Categories

Title

Author/Illus.

Interest level

Idea for class use

Description

Caldecott Medal

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

Simms Taback

K-1

Get children to make something out of a paper grocery bag that is cut like a vest.

Joseph has a coat that keeps getting worn and old.  He keeps making it into something new.  Will he ever run out of things to make?

Caldecott Medal

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

Mo Willems/

Pre-K-K

Ask students to draw what they want to drive when they grow up.

A pigeon has a dream to drive a bus.  One day his dream turns into something larger.

Caldecott Medal

Rapunzel

Grimm Brothers

2-3

Blindfold students so they can experience the world as the prince did.  Discuss the different senses and how he heard her song instead of seeing her.

A wicked step-mother locks Rapunzel in a tower only to bid her true love to climb up her hair.

Caldecott Medal

The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses

Paul Goble

3-4

Students will design their own pattern on a piece of paper.  After they are done, the teacher can link them to make a quilt.

A young Native American girl is devoted to taking care of the tribe’s horses.  She soon becomes one and is able to be free.

Caldecott Medal

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears:  A West African Tale

Verna Aardema/ Leo and Diane Dillon

K-3

Cover entire wall with paper.  Let students paint an entire jungle mural.  Discuss the different animals found in jungles.

A small mosquito causes the entire jungle trouble after whispering a tall tale to an iguana.

Caldecott Medal

Jumanji

ELA3R3g

Chris Van Allsburg

3-5

Sequence beginning, middle, and end of book.  Can do orally or physically (writing, drawing, etc).

A sister and brother are bored and are at home alone for the afternoon.  They find the board game, Jumanji, which has strict rules about playing.  Once it is started, it can not be stopped.

Caldecott Medal

Where the Wild Things Are

ELAKR6f

Maurice Sendak

Pre-k-2

Discuss emotions with children.  Let them express through facial features sad, mad, happy, etc.

Max is sent to his room without supper.  While in his room he imagines going to a place where wild things are.  He is able to tame them and become their king.  He soon misses being at home and wants to go back.  Supper is still hot waiting for him when he returns.

Caldecott Medal

Owl Moon

Jane Yolen/ John Schoenherr

K-3

Let children make sounds of what the girl heard and describe the things she saw.  Go in detail such as loudness of sound, or color of animal.

A father and daughter go for a walk through the woods in search for owls on a cold winter night.

Newbery Award

Jacob Have I Loved

(Chapter Book)

ELA4LSV2d

Katherine Paterson

4-5

Students will create their own dialogue for the Oprah Show.  They must be characters from the book.

Sara Louise (Wheeze) and her twin sister, Caroline, have a rivalry between themselves.  Their grandmother loves Caroline and ignores Sara completely.  Sara is made to overcome strife and hardship throughout her life, but will she make it?

Newbery Award

The Great Gilly Hopkins

(Chapter Book)

Katherine Paterson

4-5

Students may write a name of a character on a piece of paper.  Place the papers in a bag and allow each student to come to the front of the class and play charades, or act out the character they drew.

A girl named Gilly Hopkins is abandoned by her mother, hence putting her in foster homes.  When she is sent from one foster home to the next, her mission, it seems, is to make the families miserable.  Things change when she arrives at the Trotters home.

Newbery Award

Bridge to Terabithia

(Chapter Book)

Katherine Pateson

3-5

Children can create a dramatic play where they come up with their own magical world and act out what this world would be like if they were there.

Both Jess and Leslie have special needs.  In the woods, close to where they live, they create a magical world that is all their own.  No one can discriminate against their special needs here.

Newbery Award

The Summer of the Swans

(Chapter Book)

Betsy Byars

3-4

Children may create a readers theater based on the characters in the book.

Sara, her brother Charlie who is handicapped and her sister Wanda are basically orphans.  There mother dies early and their father hardly comes around.  Sara is very critical about her looks but when Charlie goes missing, she re-examines her life and comes to accept herself, along with her looks.

Newbery Award

Old Yeller

(Chapter Book)

ELA3R3f

Frederick B. Gipson

3-5

Children will divide in groups and create a narrative pantomime while the teacher is reading a chapter.  Groups may take turns coming to the front of the room to act out the seen the teacher is reading.

When Old Yeller, a dog, wanders up to Travis’ father and mother’s house to steal and eat some meat, Travis finds himself first hating the dog and then loving him.  They become inseparable and Old Yeller always saves the family from harm.

Picture book

Wings

ELA1LSV1a

Christopher Myers

1-2

Get students to make wings out of wire hangers and cloth.  Then tie strings around their arms so it will hold up.

A little boy befriends another little boy who has wings.

Picture book

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

ELA2W1d

Eric Carle

Pre-k-2

Make graphic organizer of caterpillar’s life cycle.

This is about the life cycle of a very hungry caterpillar that turns into a beautiful butterfly.

Picture book

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Bill Martin Jr./ Eric Carle

Pre-K-K

Students may draw a picture of what they see.  Be sure to stress the importance of correct coloring and shape of objects being drawn to the students.

When brown bear sees a red bird looking at him this starts a chain of animals and people telling what they see.  What do you see?

Picture book

Caps for Sale

ELAKR2a

Esphyr Slobodkina

Pre-K-K

Students may make their very own hat made from construction paper shaped into a cone.  Allow them to color their hat and decorate any way they wish.  After finishing, see how many rhyming words they can come up with to rhyme with “cap.”

When a peddler takes a rest from selling his caps, a group of monkeys steal them from him.  Will he get them back?  I do not know…read and see!

Picture book

Good Night Moon

Margaret Brown/ Clement Hurd

K-1

Let students act like they are going to sleep.  Tell them to think about what the very last thing is that they tell goodnight.  Once they have closed their eyes, put down their heads and thought about what they would tell goodnight to last, ask them to create their own character and story about telling their thing goodnight.

As things settle down at night by the fireplace a little rabbit say goodnight to everything.  Once finished, the rabbit closes its eyes and falls fast asleep.

ABC/Counting/Concept

G is for Goat

Patricia Polacco

Pre-k

Get students to draw a goat.

While going through the alphabet, this tells about different goats and what they like.

ABC/Counting/Concept

One Less Fish

Kim Toft and Allan Sheather/

Pre-k

Make and draw fish on paper with tissue paper, watercolors, and sponges.

Beautiful fish are together in a reef.  One by one they disappear.

ABC/Counting/Concept

Chicka-Chicka Boom Boom

ELAKLSV1c

John Archambault/ Lois Ehlert

Pre-K-K

Sing the abc’s with the student’s.  Then get in a big circle and start with the letter A.  Go around the circle until you get to Z.  Assign these letters with a student/s.  Tell them when it is their turn in the alphabet to make the shape of their letter using their body.

As the a,b,c’s travel up the tree, they get too heavy and fall out.  OUCH!!

Predictable book

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

ELAKLSV1b

Simms Taback/ Pam  Adams

Pre-k – k

Ask students to draw at least three out of seven items the woman swallowed.

When a woman swallows a fly, this is only the beginning of her fate.

Predictable book

Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon

Patty Lovell/ David Catrow

1-2

Do a narrative Pantomime

Through her grandmother’s wise words, Molly Lou Melon is able to conquer everything she wants.

Traditional Lit.

Gluskabe and The Four Wishes

ELA2W1a

Joseph Bruchac/ Cristine Shrader

2-3

Teacher lets students write on large paper what each student in the class would wish for.

A very old Native American, Gluskabe, moves away from his hometown to a deserted island.  When three men come to him for their wishes to be granted, Gluskabe grants them wishes they will never forget.

Traditional Lit.

The Nutcracker

E.T.A. Hoffman/ Maurice Sendak

2-3

Bring in a nutcracker doll and let children use descriptive words to describe it.  After describing doll, ask children to draw their own nutcracker doll.

When a girl’s uncle gives her a nutcracker doll, he comes to life and turns into a prince while she sleeps.  When she awakes, she enters into a world of dreams.

Traditional Lit.

Bony Legs

Johanna Cole/ Dirk Zimmer

2-3

Children will make up a new ending to the story.

When a little girl goes to get some sugar and runs in to a witch’s house, her only three helpers are a dog, cat, and gate.

Traditional Lit.

Beauty and the Beast

ELA1R6g

Jan Brett

1-2

Let students create a tableau, or frozen scene, of any scene they wish to out of the book.

A merchant’s daughter gets lost in the woods and comes to this big house.  In this house lives the worst of monsters.  But she soon falls in love with this monster and he then turns into a man.

Traditional Lit.

Cinderella

ELA1LSV1b

Della Cohen and Mary Hogan

1-2

Allow students to do a puppet show of the story.  Include the different characters in the puppet show, but let students create their own lines for these characters.

When her wicked step mother and sisters leave to go to a ball, Cinderella has different plans.  When her fairy godmother comes to her rescue Cinderella is turned from rags to riches and gets the King in the end.

Fantasy/Science Fiction

The Princess Knight

Cornella Funke/ Kerstin Meyer

1-2

Children will make a crown out of construction paper and decorate with crayons and jewels.

When a little princess is made to marry the one who wins a sword fight, she makes a plan.  This little princess makes up her future for herself.

Fantasy/Science Fiction

We Were Tired of Living in a House

Liesel Skorpen/ Joe Cepeda

K-2

Students will go outside and see if they could live outside. (Lie in the grass, eat worms (fake), etc.)

When two brothers and a sister get tired of living at home, they decide to go somewhere else and live.  Needless to say, they move back to home.

Fantasy/Science Fiction

Do Pirates Take Baths?

ELA2R4h

Kathy Tucker/ Nadine Westcott

1-2

Go on a treasure hunt inside the classroom for things found in the book such as a rubber duck, etc.  Once items are found students must tell how they relate to the story.

This book is all about pirates.  How to become one, what they wish for, and even where they sleep.

Fantasy/Science Fiction

The Kissing Hand

Audrey Penn

1-2

Ask students to write about their first day of school.  Tell them to include detail like:  Were you scared?  What did you wear? Etc.

When a young raccoon is afraid of going to school his mother kisses him on the hand and tells him she will be with him now forever.

Realistic Fiction

Ruby Holler

(Chapter Book)

Sharon Creech

3-5

Let students divide in groups. One group writes down plot, another setting, another characters, etc.  After finishing, each group will get in front of class and talk about what their group came up with.  For example, the first group will get up and tell the class what they thought was the plot and so on.

Twins are sent from one family to another, all of which are mean.  When they finally are put with a nice loving family, there is a fear of them splitting apart.  These twins go through adventures and mishaps that make you wonder if a family will ever keep them.

Realistic Fiction

I Love You Stinky Face

Lisa McCourt/ Cyd Moore

K-1

Students will act out what kind of monster or animal they would turn into.

This is a reassuring story of a mother’s love.  No matter what her son turns himself into whether it is a skunk or dinosaur, she tells him that she will always love him.

Realistic Fiction

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

(Chapter Book)

Judy Blume

2-3

Students will make a double-entry journal.

Ex:

What I Read/

What I Thought About

Peter, a fourth grade boy, does not like his little brother Fudge.  Having to put up with his brother along with being in the fourth grade with a girl named Sheila, do you think he will make it out?

Realistic Fiction

Love You Forever

Robert Munsch/ Sheila McGraw

1-2

Use as mother’s day theme.  Trace students hand print and cut it out.  Write main verse out of book on handprint and let them give to their mothers.

A little boy’s mother sings him a song every night about how much she loves him.  The role switches when he grows up.

Historical Fiction

Sarah, Plain and Tall

(Chapter Book)

Patricia MacLachlan

4-5

Ask students to create a dramatized play.  Divide the characters among the students and allow plenty of practice before performing.  They then can perform in front of small groups or the entire class.

A widowed man puts an ad in the newspaper for a wife.  A woman by the name of Sarah answers the ad and comes to stay with him and his children.  They get worried she will not stay because she may miss her real home but she informs them differently.

Historical Fiction

Huckleberry Finn

(Chapter Book)

Mark Twain

4-5

Let students do an Oprah show and ask the students to portray the characters and give their point of view from the story.

Huck runs away from his drunken father and his home and travels down the Mississippi River with an escaped slave named Jim.  They encounter all kinds of adventures and scares.  I hope they make it!

Historical Fiction

Where the Red Fern Grows

(Chapter Book)

Wilson Rawls

4-5

If the story could continue, how would it continue?  Allow student’s to elaborate orally or by writing.

A boy named Billy saves his money for two years to buy coon-hunting dogs.  Through this emotional book, you will find a special relationship between this boy and his two dogs.

Poetry Anthologies

It’s Raining Pigs and Noodles

Jack Prelutsky

K-12

Students can make Haiku poem.

This is a collection of zany poetry for all readers.

Poetry Anthologies

Where the Sidewalk Ends

ELA3R3a

Shel Silverstein

K-12

Divide students into groups and allow students to act it out.

This a collection of poems for all grades.

Multicultural

Mufaros Beautiful Daughters

John Steptol

2-3

Draw picture on paint, on computer, and print out.  The picture must have something to do with the book.

This is a Cinderella Tale.  One thinks she will be queen, while the other works diligently on her chores.  When the working sister becomes queen, her sister is shocked but learns the importance of selflessness.

Multicultural

Bud, Not Buddy

Christopher Paul Curtis

1-3

 Students will visualize what life was like in a "Hooverville" in the 1930s and formulate a plan for helping people in their community.

An African-American boy runs away from his cruel orphanage in search for his real father.  Will he ever find him?

Multicultural

Baseball Saved Us

Ken Machizuki/ Dom Lee

1-3

 Teach students the song, "Take me out to the ball game."  Let everyone sing along and make up movements to go with the song.  Talk about how it relates to the book.

A Japanese-American boy and his family are placed in a camp during the war.  The boy starts playing baseball while in the camp only to find it helps him in the best way possible when they get out.

Multicultural

A Birthday Basket for Tia

Pat Mora/ Cecily Lang

1-2

Students will  make their own "birthday basket."  Let them draw different items they would put in their basket.  Cut the items out and then let them glue the items inside a little basket. (The basket can be big if you want the whole class to make one basket. 

A Hispanic girl named Cecilia wants to make a birthday basket for her great aunt, or Tia.  What could she possibly put in it?

Multicultural

The Good Luck Cat

Joy Harjo/ Paul Lee

1-2 

 Let students  do a tableau of different scenes where the cat almost dies.  Make it funny, not horrifying.

The story of Woogie, a cat, is told through a Native American girls point of view.  He has about used up all of his nine lives.  I do not know if he will make it.

Informational/biography/autobiography

My Chickens

ELAKW1a

Heather Miller/ Thaddeus Harden

Pre-K-K

 Have the students make up an informational story about any animal they wish.

This book is all about chickens.  Learn about what they eat and even how babies are born.

Informational/biography/autobiography

Touch and Feel Puppy

ELAKLSV1e

Series

Pre-K-K

Have boxes of different textures inside.  Cover the top so the students can not see in the box.  Ask them to describe the different textures and  try to guess what they are.  They may create their own "texture box" afterwards. 

Feel different textures of puppies and what they play with while learning about them.

Informational/biography/autobiography

Soil

Christin Ditchfield

1-2

Let students go outside and feel the soil.  They may then put some soil in a cup or bottle.  Then, glue or tape a piece of paper around the cup and let them list the important things soil does. 

Learn how animals, humans and bugs use soil.  Soil is a very important part of our lives.  Do you know how important?

Informational/biography/autobiography

Smelling

Helen Frost

K-1

Pass around different types of food and allow students to smell the food.  After smelling the food item, ask the students to write down what they think the food is and at the end check to see if they got the answers correct.

Your sense of smell is very important for you to have and use.  It tells you the difference between the good and bad smells.  What would happen if you did not have a nose?