Book/Title
Author/Illustrator
Genre/ Awards
Age
Classroom Activity
Brief Description
The Three Pigs
David
Wiesner
Modern
Fantasy/ Caldecott
7-9 years old
Children
will write a short story placing themselves in the story as the main
character.
Three pigs
escape the “big bad wolf” by jumping out of their story and into a few
others; making some friends along the way and defeating the wolf.
Hondo & Fabian
Peter
McCarty
Picture
Storybook/ Caldecott
4-7 years old
Make a
picture collage of the things you like to do with your best friend,
using magazine cutouts.
Two animal
friends that spend the day apart, Hondo at the beach and Fabian with
the baby, come together again in “their favorite places.”
Goldilocks & The Three Bears
James
Marshall
Modern
Fantasy/ Caldecott
5-7 years old
Have
students create an open mind portrait of the struggles Goldilocks has
inside to do the right thing and how she ends up in trouble
instead. ELAKR6c
Goldilocks
acts as a mischievious little girl and does exactly what her mother
tells her not to do. She doesn’t use her
manners and ends up in a fix, being caught by Daddy, Mama, and Baby
bear in their house.
When Sophie Gets Angry – Really, Really
Angry
Molly Bang
Picture
Storybook/ Caldecott
4-7 years old
Have
students make a book about their emotions and how they look when they
are mad, happy, sad, excited, etc.
A story of
a little girl and the emotion that overwhelmes her…anger.
It tells of what steps Sophie goes through to work through
her anger and calm down. Teaches anger is
an emotion that is OK to feel and express appropriately.
Where the Wild Things Are
Maurice
Sendak
Modern
Fantasy/ Caldecott
4-8 years old
Create a
comic strip of what the monsters do after Max leaves their island to
return home.
A young
boy ventures in his imagination to a land of monsters/wild things. He is king there but when he has had enough he
travels back to his own room just in time to have dinner waiting on him.
Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type
By Doreen
Cronin
Picture
Storybook/ Caldecott
5-8 years old
Have
students pretend to be an animal on the farm and dictate or write a
letter to the farmer telling what they are demanding to make their
lives easier. ELAKW1a
Cows and
hens are unhappy with living conditions and correspond with the farmer
using an old typewriter. Eventually
through many letters they reach an agreement. Only
to find the ducks are unhappy too and are corresponding using the
typewriter to make their demands now.
The Ugly Duckling
Jerry
Pinkney
Modern
Fantasy/ Caldecott
4-9 years old
Have
students perform a skit of the story and the duckling’s
transformation. ELAKR6e
A small
duckling that begins life ugly and is made fun of for his looks, grows
and becomes a magnificent swan that everyone envies.
A Chair for My Mother
Vera B.
Williams
Picture
Storybook/ Caldecott
3-8 years old
Using a
variety of art materials, have students create a special place that
their parents deserve to relax. It can be
a room, a chair, or whatever they feel would be appropriate for their
parent.
A very
touching story of a family who lost their house and belongings in a
fire. They are helped by the neighbors and
then save money in a jar to buy a big comfy chair for the Mama and
Grandma.
Because of Winn Dixie***
Kate
DiCamillo
Realistic
Fiction/ Newbery
9-adult
Have
students bring to class a picture of something that they wanted and it
took them a long time to convince their parents to get.
Then write a short story from the objects point of
view. ELA3R3b
A young
girl finds a dog that is about to be whisked away to the pound and
saves him from sure doom. She has
adventures and convinces her father and the landlord that they should
keep the dog.
10
Kira-Kira***
Cynthia
Kadohata
Newbery/Rialistic
Fiction
8-adult
Have
students write journal entries about how their siblings or if they
don’t have a sibling, a cousin, makes them feel and how they feel at
different points in the story. ELA3R3i
A young
girl recalls her childhood with her sister, the struggles their family
has with money and the great loss she suffers when her sister, her
idol, passes on.
11
Summer of the Swans***
Betsy Byars
Newbery/Realistic
Fiction
10-adult
Have
students participate in Literature Circles. They
will read three chapters at a time, completing a different job within
their circle and reporting back to their group.
A teenage
girl struggles with her own identity and how her life is horrible,
until her younger brother with a disability is lost and everyone,
including her enemies, pull together to find him.
12
The Voice that Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal
Rights
Russell
Freedman
Newbery
13-adult
Have
students rehearse and sing one of the favorite songs from the civil
rights era/keep a journal of what they felt Marian Anderson went
through during each chapter in the book.
A
wonderful account of Marian Anderson’s life and her enormous
contributions to the civil rights era. The
story of how her voice and spirit played a part in the civil rights
movement, both as a musical artist and as a beautiful person. With the help of many important figures in the
limelight, she was able to make a mark in history.
A wonderful story to read during the month of Black
History.
13
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
Gary D.
Schmidt
Newbery
12-adult
Have the
students analyze the story to find the themes. They
should then do a collage poster with items that represent the theme(s)
found throughout the story.
This story
is a sad but intriguing tale of the life of a preacher’s son who is
dissatisfied with his life. It is only
when a young African American girl, whose father is also a minister on
an island close by befriends him. At that
point his life is changed. He fights for
what he knows is right and they develop a lasting friendship.
Beautiful Blackbird
Ashley
Bryan
Picture
Storybook/ Coretta Scott King
4-7 years old
Students
can make finger puppets of the birds in the story and use them to
retell the story in small groups. ELAKR6e
A story
about the differences in the colors of a tribe of birds.
They celebrate the only bird in the tribe with black in
his feathers. The rest of the tribe want
to be just like him and get painted by the black bird who always
reminds them to be themselves.
My Family Plays Music
By Judy Cox
Picture
Storybook/ Coretta Scott King
4-6 years old
Students
can use a variety of materials (cups, beans, paper plates, string,
wood, tin foil, etc) to make their own musical instruments to be used
in a classroom.
A story
about a family of musicians who all play in different types of bands. The little girl in the story plays in all the
bands and plays different instruments in each.
First Day in Grapes
By L. King
Perez
Picture
Storybook/ Pura Belpre Award
6-9 years old
Talk about
bullying, and role play the ways that we can get out of diffucult
situations when someone is treating us badly.
A family
and a young boy travel to have jobs in harvesting.
The boy faces the fears of a new school and stands up to a
bully finding courage he thought he didn’t have.
17
The Bat Boy & His Violin
By Gavin
Curtis
Picture
Storybook/ Coretta Scott King
5-10 years old
Listen to
some of the classical music talked about in the book, and then come up
with other places that music might help things go along a little better. Also think about what instruments might play a
part in the scenario.
A
wonderful multicultural story set in the days before desegregation. A young boy with an extreme talent for playing
the violin starts working as a bat boy, and soon learns that his violin
playing helps his father’s baseball team to concentrate and to win.
18
By Faith
Ringgold
Picture
Storybook/ Coretta Scott King
4-8 years old
Have the
students make their own story quilt as a class. They
can each design a quilt square that reflects their family and their
ethnicity. The squares will all be placed
together to make a large multicultural class quilt.
Fun With Colors
By Eileen
McCarney- Muldoon & Mary Bennett O’Brien
ABC/Counting/
Concept
Infants-Pre-K/K
Finger
paint and talk about the colors while we use them.
Identify things in the room that are the primary colors.
A book
about colors and real life objects that babies see. Bright clear, real
life pictures draw the child in to the pages.
Math Fables
By Greg
Tang
ABC/Counting/
Concept
5-8 years old
Create a
class book of math fables. Place in an
area in the class where all students can share the book.
A poetry
book with math intertwined within. Each
fable begins with a whole number and then breakes the whole number down
to work in adding. Wonderfully fun and
colorful way to learn about math and poetry.
Dr. Seuss’s ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book
Dr. Seuss
ABC/Counting/
Concept
3-6years old
Have
students make an ABC quilt. We can find
things in the school together that begin with the different letters of
the alphabet and take pictures of them. Each
student would then take a letter and make a quilt square.
A
traditional Dr. Seuss rhyme that works in all twenty six letters of the
alphabet with words young students can read and understand.
Give the Dog a Bone
By Steven
Kellogg
ABC/
Counting/ Concept
2-8 year old
Have the
students go on a scavenger hunt for groups of items in the numbers
listed in the book. For example: 1 crayon,
2 markers, 3 popsicle sticks and so on. With
the younger children it can be done as a class together.
This takes
the traditional song Give The Dog a Bone and Kellogg adds his own twist
to the story. He finds his own way to get
the story to rhyme and then adds his own items to count.
Wonderful take on the story.
Very Hungry Caterpillar
Eric Carle
Predictable
Book
2-7 years old
Order
caterpillars that will grow into butterflies and keep a class journal
about what is happening as the caterpillar changes.
Cute story
about a caterpillar and his journey through a week of eating. He eats and eats but every day he is “still
hungry.” Finally he makes the transition
to a beautiful butterfly.
Can I Keep Him?
By Steven
Kellogg
Predictable
Book
4-8 years old
Have the
students come up with an animal that they would ask their mom to keep. They will then act out the way the animal
might act in their house, and tell what their mom would say to them
about why they can’t keep the animal.
Brwon Bear, Brwon Bear, What do you see?
Bill
Martin, Jr.
Predictable
Book
3-7 years old
Have
students pretend they are animals at the zoo and are looking out of
their cages. Use a variety of media to
draw what they see looking back at them.
Story of
animals, a teacher and students and what or who they see “looking at
me.”
Jamie O’Rourke and the Big Potato
Retold by
Tomie DePaola
Traditional
Literature
4-7 years old
Have
students root a potato, keep a journal of what they are doing with
their plants and how they get them to grow. Compare
and contrast the sizes of their potatoes when they harvest them.
An old
Irish folktale about a lazy man, Jamie, and how he outsmarted a
leprechaun. He and his wife end up having
food to eat always and never having to harvest again.
Mr. Sun and Mr. Sea
Retold by
Andrea Butler
Traditional
Literature
5-8 yearsold
Have
students come up with a story as a class as to how the moon came to be
living in the sky. Create a class book in
enough copies that each student could have one and one be left in the
class.
An African
Legend retold about how the sun came to be living in the sky.
Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs
Adapted by
Teddy Slater margulies
Traditional
Literature
Infants-adult
Rewrite
the story as a script and have the students reenact the story as a
full-fledged play. This would be a very
long project that would require costumes and such.
Could be done during the month of October due to the
abundance of premade costumes available.
A
traditional story retold in Disney form. Snow
White escapes the wretched stepmother to live with the famous seven
drawfs. She cares for them and becomes
part of their family until the stepmother tracks her down and poisons
her. Don’t worry, the prince comes and
saves her in the end.
Rapunzel
Retold by
Paul O. Zelinsky
Traditional
Literature
4-adult
Have the
students work in groups to retell the story of Rapunzel in present day
terms. They should retell the story just
as it happened until the part where the King falls from the tower. Then they need to come up with their own
ending.
A
wonderful story of a girl who is taken from her parents at birth and
named after the plant her mother stole from the sorceress’ garden. The girl is cared for and hidden in a tall
tower, only to be found by a handsome prince. The
story ends after some turmoil with a reunion with her husband.
Rumpelstiltskin
Retold
& Ill by Paul O. Zelinsky
Traditional
Literature
2-adult
Have the
students use Christmas wrapping paper and design their own
Rumpelstiltskin from scraps of the paper.
A short
little knome helps a young girl in need spin some straw into gold. After the girl runs out of treasures to give
away she promises the knome her first born child. When
the child arrives she finds herself in a guessing game to find out the
knome’s name. After a little deceit on her
part she wins.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea***
Jules Verne
Science
Fiction
10-adult
Have
students act out the Oprah Winfrey Show with the characters from the
book as the guests. Some students can be
characters, one should be elected to be Oprah, and the rest of the
class can be the audience with the chance to ask questions. Students could rotate positions to make sure
all students have a greater understanding of the book.
The
adventures of a crew of seamen and scientists who are looking for a
strange creature. The creature has been
sighted and reported about from every corner of the world.
It turns out to be a huge submarine.
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe***
C.S. Lewis
Modern
Fantasy
10-adult
Have
students create a picture of what Narnia looks like in their
imagination. They can use any media they
wish to create their picture.
The book
is a wonderful story full of representation and symbolism.
There is a story line that is hard to follow and full of
biblical symbolism. It is a story of a few
children who accidentally stumble upon a secret world and explore this
world inside the wardrobe. It is a
wonderful story but maybe a little too intense for young audiences to
truly understand the meaning in the story, the symbolism, and the
representation.
Masquerade
Kit
Williams
Modern
Fantasy
8-adult
Have
students use a variety of materials to create a mask that the rabbit
would wear in order to keep the gems hidden from the king.
A story of
a fair woman who incorporates the help of a hare and a frog to deliver
a precious jewel to the king. A book full
of riddles and unexpected twists and turns.
Zathura
Chris Van
Alsburg
Modern
Fantasy
6-12 years old
Have
students create a short story about a planet that their house lands on. Have them think of such things as what they
will find there, who will live there, and will there be air?
A sequel
to the Jumanji book by the same author. Two
brothers find a game that turns their world upside down just as in the
original.
Before We Were Free***
Julia
Alvarez
Historical
Fiction
9-14 years old
Have
students create a picture collage of the things they are thankful for. Make available to the students a camera that
they can use to take real life pictures to include in their poster size
collage.
A diary of
a young girl Anita, who is struggling to understand all the changes
occurring in the country she lives, the
No Picture Available
Christopher Columus
By
Kimberly Weinberger
Historical
Fiction
7-9 years old
Do a
research poster on the actual events of Christopher Columbus’ live and
travels. Use the poster to compare the
actual happenings to the happenings in the book. ELA3W1j
A brief
visit through the life of Christopher Columbus, his childhood, his
trips and his discovery of the
No Picture Available
Ruby Bridges
By
Historical
Fiction
7-10 years old
Write
letters to Ruby Bridges’ family asking about her life, and thanking
them for the things she has done for this country.
Ruby
Bridges’ story with a little bit of fiction. She
tells of how she won the fight of desegregation and how she spent her
first years in school without any friends.
Junie B. Jones: The Stupid Smelly Bus***
Barbara
Park
Realistic
Fiction
6-10 years old
Have
students use torn construction paper to construct a picture of where
they could hide in the school
A
wonderful story about a little girl, Junie B., who doesn’t like to ride
the smelly bus. She hides at school
instead of getting on the bus to go home.
Ruby Holler***
Sharon
Creech
Realistic
Fiction
12-adult
Have
students do a collage comparison of the good versus evil in the story
A story of
a set of twins that have grown up in horrible environments and are
astounded when someone cares for them and shows them love and respect.
Love You Forever
Robert
Munch
Realistic
Fiction
2-12 years old
Have
students make up their own song either individually or as a group about
how they love the person that takes care of them.
This is a
loving story of how much a mother loves her son and how she sings to
him every night, the same song. The love
carries on and is passed on to her son who then sings to her and to his
own child when he has one.
39
The Playground Problem
By
Margaret McNamara
Realistic
Fiction
5-8 years old
Make a
list of the types of problems the students encounter on the playground. Use the information gathered to make a pie
chart. Then discuss as a class some
options we have to overcome these problems. ELA3R3h
The girls
and the boys encounter a problem on the playground.
Who is good enough to play with who? The
boys say girls can’t play soccer and so the girls start their own
soccer team. Now the boys want to play. What will they do?
A Light in the Attic
Shel
Silverstein
Poetry
Anthology
6-adult
Have
students create their own poem. Use
formula poetry that tells what to include, such as a hello Poem, a
Diamente Poem, etc.
A
collection of poetry that is funny, serious, and just plain make you
think. A great book to pick and choose
poems to fit any day.
Animal Crackers
Jane Dyer
Poetry
Anthology
Infant-adult
Have the
students pick a poem and recite the poem using inflection and fluency. For the younger children they could use sign
language to recite the poem. ELA3R1b
A
wonderful collection of poetry. Old
favorites and then some new that I haven’t heard. It
includes ABC, concept poetry, seasonal poetry, poetry about food,
animals, nursery rhymes, playtime, and bedtime. There
is something for everyone.
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African
Tale
John
Steptoe
Multicultural
Picture Storybook/ Caldecott
6-9 years old
Have
students create a head dress using a variety of materials.
Make it one that the King would wear to the wedding.
A
wonderful tale about a relationship between two sisters and learning
what qualities in a person are most important. It
teaches the golden rule in an African setting and in an ancient tale.
The Village of Round and Square Houses
Ann
Grifalcom
Multicultural
Picture Storybook/ Caldecott
6-9 years old
Have each
student design their own round or square house using a variety of
materials. Display their houses in a
village on the wall.
A true
story of a girl living in a remote
Mary McLean and the
By Steven
Kroll
Multicultural
6-adult
Have
students use a wagon and design their own St. Patricks Day float. They may use any type of materials they wish
to make their float as original as possible.
A
wonderful story about a young little girl from
Runaway Jack
By Stewart
Lees
Multicultural
7-12 years old
The older
children could complete a project about the age of slavery in the south. They could look up information about slavery
in their town, and then present the poster to the class.
The younger students could look at the ethical side of the
story, and tell how they would have helped Jack.
ELA3W1j
This is a
wonderful story about a young boy and his sister during the slave days. He is sold and separated from his parents,
along with his sister. Later in the story
Jack is sold again and he and his sister are separated.
He runs away and is helped along by a stranger who points
him in the right direction. Ultimately he
is reunited with his sister and the only parents he has ever known.
Anansi The Spider: A tale from the
By Gerald
McDermott
Multicultural
3-10 years old
Have the
students use geometric shapes in different colors to create their own
version of Anansi the Spider, or one of his sons. If
they wish they may create another member of Anansi’s family.
Anansi the
Spider is a wonderful African American tale about how the moon came to
be living in the sky. It incorporates
cooperation of a family and love, and respect for parents in this
awesome tale.
No Picture Available
Bright Yellow Flower
Judith
Hoffman Corwin
Informational
Picture Book
4-8 years old
Have
students act out what they thing the flower is thinking when she encounters each of the animals and how she
feels as she is used to sustain life and have her own life sustained.
ELAKR6a
A
wonderfully illustratede book with handewn felt illustrations. The story is one of what a flower,
specifically a daffodil needs to thrive and the animals and insects
that need her and help her survive.
Waiting for Wings
Lois Ehlert
Informational
Picture Book
4-8 years old
Have
students plant a butterfly garden and then use the flowers that are in
bloom to paint pictures of their class garden. This
could be used at the same time as the exercise with Eric Carle’s book
The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
A
caterpillar who becomes a butterfly and then flies away to a flower
garden that has been waiting for wings. The
butterfly eats and then lays eggs and the cycle of life continues. This book offers information about different
butterflies and flowers in the back of the book.
From Seed to Pumpkin
By Wendy
Pfeffer
Informational
3-7 years old
Roast
pumpkin seeds and then taste them. Use
some of the unroasted seeds for planting our own pumpkin garden. Nurse the seeds into growth and document our
care of the pumpkin plants.
A story of
how pumpkins grow from the planting of the seeds to the growth of the
pumpkins. It also tells of what pumpkins
are used for and how to accomplish each use. The
book even gives the recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds.
A wonderful scientific story.
The Mysterious Tadpole
By Steven
Kellogg
Fantasy
4-8 years old
Purchase a
tadpole and do everything needed to keep the tadpole alive and grow
into a frog.
A young
boy brings his tadpole to school for show and tell.
He feeds the tadpole too much and it grows bigger and
bigger. Soon it is too big for the house
and he has to find other options.
A Day at the Apple Orchard
By Megan
Faulkner & Adam Krawesky
Informational
4-7 years old
Take a
field trip to an apple orchard. Compare
and contrast the things we saw in the apple orchard to the things
talked about in the book. ELA3R3e
A cute
story from the perspective of a bunch of kids on a field trip to the
apple orchard. They learn about the life
cycle of apples and the trees they come from.