Because of Mr. Terupt

Because of Mr.Terupt

Written by: Rob Buyea

Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers in 2010.

Engaging, Gripping, Realistic, Surprising, Touching


Summary:
This story is told from seven different students points of view. Jeffrey, Luke, Anna, Jessica, Danielle, Alexia, and Peter are all in Mr. Terupt's fifth grade class. Mr. Terupt touches the hearts of each of these seven students and causes them to all change for the better. When a snowball thrown by Peter puts Mr. Terupt into a coma, the students are devastated. However, through this experience they learn a lot about each other and Mr. Terupt. In the end, Mr. Terupt comes out of the coma and forgives Peter. It is a happy ending for all.

Reading Level:
Lexile Measure: 560L
Grade Level Equivalent: 3.2
Interest Level: Grades 4-6

Electronic Resources:
Rob Buyea Official Website
This link leads to Rob Buyea's Official Website. This is about his book, Because of Mr. Terupt and Mr. Terupt falls again. It gives blurbs about what each book is about, an about the author section, and frequently asked questions. It tells how Buyea came up with the characters. It also has an educators guide for teachers. This would be a good website for both teachers and students who want to learn more about the writing of the stories.

Because of Mr. Terupt Teachers Guide
This link leads to a website that rates the book, says the best way for it to be read, gives a brief overview of what the students will learn from this book to help teachers decide if they want it to be read, gives an in depth summary of the book that includes the emotions children should feel as they read this book, and has a list of discussion questions. This site would be extremely helpful for students.

Teaching Suggestions:
Teachers can use this story to show how characters and people change over time.
Teachers can use this story to show how students can connect to a book using text-to-self connections.

Suggested Delivery:
I would have students read this book independently. It is not a difficult read so students should have no problem reading this book on there own.

Key Vocabulary:
Puttered, Organisms, Looming, Anxiously, Hyperventilating, Patient

Reading Strategies:

Before Reading:
Have students read the back cover and then flip through the story. Talk about how the story will be told. Who are the narrators?

During Reading:
Have students make predictions about what they think will happen in the story. Throughout their reading have them change their predictions and make new ones.

After Reading:
Have students get into seven groups. Each group will be a different character. Have each group discuss how their character changed throughout the book. Then have each group share with the class.

Writing Activity:
Have students write about which character they think they are most like and why. At what points in the story are they most like their character. Give specific examples.

Heart and Soul

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans

Writen and Illustrated by: Kadir Nelson


Published by Harper Collins Publishers in 2011.


The Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner in 2012.

Educational, Engaging, Evolving, Historical, Informative

Summary:
This story is about American history told from the perspective of African Americans. It beings with the Declaration of Independence and slavery and goes through the Civil Right Movement. This book is told from a different perspective than most history books are told from. The African American perspective is important for children to hear.

Reading Level:
Lexile Measure: 1050L
Grade Level Equivalent: 6.0
Interest Level: Grades 3-6

Electronic Resources:
Nelson talking about Heart and Soul
This link leads to a youtube video of Nelson talking about why he wrote Heart and Soul, how he created the pictures, and his inspirations for writing the book.
This will help students in understanding the importance of reading this book.

Interview with Nelson
This link leads to an interview with Nelson about the Coretta Scott King Award his book received. Nelson talks about all the work he does when creating a book. He also talks about other books he has written. This is good for students who like Kadir Nelson's writing.

Teaching Suggestions:
Teachers can use this story for social studies to show history from an African American point of view.

Suggested Delivery:
I would use this book as a read aloud. Therefore, class discussion can be had while the book is being read. Also, students may have many questions about the concepts motioned in this book.

Key Vocabulary:
Mason-Dixon Line, Emancipation Proclamation, House of Representatives, Reconstruction, Strike, Jim Crow

Reading Strategies:

Before Reading:
Have students complete the K and W of a KWL chart on American history and African American history. This will get students thinking about the topic This will also help students relate what they are about to learn to their prior knowledge.

During Reading:
Students will have discussions after each chapter. They will talk about their reactions to this new information, what is similar to what they already know, and if anything contradicts what they have already learned.

After Reading:
Have students complete the L section of the KWL chart. This will help students to reflect back on the story and what they learned from it.

Writing Activity:
Have pairs of students pick one picture to write about. They will research the concept that the picture is depicting. They will then write, without plagiarising, a paper with additional information that the book did not give.

To Dance

To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel

Memoir by: Siena Cherson Siegel

Artwork by: Mark Sigel

Published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers in 2006.

Insightful, Realistic, Simple, Unexpected, Relatable

Summary:
This story is about a girl who follows her dream to become a ballerina. She worked hard and spent many hours practicing. She got into prestigious schools. Meanwhile, her parents marriage was ending. She focused even more on dancing so that she did not have to deal with her parents failing marriage. In the end, she got injured and decided to go to college instead of becoming a ballerina. However, she still danced for fun.

Reading Level:
Lexile Measure: 610L
Grade Equivalent: 3.5
Interest Level: Grades 6-8

Electronic Resources:
School of American Ballet
This link leads to the School of American Ballet website. This school is the main settings in the book. This link will help children to understand where she went and how prestigious the program was that she was in.

Graphic Novels
This link leads to information of on genre of graphic novels. It also gives titles and summaries about other graphic novels that are out there. This link will be helpful for students who are interested in reading more graphic novels.

Teaching Suggestions:
Teachers can use this story to show students a different types of book and a different style of writing.

Suggested Delivery:
Students should read this book independently. This book is a short, and easy read.
 
Key Vocabulary:
Performance, Leotards, Audition, Administrators, Rehearsals, Composition

Reading Strategies:

Before Reading:
Have students look at the front cover and flip through the story and look at the pictures. What do they think the story will be about? What do they think will happen in the story?

During Reading:
Have students look at the pictures as they read. How do the pictures help move the story along? Could the text stand alone, without the pictures there as a guide?

After Reading:
Have students discuss one thing that they could relate to that happened in the main character's life.

Writing Activity:
Have students create their own mini graphic novel about an ambition they have and the steps they have taken to achieve it. Did they achieve what they set out to?

Everything for a Dog

Everything for a Dog

Written by: Ann M. Martin

Published by Feiwel and Friends in 2009.


Addictive, Believable, Emotional, Heart-Wrenching, Tragic


Summary:
Everything for a Dog is about a boy named Henry who really wants a dog, but his parents won't let him get one. He doesn't understand why until he learns about the death of his dad's dog. Henry understands why his dad does not want him to have dog, but when a stray dog comes into town he can't help but fall in love with him. Through a series of events, Henry and his family fall in love with the stray dog and end up giving him a home.

Reading Level:
Lexile Measure: 890L
Grade Level Equivalent: 5.7
Interest Level: Grades 3-5

Electronic Resources:
Ann Martin Interview
This link leads to an interview with Ann Martin about her book. She talks about how she came up with the idea for writing the book and what her inspirations were. She also talks about her writing process and what difficulties she had in writing Everything for a Dog.

Timeline
This link leads to an interactive timeline. You can click on the dots on the timeline and a description of what happened at that time pops up. This is helpful in sequencing the events in the story.

Teaching Suggestions:
Teachers can use this story to teach students how to compare and contrast characters.
Teachers can use this story to teach students that there are many different points of view.

Suggested Delivery:
Students will read independently. This book has easy concepts and is an easy read. Also, reading independently allows students to think for themselves before they share their ideas.

Key Vocabulary:
Nuisance, Humiliation, Cautiously, Tentatively, Companion, Atmosphere

Reading Strategies:

Before Reading:
Students will read the back cover of the book. From the back cover, they will write down questions that they have about the book. These questions should be able to be answered as the students read.

During Reading:
Students  will answer the questions that they made in the before reading. They will also make five discussion questions for their literary groups about the book. The questions will have to evoke thought. They should be inferential questions.

After Reading:
Students will have a literacy discussion based on their discussion questions. The conversation should flow naturally, not just a question then an answer.

Writing Activity:
Students will compare and contrast the events the three main characters went through and the feelings the characters had throughout the book.

Balloons Over Broadway

Balloons Over Broadway


Written and Illustrated by Melissa Sweet


Published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children in 2011

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal Winner in 2012

Educational, Fascinating, Informative, Insightful, Inspiring

Summary:
This book is about Tony Sarg and how he invented the balloons that fly over Broadway every year during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Tony had always been good at making inventions and marionettes. This was the perfect combination and he was just the person to call when Macy's had the idea for a parade. Throughout the years, Tony improved his inventions until he came up with the balloons we still see today. This book is inspiring. It shows students to never give up and improvements can always be made.

Reading Level:
Lexile Measure: 1000L
Grade Level Equivalent: 5.4
Interest Level: Grades 1-4

Electronic Resources:
Interview with Melissa Sweet
This link leads to an interview with the author of the story. The interviewer asks her questions such as why she was interested in Tony Sarg and how did she make the illustrations for her book.

Photographs of Early Balloons
This link leads to some photographs of the first balloons created by Tony Sarg. One of these pictures are in the book, but the others are not.

Teaching Suggestions:
Teachers can use this story for social studies as a history lesson about the Macy's Thanksgivig Day Parade.

Suggested Delivery:
Students will read in small groups because there is some difficult vocabulary in the story. Students will understand the concepts of the vocabulary words by looking at the pictures. The students in the groups can help each other to understand the concepts and talk through what they are learning from the pictures.

Key Vocabulary:
Marionette, Department Store, Pulleys, Immigrants, Helium

Reading Strategies:

Before Reading:
Have students complete the K and W sections of a KWL chart about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This will help students to relate what they are about to learn to their prior knowledge. It will also get students to think about what they do not already know, but would like to know.

During Reading:
Students will look at the pictures for a better understanding of the text. They will discuss the pictures and how it relates to the text throughout the reading.

After Reading:
Students will complete the L of their KWL charts. This will help students to recall what they have learned from the reading. Their L should answer questions they had in their W. Have them correct any information that they thought they knew in their K, but was actually a misconception.

Writing Activity:
Students will write about a time when they did not give up and they kept trying to improve what they were working on just like Tony Sarg did. They will relate their story to Tony Sarg. How did they feel throughout the process of improving their work? How do they think Tony Sarg felt?

How to Get Rich on the Oregon Trail

How to Get Rich on the Oregon Trail: My Adventures Among Cows, Crooks & Heroes on the Road to Fame & Fortune by William Reed

Written by Tod Olsen, Afterward by Marc Aronson

Illustrated by Scott Allred and Gregory Proch

Published by National Geographic in 2009

Teachers' Choice Award 2010

 

Adventurous, Educational, Fascinating, Historical, Informational

Summary:
This book is the account of William Reed's journey across the Oregon Trail. He discusses his fears, the "road" they traveled, what they encountered, and both spending and earning money. This account may or may not have actually happened, but either way it is historically accurate. It gives a good insight into what life was for the emigrantes.

Reading Level:
Lexile Measure: 1020L
Grade Level Equivalent: 5.6
Interest Level: Grades 4-8

Electronic Resources:
The Trail for Kids
This link is for students and teachers. It has additional information about the Oregon Trail including frequently asked questions. It also has crossword puzzles with vocabulary words about the Oregon Trail. For teaching resources it has math exercises pertaining to trading posts and money.

The Oregon Trail 
This link has interactive information and more links for students to learn more about the Oregon Trail. It tells about the hardships, supplies, and the route of the Oregon Trail. It also tells about the life of the travelers, what they wore, what they did, and how they lived.

Teaching Strategies:
Teachers can use this story for social studies as a history lesson about the Oregon Trail.
Teachers can use this story to show forms of communication and travel during the western migration in the 1850s.

Suggested Delivery:
I would recommend this book be read in small groups because there are many vocabulary words that are pertinent to understanding the book that the students most likely have not yet encountered. The students can work together to figure out the meanings.

Key Vocabulary:
Forebears, Melancholia, Emigrants, Contraption, Cholera, Vengeance, Treacherous, Ramshackle, Smitten, Unmolested, Specimen, Yoke, Mormons, Inferior, Maelstrom, Profit, Missionaries, Outskirts, Speechifying, Anvil

Reading Strategies:

Before Reading:
Have students complete the K and W in a KWL chart about the Oregon Trail. This will get them thinking about what they already know, their prior knowledge, and get them to go beyond that and think about all the information they don't know, but would like to learn. This will prepare them for their reading.

During Reading:
Stop half way through the book and have students reflect on what has been read and make predictions on what will happen in the last half of the book.

After Reading:
Have students complete the L in their KWL chart. This will help to recount the information they have learned about. Have them correct any information that they thought they knew in their K, but was actually a misconception.

Writing Activity:
Have students draw on the book and other information they learned about the Oregon Trail and create a journal account of their journey on the Oregon Trail.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Written by: Jeff Kinney

Published by Amulet Books in 2007

Addictive, Amusing, Entertaining, Hilarious, Realistic



Summary:
This book is Greg Huffley's diary where he talks about his life experiences in case one day he becomes famous he will have an account of his life. Greg Huffley is your average middle school student with the normal problems. This book is very easy for the average middle school guy to relate to. Greg talks about his home life, being in school, bullies, and friends. His life is complicated and he spends much of his time looking for where he belongs in life.

Reading Level:
Lexile Measure: 950L
Grade Level Equivalent: 5.3
Interest Level: Grades 3-5

Electronic Resources:
Book's Website
This link leads to the official website. It gives information about the author, other books in the series, the next book that is coming out, the movie, and how to make cartoons.

The Book
This link leads to an interactive free version of the book. It tells you how many days Greg has been writing for. You can jump around the pages by choosing whatever date you want to read with the interactive calender.

Teaching Strategies:
Teachers can use this story to make students aware that bullying occurs.
Teachers can use this story to show about bullying and why it is an issue and should not take place.

Suggested Delievery:
This book should be read independently. It is an easy read with concepts that are familiar to students of this age.

Key Vocabulary:
Gimmicks, Campaign, Fabrications, Degraing, Mentioning, Considerate

Reading Strategies:

Before Reading:
Talk and make a list about what they believe are the trials and tribulations of the average middle school student. What problems do they deal with on a daily basis?

During Reading:
Jot down predictions throughout the story. There is a lot of foreshadowing in this story. What do they think is the deal with the cheese? What do you think will happen with the friendship between Greg and Rowley?

After Reading:
Have students revisit the list they made before reading the book. Where their problems that they did not think of?

Writing Activity:
Write about how you can relate to things that Greg has gone through. How is your life and Greg's life similar or different? Have students make connections back to specific events in the story.