books and wiki

Genre / Titles you read (Hit enter after each one and a new number should pop up)

1. Non-fiction/Informational (1 chapter book or photo essay book reflection required on blog)
1. Lots and Lots of Zebra Stripes S.R. Swinburne

1. Poetry (1 chapter or picture book reflection required on blog)
1. Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech. (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)
2. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silversten

1. Modern Fantasy (1 chapter book reflection required on blog)
1. I, Jack  by Patricia Finney. (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)
2. Hunger games by S. Collins
3. Harry Potter and The Chamber Of Secrets J.K. Rowling 

1. Historical Fiction (1 reflection required on blog –can be a picture book)
1. The Teacher’s Funeral by Richard Peck. (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)
2. Meet Caroline by K Ernst
3. Little Women by L.M. Alcott

1. Multicultural/Traditional (2 reflections required on blog – one can be a picture book)
1. Hiroshima: A Novella by Laurence Yep (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)
2. Twlight by S. Meyer
3. One Sunday Morning by Y. Heo

1. Realistic Fiction (1 chapter book reflection required on blog)
1. Baby by Patricia MacLachlan. (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)
2. Are You There, God? It’s Me,  by Margaret. J Blume
3. Junie B. Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed by B Park
4. Diary of A Wimpy Kid by J Kinney

1. Picture Books (5 reflections required on blog during the first two weeks of class. There should be a total here of at least six.)

1. The Wednesday Surprise by Eve Bunting. (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)
2. –GIGGLE GIGGLE QUACK by D Cronin
3. –Wocket in my Pocket by Dr. Suess
4. –Giving Tree by Shel Silversten
5. –The Very Hungry Caterpillar by E Carle
6. -Where the Wild Things Are by M. Sendak
7. Goodnight Moon by M.W. Brown
8. My Friend is Sad by M Willems
9. If you give a Pig a Pancake by L Numeroff

Wiki Checklist

Instructions: Write the number of entries for each category you posted into on the Course Wiki (requirement is four total posts, in four different categories)

___X_ Social Studies

____ Science

____ Math

____ Music

____ Art

___x_ Reading/Language Arts

____ Physical Education

____ Other

Lots and Lots of Zebra Stripes

Swinburne, S. R. (1998). Lots and lots of zebra stripes: 

Patterns in nature. Honesdale, Pa: Boyds Mill Press. 

I chose this photo essay book as my non fiction choice.  It is GREAT for kindergarten and possibly preschool. It's full of patterns that we see in nature everyday.  It not only talks about stripes but spots, spirals and circles.  

Connections: Kindergarten standards!!  patterns!

Big questions: What patterns do you see everyday?

Draw a pattern.

Meet Caroline

Ernst, K. (2012).Meet Caroline. China: American Girl Publishing.



This book would be great for 4th - 6th grade.  I chose it under the historical category because it depicts the life of a young girl in 1812.  It even has facts about 1812 in the back.

Have you ever felt like....."Could it get any better than this??!!" Well Caroline Abbott had that exact feeling!!  She loved sailing more than anything!!  As a girl growing up in  1812, she dreamed of being the captain of her very own ship.  She  actually gets to  sail Lake Ontario with her papa!! BUT wait!!!!  The British board their ship and take her papa prisoner !  They announce Britain and America are at WAR!!!!

 Read "Meet Caroline" to find out more about this adventurous, brave, young girl and  see if she ever gets to be Captain of her very own ship!!!  It's a super exciting adventure, dive in the many whirl winds and waves!! 

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Blume, J. (1988). Are you there, god? It's me, margaret. London: Pan Books Ltd..

This book is great for girls in 5th or 6th grade...

Hello....Are you there??? Have you ever felt different and alone? Well you are not alone!! Margaret feels the same way!!
She is confused about what she should believe because her parents come from different religious beliefs.  Her mother is Christian and her father is Jewish.  Her grandparents play a large role in how she believes.  She frequently prays or talks to God. She chooses to study different beliefs as her independent study. It becomes a bit overwhelming for her.  She visits a church and she goes into the confessional booth.  The priest begins to talk to her and she thinks it's actually God.  Grab a copy of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, and read how Margaret deals with her beliefs and changes she goes through.

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Silverstein, S. (2000). Where the sidewalk ends. Anniversary ed. New York, NY: Columbia/Legacy/Sony Wonder.

This is a great tool to use when teaching/working on poetry.  Where the Sidewalk Ends is full of rhymes, he used rhymes possibly because they are fun to read especially for children.  He also used repetition to reiterate the meaning of his poems. 

I would say that it has both narrative and lyric style poems.  Some of the poems are focused on one thing while others are about a sequence of events.

His poems are so full of imagery!!  As you read a given one, you can visualize it in your mind. The pictures that he drew to go with the poems capture his perspective perfectly.

This is a must have in a classroom!  


Curriculum connection: You could use this book in your elementary (probably more upper elementary  classroom by having them compare and contrast the poems in it.

Big questions:
Have them write a poem that correlates with the theme of this book.

Have a discussion about what they think the poems are mostly about and why.

Twlight

Meyer, S. (2005). Twilight. New York. Time Warner Book Group.

 The genre of the book falls under many categories, I am using it under this category (multicultural) because of all the diverse people/ cultures in the story.  The plot of this book is a girl, Bella, moves to a small town and to live with her father and falls for a mysterious boy, Edward, who is actually a vampire.  She is also best friends with Jacob, who is native american and a werewolf.  It is written in first person narrative, from Bella's point of view. 

You could use this book with higher elementary grades as "their" choice reading for a literature circle.  You could also use it as a creative writing piece by letting them write who they would be in the book.

Big question:

How do are all the cultures alike and how do they differ?

One Sunday Morning

Heo, Y. (1999). One sunday morning. New York: Orchard Books, A Grolier Company.

This books main character is Minho. He and his father take a trip to the park on the subway.  The book is full of onomatopoeia, with sounds of the subway train and other noises from the park.    I would say that the illustrator used and expressionists style. The pages are full of colorful images that will get the attention of any young child.

This book would be a useful to use when describing how people see things differently   What is normal to one culture is totally new to another.  You could compare and contrast the different cultures.

Big questions:

Choose a book and imagine you were visiting another country, describe what you would see and hear that is different.

How do you think Minho felt with his father in New York?

Hunger Games

Collins, S. (2008). The hunger games. New York: Scholastic Press.



The setting of this book takes place in the future after the fall of North America. It's split apart into 13 districts, each by socio-economics.  Once a year they have a "reaping" where a boy and a girl, aging from 12-18, name is drawn out from each district to fight for their life in the Hunger Game.  It's told from  Katniss Everdeen's point of view.  She lives in District 12, which is one of the poorest districts.  She lives with her mother and younger sister.  She has an unexpected event to occur which changes her life compeletly.

The author symbols throughout the book. In the title as well, Hunger games, food symbolizes wealth and those who have plenty.  She also uses flashbacks and foreshadowing in the book.  These devices make the story more interesting.


This book could be connected with Social studies, it is fiction, but they could imagine what the world would be like under those circumstances.  It could also be used as a journal entry writing.

Big Question:

What would you do if your name had been drawn?
What special talent would you have that would help save your life?

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Carle, E. (1987). The very hungry caterpillar. New York: Philomel Books.


The illustrator use bright colors and expressionistic style.  The pictures jump out on every page.

The plot in this story is the life cycle of a butterfly.  Each page the caterpillar gets closer and closer to becoming a butterfly.  The point of view is from the caterpillar's.


The curriculum connection could be used for science as it is the life cycle of the caterpillar. They can use the book to predict what is going to happen next too.

Big questions:
Why is the caterpillar eating so much?
What is going to happen to the caterpillar?

Where the Wild Things Are

Sendak, M. (1963). Where the wild things are. New York: Harper & Row.

This book is great for kids with big imaginations.

The illustrations are with cool colors and very eye catching.  Students can really jump into Max's imagination.  Even though it's his imagination, the illustrations are realistic.

The story is from Max's point of view.  He leaves his bedroom for a grand adventure in his mind!


Big Questions:
Use your imagination and write/draw where you would go and tell why.
Why do you think Max chose to go "where the wild things are"?

The Giving Tree

Silverstein, Shel. (1964). The giving tree. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers

This book is one of my favorites!!  

The illustrations follow the story line perfectly and he used both warm and cool colors in a cartoon style.

Shel incorporates rhyme scheme and personification in the story.  He gives the tree human like characteristics because the boy talks to him and is his friend.    The tree shows emotions throughout the book, it's happy when the boy/man comes around and sad and "slumpy" when he is away.

A teacher could use this in the classroom by asking the students to predict what they think is going to happen, the students could also write a journal entry about what gift they would give and to whom.

Big Questions:
Can plants such as trees have emotions and feel like people?
What gift would you give to someone to make them happy?

There's a Wocket in my Pocket

Dr. Seuss. (1974). There's a wocket in my pocket. New York, NY: Random House.
I chose There's a wocket in my pocket as a picture book because the pictures are amazing!

They are so colorful and bright. The pictures go right along with the story too!! (silly)
He uses rhyming in this book, real words to nonsense words. (nink, sink;zable table) I believe he also uses imagery. All those "colorful" nonsense words make students imagine what they look like.  
The students will connect with this story, because it is fun to read, or be read to. You can even have them make up their own nonsense words and discuss what they are and/or look like.

Big questions:
What are some of the made up words?
What is the author doing with the words? (rhyming)
Would you like to live in that house?

Giggle, Giggle, Quack

Cronin, D. (2002). Giggle, giggle, quack. New York, Broadway: Scholastic Inc.

I chose this particular book first because I live in a farming community and work with Kindergarten students.  We have a farm unit every year so I like to locate as many books talking about farms as I can. It 's pictures are so eye catching, perfect under the picture book category.

Personification is all through this book, from cover to cover.  The animals can read and write (notes to Bob), eat pizza, and watch tv.  Students will relate to this book, because they see farms everyday, even if only on the bus ride home and we can discuss what is real and what is make believe. 

Big questions could be:

Can animals really read and write?

What do farm animals really eat?

What is the difference between a farm and a city?