Charlotte's Web

Charlotte's Web is a book I have always known about, and even seen the movie, but never actually sat down a read. I was glad that I had finally found the opportunity to read it all the way through. We all know the tale in this book so I won't waste words with a summary.

I think that this is a book that should be in my library with multiple copies for my students. I think that this is one of those books that should be read by all students because it has stood the test of time and is still a great piece of literature.

I would use this book in many ways int he classroom. I could use it as a bookclub book in grades 4&5 or as a read aloud book in grades 3&4. I think that the story of friendship would be a great conversation starter and could have the students do some critical thinking of their own friendships and the types of friends they are. 

This book would also be a great book to use to teach reading strategies since the text is difficult enough to use inferencing but the story line is still relatable enough to teach a student how to connect to a text. There are also a lot of lesson plans available for use online that would give new teachers like myself a starting place for some great ideas.

Rosa

Rosa is an award winning book by Nikki Giovanni about the life of Rosa Parks. The book tells her story and that 1955 bus boycott that was started after her arrest for not moving to the back of the bus.

The illustrations in this book are absolutely beautiful and remind me of the artwork of Frida Khalo. I think that just by itself the artwork could be used in an art lesson.

I would use this book as a read aloud during a civil rights unit or during Black History Month as a way of personalizing such a big event for children. I would use it to teach empathy in a situation and for moral development. I think this book can be used to ask questions like, "How would you feel?, or "What would you have done?" I think that these questions asked in conjunction with this book could elicit some great discussion and critical thinking in the classroom. 

The book could also be used with a government unit on a lesson involving the Supreme Court. I have recently taught this lesson and I found that the students had difficulty trying to figure out what types of cases the Supreme Court hears. I think that reading this book and connecting it to the types of cases the Supreme Court hears can give the students a better understanding of the content.

Even just used on its own this is a great book for students from grades 3-6. It tells a great story about a positive role model.

The Boy's Body Book: Everything You Need to Know for Growing Up You

The Boy's Body Book: Everything You Need to Know for Growing Up YOU is a great book for boys in the 5th grade to early middle school years. The book covers everything that a boy needs to know about his changing body and how to deal with the issues that arise. It also covers topics like changes at home and changes in feelings and friends.

This book is an easy to read guide that would be a great read for any boy going through life changes. It is a great book to have in a classroom library for all male students to read. It gives great tips and advice that female teachers (or moms) may not be able to advise their boys about. It is a great resource to refer to with those sometimes awkward topics that a teacher knows needs to be addressed but is unsure of how to do it. This is a book I will not only have in my classroom but also in my home for my two boys.

I think that around the time the 5th grade students have the health video it would be a great book to have the boys in your class read to support their learning. I would not use it in a bookclub because I think that the boys might be a bit embarrassed to talk about some of the topics (i.e. smelly armpits and changing feelings towards friends that are girls). 

This is also another book that I would recommend to parents of boys for a summer reading list (between 5th and 6th grade).

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key is a book about a young boy who struggles with Attention Deficit Disorder. The book is written from the perspective of Joey and the struggles he faces dealing with his disorder. His father left him and his mother when he was young and his alcoholic followed the father leaving Joey in the care of his grandmother who treats Joey less than great.

The book is a great read aloud book for students in the 5th grade. In my classroom we just finished reading it and the students responded well to the story. I think that it offers the students a behind the scenes look at a disability that is very difficult to explain. I think it gives the students an insight to what their peers that struggle with this disability are faced with.

I would also like to have this book in my classroom library for my students faced with the struggles of having ADD/ADHD. I think that it is a great book for them to read so that they have an understanding that they are not alone in this struggle.

I would also recommend this book to parents with students that have ADD/ADHD. I think that it can provide parents with an insight to what is happening with their children.

The book can also be used as a bookclub book where students can read one book in the series of four. I think that it could spark some great discussion among peers about disabilities and how they should treat someone with a disability. It can also help in teaching acceptance and tolerance for peers with disabilities.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH was a great surprise for me to find. I remember this movie from when I was a small child and never knew that it was also a book. Reading it instantly took me back to my childhood and I was completely engrossed. I was thrilled to see this as a book that I could introduce into my classroom. 

The story is about a field mouse named Mrs. Frisby who has to move her family to their summer home because the Farmer is going to plow the field early. The problem is her son Timothy has pneumonia and cannot be moved. Mrs. Frisby has do do extraordinary things to help her family and save her son. 

I really like this book and think that it would be a great book to read-aloud to a class. I think that it could spark a great discussion or a creative writing assignment about how the students would move their families if faced with a problem similar to the book. I think that the story is highly engaging and would also work great as a book club. 

I would also recommend this book to any students that likes the fantasy-animalia genre. I would also use this as an end of the year read-aloud with a movie prize at the end. The movie is school appropriate and not that long so it can be shown in one or two days. 

Holes

Holes by Louis Sachar is probably one of my new favorite books. I remembered the book from the movie but I enjoyed the book more. This is a great story about the Yelnats family and a long standing curse that had be set upon them. The main character of this story in Stanley who by fate gets sent to a youth detention camp that has the delinquents dig holes out in the desert. This is an intertwined story of how fate saves the Yelnats family through Stanley.

I think that this is a great book to have in the classroom. I think that this is a great book to use as a read-aloud in a 4th-5th grade classroom. I think that this book is engaging and can be used to teach multiple reading strategies to students. The book is not that long and the concepts are easy to connect. The story comes full circle by the end and would be a great book to discuss prediction and inferencing.

This book would also be great to use in a book club or as an independent reader book as well. I think that is enjoyable for both boys and girls and the movie could be used as a reward because it is appropriate for a school setting.

Ivy & Bean: Break the Fossil Record

Ivy & Bean: Break the Fossil Record is book 3 in the series. In this book Bean becomes obsessed with getting in the Guinness Book of World records after her teacher shows it to her. After several failed attempts at breaking a world record her friend Ivy tells her about a paleontologist she was reading about. Soon Ivy and Bean start digging for dinosaur bones and realize that they could in fact be the youngest paleontologist ever! Do Ivy and Bean find dinosaur bones? Do they get into the Guinness Book of World Records? You can be sure that a 4th or 5th grade girl will be totally engaged to find out.

I have been reading this book with a reading buddy who is also an ESOL student. This book is good for helping to introduce vocabulary and assess simple comprehension. The chapters are short and there are some pictures but the wording is clear and has lots of situations that a great for teaching inferencing. 

Aside from using this with an individual student I think that this book would be great to use in a girls book club in the classroom, primarily in the 3rd and 4th grades. I think that it would spark much discussion between the girls about breaking records, occupations (especially those not normally associated with women like paleontology), and friendship. I also like that the book is part of a series so it can always be used in an author study as well. 

 

A Smart Girl's Guide to Friendship Toubles

A Smart Girl's Guide to Friendship Troubles is a book by Patti Kelley Criswell for young girls dealing with those inevitable teenage friendship issues that come with getting older. This book touches on topics like navigating fights with friends, bullying, and the feeling of being left out. The book has great tips and interactive quizzes which I can remember loving as a young girl. It also has excerpts written from the perspective of a teenage girl about how she dealt with a specific issue.

I like the way this book is written. It is written more like notes in a notebook or a magazine and less like an actual chapter book. I also like that is gives examples of how "real" girls have dealt with a problem. I think that it gives a model of how young girls can navigate through some really sticky situations. 

In my classroom I would be able to use this book with the girls and create a book club where they can talk about these problems and maybe help each other as well. I have seen many girls in my 5th grade class that could benefit from a book like this. There are many social aspects in a school environment that are not taught directly in the classroom. I think that a book like this can be used to help bring those aspects to light to help young girls learn how to interact with peers appropriately. 

I would also like to have this book in my classroom library because although I am a teacher and a woman I only have boys at home. Many of the aspects of navigating through this developmental period have long been forgotten and since I do not deal with these issues as a mother the concepts and issues seem foreign to me. I think that a book like this can help me to help mentor the girls in my classroom.

Titanic Sinks!

Titanic Sinks! is a book by Barry Denenberg about the making and destruction of the famous ship the Titanic. The inside of the book looks as if it were an assembly of old newspaper clippings. The pages have a yellowish-brown tint that looks like an aged newspaper. Through out the book there are many different types of reading. The first part of the book is all of the newspaper clippings giving notice of important facts and information about the titanic. The second part is the journal entries of a newspaper correspondent S.F. Vanni. There is then an hour-by-hour breakdown of the sips final hours followed by recounts by the ships survivors. The end of the book is an interview with the captain of the Carpathia which is the ship that responded to the Titanic's S.O.S. call.

The book is filled with lots of old pictures of the ship and the people aboard. I think that it gives a unique snapshot of the Titanic from many different views all rolled into one book. While much of the information is fact the journal entries of S.F. Vanni are fiction with a fact base.

I think this book would be a great book to read to students if doing a unit on ships of even famous ships throughout history. The photos in this book give a great visual and view into the past. I think that the format of the book would be interesting to students. 

I also think it would be a great book to recommend to students that have an interest in history. When I was in about the 5th-6th grade I had a fascination with the Titanic and the mystery that surrounded it. Of course when I was that age scientist still had not uncovered as much information as they have now. I think it is a great book that will have students interested in history.

This book is also available through wegivebooks.com.