Lindsey's Electronic Reading File

Electronic Reading File

By: Lindsey Williams

Caldecott Award Winners
Picture of Book	Genre	Title / Award year	Author / Illustrator	Appropriate Age / Grade	Ideas for Classroom Use	Description of Story
	Picture Storybook	The Little Island 1947	Golden MacDonald/ Leonard Weisgard	Preschool; K-2	Have students listen to the story and then use creative movement to become a part of the story. Explore the island like the cat and other animals.	A small island shows how it is connected to the rest of the earth, but because it is surrounded by water it is also its own little world.
	Picture Storybook	The Snowy Day 1963	Ezra Jack Keats	Preschool; K-2	Ask students to think of what will happen in the story. Read half of the book, and ask for predictions again. Then, have the students write their own ending to the story. (E1AKR6b)	A young boy adventures out into the snow and explores all the fun you can have.
	Picture Storybook	Sam, Bangs and Moonshine 1967	Evaline Ness	Preschool; K-3	Have students get into two groups. Ask one group to come up with a small drama of lying and the other of telling the truth. Then, they can act it out along with the consequences.	Sam, a young girl, learns an important lesson about lying after she almost loses a friend because of a lie she told.
	Picture Storybook	Sylvester and the Magic Pebble 1970	William Steig	K-2; 3-4	Have students create a puppet show that goes along with the book.	A family of donkeys realized after their son went missing that being together is the most important thing in the world.
	Picture Storybook	The Girl who Loved Wild Horses 1979	Paul Goble	3-4; 5-6	Have students research Native Americans and their traditions and then write their own story about the important role horses played in the Native Americans’ lives. (ELA5W2b)	A native American girl who loved horses found herself lost after a storm. She ended up spending the rest of her days with the wild horses that took her in. They became her family.
	Picture Storybook	Owl Moon 1988	Jane Yolen/ John Schoenherr	Preschool; K-3	Have students write a short story about something special they do with their parents or grandparents. (ELA1W1b)	A father took his young son out into the woods at night to look for owls together.
	Picture Storybook	Many Moons 1944	James Thurber/ Louis Slobodkin	Preschool; K-3	Have students draw a picture of the moon and then describe how far away it is, how big it is, and what it is made of.	When a young princess gets sick and asks for the moon, her father seeks help from the three wisest men in the kingdom. When they cannot help, the girl herself seems to be the only one that can come up with a solution with help from the court jester.
	Picture Storybook/ Biography	So You Want to be President? 2001	Judith St. George/ David Smith	4-8	Have each student create a picture of a president using different media or materials, and make a classroom collage of all the presidents to put on the wall or bulletin board.	The author walks us through the lives, personalities, and history of all of our presidents. This book gives children the insights of all of the great and not so great presidents we have had, and what it takes to become a good president.

Newbery Award Winners
Picture of Book	Genre	Title / Award Year	Author / Illustrator	Appropriate Age / Grade	Ideas for Classroom Use	Description of Story
	Chapter Book Modern fantasy	The Twenty-One Balloons 1948	Péne du Bois	5-6	Have students get into groups of about three and design and make a balloon out of different materials that you provide. Have the actual balloon filled with helium and let the students figure out how to make their balloons fly. Then release them to the ceiling and see whose lasts the longest. Create a chart that shows your findings. (S6CS6c)	A professor decides to fly across the Pacific Ocean in a hot air balloon. He is found in the wrong ocean with too many balloons and an amazing story to tell.
	Chapter book Modern fantasy	The Cat Who Went to Heaven 1931	Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth / Lynd Ward	3-4	Look at different pictures of Japanese art and have the students draw a similar art work such as paintings.	This story tells of the legends of Buddha and how he helped a Japanese artist as a cat.
	Chapter Book Realistic Fantasy	Onion John 1960	Joseph Krumgold / Symeon Shimin	4-7	Have students look into immigrant work and write a poem about how hard it is for the workers to fit in.	A young boy befriends an immigrant worker. The community that they live in almost ruins the friendship, but it lives on.
	Chapter Book Modern fantasy	The Tale of Despereaux 2004	Kate DiCamillo / Timothy Basil Ering	3+	Have students create a “talk show” for the characters in the story. Let everyone have a role, whether it is devising questions or playing a character.	A mouse is in love with a human princess named Pea. There is also a slave girl who longs to become a princess. They each go on a journey and meet a rat who wants too ruin them all.
	Chapter Book Modern Fantasy	The Giver 1994	Lois Lowry	5-6; 7+	Have the students write about and draw memories they have. Make a bulletin board out of those memories while reading this story. Ask the students to write why the memory is important to remember, or if it is a bad memory, why they would like to forget it.	When a young boy turns twelve he is given the role of receiving memories from his community. His idealistic world becomes worse and worse as the memories are revealed.

Award Winning Picture Books
Picture of Book	Genre	Title / Award Year	Author / Illustrator	Appropriate Age / Grade	Ideas for Classroom Use	Description of Book
	Picture Storybook	My Teacher Sleeps in School Georgia Children’s Picture Storybook Award (1986-1987)	Leatie Weiss / Ellen Weiss	1-2	Ask the students to illustrate their own homes they live in. Have a picture (drawn or taken) of your home to show them where you live.	Students look for clues to prove that their teacher sleeps in school. Later a surprise field trip will change their minds.
	Picture Storybook / Biography	When Marian Sang: The true recital of Marian Anderson An Honor Book for the 2003 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award	Pam Muñoz Ryan/ Brian Selznick	1-5	Have student’s sing the songs in the book if they know them. Discuss what they love to do and how they would feel if they were not allowed to do it.	A young girl wanted to sing, but because of her race she was always turned away. She had to overcome the racial barriers in order to do what she loved.
	Picture Storybook	Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman -Winner of the 1997 Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration -An ALA Notable Book -Winner of the Christopher Award -An IRA/CBC Children's Choice	Alan Schroeder/ Jerry Pinkney	K-3	Have students draw pictures like the ones from the book. Then put them together to form a class big book.	The story of how Harriet Tubman lived on a plantation and was prepared to make a break for freedom. This story looks at slavery from Harriet’s point of view and shows why she wanted to escape
	Picture Storybook	The Adventures of Sparrowboy 1997 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award	Brian Pinkney	Preschool- 3	Have students write and illustrate their own comic strip as a class. Teacher will probably have to write the text.	A boy who delivers newspapers almost runs over a sparrow and finds he is able to fly, much like his favorite comic book hero. He must now use his powers to help out his neighborhood.
	Picture Storybook / Multicultural	Snapshots from the Wedding 1998 Pura Belpré Award	Gary Soto / Stephanie Garcia	2-5	Create shadow box artwork like the illustrator uses for this book. Use different materials to create them.	A little flower girl describes scenes from a Mexican American wedding. She goes through vivid images she has which is accompanied by the illustrations.

ABC/Counting/Concept Books
Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author / Illustrator	Appropriate Age / Grade	Ideas for Classroom Use	Description of Book
	Alphabet Book	ABC: A Child's First Alphabet Book	Alison Jay	Infants- Preschool	Go through a letter each week and use a chart that has the letter, words that start with that letter, and pictures of the objects. Have the children sing the ABC song while going through the book. (ELAKR1d)	Author explores the alphabet and uses many words for each letter. Instead of just one word, there are many.
	Concept Book/ Engineered Book	Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings: Fold-out Fun with Textures, Colors, Shapes, Animals	Matthew Van Fleet	Infants- Preschool	Have students create a puppet show with animal puppets and have the “animals” describe what color, shape, and texture they are.	Children can feel the texture of animals, see their shapes, and learn their colors.
	ABC Book	Halloween ABC	Eve Merriam / Lane Smith	K-2	Have the students write their own poems for Halloween based on the alphabet. (ELAKR2a)	Has a poem about Halloween for every letter of the alphabet. Comes up with creepy ideas of Halloween.

Predictable Books
Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author / Illustrator	Appropriate Age / Grade	Ideas for Classroom Use	Description of Book
	Predictable Book	Love You Forever	Robert Munsch	K-1	Ask students to create collages using pictures, symbols and words from magazines. They are to illustrate things that are important to them and they love.	A mother expresses her love for her child, and in the end finds that the love is returned.
	Predictable Book Counting Book	Ten Rosy Roses	Eve Merriam / Julia Gorton	K-2	Read the story first. Have the children call out the number of roses on the page. Then, retell then story using the names of children in your class and have them come up one by one and “pick a rose”. (MKN1b)	There are ten roses that one-by-one get picked by students to form a bouquet for their teacher.

Traditional Literature Books
Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author / Illustrator	Appropriate Age / Grade	Ideas for Classroom Use	Description of Book
	Fairy tale	Yeh-Shen	Ai-Ling Louie / Ed Young	Preschool; K-3	Have your class write a modern day Cinderella story. Act it out in front of the other classes in the same grade. Include all of the students in the drama.	A Cinderella story based in China. A young woman has to overcome her mean step-family in order to marry a prince.
	Pourquoi	Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears	Verna Aardema	Preschool; K-3	Have students get into groups. Ask the groups to come up with a small drama about spreading rumors. Then, they can act it out along with the consequences.	A mosquito spreads a rumor that is not true and causes widespread trouble throughout the jungle.
	Folktale	The Talking Eggs	Robert D. San Souci / /Jerry Pinkney	K-2	Get the students to write a letter to a character in the story. The letter should tell the character what the student would wish for if they had a magic egg.	A young girl befriends an old witch and because of her kind and loving nature, she finds riches. Her sister on the other hand is greedy and mean and sets out to find riches and ends up getting what she deserves.
	Myth	Arrow to the Sun	Gerald McDermott	K-2	Have students listen to the story and then break into groups to create a short dance that explains how the story makes them feel.	A boy is sent to the sun and has to pass some tests. After this he is sent back to earth and brings the power of the sun with him.
	Tall Tale	Swamp Angel	Anne Isaacs / Paul O. Zelinsky	K-3	Act out the story in the classroom. Give everyone a part and have them act it out while the teacher reads the story aloud.	A Tennessee woods woman does many great things in her life, but the greatest was saving everyone from a hungry bear that kept eating their food.

Fantasy/Science Fiction
Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author / Illustrator	Appropriate Age / Grade	Ideas for Classroom Use	Description of Book
	Chapter Book Modern Fantasy	The Merlin Effect	T.A. Barron	5-6; 7+	Have the students get into groups and write a theatre script from a passage in the story. Have them perform the script in front of the rest of the class.	A young girl goes on a treasure hunt with her father and ends up finding an artifact that supposedly caused the demise of Merlin. Now she must pick up where Merlin left off.
	Chapter Book Modern Fantasy	Mercy Watson to the Rescue	Kate DiCamillo / Chris Van Dusen	K-2	Have the students create a menu for a pig. Have them think of things a pig might like and then create the food out of play dough.	A family owns a pig that is more than just a pet. They give it a lot of food and even share their bed with it. One day the bed could not handle the weight of the family and the pig, and it is up to Mercy to save the day.
	Chapter Book Science Fiction	The Last Book in the Universe	Rodman Philbrick	7+	Illustrate a scene from the book in the form of a diorama. Create 2 and 3-D images using a variety of design strategies.	In the future, civilization ceases to exist as we know it. Mind probes are located in everyone’s brain and controls people thoughts. A man with epilepsy tries to live a normal life and save others while risking everything.
	Chapter Book Science Fiction	The White Mountains	John Christopher	5-6	Have the students come up with a plan on how they would escape the creatures. Ask them what they would take, where they would go, etc.	There are creatures that put metal caps on the heads of adults to turn them into obedient servants. A group of youngsters leave to escape the creatures.

Realistic Fiction
Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author / Illustrator	Appropriate Age / Grade	Ideas for Classroom Use	Description of Book
	Contemporary Realistic Fiction	Thank You, Mr. Falker	Patricia Polacco	K-4	Have the students think of what subject they are good at. Have them create a song about that subject and why they like it. Have them record it on a tape, or perform it in front of the class. You can group students by their favorite subject if you have enough of each. (ELA1W1a)	A little girl in school was good at most subjects, but could not read words well on a page. Finally, one teacher discovered her dyslexia and helped her overcome her learning disability.
	Chapter Book Contemporary Realistic Fiction	Because of Winn-Dixie	Kate DiCamillo	3+	Have students create a “talk show” for the characters in the story. Let everyone have a role, whether it is devising questions or playing a character.	Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her stray dog Winn-Dixie.
	Contemporary Realistic Fiction	Wise Woman and her Secret	Eve Merriam / Linda Graves	1-3	Illustrate a scene from the book in the form of a diorama. Create 2 and 3-D images using a variety of design strategies.	A wise woman lives outside a village, and the people come to her all the time to discover her wisdom. A young girl learns the woman’s secret which is to be curious.
	Contemporary Realistic Fiction	The Other Side	Jacqueline Woodson / Earl Lewis	K-2	Let the students illustrate pages of the book to create a big book for the class.	Two girls of a different race find friendship after crossing the fence that separates their homes.

Historical Fiction
Picture of Book	Genre		Title	Author / Illustrator	Appropriate Age / Grade		Ideas for Classroom Use		Description of Book
	Chapter Book Historical Fiction		The Summer of My German Soldier	Bette Greene	7+		Research the Holocaust and write a poem telling of the hardships and discrimination that Jewish families felt during this time. Create a class poem anthology.		A teenage Jewish girl grows up during the time of the Holocaust. She befriends a German Nazi prisoner of war that is brought to her home town in Arkansas. She is willing to give up everything she knows to help him out.
	Chapter Book Historical Fiction		Nightjohn	Gary Paulsen	7+		Listen to different slavery songs that slaves sang to keep their hopes up. Then discuss how important the songs really were since most slaves could not read or write and the only way to communicate was orally.		A slave named Nightjohn escaped from slavery and gave up his freedom to teach slaves how to read and write. The punishment for educating slaves is awful, but both the narrator and Nightjohn are willing to take the risk. We see how brutal slavery really was.
	Chapter Book Historical Fiction		Johnny Tremain	Esther Forbes / Lynd Ward	5-6		Students will study the story and then create a brochure on Johnny Tremain and share it with the class. (ELA5W2a)		A young boy injured his hand while doing silversmith work. He became a messenger boy and ends up coming across people like John Hancock and Samuel Adams at the beginning of the American Revolution.
	Historical Fiction		Daniel’s Story	Carol Matas	4-8		Research the concentration camps and have a class discussion about how the prisoners were treated.		A young man named Daniel lives in Germany during the time the Nazis took power. He and his father are sent to a concentration camp where he must remain hopeful in order to survive.

Poetry Anthologies
Picture of Book	Genre	Title		Author / Illustrator		Appropriate Age / Grade		Ideas for Classroom Use		Description of Book
	Poetry	You be Good and I’ll be Night		Eve Merriam / Karen Lee Schmidt		Preschool- 3		Have the children make up a tune to the poems and sing the words to the poems.		This book has rhyming poems about jumping on the bed and other things.
	Poetry Anthology	Inner City Mother Goose		Eve Merriam / David Diaz		7+		Have the students look at some of the poems and write their own about how to correct the problems that Eve’s poems suggest.		Includes different poems that are like traditional nursery rhymes, but talk about different aspects of inner city life such as drug use, living on the street, and crime.

Multicultural Books
Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author / Illustrator	Appropriate Age / Grade	Ideas for Classroom Use	Description of Book
	Folktale	Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters	Clarita Kohen / John Steptoe	Preschool; K-3	Split the students into two groups, and have all the students in one group illustrate how the selfish daughter made them feel. The students in the other group will illustrate how the kind daughter made them feel. Compare the drawings.	Mufaro has two daughters that are both beautiful, however one is kind and considerate, and the other is bad-tempered and selfish. The king needs to choose a wife and Mufaro sets his daughters out to be chosen.
	Contemporary Realistic Fiction	Me llamo Maria Isabel (My Name is Maria Isabel)	Alma Flor Ada / K. Dyble Thompson	3-4	Have the students complete a “My Greatest Wish” writing assignment and then share with the class what they wrote. (ELA3W1a)	When a family moves to America from Puerto Rico, a young girl finds herself being called Mary in school. After writing about her greatest wish, which is to be called by her true name, everything gets better for her.
	Contemporary Realistic Fiction	Angel Child, Dragon Child	Michele Maria Surat / Vo Dinh Mai	1-3	Look at the culture and clothing in Vietnam. Draw pictures comparing the way of life in Vietnam and in America.	A child moves from Vietnam and tries her best to adjust to life in America.
	Modern Fantasy	Abiyoyo: Based on a South African Lullaby and Folk Story	Pete Seeger / Michael Hays	K-2	Let students create their own instruments using different materials, and then let them play music together.	A boy and his father are banished because the father, a magician, has a habit of making things vanish. But when the giant Abiyoyo appears, the father makes Abiyoyo disappear, and all is forgiven
	Modern Fantasy	The Mud Pony: A Traditional Skidi Pawnee Tale	Caron Lee Cohen/ Shonto Begay	2-5	Give students molding clay and let them create their own mud ponies. Then you can bake the clay and let the students paint their horses any way they like to make them their own.	A poor boy wishes for a pony of his own so he creates one out of mud. Once while visiting his “pony” his tribe leaves him. The mud pony becomes real and leads him to his people. It later makes him chief before returning into mud.

Informational/Biography/Autobiography
Picture of Book	Genre	Title	Author / Illustrator	Appropriate Age / Grade	Ideas for Classroom Use	Description of Book
	Chapter Book Autobiography	Rosa Parks: My Story	Rosa Parks and Jim Haskins	4-6	Illustrate a scene from the book in the form of a diorama. Create 2 and 3-D images using a variety of design strategies.	This story goes through the life and struggles of Rosa Parks growing up during the time of segregation. It tells of her role in the NAACP and her starting the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott.
	Biography	Abigail Adams	Alexandra Wallner	2-4	Students will listen to the story and then create a brochure on Abigail Adams and share it with the class. If they need more information, they can do an in- class internet search.	Depicts Abigail Adams role as first lady and how she wanted more rights form women. She was a very strong woman herself and took care of her family, farms, and money while her husband was away.
	Biography	Young John Quincy	Cheryl Harness	2-4	Illustrate a scene from the book and make a historical timeline of John Quincy Adams’ childhood.	Tells of John Quincy Adams growing up at the time the Declaration of Independence was written, and brings his childhood to life.
	Biography	Eleanor	Barbara Cooney	1-3	Choose a scene from Eleanor’s childhood and act it out as a class. Assign different roles for students to do.	Eleanor Roosevelt’s childhood is explored; leading up to how she found in herself the qualities that would make her such a powerful woman.

ELAKR6 The student gains meaning from orally presented text. The student

b. Makes predictions from pictures and titles.

ELA5W2 The student demonstrates competence in a variety of genres.

The student produces informational writing (e.g., report, procedures, correspondence) that:

b. Develops a controlling idea that conveys a perspective on a subject.

ELA1W1 The student begins to demonstrate competency in the writing process.

The student

b. Describes an experience in writing.

S6CS6. Students will communicate scientific ideas and activities clearly.

c. Organize scientific information using appropriate tables, charts, and graphs, and

identify relationships they reveal.

ELAKR1 The student demonstrates knowledge of concepts of print. The student

d. Distinguishes among written letters, words, and sentences.

ELAKR2 The student demonstrates the ability to identify and orally manipulate

words and individual sounds within those spoken words. The student

a. Identifies and produces rhyming words in response to an oral prompt and

distinguishes rhyming and non-rhyming words.

MKN1. Students will connect numerals to the quantities they represent.

b. Produce models for number words through ten.

ELA1W1 The student begins to demonstrate competency in the writing process.

The student

a. Writes texts of a length appropriate to address a topic and tell a story.

ELA5W2 The student demonstrates competence in a variety of genres.

The student produces informational writing (e.g., report, procedures, correspondence) that:

a. Engages the reader by establishing a context, creating a speaker’s voice, and

otherwise developing reader interest.

ELA3W1 The student demonstrates competency in the writing process. The student

a. Captures a reader’s interest by setting a purpose and developing a point of view.

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