Dawn Little's Blog, page 10

I, Too, Am America by Langston Hughes, Illustrated by Bryan Collier

Recommended Grades: 6-8

In this beautiful interpretation of Langston Hughe’s poem, I, Too, Am America, Collier depicts the job of the Pullman porter. 

Lesson Idea:  

Poetry/Primary Sources/Building Background Knowledge:  Prior to reading aloud I, Too, Am America, locate primary sources on the Library of Congress website as an activator.  Ask students what they notice in the sources (either specific Pullman porter sources or sources from that same time period).  Read aloud and discuss the role of the Pullman porter during the 1920′s.  Discuss what life was like for African Americans during that time and what life is like now.

©2013 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

Filed under: building background knowledge, I Too Am America, Poetry, primary sources Tagged: building background knowledge, I Too Am America, Poetry, primary sources

Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team by Audrey Vernick

Recommended Grades: 4-8

According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, from the 1860′s until the1940′s, there were twenty-nine baseball teams made up entirely of brothers.  The Acerras played longer than any other.  This is their story. 

Lesson Idea:  

Biography/Narrative Nonfiction:  Read aloud Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team discuss the author’s craft.  The author actually had an opportunity to interview two of the brothers and interspersed their quotes into this narrative nonfiction piece.  This book could certainly be used in a study of the history of baseball and you could pair it with We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball.

©2013 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

Filed under: biographies, Brothers at Bat, narrative nonfiction, teaching with picture books Tagged: biographies, Brothers at Bat, narrative nonfiction

Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin Alexander Ramsey

Recommended Grades: 6-8

In the 1950′s Ruth and her family took a road trip from Chicago to Alabama to visit her grandmother.  Along the way, they met with resistance from business owners who did not want to serve African Americans.  When Ruth learns about The Negro Motorist Green Book, a book created to inform African Americans of African-American friendly establishments, her family uses it to meet new friends on their way.       

Lesson Idea:   

Civil Rights/Primary Sources:  Read aloud Ruth and the Green Book during a unit on civil rights.  After reading aloud, share this NPR interview with Civil Rights Leader Julian Bond, who remembers personally using the Green Book when he was a child.  For additional information, share this New York Times article, The Open Road Wasn’t Quite Open to All.  Use the Negro Motorist Green Book as a primary source in an inquiry into Civil Rights.   

 

©2012 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

Filed under: civil rights, primary sources, Ruth and the Green Book, teaching with picture books Tagged: civil rights, primary sources, Ruth and the Green Book

Me I Am! by Jack Prelutsky

Recommended Grades: K-5

A Jack Prelutsky poem displayed in picture book form.          

Lesson Idea:  

Building Community: Read aloud Me I Am! at the beginning of the year to help build community.  Have students write their own poems to describe the “me” they are at the beginning of the year.  At the end of the year, revisit the poem, and have students write another poem to describe the “me” they are then.  Compare the poems.

©2012 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

Filed under: building community, Me I Am! by Jack Prelutsky, Poetry Tagged: building community, Me I Am! by Jack Prelutsky, Poetry

Now and Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin

Recommended Grades: 3-5

A great introduction to the contributions of Benjamin Franklin, many of which are still around today.        

Lesson Idea:  

Writers Workshop: Read aloud Now & Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin as part of an inquiry unit on inventions.  After introducing students to Franklin’s multiple inventions, encourage them to ask questions to help them find out more about one.  After participating in an inquiry study on their particular invention of choice, ask students to write an informative piece that compares the invention from the past to the invention in the present.

©2012 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

Filed under: Inquiry, Now and Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin, teaching with picture books, writers workshop Tagged: inquiry, inventions, Now and Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin

Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass

Recommended Grades: 3-5

A young Frederick Douglass would not allow slavery to stop him from learning, so he asked his master’s wife to teach him to read. Once he learned how to read, those words would set him free.  This picture book is based on Frederick Douglass’ s own Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.      

Lesson Idea:  

Mentor Text: Biography: Read aloud Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass as a biography mentor text or as part of a unit on slavery or the Civil War.  Discuss Frederick Douglass’s amazing life and all of his accomplishments as a result of his persistence.  Pair this book with other books about Douglass such as Lincoln and Douglass: An American Friendship or Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass: The Story Behind an American Friendship or with other picture books related to the Civil War and slavery such as Henry’s Freedom Box, Freedom Song: The Story of Henry “Box” Brown, and Just in Time, Abraham Lincoln.

©2012 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

Filed under: biographies, Civil War, teaching with picture books, Words Set Me Free Tagged: biography mentor text, civil war mentor text, Frederick Douglass, Words Set Me Free

The Three Billy Goats Fluff by Rachael Mortimer

Recommended Grades: 3-5

When Mr. Troll threatens to eat the three Billy Goats Fluff for trip-trapping over his bridge too loudly, Mother Goat comes up with a fluffy plan to keep everyone happy!   

Lesson Idea:  

Author’s Craft: Another fun read aloud that could be part of a fractured fairy tale unit.  Read aloud Three Billy Goats Fluff as a mentor text.  Pair it with Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs and other fractured fairy tales.  Analyze the texts with students to determine the characteristics of fractured fairy tales and particular elements of author’s craft.  Create an anchor chart for students to refer back to during the year.

©2012 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

Filed under: anchor charts, author's craft, fractured fairy tales, mentor texts, The Three Billy Goats Fluff by Rachael Mortimer Tagged: anchor charts, author's craft, fractured fairy tales, mentor texts, The Three Billy Goats Fluff

Hogwash! by Karma Wilson

Recommended Grades: K-2, 3-5

One warm day in early May, Farmer had a plan.  To spring-clean all his animals, til each was spic-n’-span — so begins Hogwash.  The hogs, of course, had other plans and resisted all of Farmer’s attempts to clean them.  A surprise ending will make readers laugh out loud.   

Lesson Ideas:  

Read Aloud, Grades K-2:  This is a fun read aloud for primary age students.  They will laugh out loud at the antics of the hogs.

Six Traits of Writing: Word Choice, Grades 3-5:  Read aloud Hogwash! and discuss the language the author chose.  Determine the words that are more vibrant than your “everyday” words.  Create an anchor chart that lists vibrant words for students to use in their own writing.

Six Traits of Writing: Organization, Grades 3-5: Read aloud Hogwash! and discuss the surprise ending.  How did the author surprise her readers?  Use this book as a model with other books with surprise endings.  After students have been immersed in a study of surprise endings, ask students to write a piece with a surprise ending

©2012 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

Filed under: Hogwash! by Karma Wilson, organization, Read Aloud, six traits of writing, teaching with picture books, word choice Tagged: Hogwash!, Karma Wilson, organization, read aloud, six traits of writing, word choice

Infinity and Me by Kate Hosford

Recommended Grades: 4-6

Uma feels small when she looks up at the night sky.  She begins to wonder about infinity and what it is/means.  Uma asks her friends and family what infinity means, but she has to find out what it means to her. 

Lesson Idea:  

Content Connection:  In an effort to help students develop number sense, read aloud Infinity and Me and discuss how infinity meant something different to each character.  Ask  your students to define what infinity means to them.  Have them visualize and/or draw what it means.

©2012 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

Filed under: Content Connections, Infinity and Me by Kate Hosford, teaching with picture books Tagged: content connections, Infinity and Me by Kate Hosford

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs: As Retold by Mo Willems

Recommended Grades: 2-5

A hilarious take on the fairy tale classic, three dinosaurs decide to tidy up their house, make their beds, and prepare pudding of varying temperatures.  They were definitely NOT trying to set up an unsuspecting, unsupervised little girl, name Goldilocks. Of course, anything that Mo Willems touches turns to gold-(ilocks).  

Lesson Idea:  

Writers Workshop:  Read aloud Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs: As Retold by Mo Willems and discuss the similarities to the original fairy tale.  Read aloud other fractured fairy tales – fairy tales that have been retold using different characters, settings, or points of view –  like The True Story of the Three Little Pigs or The Wolf Who Cried Boy and use them as model texts in writer’s workshop.  After students have been immersed in a fractured fairy tale study, have them write their own fractured fairy tale.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Harper Collins Children for review.

©2012 by Dawn Little for Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books. All Amazon links are affiliate links and may result in my receiving a small commission. This is at no additional cost to you.

Filed under: fractured fairy tales, Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs, teaching with picture books, writers workshop Tagged: fractured fairy tales, Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs, writers workshop