The Story of The Statue of Liberty - Nonfiction

The Story of The Statue of Liberty is written by Natalie Miller. This books tells all about the Statue of Liberty. It is the tallest statue in the world, made of copper, and located in the New York Harbor. It was designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi in 1875 to signify American independence, although it took him many years to complete. Fundraisers were held and donations were given in order to pay for the expenses of materials and workers. The first section finished was the hand with the torch. It was shipped to America and people paid admission to climb the stairs leading to the balcony. Bartholdi knew how to sculpt but he did not know how to support the statue, so he asked for help from Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, who later designed the Eiffel Tower. He made a steel skeleton to support the statue. Twelve years after the idea of building the Statue of Liberty, she was finally complete. A star shaped pedestal had been designed for the statue to be placed upon. On October 28, 1886 the unveiling of the statue took place. In 1924, the statue was declared a national monument. In 1981, engineers examined the statue and it was estimated that $35 million were needed to repair the statue from age and rust. This made the statue safer and more pleasant for visitors. The Statue of Liberty is an instantly recognizable image in America.

I would use this book to end a unit on the American Revolution and Declaration of Independence. The Statue of Liberty to is signify the importance of these two events. I think it would be a good way to summarize what happened during this time and for students to learn its value. This book helps students understand what the Statue of Liberty represents and to show that it is more than just something to look at. It is a piece of art that signifies a major event in America's history. 

Bandit's Moon - Realistic/Historical Fiction

Bandit's Moon is written by Sid Fleischman and illustrated by Jos A. Smith. It is set during the Gold Rush in California. The main character named Annyrose. She is living with O.O. Mary, a mean and greedy woman, who cuts off her hair and sells her clothes in exchange for a place to live. When Annyrose finally gets away to try and find her older brother, Lank, she runs into a gang of Mexican bandits led by Joaquin Murieta. She has no choice but to go with them. He protects her and she teaches him to read from an old cookbook because he wants to see what his "Wanted" posters say. She does not believe that Joaquin and his bandits are doing the right thing but she finds out that he is very nice and they form a great friendship. She sees how wrongly they were done by the Americans because they stole their land and gold. Annyrose ends up thinking that Joaquin killed her brother and turns him in to the local sheriff. This turns out not to be true because she later finds her brother is one of the members of the army trying to catch Joaquin. She begs him not to go after him because he has protected her and became her friend. Joaquin ends up escaping from the sheriff and Annyrose goes to start her new life with her brother. 

I would have the children do a book talk with this book. After every chapter they read, they would get in small groups and discuss what they have read. They could discuss the characters, any questions they have, make predictions, as well as other things. They could then act out the chapter, have an interview with the main character, etc. Each group could present their information to the class so to re-insure that the whole class understands the book up to that point.  

Alice in Wonderland - Modern Fantasy/Science Fiction Literature

Alice in Wonderland is written by Lewis Carroll and is originally titled Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. One day, Alice is sitting with her sister on the bank when she saw a white rabbit run by and check his pocket watch. She became intrigued and followed him down a rabbit hole which she fell down for several minutes. She landed in a large hall full of doors and through one she could see a beautiful garden. She was too big to fit through the door so she drank a potion and shrunk. Then she was too small to reach the key on the table so she ate a magic cake and grew extremely large. She cried a pool of tears. Alice shrunk again from the fan the white rabbit left and fell into the pool along with other creatures. They swam to the shore to talk but Alice offended them by saying her cat, Dinah, ate mice and birds. Next, Alice ran into a caterpillar smoking a hookah who told her to eat from a mushroom. One side would make her grow and the other side would her shrink. She started eating and her neck grew long like a serpent. She ended up scaring a bird who was trying to protect her eggs from serpents. She saw a small house so ate more mushroom and shrank so she would be able to enter the house. A duchess, baby, cook, and Cheshire cat lived there. The baby turned out to be a pig and the Cheshire cat could vanish. Alice then ventured to the March Hare's who was having a tea party with the Hatter and Dormouse. It was always a tea party there because he had a quarrel with time and it remained tea time. When Alice left, she saw a tree with a door in it. When she went inside the other door led to the beautiful garden. There the Queen of Hearts was having a game of croquet where they used flamingos for mallets and live hedgehogs for croquet balls. The Queen sent Alice with the Gryphon to the Mock Turtle to hear his story. They taught her to do the Lobster Quadrille. Then, the trial of the stolen tarts started. While in the courtroom, Alice started to grow until she was her normal size and towering over everyone. Then, Alice woke and realized all of her adventures were just a dream. 

Carroll uses words to create such vivid imagery in the book. I would ask students to pick one part of the story to illustrate however they wish. After all the students have completed their illustration, they will work together to put their pictures in order to retell the story. This will allow the students to show their creativity and show their understanding of the book by having to retell and summarize it by ordering the pictures. 

Nancy Drew: Doggone Town - Graphic Novel

Nancy Drew: Doggone Town is written by Stefan Petrucha and Sarah Kinney, and illustrated by Sho Murase. One night, there is a bad storm and the power goes at at Nancy's home. She discovers a lost dog named Togo from Nevershare. The next day, Nancy and her boyfriend, Ned, return the dog home only to find the whole town is abandoned. When they arrive at the owner's house, Byra, she tries to rush them off. Togo bites her and runs away into the woods. Byra will not let Nancy and Ned get anywhere near the woods. She tells them to leave and never come back. They wait until after dark to search for clues. In the cemetery they find a tombstone for Byra so they believe that the woman they met was a ghost. In town, the see an invitation to a party to be held in a cave. They find the cave but it turns out to be fake and made a plastic. They later find the real cave and Nancy goes inside to explore while Ned goes for help. She finds the local townspeople trapped inside. She discovers that "Byra" is actually Myra, Byra's sister. When Byra died she left her land to Myra who discovered the crystal cave. She wanted to open the cave to tourists and sent the townspeople in to make sure it was safe but it ended up not being safe. Myra built the fake cave to show investors how safe it was so that she could turn it into a tourist hot spot. Ned returned with the police who arrested Myra and saved the townspeople. 

With this book the students could study caves. They could pretend to be detectives and research how they would know which cave is fake and which one is real. They must use the information they find out to prove that the real cave is legitimate. I would design two caves and have pictures with facts listed. One would have facts about that would be true about caves, stalagmites, and stalactites while the other would not. The students would have to provide research through websites and books about why the statement was truthful or not. For example, in the book, Nancy knew the first cave was fake because the minerals were so smooth and flaky.  A real cave's minerals are more course and hard. 

Tuck Everlasting - Modern Fantasy/Science Fiction Literature

Tuck Everlasting is written by Natalie Babbitt. It begins by telling of three separate events; Mae Tuck riding on horse horse to the edge of Treegap, Winnie Foster thinking of running away from home, and a stranger and the Foster's gate looking for someone. When Winnie runs away from home, she stumbles upon Jesse Tuck drinking from a spring in the well. She wants a drink but he will not allow her so he waits for his mother, Mae, and brother, Miles. They proceed to tell her that if she drinks from this spring that she will live forever and never die. They tell her all the stories about their life; falling from trees, eating poisonous toadstools, and even being shot without it hurting them. They have not aged for the past eighty-seven years. They decide they must take her with them back home to meet Angus Tuck. They did not realize that they were being spied on and followed by the stranger at the beginning of the book. When they arrive home, the stranger steals the Tuck's horse and rides back to Winnie's home to tell her family where she is at. The Tuck's take good care of Winnie and all they want to do is explain the importance of not telling anyone about the spring. The next morning, the stranger returns to get Winnie and take her home. He has made a deal with her family to return her in exchange for the woods by her house where the spring is at. He tells them of his plan to sell water from the spring to people. The Tuck's do not think this should happen because they realize the stress and anguish of living forever. Mae hits the man in the head with her gun, and he ends up dying later, but the constable the man brought with him sees the whole thing. He arrests Mae and takes her and Winnie back to town. The Tuck's come to rescue Mae and Winnie comes up with a plan to sneak into the jail and take Mae's place in the cell so they can escape. Winnie knows that Mae cannot be sent to the gallows to hang because all of the townspeople will see that she cannot die. Jesse gives Winnie a bottle of water from the spring so that when she is seventeen she can drink it and live forever with Jesse. Many years later, Mae and Angus come back to town and see Winnie's tombstone. They see she lived a normal life and never drank from the spring. 

I would have students create their own blog while reading this book. At the end of every chapter they could write about connections they have made to their own life or other literature. They can make predictions about what they think will happen later in the book. Also, they could write about their feelings towards the book; whether they think they would like living forever or not and if the Tuck's are making the right choices by hiding the spring. At the end of the book, they would blog about what they would do if they were in Winnie's place. They could say whether or not they would have drank from the spring and if they would have told others about it. They could also write the next chapter of the book talking about what the Tuck's were currently doing and how their lives compared now to what they used to be. It could be a history lesson incorporating the Tuck's lives into any certain time period that they are studying about. 

Moonwalk: The First Trip to the Moon - Nonfiction

Moonwalk: The First Trip to the Moon is written by Judy Donnelly and illustrated by Dennis Davidson. It also includes real photographs. This is a nonfiction book about Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins going to the moon in Apollo 11. For a long time people did not know what the moon was. They thought is magical and dangerous. In the 1600s the telescope was invented and gave people more information about the moon. Jules Verne wrote about book in 1865 about a spaceship being shot from a cannon to get to the moon. Even though the cannon would not work, scientists kept improving spaceships and rockets. During the 1960s, America was in the "space race" with Russia who had already launched a satellite and sent a man to space but America was going to be the first to send a man to the moon. Scientists researched the moon with probes and with this information astronauts were trained. The first astronauts were the best pilots in the country. They went through many tests and simulators that was supposed to act like a real spaceship. To simulate taking off, scientist designed a centrifuge. Apollo 11 launched on July 16, 1969. It took them three days to reach the moon. Armstrong takes the first step onto the moon and then Aldrin joins him. There is no movement, wind, or life anywhere on the moon. Every footprint they leave will stay there for millions of years. The moon has less gravity so the men are able to hop around like kangaroos. The three men return home and are congratulated by many people. 

I would read this book aloud to the class and then have them do a research project on the moon. They would research its characteristics and it's phases. They would see why the men had to wear space suits on the moon and how gravity is different there and on Earth. We would explore the effects the moon has on the Earth and what would change if it was not part of our solar system. 

Rumpelstiltskin - Traditional/Folk Literature

Rumpelstiltskin is retold by Stella Nathan and "stiched" by Virginia Tiffany. 

Page from the Book

Page from the Book

The story begins with a poor miller and his beautiful daughter. He told the king that she could spin straw into gold even though she really couldn't. The king took her to his kingdom and told her to spin all of the straw into gold or her and her father would pay with their lives. A little man with a long beard appeared and he agreed to spin the straw into gold if she would give him her necklace. The next morning, the king took the girl to an even larger room whole of straw and asked her again to make it into gold. She cried for the little man to appear. When he did she agreed to give him her silver ring to make the straw into gold. Once again, the king was so pleased that he took her to an even larger room full of straw. And again she cried out to the little man for help. This time she had nothing to give him so the man made her promise to give him her first born child. She agreed because if she did not, her and her father would die. The king was so pleased that he married the beautiful girl and they had a son. The little man appeared again asking for her child. She offered money and jewels but he wanted her son. He made a deal with her that if she could guess his name within three days that she could keep her son. The king and queen had everyone think of names but no one could guess the right name. On the morning of the final day, a messenger came and told them that he saw a strange little man in the woods dancing and singing that his name was "Rumpelstiltskin." When the little man appeared the queen said his name and he was never to been seen again and they lived happily ever after. 

I would use this book to incorporate the arts. The students could turn this story into a dramatic screenplay. They can act out the story verbatim or in their own rendition. The pictures in this book are not what children are used to seeing. They are stitched, not drawn or painted. We could explore different mediums used in books. The children could illustrate the story in the method of their choice. 

Dinosaurs - Nonfiction

Dinosaurs is a nonfiction book written by Peter Zallinger. It begins with the author telling about scientists finding fossils and assembling to make the bone structure of a dinosaur. It then proceeds to tell about all different types of dinosaurs, such as stegosauruses, diploducuses, tyrannosaurus, and many others. For each dinosaur, it told specifics of each one. For example, it told whether it stood on two legs or four, if it ate meat or plants, how large it was, and other characteristics of the dinosaur. The book ended by saying that scientists did not know why dinosaurs became extinct, but that they had some ideas as to why.

I would use this book to introduce a unit on dinosaurs. I would ask students to do a research project. They would look at the facts that scientists have found on dinosaurs becoming extinct. The book lists a change in climate, a change in food, or a great world disaster. The students would pick a area to focus on and find all the information they could. They would present this information in a paper. They could create a Glogster to go along with their ideas. I made one on different types of dinosaurs but they would make one on the concept of dinosaur extinction. 

Glogster:

http://kefurche.edu.glogster.com/dinosaurs-glog/

The Cookie Tree - Traditional/Folk Literature

The Cookie Tree is written by Jay Williams and illustrated by Blake Hampton. The story takes place in the village of Owlgate where "nothing surprising ever happened because nothing surprising was allowed to happen." Then one day, a little girl named Meg looked our her window and saw a strange tree growing cookies. She told her mother who did not believe her until she went and saw it for herself. Meg's father went to tell the mayor who became worried, as well as many of the townspeople. All of the children were staring at the tree and talking about how a magician brought the tree. The adults in the town talked of chopping the tree down because it showed signs of witchcraft and danger in the future. They paid no attention to the children shaking the tree to make the cookies fall so they could eat them. When Sir Owen, the local knight, pulled his sword to cut the tree down it was no where to be seen. As the children ate the cookies the tree became smaller and smaller until it disappeared. And somewhere a magician was happy because that was exactly what the tree was for. 

I would use this book to create a science lesson on trees. Cookies do not really grow on trees so I would have the children research things that do grown on trees. We could look at different types of trees, what they produce, and where they grow in the world. Students could work in small groups to present the information they have found to the class. 

Galimoto - International Literature

Galimoto is written by Karen Lynn Williams and is illustrated by Catherine Stock. This story takes place in Malawi, Africa. "Galimoto" means car and Kondi, the main character, makes his galimoto out of old wires. He trades his knife to his friend Gift for a couple wires. He finds the rest around his village. He gets some from his uncle, a few at the mill that grinds maize, and some from behind the bicycle repair shop. The women at the mill yell at him because they have been waiting all day to have their chance at the mill and they think he is cutting line. The worker at the bicycle repair shop thinks he is stealing and calls the police until they see that he just wants wire. When he finally has enough wire, he works all afternoon to make his galimoto into a pickup. When it is finished, Kondi feels very proud of himself and has fun playing with his galimoto.

The pictures in this book show a lot about where Kondi is from. He does not have a lot of money or any toys. He lives in a small hut and culture is very different from American culture. As a class we could discuss these differences and the students' lives would change if they lived there. We could locate Malawi on a map and learn about this country. As an activity, I would provide simple materials to each child such as pipe cleaners, straws, wire, and other basic, everyday items that children would not normally see as "toys." I would ask them to create a toy out of what they are given. They could see how hard it would be to make something they see as "fun toy" out of the materials provided. I think they would learn to be more appreciative of what they have. 

The Three Wishes - Traditional/Folk Literature

The Three Wishes is retold by M. Jean Craig and illustrated by Yuri Salzman. One day, a poor wood cutter went into the forest to work. He was about to cut down a fairy's tree that she lived in when she asked him to stop. Since he did not cut down the tree she gave him three wishes. He ran home to tell his wife and they thought of all of things they could wish for, such as a castle, clothes, and jewelry. The wood cutter was hungry but his wife had not prepared supper yet. The wood cutter accidentally wished for a piece of sausage and it appeared. His wife got angry and yelled at him for wasting a wish. He apologized but she continued to yell so he wished for the sausage to be stuck to the end of her nose, so the sausage stuck to her nose.  The wife was even more angry so she insisted that he get it off. They tried to pull it off but it would not come off so she made her husband use the last wish to make the sausage come off her nose. They were both very disappointed that they did not have any wishes left, but they did have a large piece of sausage and so they ate it. 

This would be a good book to introduce a unit on folk literature and its elements. This story uses onomatopoeic words such as, "plop", "clatter-bump", and "clatter-bang." In the plot, the story's setting is quickly introduced and after the climax the story is quickly concluded. There are examples of motifs. There is the reoccurring pattern of the number 3 and the magical powers of the fairy. At the beginning of the story, the wood cutter kept wishing for anything he could think of, such as a cart to carry his wood and roast beef to eat. This characterizes him and shows him how careless he could be when he receives his three wishes. This book can teach the theme of being thankful for what you have. The wood cutter and his wife were being greedy with the wishes and wanting to use it for money and material things. Once they wasted their wishes, they were left with just a sausage but they were thankful for having it to eat. The illustrations help with the setting and culture that the story takes place in. This book has many elements of a folktale that we could discuss and learn examples of the vocabulary words we have learned. 

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Modern Fantasy/Science Fiction Literature

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is written by Roald Dahl. The story begins by introducing the Bucket family. There is Charlie, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bucket, and his grandparents, Grandpa Joe and Grandma Josephine, and Grandpa George and Grandma Georgina. They all live together in one very small house and they are very poor. They can only afford toast, cabbage, and potatoes to eat and they only have one bed that the four grandparents share. There is a local chocolate factory run by Mr. Wonka. When he announces that he has hidden five golden tickets inside his chocolate bars, Charlie is desperate to find one. The children who find the tickets are allowed to tour the factory, along with their parents. Charlie knows that he will not find one because his family is so poor and they cannot afford to buy chocolate. His birthday is a few days later so the Bucket family buys Charlie a candy bar but there is no golden ticket. A few weeks later Charlie finds a dollar bill laying on the ground so he goes and buys two chocolate bars. He finds the fifth golden ticket inside the second one! The first four children to find tickets are Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, and Mike Teavee. The next day is the day of the tour so Charlie and Grandpa Joe head to the factory. When all of the ticket finders get inside they meet Mr. Wonka. He takes them into the chocolate room where this a chocolate rive and waterfall. Augustus is very fat and hungry and ends up falling in to the river and being sucked up a chocolate pipe. Next, they go to the invention room where Mr. Wonka is working on making a three-course meal out of bubble gum. Violet tries it without permission and ends up turning into a blueberry since blueberry pie was for dessert. They then stop by the nut room where squirrels are shelling walnuts. Veruca is very spoiled and tries to take a squirrel since Mr. Wonka won't sell her father one. The squirrels find her to be a "bad nut" and throw her and her parents into the trash. Mike Teavee loves to watch television so Mr. Wonka takes the remaining two children to the Television Chocolate room which transports chocolate through the TV. MIke wants to be the first person to be moved through the television. When he comes out of the TV on the other side of the room, he is a very small person. The only child left is Charlie. Mr. Wonka tells Charlie that he has won and that he is giving Charlie his factory! He will teach Charlie to make chocolate and will let his whole family come live in the factory. 

After reading this book, I would ask my students to write the next chapter of the book. This could be a creative writing assignment. I would also ask them to "invent" a new chocolate candy and create an advertisement to sell their product. Another idea would be for the students to list character traits of each child in the book. I would have them analyze whether or not these are admirable traits. They would then see why Mr. Wonka would not want to give them the factory. Charlie was very respectful and a good listener so he won the contest.  

The Sandwich Swap - Realistic Fiction

The Sandwich Swap is written by Her Majesty Queen Rania AL Abdullah with Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by Tricia Tusa. Salma and Lily were best friends that did everything together. Lily would always eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and Salma would eat a hummus and pita sandwich. They each thought each other brought gross sandwiches to school and they got into an argument. They did not do anything together anymore and at school the next day the other children had chosen sides. They called each other names and soon a food fight broke out in the cafeteria. They felt bad for what happened and felt worse when they got called into the principal's office. The next day, the two girls sat at lunch together and tried each others sandwich which they ended up loving. They decided to have a class picnic and they served peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and hummus and pita sandwiches.

I think this book could be used to promote students' differences. People do not always like the same things, just like the two girls in the story. Students need to learn and understand this concept. They should be open to others ideas and views. They need to be understanding of one another and not judge their peers. It is also important for students to monitor what they say. Something that they think is not a big deal might hurt a peer's feelings. For example, in the story, Lily said, "Your sandwich looks kind of yucky" which made Salma feel bad and retaliate. We could discuss as a class not to say things that might hurt a friend's feelings.