“Paddington Takes the Air” By: Michael Bond (Modern Fantasy, Chapter Book)

This book is about a colorful and exciting bear named Paddington, and is only one in a series of Paddington books. This story is all about this talking bear and the interesting situations that he manages to get himself into. In the opening we learn that the tooth that Paddington just lost has been dropped down the waste disposal by Mrs. Brown, and Paddington is not happy. Each of the following chapters present Paddington in a different situation, some of which include: trying out a really old sewing machine, entering a gymkhana, restoring an old car, and acting as a detective. The story ends with Paddington getting invited to a charity ball, and participating in a dance competition.

After reading this book with the students in my classroom, I would put the children into groups of three or four, and assign each group a chapter in the book. I would then have them use some sort of technology to present their assigned chapter to the class, such as a prezi, wordle, glogster, etc. In their presentation they would summarize their chapter, include their opinions on it, and “talk back” to the text.

"Teammates" By: Peter Golenbock (Free Choice, Non-fiction)

This book is about the early days of baseball when there was a separate Negro league as well as a White league. It tells the story of the Negro players and their hard lives on the roads, as well as the White players who had much better food and living conditions. The author mentions that many people knew that the prejudices were wrong, but nobody wanted to challenge the current conditions. One day the manager of the Dodgers decided that he wanted to recruit the best players for his team, regardless of race. This is how an African American man named Jackie Robinson became the first black player to try out for a Major League baseball team.

After reading this book with my class, I would use it to spark some conversations about sportsmanship, friendship, and equality. I would also use it to begin to talk about the different types of conflict (character vs self, character vs nature, etc.). The kids could then go back through the story and identify examples of these different types of conflict.

“In Your Face” By: Donna Jackson (Non-fiction, Free Choice)

http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/JqqDqFThpk

 

I would use this book in my classroom when discussing non-fiction as a genre. After reading this book, I would have the students explore other non-fiction books, and think about some similarities and differences between them. Afterwards, I would get them to make a wallwisher, on which they would discuss some things that they found to be true in most non-fiction books, including the table of contents, headings, index, glossary, etc. They would also be free to put up some interesting things that they learned from their books, and respond to some of their classmates wall posts.

"Sarah, Plain and Tall" By: Patricia Maclachlan (Historical Fiction, Chapter Book)

This book is about two young children Anna and Caleb, who lost their mother very young, and who now live with their father. One day their dad puts an ad in the paper looking for a wife and mother for his children. A woman by the name of Sarah Wheaton of Maine, responds and soon comes to live with the family. The children are constantly worried that Sarah will leave them and go back home, but in the end the four of them find a way to become a happy family again.

After reading this book in my classroom, I would put the children into groups of four and have them select a portion of the story that they would like to work with. The group will choose some way to represent their section of the story by using the flip camera, which can either be a dramatic reading of the text, acting it out, etc. Somewhere in their video though, they must include why their portion is crucial to the overall plot of the story.

"Dirt on Their Skirts" By:Doreen Rappaport and Lyndall Callan (Historical Fiction, Free Choice)

This book takes young readers back to 1946 when the Racine Belles played the Rockford Peaches in the All American Girls Baseball League. The story is about a young girl named Margaret, and her family’s trip to the baseball game. It tells about why the league was created during the war and gives a play by play of the last few moments of the game. As Margaret talks about the game, her passion for it becomes evident, as well as her dream of one day playing in the same league.

I would use this book as an opportunity for the children to learn more about the history of women in the United States. I would assign each student a player from either the Belles or the Peaches, and have them do research on her. After gathering up enough information, they would then write a biography about the player, and share it with the class.

"Frindle" By: Andrew Clements (Realistic Fiction, Chapter Book)

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3123017/Frindle

 

After reading this book with my students, I would have them create two glogsters. On the first I would instruct them to create a glogster about the book Frindle, in which they would have to creatively arrange the key events, characters, and themes of the story. I would tell them though that they are not limited to these ideas, but that they are a minimal requirement. The second glogster , would be them coming up with a new word for an everyday object, just as Nick did in the story. They would use the glogster to creatively display their new word and its meaning.

"Mama Miti" By: Donna Jo Napoli (International/Multicultural Literature)

This book is about a woman from Kenya, Africa whose name is Wangari Maathai. Wangari won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her service to the land. Nick-named Mama Miti, this book tells the story of how she changed her country tree by tree by giving out seeds to all of the poor women that came to her for help.   

I would read this book in my classroom when discussing the importance of being agents of change with my students. It perfectly illustrates how even just the actions of one person can begin to change the world. I would tie this into the science curriculum by discussing how planting all of these trees positively affected the environment, including less erosion, cleaner air and water, etc. I would also like to do a follow up project to have the children write a type of grant to a local agriculture supply store, to see if they would donate some seeds to the children. They could then distribute these seeds to family and friends just like Mama Miti did in the story.