-Quit.pdf
The video below is a book trailer.
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Knudsen, M. & Hawkes K. (2006). Library Lion. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.
This book won the following awards: Publisher Weekly Cuffle Award, School Library Journal Best Books of the Year, Child's Magazine Best Books of the Year, NAIBA Best Picture Book of the Year, and many more. This award winning book is about a lion coming into a library. Everyone is shocked at first. Mr. McBee tattles to the head librarian, Miss Merriweather, but she does not care because the lion is not breaking any library rules. There is no rule against a lion being in the library, so everyone eventually gets used to him being there. One day he roars loudly though, and he gets in trouble because there is a rule about being quiet in the library. He promises to follow the rules from then on, so he continues coming to the library and eventually becomes friends with Miss Merriweather and helps her. One day she falls, and in order to get Mr. McBee to come help her, the lion breaks the rules and roars. Because he needed to be loud in order to save Miss Merriweather, it was okay for him to break the rules. In the end, the lion continues to be a library friend for all.
The pictures in this book are beautiful. They look like colored pencils. I liked how the words were set off in a frame on one side with a picture on the opposite side.
My initial idea for this book would be to read aloud to a young group of students before their first trip to the school library. The class could have a discussion after reading the book about what they think library rules are. After their first visit to the library, this could be used for a writing activity as well because I could have students write through drawings and words they know to tell a story about an animal of their choice in the library
The following is a link to an awesome resource that I found containing lesson activity ideas for this particular story! : http://www.candlewick.com/book_files/0763622621.kit.1.pdf From arts and crafts to acting out plays to suggested other stories, this website would be perfect to incorporate.
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The pictures in this book are beautiful. They look like colored pencils. I liked how the words were set off in a frame on one side with a picture on the opposite side.
My initial idea for this book would be to read aloud to a young group of students before their first trip to the school library. The class could have a discussion after reading the book about what they think library rules are. After their first visit to the library, this could be used for a writing activity as well because I could have students write through drawings and words they know to tell a story about an animal of their choice in the library
The following is a link to an awesome resource that I found containing lesson activity ideas for this particular story! : http://www.candlewick.com/book_files/0763622621.kit.1.pdf From arts and crafts to acting out plays to suggested other stories, this website would be perfect to incorporate.
Polacco, Patricia. (2013). The Blessing Cup. New York: Simon and Schuster Books For Young Readers.
This book won the National Jewish Book Award. This book is a heart warming story about a little girl's great-grandmother' journey to America. Her great-grandmother, Anna, struggles through being the oppressed ethnicity, Jewish, in Russia. Anna's mother received an exquisit tea set as a wedding gift, and the note inside said that everyone who drinks from the tea set will get a gift from God—know love and joy and never be poor! the family was financially poor, but they had love and were blessed by God. One day, they were forced to leave Russia and make the rough journey to America because they were Jewish. They were forced to sell all of their posessions, but they were able to keep the tea set. Her father got sick on the journey, but fortunately, a doctor took them in his home. The doctor nursed her father back into health, fell in love with the family, and shared God's blessings through the tea set. However, they were caught and forced to leave. Strikingly, the family left the tea set in thanks to the doctor, but they kept one cup. The family made it to America and shared their cup of God's blessings through the generations.
I think this book would be a great way to talk about blessings near Thanksgiving.
Another idea I had was to use this book as a read-aloud to introduce the Holocaust to a young group of students. Since it is a heavy topic, I think this book is a first step into understanding the Holocaust.
Like I mentioned, i would use this book as a read-aloud because of the heavy content and because of the length.
The pictures in this book may seem dull at first to a young child. However, the creativity and purpose behind her artwork in this book is amazing. Her use of black and white allows the few images per page that are in color to pop. Children's focus will go to the colored image on the page first. It would be interesting to have students notice each colored image on the pages and describe why they think the author chose that image to have in color. This would encourage critical thinking and a good grasp of comprehension of the story.
The following is a link to a website talking about children's diaries during the Holocaust: http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007952 Depending on the age group, i think it would be neat to read a children's version of another child's diary during the Holocaust. I also think it would be neat to teach students diary writing at this time and have them keep their own diary for awhile.
I think this book would be a great way to talk about blessings near Thanksgiving.
Another idea I had was to use this book as a read-aloud to introduce the Holocaust to a young group of students. Since it is a heavy topic, I think this book is a first step into understanding the Holocaust.
Like I mentioned, i would use this book as a read-aloud because of the heavy content and because of the length.
The pictures in this book may seem dull at first to a young child. However, the creativity and purpose behind her artwork in this book is amazing. Her use of black and white allows the few images per page that are in color to pop. Children's focus will go to the colored image on the page first. It would be interesting to have students notice each colored image on the pages and describe why they think the author chose that image to have in color. This would encourage critical thinking and a good grasp of comprehension of the story.
The following is a link to a website talking about children's diaries during the Holocaust: http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007952 Depending on the age group, i think it would be neat to read a children's version of another child's diary during the Holocaust. I also think it would be neat to teach students diary writing at this time and have them keep their own diary for awhile.
Polacco, Patricia. (2013). Gifts of the Heart. New York: Penguin Group Inc.
This Book is another timeless piece by Patricia Polacco. The story begins explaining that two children live on a farm with their grandpa and mother. Their grandma recently died, and they were being forced financially to sell the farm soon. Since their grandma died and their mother got a new job, the Agency was sending a lady to help out with the home. Richie (the boy) was very negative towards having some strange lady take over his grandma's jobs in the house and in their lives. This Christmas story teaches lessons through Richie and his sister as they learn from Kay Lamity the importance of gifts from the heart instead of physical presents. Through lack of faith in Kay and Santa, both children go through a journey of learning to have faith in things unseen. They also come to love Kay. In the end, the children find the perfect, meaningful gift from the heart to give to their mother, grandpa, and even Kay. They make corn husk angels made from the cornstalks grown on the farm so that they will always have a piece of the farm.
The language in this book may be difficult for young and even some older students to read independently because it uses a lot of slang such as, "young'uns," "ain't," and "yer." This book is also a longer picture book. Therefore, I would suggest this book for a class read-aloud during Christmastime.
With such great other books by Patricia Polacco it would be fun for students to do a unit on her. She has a lot of Christmas books, so it might be good to do it during Christmastime. The following is a link to her website, which contains contact information: http://www.patriciapolacco.com/ I think it would be fun for the children to contact the author.
The following is a link to a video of Patricia Polacco speaking about her books: http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/polacco | |
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Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Are You My Mother?
Eastman, P.D. (1960). Are You My Mother? New York: Beginner Books.
This book is a short easy-reader for young readers about second grade to read independently, or it can be read aloud to younger children. The book begins with a young bird hatching from its egg. It finds itself alone in its nest, so the bird decides to search for its mother. Since the young bird does not know what its mother looks like, it goes through a journey asking each animal it approaches if that animal is its mother. The bird asks a kitten, hen, dog, cow, car, boat, plane, and a "snort." Finally the bird is reunited with its mother. The language in this book can be read with a rhythmic tone, and it uses repetitive phrases, such as "Are you my mother?" The language in this book also forms patterns of memory. For example on page 30, the bird reflects on all of the previous animals that are not its mother, and each time the bird meets a new animal that is not its mother, the new animal is added to the list of animals or things that are not the bird's mother. The repetitive and pattern language in this short children's book would be great for shared reading, in which young students can chime in on the phrases that they know or can predict. I think this book would be great for classroom rhyming activities. However, I also think this book would be a great introduction to science for early childhood and kindergarten. This book could be incorporated in classification of different animal species, or it could be used when matching baby animals with its parents. The following is a link to a website with four different early childhood activiy ideas for this book incorporating art, science, cooking, and sensory: http://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-preschool/96884-story-stretcher-for-are-you-my-mother/ The following is a center idea for children to match and learn baby animals with its parents:
This book is a short easy-reader for young readers about second grade to read independently, or it can be read aloud to younger children. The book begins with a young bird hatching from its egg. It finds itself alone in its nest, so the bird decides to search for its mother. Since the young bird does not know what its mother looks like, it goes through a journey asking each animal it approaches if that animal is its mother. The bird asks a kitten, hen, dog, cow, car, boat, plane, and a "snort." Finally the bird is reunited with its mother. The language in this book can be read with a rhythmic tone, and it uses repetitive phrases, such as "Are you my mother?" The language in this book also forms patterns of memory. For example on page 30, the bird reflects on all of the previous animals that are not its mother, and each time the bird meets a new animal that is not its mother, the new animal is added to the list of animals or things that are not the bird's mother. The repetitive and pattern language in this short children's book would be great for shared reading, in which young students can chime in on the phrases that they know or can predict. I think this book would be great for classroom rhyming activities. However, I also think this book would be a great introduction to science for early childhood and kindergarten. This book could be incorporated in classification of different animal species, or it could be used when matching baby animals with its parents. The following is a link to a website with four different early childhood activiy ideas for this book incorporating art, science, cooking, and sensory: http://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-preschool/96884-story-stretcher-for-are-you-my-mother/ The following is a center idea for children to match and learn baby animals with its parents:
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