Title: Anna & Natalie Author: Barbara H. Cole Illustrator: Ronald Himler Year Published: 2007 Pictures as a Source for Information: The story is about a young girl (Anna) and her seeing-eye dog (Natalie), however it does not explicitly say the girl is blind or that Natalie is a dog, the reader must infer from the pictures. Title: Anna s Garden Songs Author: Mary Q. Steele Illustrator: Lena Anderson Year Published: 1989 Table of Contents: The text features a table of contents Literary Non-Fiction: The text has pictures of different garden vegetables and poems that go along with the vegetables and their characteristics Poetry: The text is a collections of short poems about each vegetable. Title: Because of Mr. Terupt Author: Rob Buyea Year Published: 2010 Title: Beneath Author: Roland Smith Year Published: 2015 Title: Bridge to Terabithia Author: Katherine Paterson Year Published: 1977 Point of View: The story is told from multiple student s points of view how they view the class and their teacher. Dynamic Characters: For each character there is more to them than the surface that other characters see. As the story goes on, characters realize different things about each other that were not obvious. Point of View: The story is told in first person from one character, but also includes recordings from the character s older brother that shows different experiences. Character Traits: Characters are very developed and each has different traits and quirks about them. Creative Writing Styles: There are chapters and then sections within the chapter, but the section headers are part of the text of the section. Sound Lead: The story starts with a sound lead. Unhappy Ending: One of the main characters dies at the end. Book vs. Movie: Can be used to do a study on how books are adapted into movies and why certain details might be different; also, how everyone interprets a story differently. Dialect: The characters speak differently because of the setting of the story (place and time).
Title: Come On, Rain! Author: Karen Hesse Illustrator: Jon J Muth Year Published: 1999 Small Moment: Takes a small moment of waiting for the rain to come and stretches it out into a full story. Historical Fiction: Can relate back to actual events and things that happen. Strong Verbs: The text features strong verbs (flinged, skim, shimmers, etc.) Title: The Curious Garden Author: Peter Brown Year Published: 2009 Effort/Stamina: The main character puts time and effort into something and sees results after a long period of time. Impacting Change: Students need to feel like they can have an impact on the world around them. This boys story along with classroom activities can be used to help teach that to students. Title: Dear Mr. Blueberry Author: Simon James Year Published: 1991 Story Clues from Pictures: The setting (time and place) can be derived from the cover of the book. Letter Writing: Models the different features of a letter. Title: A Drop Around the World Author: Barbara Shaw McKinney Illustrator: Michael S. Maydak Year Published: 1998 Literary Non-Fiction: The book is about the journey that water takes around the world Rhymes: The text is written in rhymes. Strong Verbs and Adjectives: The text uses many strong verbs and adjectives to strength the imagery that the story has (e.g., longs, sizzles, electric, forewarn, etc.). Title: Giraffes Can t Dance Author: Giles Andreae Illustrator: Guy Parker-Reese Year Published: 1999 Self-Esteem: Discusses a character who feels selfconscious and then figures out how to be confidence in their own uniqueness. Rhymes: The book follows a simple rhyming pattern.
Cover Title Uses Title: Holes Author: Louis Sachar Year Published: 1998 Title: If I Built a House Author: Chris Van Dussen Year Published: 2012 Circular Endings: The situation that started the story is resolved in the same fashion it started. Cause-and-Effect Relationships: There are many events in the story that follow a cause-and-effect model that can be used to teach the structure of what a cause and effect are. Book vs. Movie: Can be used to do a study on how books are adapted into movies and why certain details might be different; also, how everyone interprets a story differently. Rhymes: The book uses a rhyming writing style. Made-Up Words: In order to describe his house, the main character uses many made up words. Imagination: Encourages inventiveness and imagination; possibly useful when introducing an Engineering unit. Title: The Invisible Boy Author: Trudy Ludwig Illustrator: Patrice Barton Year Published: 2013 Welcoming New Students: Can be used to discuss how to welcome new students into a classroom. Use of Illustrations to Enhance Text: The main character is shown in different color schemes throughout the book to show how the character feels about himself. Title: The Lion and the Mouse Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney Year Published: 2009 Title: Night of the Twisters Author: Ivy Ruckman Year Published: 1984 Wordless Book: The book has no words. Students can create their own words or see value in reading the pictures. Author s Note: The author writes a lengthy note that describes the story and his experience with the story. Fables: Can be used in a genre study on fables and their characteristics. Figurative Language: The text is rich with comparisons and descriptions to help create imagery and feeling within the reader. Historical Fiction: A study into how a writer writes about a fictional experience that is part of an event that actually occurred. Story Rhythm: The author stretches out certain parts of the story and speeds certain parts of the story.
Title: Orion and the Dark Author: Emma Yarlett Year Published: 2015 Title: The Quiet Book Author: Deborah Underwood Illustrator: Renata Liwska Year Published: 2010 Title: The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! Author: Jon Scieszka Illustrator: Lane Smith Year Published: 1989 Title: Where the Sidewalk Ends Author: Shel Silverstein Year Published: 1974 Ellipses: Uses ellipses ( ) to build suspense in the story Illustrations: The illustrations are heavy with speech bubbles and labelling. Special Paper: There are two parts in the story where the paper is not a full sheet and is used to enhance the story in a way that pictures and text may not. Overcoming Fears: The main character overcomes their fear of the dark. Unique Sentence Structure: The book does not follow conventions of text, using phrases to describe the adjective quiet. Text-to-Self: The book leaves room for many opportunities for students to relate to situations occurring in the book. Classroom Management: The book focuses on the importance of taking time for the quiet. Perspective: The text features the bad-guy s point of view on the classic fairytale, which can help teach students that there are more than one part of a story. This may also help students see that there is not just bad and good but a lot of in-between and uncertainty. Voice: The voice of the wolf comes alive in the text and reads more conversational rather than storylike. Poetry: The book is full of poems, which can be a good start for a genre study in poetry. Index: The text features an index. Made-Up Words: The poems often have made-up words, which can encourage inventiveness in writing. Title: Wilfred Author: Ryan Higgins Year Published: 2013 Empathy: The interactions between Wilfred and the Bald townspeople is a place where empathy and its importance can be discussed. Alliteration: There are multiple places where alliteration is present (humongous and hairy, whole wide world, brave little boy, etc.) Dynamic Characters: The little townspeople change over the course of the book.
Book Title Websites to Aid Instruction Websites A Drop Around the World http://water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle-kids-adv.html Interactive website about the water cycle. Dear Mr. Blueberry http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/blue-whale/ A website about Blue Whales to help the students figure out if they believe Mr. Blueberry or if they believe Emily. Giraffe s Can t Dance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvzblgpqqnk A video read-a-loud of the book. Holes http://www.louissachar.com/holes.html Author s website on Holes that provides some extras and insights into the story. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nevlrtdkt0c Holes movie trailer. The Lion and The Mouse http://www.read.gov/aesop/007.html Aesop s The Lion and the Mouse for after the students read the book and explore its storyline. Night of the Twisters http://www.gitwisters.com/bookmovie/twistersauthor.php Author Ivy Ruckman on her personal connections to the story and what motivated her to write the book. Where the Sidewalk Ends http://www.shelsilverstein.com/ Author s website; has games, activities, and resources.