The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Modern Fantasy (Chapter Book)

Siblings Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are sent to live in the English countryside with Professor Digory Kirke at the begining of World War II. Shortly after they arrive at his house, they decide to go exploring- and find a magical wardrobe that takes them to the land of Narnia. The four siblings explore Narnia and have many adventures there- eventually becoming the Kings and Queens of the land! After 15 years there, they travel back through the wardrobe to find that no time has passed in England. They tell the Professor about their wild adventure in Narnia, and he tells them that one day they will return- but never again through the wardrobe.

Since this book is a little complicated, I think I would use it to improve their vocabulary and check how well they are comprehending. It also opens up an avenue to discuss World War II and the Holocaust due to the fact that the four siblings had to be evacuated from their home. This would undoubtedly come up, and this book would make a great segue.

Revolutionary War on Wednesday

Revolutionary War on Wednesday by Mary Pope Osborne

Modern Fantasy (Chapter Book)

Revolutionary War on Wednesday is book #22 in the 'Magic Tree House' series. Siblings Jack and Annie have a magic tree house that takes them to the places in the books they read to help Morgan Le Fay, a magical librarian. In this adventure, Jack and Annie travel back in time to December 25, 1776 and find themselves smack dab in the middle of the American Revolution. They end up crossing the Delaware River with George Washington himself, and when he starts to question whether or not he should continue on with his plan to attack the Hessians (German soldiers hired by the British army), Annie convinces him to keep going for all the future children of America! Jack and Annie find what they need to complete their own mission and go back home, and George Washington and the Patriots go on to win the war.

I would use this book to discuss the development of the United States of America. This book tells the story of one of the most important nights of the American Revolution from a child's point of view, which I think is important for young students. I think it would really help students understand the American Revolution and the important events that shaped America.

Abuela

Abuela by Arthur Dorros

Multicultural

Abuela is the story young Rosalba and her abuela, or grandmother. Rosalba and Abuela love to go on adventures, and their story starts in the park with lots of birds. Rosalba imagines what it would be like if she and Abuela flew with the birds. They would fly all over the city, near the ocean, past the Statue of Liberty, and into the clouds. Rosalba hears Abuela calling her and her daydream is over, but Abuela is taking her on a boat ride in the park- yet another adventure!

I would use this book to discuss imagery. Rosalba imagines herself flying high above the city, and I think it would be fun to read the students the book and then have them write their own story, using imagery, about what they would do if they could fly above their town for a day.

Roanoke: The Lost Colony

Roanoke: The Lost Colony by Jane Yolen and Heidi Elisabet Yolen Stemple

Non-Fiction

Jane Yolen tells the story of the lost colony at Roanoke, an island off the coast of North Carolina. It starts with the colonists' journey to the New World from England. They intended to start their colony in Chesapeake, Virginia, but were forced out of their boats at Roanoke. They got into fights with the Indians but managed to survive. Just after the first English child was born in America (Virginia Dare), the leader, John White, set sail for England to get more supplies. When he returned the colonists were gone and all that remained were the letters "CRO" carved into a tree and the word "CROATAN" carved into a post. No one knows what it meant and the colonists were never found. To this day the Roanoke colony is known as "lost."

I would use this book to discuss the Lost Colony at Roanoke. This is a huge event in North Carolina's history, and relates to the NC SCOS 4th Grade objective 3.03- Examine the Lost Colony and explain its importance in the settlement of North Carolina. It really focuses on facts and vocabulary and gives five different theories as to what happened to the colonists. I think the students would respond much better to reading and learning about the colony from this book than they would to reading and learning about the colony from a textbook.

Isla

Isla by Arthur Dorros

Multicultural

This is a story about a small girl named Rosalba and her Abuela, or grandmother. Using their imaginations, they fly to la isla (the island) where Abuela grew up. They meet relatives, visit the rain forest, go to the market, and swim in the ocean- all the while speaking in Spanish. They fly back to New York City, and can't wait for the next time they visit their isla.

I think this book would be great to promote diversity, specifically knowledge of Hispanic cultures. The book uses lots of phrases in Spanish (with a glossary of terms in the back) and I think it would be neat to have students who speak Spanish fluently come up with some everyday terms of their own to share with the class that we can all use in our vocabulary. It would also be great to have Hispanic students talk about where their own families are from and segue into a discussion on the ancestry and history of all the students in the class and Americans as a group.

Thank You, Mr. Falker

Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco

Realistic Fiction

Thank You, Mr. Falker is a story about Tricia's struggle to read. Ever since her grandfather poured honey on a book and told her she would taste sweet knowledge, Tricia has longed to read. She tries so hard but the words all swim together and kids make fun of her. Then she meets Mr. Falker, who works with her every day, letter by letter, until Tricia can read! She is so happy because this is all she ever wanted. Little Tricia grows up to write books for children, and thanks Mr. Falker every day for changing her life.

I would use this book to discuss plot development. This is a touching book and the plot is detailed without being complicated. I think it would be a good book to talk about plot development because the events of the book are meaningful and identifiable but, because of the nature of the book, it is fairly easy to determine the order and progression of the story. It would be a good book to introduce this topic before moving on to plot development in chapter books.

A Birthday Basket for Tía

A Birthday Basket for Tía by Pat Mora

Multicultural

This book is really neat because it tells a story through the eyes of a young Mexican-American girl. It is about a young girl named Cecelia who wants to give her Tía, or aunt, a special present for her ninetieth birthday. Her cat Chica helps her as she goes around the house filling her basket with things that remind her of Tía. Soon it is time for Tía's surprise party and when Cecelia gives Tía her birthday present, Chica jumps in the basket! Tía loves her present, and she and Cecelia dance together.

I think this book would be a great tool when discussing the differences between Mexican and American cultures, especially if there are students of Mexican descent in the classroom. It gives really good examples of ways that Mexican and American cultures are different through a story about a girl and her aunt. It would be really neat to ask any students of Mexican descent if they have ever made bizcochos, the cookies Cecelia makes with Tía, or if they ever drink hierbabuena, the tea Tía makes Cecelia when she is sick.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Modern Fantasy (Chapter Book)

Charlie is a young boy who lives with his mother, father, and both sets of grandparents. They are very poor, and often do not have enough food or money for all seven of them. Charlie hears stories from his Grandpa Joe about the mysterious chocolatier Willy Wonka, who closed his factory one day and never told anyone why. Suddenly the factory is open again, but no one is ever seen going in or out and the world is very confused about who is making all the chocolate. One day Willy Wonka announces he is holding a world-wide contest: he is putting five golden tickets in his chocolate bars and the lucky five children to find them will get a tour of the factory and chocolate for life! Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Mike Teavee, and Violet Beauregarde are the first four to find golden tickets- and Charlie is the lucky fifth! On their tour of the factory crazy things happen, and by the end Charlie is the only child left. Willy Wonka tells him that he has won the contest, and the factory is now HIS when Wonka decides to retire!

I would use this book to teach context clues. Roald Dahl likes to use made-up words, especially in this book, so I think it would be a really good book to use to teach them how to look at the context of sentences. I could pull out a few sentences after reading a chapter and ask them to tell me what they think the made-up words are. This book would also be a fun way to teach students how to summarize. The things in the story that happen are so crazy that I think they would have more fun reading and summarizing with a book like this than with simple texts that they consider "boring."

For one of my technology integrations I chose to use Wordle.net, a site that generates word clouds from text. To get this specific word cloud I typed the chapter "The Golden Tickets" from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory into Wordle. I think it would be neat to show this to students and ask them what they think the main idea of the chapter is or even have them write summaries and type those into Wordle and discuss why they think the words that are the biggest ended up that way.

John Hancock

John Hancock by Candice Ransom

Biography

John Hancock led a very interesting life. His family wanted him to become a minister, but he had other ideas for himself. His uncle adopted him after his father passed away, and all of a sudden John had money! When John was an adult, King George of England started to tax the colonists and the colonists became angry because they did not have anyone to represent them in Parliament, the place where all the laws are made. Some of the colonists, including John Hancock, formed a group called the Sons of Liberty. The Sons of Liberty protested Britain's taxes, and eventually they got them repealed! But the peace did not last for long, and eventually King George angered the colonists again with a new set of taxes. John was elected President of the Congress and was picked to sign the Declaration of Independence. He signed his name very large on the document to prove to King George that he was not afraid of him. Eventually the Revolution ended and America was free, and John was elected governor of Massachusetts. He married and lived a happy life until he died in 1793.

Not only is this book an example of a biography, a genre many students are unfamiliar with, it is also a book that covers many of the important events in our country's early history. It would be a good book to use to talk about the major documents that formed the foundation of our government and to talk about how the government has changed over time, both of which are 5th grade Social Studies objectives.

John Hancock

Above is a link to a video I made on Animoto.com as one of my technology incorporations. I thought it was a really great way to pull pictures of some of the most important people and events in the book. Giving the students 5 or 6 pre-selected websites with pictures of things related to the book and John Hancock's life would be a really great way for them to delve more into the topic and possibly gain a greater understanding of the book.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

Realistic Fiction (Chapter Book)

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a fun book that follows the adventures of Claudia Kincaid and her little brother Jamie. They are bored with their lives and decide to run away to the glamorous Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. They hide in the bathrooms each night as the museum is closing and come out once everyone has gone home, bathe in the fountain, and sleep in a bed from the sixteenth century. They become transfixed by a small statue in the museum rumored to be sculpted by Michelangelo, and embark on a journey to discover the truth. They decide to find out anything they can about the statue, and discover it was sold to the museum by Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. They spend the last of the money they have saved on a cab ride to Mrs. Frankweiler's house in Connecticut in hopes to discover the truth about the sculpture. Mrs. Frankweiler tells them the secret lies in her files, which are extremely unorganized! She lets Claudia and Jamie into her mixed-up files and there they find the truth about the sculpture. Excited and exhausted, Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler sends them home to their worried family and their journey ends.

I would use this book to talk about money with my students. Throughout the book we see Claudia and Jamie's money supply fluctuate as they buy themselves food and other supplies and take coins from the fountain. I think it would be neat to give my students each $5 in fake money and go through a series of scenarios with them just like Claudia and Jamie went through where they need to decide how to spend their money and keep track of how much they spend on what.

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, translated by Anthea Bell and illustrated by Dorothée Duntze

Traditional/Folk Literature

The Twelve Dancing Princesses is the story of twelve sisters whose father, the king, cannot figure out how they are wearing holes in their shoes at night. The king becomes frustrated and invites any man in his kingdom to try and discover the princesses' secret- if they win they will marry their choice of his daughters and one day rule his kingdom, but if they fail they will be executed. Many men try and fail, but one day a poor soldier gets a tip from an old woman and decides to try his luck. Just before bed, the eldest princess brings the soldier a glass of wine which he pretends to drink. A short time later he pretends to sleep and watches as the princesses get head down a secret passageway to a magical underground castle. They travel to a lake where twelve princes are waiting in boats to carry them across water to the big castle where they dance for hours. Then the princes take them back across the lake and the princess climb back up the passageway into their beds. The whole time they are on this adventure, the soldier is with them unseen because of a magical cloak of invisibility. The next morning the soldier tells the king what the princesses are really doing each night and, once found out, they confess. He chooses to marry the eldest princess, and they are married that very day.

I think this book would be good when first introducing fairy tales. It has many elements of fairy tales including magic and the "happily ever after" ending. It would also be interesting to use when discussing cause and effect. You could start by discussing what happened as a result of the old woman giving the soldier a tip or what happened as a result of the soldier not drinking the wine. Then you could go one step further and ask them what would have happened if the soldier HADN'T gotten a tip from the old woman or had decided to drink the wine. It would be a neat conversation and would help them see how cause and effect affects a story.

The Rough-Face Girl

The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin & David Shannon

Traditional/Folk Literature

This is an Algonquin Indian version of the age-old fairy tale "Cinderella." Set in a village on the shores of Lake Ontario, the story begins with the introduction of the Invisible Being- a very rich, powerful, and supposedly handsome man- a man whose sister is the only one who can see him. His sister says that only the woman who can see him as well can marry him. We are introduced to a poor man and his three daughters- two very beautiful girls and the Rough-Face girl, whose face is scarred and rough from feeding the fire. The two beautiful sisters decide they will marry the Invisible Being, but when his sister asks them what his bow is made of they cannot correctly answer the question and are sent away. The next day the Rough-Face girl goes to meet the Invisible Being's sister and on her way there she sees the Invisible Being's face. When his sister asked the Rough-Face girl if what his bow was made of, she answers correctly. His sister is overjoyed and brings the Invisible Being in to meet the Rough-Face girl. They gave her beautiful robes and jewelry and tell her to bathe in the lake- and when she does, all her scars disappeared and she is as beautiful on the outside as she is on the inside. The Rough-Face girl and the Invisible Being are married and live together happily for the rest of their lives.

This book would be really great for predicting because it is very similar to Cinderella, which most students will already be familiar with. It is different enough to keep students interested while reading but familiar enough that it would be a good modeling book to show them how to predict.

The Great Race - The Story of the Chinese Zodiac

The Great Race - The Story of the Chinese Zodiac by Dawn Casey

Traditional/Folk Literature

This book tells the story of how, many years ago, the Chinese Emperor decided that China needed a calendar. He decided to name each year after a different animal, but could not figure out how to determine the order. The Emperor decided that holding a great race across a wide river would be the best way to choose the order of the years, and he invited all of the animals in the kingdom to take part in the race. Thirteen animals compete in the race, but there are only 12 years in the Chinese calendar! The rat is the most clever of all the animals and crosses the finish line first. Then is the ox, the tiger, the hare, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the cockerel, the dog, and the pig. The cat was left out of the zodiac because he hates to swim and couldn't make it to the shore no matter how hard he tried. To this day the Chinese still use the order the animals finished in the race to name each year.

I think this book would be a really great way to talk about other cultures, especially around the new year. Since it is about something that everyone in the world experiences (the start of a new year) it is something that the students would really be able to compare. It would be a good jumping off point into learning more about the Chinese culture and how it is both different from and similar to the American culture. It is a fairly simple story and it would also serve as a really smooth transition into folk stories.

Meet Samantha

Meet Samantha: An American Girl by Susan Adler

Historical Fiction

In this book we are introduced to Samantha Parkington, a young girl growing up in America in the early 20th century. Samantha lives with her grandmother (who is very wealthy) because her parents died in an accident when she was a baby. We also meet Jessie, the black seamstress; Uncle Gard, Samantha's eccentric uncle; Cornelia, Uncle Gard's suffragist friend; and Nellie, the young girl working as a maid in the house next door whom Samantha befriends. Samantha learns valuable life lessons about the changing world around her and takes us along for the ride with her!

I would use this book to help show students how much the United States has changed. There is a whole line of American Girl books ranging from the colonial period to the mid-20th century. In each book there is a section at the back called "Looking Back," which gives a brief glimpse into life at that time in history. I think that having students read the book and the "Looking Back" section and compare and contrast life in America then and now. You could also go deeper into the book and discuss the topic of women's rights, which is something that the character Cornelia is very passionate about.

American Lives: Thomas Jefferson

American Lives: Thomas Jefferson by Rick Burke

Non-Fiction/Biography

Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States of America, was an interesting man. His many accomplishments include: writing the Declaration of Independence; building his plantation, Monticello; and inventing such things as the swivel chair and the dumbwaiter. After becoming the Governor of Virginia, Secretary of State, and Vice President, Jefferson was elected to the office of President of the United States. His biggest accomplishment as President was the Louisiana Purchase, when the United States bought a very large chunk of what would become the western part of the United States from France. Thomas Jefferson was a very influential person in our country's history and helped to shape it into what it has become today.

I would use this book to help teach students the importance of history and how our country was formed. It would also make a great segue into the way the Declaration of Independence affected our country's history as well as the ways our country has changed since the time Thomas Jefferson was alive.

The Boxcar Children: Mystery Ranch

The Boxcar Children Graphic Novels: Mystery Ranch created by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Realistic Fiction

While the four boxcar children (Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden) are visiting their grandpa for the summer, Grandpa James gets a letter from his sister Jane. The letter says that the neighbor who was taking care of her cannot take care of her for much longer. Since Aunt Jane is not sick (only stubborn), Jessie and Violet offer to go out to her ranch to take care of her. On the train ride there, they run into a mystery man who soon disappears. Aunt Jane starts to warm up to the girls, so they invite Henry, Benny, and Benny's dog Watch out to join them. One day Aunt Jane announces that three men came to her to ask to buy her ranch, but she refused because she wants to sign the ranch over to the Alden children. Excited, the Boxcar Children decide to explore their new ranch. They find a hut on the land and the warm remains of a campfire, so they go to the police to tell them someone has been living on their land. A few days later the mystery man returns and reveals that he was hired by Grandpa James to look for valuable minerals on the ranch- which he found! Their ranch is worth a lot of money! He tells them that the three men tried to buy Aunt Jane's ranch from her because they found the valuable minerals too and wanted to sell them. The three men are caught by the sheriff and the mystery man and won't ever be allowed on the ranch again! The Boxcar Children race back to the ranch to tell Aunt Jane what has happened, and she tells them she thinks their grandfather would be able to help them run the ranch. Grandpa James comes out to the ranch and Aunt Jane apologizes for being so mean to him over the last few years. He accepts her apology and begins work on the ranch immediately. The Boxcar Children have to go home at the end of the summer, but they will definitely be back next summer to visit Aunt Jane, Grandpa, and their ranch!

I would use this graphic novel to discuss point of view (author vs. character). The book uses bubbles when characters are speaking or thinking, but when the author chooses to explain more without using the characters it is in a box, usually in the corner of the frame. It would be very easy for the children to distinguish whether the text was coming from the point of view of the author or the character, and I think that it would be a great introduction of the topic for students.

Ella Enchanted

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Modern Fantasy (Chapter Book)

When she was born, Eleanor "Ella" of Frell was given the gift of obedience by a fairy named Lucinda. This meant that she would always have to obey any order given to her, no matter how big or small. Ella grows up hating Lucinda for giving her this "gift," trying her hardest to break the spell by doing everything she can to not follow orders. When Ella is fifteen her mother dies, leaving her devastated. At her funeral she meets the Prince of Kyrria, Prince Charmont, and they become fast friends. Ella's father grows tired of her disobediance and decides to send her off to boarding school with Hattie and Olive, two girls she hates. Hattie learns Ella's secret and starts to use it against her, and when it becomes too much for Ella to bear she runs away from boarding school. On her journey she runs into elves, ogres, Prince Char, the wedding of a giant, and Lucinda! She eventually makes it back home and begins to write letters to Prince Char, who is on a year-long trip to the neighboring country. Hattie and Olga become Ella's stepsisters, and their mother treats Ella horribly. She falls in love with the prince, but refuses to marry him when he asks her because she is under the spell. When Prince Char tells her to marry him and she refuses, Ella breaks the spell and she and Char live happily ever after.

I would use this book to teach students how to compare and contrast books. Ella Enchanted is based off of the fairy tale 'Cinderella,' and there are definite differences and similarities. It would be a great starting point for comparing and contrasting because the story of Cinderella is a very familiar one with children. It would also be a great book to use when starting predicting because students would have an idea of what would come next and might be able to get a better grasp on the concept.

James and the Giant Peach

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Modern Fantasy (Chapter Book)

James and the Giant Peach is a book about James Henry Trotter, a young boy who is forced to live with his evil aunts after his parents die in a tragic accident at the London Zoo. His aunts, Spiker and Sponge, treat James horribly. One day James accidentally spills a bag of magic crystals all over the old peach tree in the yard, and in no time at all the peach tree has grown a tree the size of a house! There are insects living there, and the centipede bites through the stem of the giant peach, and they begin to roll away, flattening James' evil aunts in the process! The giant peach ends up traveling all the way to New York City. James emerges from the giant peach and tells his story, and the people of New York City hail him and the insects heroes and throw them a parade. The hollow pit of the peach becomes a mansion in Central Park that belongs to James Henry Trotter, who writes a very successful book- James and the Giant Peach!

I think that this book would be a really good book to use when trying to transition students from picture books over to chapter books. It is definitely a chapter book, but it also has a lot of neat pictures that would help students form mental pictures. I also think that this book is a really good example of the Modern Fantasy genre, and would be a great book to use when teaching students about the different genres. It would be a great book to use when talking about prediction, as well!

Snowflake Bentley

Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

Non-Fiction/Biography

Snowflake Bentley is the biography of Wilson Bentley, the man who took the very first photograph of a snowflake. It starts in his early days as a young boy growing up on a farm in Vermont. He loved snowflakes, and would spend hours looking at them under an old microscope that his mother gave him. It made him sad that he could not show other people his snowflakes because they melted too quickly. The more he studied snowflakes the more fascinated he became, and when he read about a microscope with a camera attached he knew that this was the way he could fulfill his dream. He told his parents about the special microscope, and they eventually spent their entire savings and bought it for him. Wilson worked very hard day after day the whole winter and still could not find a way to photograph the snowflakes. He didn't give up, and the next winter he tried something new and it worked! He had figured out how to take pictures of the snowflakes! Not many people were interested, but Wilson continued to work hard, winter after winter, to take pictures of the snowflakes. Eventually he made a book from his best photos and became known as "The Snowflake Man." Shortly after his book was published, Wilson Bentley died from pneumonia after walking home in a blizzard from taking pictures of snowflakes. A monument and museum were built in his memory, and the tale of Snowflake Bentley will live on forever.

I would use this book to cover the topic of weather, specifically snow and other frozen precipitation. I also think that this book would be a great way to model inquiry science for students. Wilson Bentley has a passion for snowflakes and is continuously coming up with new ideas on how to experiment with them. He devoted his entire life to learning more about snowflakes, and I think that the fact that it is a true story will show students that they too can take an active role in science learning.

The Lemonade Club

The Lemonade Club by Patricia Polacco

Fiction

Based on a true story, The Lemonade Club is about a girl named Traci, her best friend Marilyn, and their fifth grade teacher Miss Wichelman. Traci and Marilyn love Miss Wichelman and her fifth grade class. She always makes them feel like they can do and be anything they put their mind to. Every day before class is over, she reminds them all that "if life hands you a lemon or two today- and you all know how sour lemons are- just add water and sugar what do you have? Lemonade!" One day Marilyn begins to feel sick and tired all the time and stops coming to school, which makes Traci and the rest of the class very worried. Miss Wichelman tells the class that Marilyn has leukemia, but that she is undergoing chemotherapy which will make her sick for a while but will kill all the cancer cells in her body and eventually make her better. When Marilyn comes back to class everyone is wearing funny hats, and when they take them off she sees that they have shaved their heads so that they can all be bald together- even Miss Wichelman! Traci, Marilyn, and Miss Wichelman meet every week after school, and they began to call themselves "The Lemonade Club." Eventually everyone's hair begins to grow back... except for Miss Wichelman's. "The Lemonade Club" has an emergency meeting, and Miss Wichelman tells Traci and Marilyn that she has cancer, too. Miss Wichelman is going to beat the cancer just like Marilyn did, and has applied to medical school so that she can one day help children like Marilyn fight cancer, too. Five years later, Miss Wichelman gets married- and the members of "The Lemonade Club" are in her wedding!

I would use this book to tackle the tough topic of cancer and other terminal illnesses. It would be a great book to use if one of your students has cancer. It gives a very real portrayal and doesn't hide anything (Marilyn loses her hair, she's very tired, etc.) but it presents it in a way that is not scary I also think that it would be great to use when talking about attitudes. Miss Wichelman tells her students every day- before and after they learn that Marilyn has leukemia- to "make lemonade," or, make the best out of a bad situation. The way that they treat Marilyn and get her through the chemotherapy, as well as the way that Marilyn herself handles having cancer, are very good examples of how the students "make lemonade" when life has handed them sour lemons.