Noah Webster and His Words

Nonfiction: Biography

Ferris, J. (2012). Noah Webster and His Words. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing.

The book, Noah Webster & His Words, is a great addition to any classroom.  There are several easy connections to language arts, with the definitions of difficult words right on the page, to US history as Noah's colorful life connected him to so many important figures of his time.

Due to the carful selection of words in this book (it is a book about Noah Webster!), a good lesson to do with this book is to look carefully at what the book has said about Noah, verbatim, and what we can inference about Noah.  As a class, we could make a list of description words that are found in the book about Noah.

Confidence, Scholar, Busy, Blue-Backed Speller, Newspaper, Dictionary, Teaching, Talking, etc.

Then, from the list we generated and evidence we have from the book, we could practice inferencing what else we know about Noah that wasn't explicitly told in the story.

Reader, Writer, Father, Politician, Poor, Patriotic, Outspoken, Journalist, Persistent,etc.

Inferencing is an important skill, especially for upper elementary students.  If students can inference things from a story, it helps them make connections to other ideas that have or have hear.  Additionally, it helps them to understand what the author of a particular story is trying to say about that character or event. Overall, inferencing helps students make sense of what they just read.

Hoot

Chapter Book: Realistic Fiction/ Newberry Honor Medalist

Hiaasen, C. (2002). Hoot. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

Awards:

• A Newberry Honor Book
• SEBA Award for Best Children's Book
• An ABC Children's Booksellers choice
• An ALA Notable Book
• A YALSA Best Book for Young Adults
• A Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year
• A New York Times Bestseller
• A Book Sense Bestseller

The book, Hoot is a hilariously written story about middle school students standing up for what they believe in.  Hoot, written by Carl Hiaasen, was a book I once loved as an elementary student.  The book takes place in Florida where a new middle school student, Roy, has just found himself due to his parents latest move.  As he navigates his way through the awkward stages of middle school, Roy finds himself in with some interesting characters.  The book also follows a young patrol cop, Office Delinko, who interests himself in surveying a nearby construction site that appears to be the victim of several odd vandalism schemes.  Both characters intertwine and resolve the mystery behind the odd vandalism - owls. This book captures the oddities of being a middle school student with the struggles of standing up for your beliefs, perfectly.

Due to the length and high level vocabulary throughout this book, I would probably only use it in a fifth grade or sixth grade class.  I think it will appeal to these students, primarily because it takes place in a middle school, which these students either just started or will be starting the next year.  The book ends with a huge protest of the upcoming Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House due to several burrowing owls that had nested on the construction site.  According to the book, this specific type of owl was an endangered species and therefore protected under the law.  When business officials and construction workers refused to stop building due to the owls, some of the local middle school students took matters into their own hands.  This call to action, is what I hope to be a kickoff for an "friends of endangered species" lesson.  Students could research endangered species, learn about the environment and why their selected animal has become endangered, and formulate a way to educate the public or those at fault as to why this animal is going extinct and why we should save it. I think this type of unit would compliment the book nicely, showing students that they can make a difference in society, even at a young age.

John Lewis in the Lead: A Story of the Civil Rights Movement

Nonfiction: Biography

Haskins, J., & Benson, K. (2006). John Lewis in the Lead: A Story of the Civil Rights Movement. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books Inc.

The book, John Lewis in the Lead: A Story of the Civil Rights Movement, is a biography that briefly covers the life of John Lewis and his involvement in the Civil Rights movement.  The story begins with John Lewis as only a child with responsibilities to the plantation that he and his family worked on for exchange for shelter and some of the crops that were harvested.  As John Lewis grows up, he begins to hear stories of segregation and boycotts from across the country.  After graduating high school, John Lewis set out to stand up against racial injustice and meet Dr. King.  John Lewis began to organize and participate in several sit-ins and marches for peace and racial justice.  Due to many of John Lewis's efforts and other leaders within the Civil Rights Movement, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed two important pieces of legislature into law; the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  This book, John Lewis in the Lead, is a great re-telling of a influential leader during the Civil Rights Movement, who's perspective and life is different than the famous Dr. King.

The Civil Rights is a topic that is covered in all of K-5.  In the upper elementary grades, students begin to dive deeper into the big events that made the Civil Rights Movement so famous.  I would love to include this book as a supplemental source to my grade's social studies text book for a couple of reasons.  First, John Lewis, while a prominent person in Civil Rights history, is very overshadowed by the famous Dr. King, making him a new person for students to study.  Additionally, because of his in depth work with the Civil Rights marches and sit-ins, I find this book to be a good supplemental text to Martin Luther King related works as well.  Additionally, the easy flow and "story" aspect of this nonfiction books makes it more digestible to students who may struggle to read a text book.

There are several different lessons that could go along with this book.  The first, and probably most obvious as I have already mentioned, would be to use this as a supplemental text to a Civil Rights or Martin Luther King unit.  Another way, since this book focuses on John Lewis who is a current sitting congressman for the state of Georgia, would be to have students research more about John Lewis and what he as done since the Civil Rights Movement.

The One and Only Ivan

Chapter Book: Realistic Fiction/ Newberry Honor Medalist

Applegate, K. (2012). The One and Only Ivan. Harper Collins Publishers.

The story, The One and Only Ivan, is a fictional story based on the true events of a gorilla living alone, in captivity, at a circus-themed mall in Washington state.  The book tells the tale of a easy-going silverback gorilla who spends his time talking to his 'neighbors' in the mall - an old female elephant named Stella and a stray dog named Bob.  Ivan also enjoys watching TV inside his cage, eating bananas, and coloring with various materials, mostly provided by his human friend, Julia.  While he is living his simple, lonely life within the mall, the new arrival of Ruby, a baby elephant, changes things forever.  I really enjoy this book because, even though it is discussing the life of a gorilla, I found it to be very relatable.  Additionally, the book is based off several true events, making the sometimes sticky topics of animal rights and behaviors very real and apparent.  I think reading The One and Only Ivan would be a great book to choose for either a group reading, or a book in a literature circle in a fourth or fifth grade classroom.

In reading this book as apart of a literature circle within a fourth or fifth grade classroom, there are several different paths of discussion you could cover.  The book is very well written so, as a group, you could discuss the several various components it takes when writing or evaluating literature such as the theme of a story, the importance of certain phrasing and wording, etc.  Some sample discussion questions could include:

Compare the personalities of Mack and George.  What makes them alike? What makes them different?

Why does Ivan promise Stella that he will take care of Ruby when he knows how hard it will be to keep that promise?

What does Stella mean when she says, " Old age is a powerful disguise" (p. 31)


 Additionally, when discussing the book as a whole, several important themes become apparent.  To me, the biggest theme I got out of the book was the idea of animal rights and captivity.  To extend idea of animal rights and equality beyond discussion students could begin to research the real history of Ivan and how it influenced the writing of this book.  The character of Ivan is very much a real gorilla who lived in the Atlanta Zoo, however, prior to living there he spent 27 lonely years in a mall in Washington State.  Children could research the "true" story of Ivan the gorilla, learning more about the "behind the pages" action that was Ivan's life.  Additionally, focusing around the theme of animal rights, children could research an animal that is endangered or abused in a certain part of the world and write letters and design propaganda to be sent to authorities in charge.  I think the story of Ivan really touches the hearts of many children, and by giving them a chance to potentially save another animal is really motivating for them.

Cinderella, Cendrillon, and Pear Blossom

Folk Literature/ Multicultural and International Literature/ Caldecott Medalist

San Souci, R. (2002). Cendrillon: A caribbean cinderella. New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks.

Climo, S. The korean cinderella. Harper Collins Publishers.

Brown, M. (1997). Cinderella . Aladdin Paperbacks.

The story of "Cinderella" is a very popular one.  Almost every culture has their own version of the magical fairy tale.  I pulled three different versions of the famous Cinderella story, first Caldecott Medalist, Cinderella translated by Marcia Brown, Cendrillon; A Caribbean Cinderella by Robert D. San Souci, and The Korean Cinderella by Shirley Climo.  All of these books follow the general story of the classic Cinderella Story with their own different international spins.

With the famous story of "Cinderella", it seems that almost every culture has it's own version of the classic tale.  Using either these three versions, or pulling more versions of the fairy tale, students could explore the similarities and differences between different countries and cultures.  Using the Wordle App, I created three Word Clouds.  I copied and pasted the whole story into the Wordle App, and it generates a Word Cloud.  Each time a word is repeated throughout the story, the word is represented in a larger font on the Word Cloud.  This is a really cool tool to use to show the commonalities between the stories.  For instance, the Cinderella Word Cloud and The Pear Blossom Word Cloud both contain large words for Prince/Magistrate, signifying that the idea of a prince with the Cinderella is a commonality between the two stories.  I think the more stories you would be able to generate a Word Cloud for, the more interesting it would be to connect the similarities and differences between the actual written stories.

The Year Comes Round, Haiku through the Seasons

Poetry: Haiku Poems

Farrar, S. (2012). The Year Comes Round;Haiku Through the Seasons. Chicago, IL: Albert Whitman & Company.

To kick off my book blog I'm starting with the poetry book, The Year Comes Round: Haiku though the Seasons, written by Sid Farrar and illustrated by the Caldecott Honor Winner Ilse Plume.  This book features Haiku poems that hi-light each of the 12 months of the year. Poems are paired with beautiful, full-page illustrations that enhance the mystic of the Haiku poems.  One of my favorite poems featured in this book is found in the "summer/fall months" section, perhaps describing the months of August or September.  The poem reads:

A mystery how

these endless rows of corn can

agree of their height

I love this poem because it brings a part of fall that we all can relate to, the equally-tall stalks of corn, and adds a playful touch to it. I also love poetry in the form of Haikus, mostly because I don't feel that the art of poetry speaks to me as much as other art forms.  However, I have an appreciation for Haiku poems as they follow a specific syllable pattern, making word choice, sentence structure, and theme crucial to the success of the poem.  Additionally, because Haiku poems are so short, I feel they are more approachable for elementary-aged children.  I can relate to students who feel overwhelmed when they are asked to evaluate or create long poems; there is a lot to think about when reading or creating a longer poem.  I think Haiku poems are the portal to poetry in the elementary world.  I do think that students, especially elementary students, should be exposed to longer, more complex poems, however, I think Haiku poems are a good place to start.

One of my favorite poetry projects that I did in elementary school was in third grade.  We did what was essentially an anthology of our favorite poems from different "genres" of poetry.  For example, we had to choose an "historical" poem, a "pet" poem, etc.  In addition to compiling all of these different poems, we had to create 3 Haiku poems.  If I were to do a similar project within my own classroom, I would use the creation and discussion on Haiku poems as a platform into poetry.  Due to Haiku poem's strict rules and short length, I believe it would be a less overwhelming entrance into the world of expression with words.