Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type

Fantasy

Cronin, D. (2000). Click Clack Moo Cows That Type. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Click Clack Moo Cows That Type by TaceyM on GoAnimate
Click Clack Moo Cows That Type is a hilarious children's book describing the tale of cows, who have gotten a hold of a typewriter, and their communication with the farmer.  Soon, the chickens get involved in the "conspiracy" too.  Eventually, the farmer gives in to their requests in exchange for the typewriter.  

While this book, Click Clack Moo Cows That Type, is clearly written for younger elementary students, to raise the difficulty and interest level of this book, I would definitely use it for a Reader's Theatre performance.  Students could be assigned "roles" to read aloud and/or possibly act out.  This book offers several roles for the students to play: cows, narrator, chickens, farmer, ducks, the audience, etc.

Narrator: "It was bad enough the cows had found the old typewriter in the barn, now they wanted electric blankets!"

Farmer: "No way, no electric blankets"

Narrator: "So the cows went on strike. They left a note on the barn door."

Cows: "Sorry. We're closed. No milk today."

I personally love Reader's Theaters, especially with entertaining stories such as this one.  The provide opportunities to practice fluency and confidence by reading aloud.  Additionally, I've found that most students really enjoy to have the chance to act out their favorite stories.

The Polar Express

Fantasy: Caldecott Medalist

Allsburg, C. (1985). The Polar Express. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing.

The Polar Express is a magical story of the power of believing in something such as Santa Claus.  The story follows a small boy who boards a magical train to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. When he gets to the North Pole he realizes that he is apart of the "First Gift of Christmas" Celebration.  The little boy was actually chosen to be the lucky one who received the first gift! While he knew he could ask for  anything in the world, he chose to ask for something really special.

While The Polar Express may seem like a book for younger elementary students, there are several lessons you could do that would be appreciated by older elementary students as well.  In the writing of this book, the author uses a lot of comparisons to help illustrate his story.  As upper elementary students are learning about similes and metaphors, this book could be used as an example.  An example would be to make a chart comparing the similes and metaphors to the plain language.

"We drank hot cocoa as thick and rich as melted chocolate bars" :

 The hot chocolate was sweet and good

"Faster and faster we ran along, rolling over peaks and through valleys like a car on a roller coaster" :

 The train went fast over hills

After comparing the two different types of "languages", students can practice writing their own similes and metaphors about their own lives.

Zathura: A Space Adventure

Science Fiction

Allsburg, C. (2002). Zathura A Space Adventure. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Zathura: A Space Adventure  is Chris Allusburg's "sequel" to his hit book Jumanji.  The book begins by two brothers fighting in their back yard.  One of the boys spotted a game leaned against a tree that read Jumanji: A Jungle Adventure.  He grabbed the game and ran inside to play with his brother.  As the boys were looking at the jungle-themed game, they saw there was another board hidden inside, one that read Zathura: A Space Adventure.  As the boys begin to play the new space game, strange things happen to them and their house.  Soon the boys realize that this is no ordinary board game!

I, personally, was a huge fan of the hit book and movie Jumanji.  Chris Allsburg does a great job of depicting a magical game that takes the players into the real life story line.  There are several different ways an educator could use this book in a 3-5 classroom.  On of the most interesting ways would be to use this book as a launching pad for studying space themes.  The book incorporates several different space terminology such as meteors, gravity, and black holes.  Students could easily form questions about space and the different parts that make up our galaxy.  Additionally, as apart of a writing unit, students could, with their newly learned research, write stories about their make-believe story to space.  I really enjoyed reading Jumanji when I was an elementary student so I know elementary students today are really going to love the sequel to the book, Zathura: A Space Adventure.