Electronic Reading File

Electronic Reading File
By: Lisa Pittman

Title	Author/Illustrator	Genre/Awards	Interest Level (Age)	Ideas for Classroom	Description of Book
Anansi The Spider	Adapted & Illustrated by Gerald McDermott	Caldecott Medal Modern Fantasy	Age 5-8	Using black yarn construction paper, scissors and glue, have each child cut and glue their version of one of the spiders.	His six sons must rescue Anansi the Father spider. Sons argue and something wild happens.
Ella Sarah Gets Dressed	Margaret Chodos-Irvine Illustrated by Margaret Chodos Irvine & Judy The Sieck	Caldecott Medal Realistic Fiction	Age 4-8	Have each child take a turn selecting dress up clothes, dressing up and telling why they picked the articles of clothing the chose. (Color, Pattern, and Remind them of something Special.) Ask them to wear their favorite shirt the next day.	Ella decided she was old enough to dress herself. Her family hated it, but friends loved it.
The Graphic Alphabet	David Pelletier	Caldecott Medal ABC	Age 5-12	Use this book to help students add new exciting words to their vocabulary by making an ABC Big Book. Continue to stress the new exciting words and continue to add new words to the book through out the year and using the new vocabulary in daily conversations. ELAKR5 (a)	This is not your traditional alphabet book. Each letter represents something unique.
Snowflake Bentley	Jacqueline Briggs Martin Illustrated by Mary Azarian	Caldecott Medal Realistic Fiction	Age 5-12	Students will select and make a snowflake from the web site www.snowflakes.lookandfeel.com using white card stock paper.	Willie loved photographing snowflakes. Could this be the death of him?
The Man Who Walked Between The Towers	Mordicai Gerstein Illustrated by Philippe Petit	Caldecott Medal Realistic Fiction	Age 5-12	This is a true story. Discuss what might have been his thoughts and predict his life experiences connect to the book. Have students write him a letter. Each one asks a different question. When they get the reply, place it on a shoe shaped piece of paper, make a closeline across the highest part of a wall and add each reply with a closepin. ELAKR6 (g)	A performer wanted to walk a tight rope between the twin towers. He did and was punished by performing in the park.
Rapunzel	Retold & Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky	Caldecott Medal Traditional Literature	Age 5-12	Pick most important events; make a beginning, middle and end time line of events and have students retell story in their own words. ELAKR6 (e)	Rapunzel and a prince fall in love. After being punished, they find each other and live happily ever after.
Grandfather’s Journey	Author & Illustrated by Allen Say	Caldecott Medal Realistic Fiction	Age 6-10	Have the students fill in all needed information about a loved one on a pretend airline ticket so they can arrange for them to come home. ( If they need a person, let it be someone in the military.)	A Japanese American tells his Grandfather’s story. He follows in his footsteps.
Snow	Author & Illustrated by Uri Shulevitz	Caldecott Medal Realistic Fiction	Age 4-7	Teacher saves white packaging “puffs.” Give each student 2/3 puffs. Silver glitter, glue and string. Hang from ceiling. It’s snowing.	A boy repeatedly tells his dog “it’s snowing.” In the end the city is covered with snow.
Because of Winn Dixie	Kate Dicamillo	Newbery Medal Realistic Fiction	Age 8-12	Divide into small groups. Give each group a different scene from the book and they will create a tableau. Let the other groups guess at which character or scene it is.	Opal is very unhappy until she meets a dog in the grocery store. She names the dog Winn Dixie.
Tuesday	David Wiesner	Newbery Medal Modern Fantasy	Age 4-7	Using creative imagination let children reach inside a bag without looking. (Inside bag have unusual animals, characters and different means of transportation. Let each tell what their wild Tuesday ride would consist of using what they pulled from the bag.	Every Tuesday evening, these frogs on lily pads go on a journey. The next Tuesday, pigs do the same.
Shiloh	Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and Alladin Paperbacks 2000	Newbery Medal Realistic Fiction	Age 8-12	Contact your local humane society. (Perhaps a one hour field trip or a speaker to come) Have the students create their own mini-book of what animal abuse is and the correct steps in reporting animal abuse.	Marty Falls in love with his neighbor’s beagle. The story is about their adventures together.
Walk Two Moons	Sharon Creech and Harper Trophy 1996	Newbery Medal Realistic Fiction	Age 8-12	Divide room into several small literature circles. Let each group organize and distribute roles (illustrator, connector, artist, etc…) let them pull from a bag how they will share their book with the class or listen to some of their suggestions.	A girl creates a story about a young girl whose mother leaves her. In reality this is her story.
Caddie Woodlawn	Carol Ryrie Brink and Alladin Paperbacks 1990	Newbery Medal Realistic Fiction	Age 8-12	Have the students divide into small groups. Each group is to make an open-mind portrait of Caddie. Then each group is to present their portrait to the class.	This story is of a young girl telling a story about someone very important to her. The important person is her grandmother.
Wings	Christopher Myers	Other Awards: Charlotte Zolotow Modern Fantasy	Age 5-12	Students will draw a self-portrait of how you see yourself when someone has made fun of you and hurt your feelings. ELAKW1 (a)	A new kid with wings starts a new school. Kids make fun and hurt his feelings. One girl that has also been laughed at becomes his friend.
Everett Anderson’s Goodbye	Lucille Clifton Illustrated by Ann Grifalconi	Other Awards: Coretta Scott King Informational Book	Age 5-11	I would not read this book unless one of the students had a death in their family. Have an open discussion about grief and let the others create a card from the computer to send to their classmate.	A young boy goes through the five stages of grief after his father dies.
The Napping House	Audrey Wood Illustrated By: Don Wood	Other Awards: “The New York Times” Best Illustrated Children’s Book Picture Book	Age 3-8	Let the students tell you about their pets and their dreams. Let them pick one character from the book and draw with finger paint a picture of what that character may be dreaming of.	A colorful story of people and animals in one bed sleeping and the chain reaction of one little bite.
Emma’s Pet	David McPhail and E.P. Dutton NewYork	Other Awards: A Parent’s Choice Award Winner Picture Book	Age3-8	Assign each student a character of the book. As you read the book let the students act out their part.	A bear named Emma wants a new big soft cuddly pet. Her new pet turns out to be her father.
Chrysanthemum	Kevin Henkes	Other Awards: The School Library Journal Best Book of the Year Picture Book	Age 5-8	Give students play dough to create their names. After everyone is finished, have students march around the room to view their work.	A story of a mouse’s hurt feelings when the students make fun of her name. The teacher helps everyone realize that Chrysanthemum has a wonderful name.
Naughty Little Monkeys	Jim Aylesworth Illustrated by Henry Cole	ABC/Counting/Concept	Age 3-7	As the children pretending to be monkeys, we would dance around the room singing the ABC’s in weird monkey voices. ELAKLSV1 (c)	While Mom and Dad are away, 26 little naughty monkeys teach the alphabet.
Dr. Seuss’s ABC	Dr. Seuss	ABC/Counting/Concept	Age 4-8	Ask each child the day before to bring several letters cut from a food box, can label, magazine or newspaper and make a letter collage at school together. Students will demonstrate if it is an uppercase or lowercase letter. (Teacher brings extras, just in case.) ELAKR3 (b)	Dr. Seuss teaches the ABC.
Let’s Talk About Feeling Angry	Joy Berry Illustrated by Maggie Smith	ABC/Counting/Concept	Age 3-5	Let each child take a turn at discussing and give examples of how they might handle the next time they get angry in a real life experience. ELAKR6 (g)	Max the dog tells how Maria gets angry, then he guides her how to deal with anger.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar	Eric Carle	Predictable Book	Age 3-8	Out of pipe cleaners, roly eyes and pom-poms have the children glue their caterpillar to paper, then write what each child said about their caterpillar.	A caterpillar eats and eats because he is still hungry. Then one day he is a butterfly.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See	Bill Martin, Jr. Illustrated by Eric Carle	Predictable Book	Age 4-8	Have each child take turns playing brown bear, while other students repeat phrase and guess at what the bear sees. (Bear must tell teacher first what he/she sees)	The phrase “Brown Bear. Brown Bear, What Do You See” repeatedly asked as each animal sees something new.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears	Retold & Illustrated by Jan Brett	Traditional Literature	Age 3-8	Have the younger students retell the important facts in the story in their own words. Older students could write a different ending to the story. ELAKR6 (h)	Goldilocks wanders into the bears’ house. She eats, sits in chairs and gets in their beds. She falls asleep in the little bear’s bed. The bears scare her off.
No Photo Found The Three Little Pigs	Retold by Betty Miles Illustrated by Paul Meisel	Traditional Literature	Age 3-8	Have students create either a pig or a wolf out of play dough.	Three pigs build themselves a house to escape the big bad wolf.
No Photo Found Cinderella	Retold in Story Land by Walt Disney	Traditional Literature	Age 3-8	Ask students to make a list of 5 ways the stepsisters could have been nice to Cinderella.	Cinderella’s family mistreats her. In the end she gets to live happily ever after with the prince.
No Photo Found Little Red Riding Hood	Retold in Story Land by Walt Disney	Traditional Literature	Age 3-8	Leave out the predictable words or phrases and let the students fill in. ELAKLSV1 (c)	Little Red Riding Hood must make it to grandmother’s house, but beware; there is a big bad wolf.
No Photo Found Sleeping Beauty	Retold in Story Land by Walt Disney	Traditional Literature	Age 3-8	Allow all students a turn to find and frame all sight words in the big book version.	The kiss of a prince is the only thing that will wake Sleeping Beauty.
The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig	Eugene Trivizas & Helen Oxenbury	Modern Fantasy/Science Fiction	Age 7-10	From material (popsicle sticks, cardboard, pinecone petals, twigs, tissue paper, cotton balls) have children construct their home to escape pig.	A funny twist on the original story of The Three Little Pigs. The three little wolves are building houses with a big bad pig.
Jumanji	Chris Van Allsburg	Modern Fantasy/Science Fiction	Age 4-8	Make a sock puppet of a wild animal. Have all sorts of extra items such as, big eyes, pompoms and pipe cleaner for them to use.	In modern fantasy, a board game comes to life and takes over the children’s lives.
The Polar Express	Chris Van Allsburg	Modern Fantasy/Science Fiction	Age 4-8	Have children write a letter to Santa Claus on special stationery, address envelope and pretend mail. (Nice teacher would mail student back from Santa)	A magical train ride to the North where boy visits Santa Claus.
The Twits	Roald Dahl	Modern Fantasy/Science Fiction	Ages 7-11	Have children make an open mind portrait of one of characters (Mr. r Mrs. Twit, monkeys, birds) put inside what that character’s thoughts were.	This hilarious couple does mean things to animals, but the animals in the end get revenge.
Loser	Jerry Spinelli	Realistic Fiction	Age 8-12	Have each student bring an item to help create a museum of Loser.	The story of one boy’s life. He’s not like everyone else. In the end, he becomes a somewhat hero.
Love You Forever	Robert Munsch Illustrated by Sheila McGraw	Realistic Fiction	Age 3-8	Discuss how important it is to care for a baby and to show it love. Let children share songs their parents sing to them.	A mother’s love song to her growing child.
Junie B. Jones Loves Handsome Warren	Barbara Parks Illustrated by Denise Brunkus	Realistic Fiction	Age 5-12	Let each student follow your oral instructions on how to make a “Nutball.” (Which is an indiviudal cheese ball.) You will need plastic spoons, cups, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, crushed pecans and crackers. ELAKLSV1 (b)	Junie B. wants the new boy Warren to like her. In the end they do become friends.
My Happy Heart	Melody Carlson Illustrated by Jim Osborn	Realistic Fiction	Ages 3-10	Let each child create a 3-D heart made from construction paper. Glue to a bigger piece of paper and stuff with tissue. Maybe they will all want to give their heart to God.	A young boy wants to give a heart to someone special. In the end he gives his heart to God.
The Long Winter	Laura Ingalls Wilder Illustrated by Garth Williams	Historical Fiction	Ages 8-12	Divide the room into small groups. Have each group do an author board on Laura Ingalls Wilder by using the internet.	Almanzo must save the entire town due to an enormous snow storm that last a long time. Will they live?
Little Town On The Prairie	Laura Ingalls Wilder Illustrated by Garth Williams	Historical Fiction	Age 8-12	Let the entire class create their own readers theater. Assign different students to be Pa, Ma, Mary, Laura and Almanzo.	The grown Laura (age 15) has gotten Almanzo to ask her to her first gathering and she is now a teacher.
The Story of Ruby Bridges	Robert Coles	Historical Fiction or Biography	Age 5-9	Pass around a timer. Students have two minutes to go back in time and discuss how people dressed, transportation and how black people were treated differently before the timer goes off which is a time machine to bring them back to the present time.	A young black girl must fight racism to become the first black to attend and all white school.
Harlem	Walter Dean Myers Illustrated by Christopher Myers	Poetry	Age 7-12	Children tell something about their heritage or a tradition of their family.	A poem of black heritage.
The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders	Rhymes by Jack Prelutsky Pictures by Petra Mathers	Poetry	Age 5-10	Have students use rhyming words to help you create a poem or the older students to create their own poem.	A collection of different poems written by Jack Prelutsky.
Shades of Black	Sandra L. Pinkney Photographs by Myles C. Pinkney	Multicultural	Age 5-10	Have students bring their favorite photo of themselves and tell something positive about themselves.	Photographs celebrating the unique characteristics of being black.
The Boy Of The Three-Year Nap	Dianne Snyder Illustrated by Allen Say	Multicultural	Age 5-10	Pass out index cards. Have each student draw in pencil and color with colored pencil a certain scene. Tie together in order to have a running comic strip.	A lazy boy’s mother uses his own trick to trick him. In the end Taro is working.
Yoko	Rosemary Wells	Multicultural	Age 5-10	Have students to create a new book cover with a picture of them and their favorite international food.	A young kitten is made fun of because of the food she eats. The teacher plans an International Food Day. Yoko finally makes friends.
Flossie & the Fox	Patricia C. McKissack Illustrated by Rachel Isadora	Multicultural	Age 6-10	Have students create a time line of events, give each student an event, and have them to use watercolor paints to make a book quilt. Bind together with ribbon.	Flossie is a young black girl who outsmarts a fox to get to a neighbor’s house.
Dancing With The Indians	Angela Shelf Medearis Illustrated by Samuel Byrd	Multicultural	Age 6-10	Have music of beating drums on. Let students pretend to be with the Seminole Indians and join in the Stomp dance.	A black family visits the Seminole Indians and joins them in their Indian Stomp Dance.
When I Was Young In The Mountains	Cynthia Ryliant Illustrated by Diane Goode	Informational/Biography/Autobiography	Age 4-12	Children make a new book jacket from their favorite event in the book.	The story of a young girl living in the Appalachian Mountains.
Divide and Ride	Stuart J. Murphy Illustrated by George Ulrich	Informational/Biography/Autobiography	Age 6-9	Place chairs in front of class, pretend as if they are carnival rides, ask 11 students to figure out the math problems from the book. Write division problem on board.	Kids at a carnival learn how to divide to be able to ride each ride.
Laura Ingalls Wilder	William Anderson	Informational/Biography/Autobiography	Age 8-12	Have students make a list of 5 positive and 5 negative aspects of life in the 1800’s.	Laura Ingalls Wilder’s life story.
We Share Everything	Robert Munsch Illustrated by Michael Martchenko	Informational/Biography/Autobiography	Age 4-8	Using small packaged cookies if 20 students bring 10 packs, ask students to help figure out a way for everyone to get the same amount of cookies.	Two kindergarten kids have to learn to share everything. In the end they share each other’s clothing.
Pezzettino	Leo Lionni	Picture Book	Age 4-9	Cut colorful tissue paper and give each student a piece. Explain each person is important and complete alone. One by one have each student add their piece of tissue paper to a poster making the figure on the cover, but as we continue to grow we become different.	Pezzettino, which means “little piece”, continues to ask if he is part of someone. In the end he finds out he is complete just as he is.
A Color Of His Own	Leo Lionni	Picture Book	Age 4-9	Use a box to create a base and brown paper bag to create a limb. Have students use the brown bag to create their own chameleon. Let each student bring his or her chameleon to sit on limb. See how they are the same color.	A chameleon is sad because he does not have his own color. He makes friends with another chameleon and finds happiness.
Frederick	Leo Lionni	Picture Book	Age 4-9	Have students to “ruff” rip construction paper to create a mouse while they sip on hot chocolate.	Frederick did not help his brothers store food for the winter. When all their food was gone, Frederick’s poems filled and warmed them.