Apples A to Z

1.) Mcnamara, M. (2012) Apples A to Z. New York City: Scholastic Press. Grade: First Grade Standard: 1.RL.2- Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson. Summary: APPLE A to Z is a book where younger readers can learn the ABCs as well as facts about apples. This book leads students though the apple alphabet. The book shows a fox, bear and other friends go through the alphabet giving apple facts for every letter of the alphabet. Activity: After reading the story with the class the students will be given an apple template. Each student is to write on the template one fact they learned from the book Apples A to Z. Literacy Development: This book supports literacy development in that it allows the child to connect the alphabet to written language. A childs ability to construct meaning from print (connecting letters to words, ie: A is for apples) advances the child to become an emergent reader/writer. _______________________________________________________________________

My Family Is Forever
2.) Carlson, N. (2004) My Family is Forever. New York City: Penguin Group. Book: My Family Is Forever Grade: First Grade Standard: 1.RL.2- Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson. Summary: My Family Is Forever is about how all families are different and no family is the same. In this case this family had an adopted daughter. The book goes through the adoption processes and tells readers what being a family really means.

Activities: Since all families are different and no family is exactly the same draw a picture of your family and write down one thing you and your family like to do together. Then we will all go to the carpet and the students will share their work. Literacy Development: My Family Is Forever supports literacy development in that it allows the child to understand that writing is a form of communicating different ideas. This book provides opportunities for effective development and learning to communicate different ideas and feelings. _______________________________________________________________________

1OO Days of Cool

3.) Murphy, S. (2004) 100 Days of Cool. New York City: Harper Collins . Book: 100 Days of Cool (Math book) Grade: First grade Standard: 1.NBT.2.A- 10 can be thought of as a bundle of ten ones-called a ten. Summary: Mrs. Lopez wanted her class to celebrate 100 days of school. Yoshi, Scott, Nathan, and Maggie accidently mistake her for saying 100 days of cool. When Mrs. Lopez walks in one the first day of school she sees her students dressed up in crazy outfits. Mrs. Lopez thought is was a great idea and told the four students if they can keep it up for 99 more days then they can have a party to celebrate. Through out the book the students do something cool for 100 days. Activity: Using fruit loops students can make a necklace with 100 loops. Students will group colors by ten. For example, the first ten loops will be red and the next ten loops will be yellow, etc. or the students can make a pattern with the foot loops until you reach 100 fruit loops. Literacy Development: This book supports literacy development by allowing the child to become proficient readers/writers in a different content area. 100 Days Of Cool shows the child that literature can support the understanding of math and not distract from it. _________________________________________________________________________

Papa, please get the moon for me

4.) Carle, E. (1986) Papa, please get the moon for me. New York City: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. Book: Papa, please get the moon for me Grade: First grade Standard: 1.RL.7- Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events. Summary: In this book a little girl Monica shares a thought with her father that she wants to play with the moon and asks her father to go get the moon for her. Her father fetches a ladder and climbs up to the moon and waits till it is just the right size to bring down to Monica. The book continues on by going through the different stages of the moon. Activity: Each student will be given his or her cutouts of earth and the different stages of the moon, (the students made the cutouts during a previous science lesson). They will be asked to scatter their cutouts on the floor in front of them. The teacher will than instruct the students to: -hop to the full moon -skip to the half-moon -tippy-toe to earth, etc. Literacy Development: This book supports literacy development in that it develops critical thinking skills through the illustrations. By reading picture books children can analysis the pictures to understand the printed words. Children begin to understand words and their meaning through the illustration. ________________________________________________________________________

The Artist Who Painted A Blue Horse

5.) Carle, E. (2011) The Artist Who Painted A Blue Horse. New York CIty: Philomel Books, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group. Book: The Artist who Painted a Blue Horse Grade: Kindergarten Standard: K.W.1- Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book.

Summary: In this book an artist decides to paint a horse blue. He then goes on to paint other animals crazy, bold colors. Activity: Students will pick their favorite animal and color the animal any color they wish. The students should be encouraged to color their animal an outrageous color. Then the students can share their animal with the class. Literacy Development: This book supports literacy development by teaching children to be creative with their writing. Children love to be creative through playing and it is important to allow children to see through literature that they can be creative with their writings. This book develops the childs literacy skills by showing them how creativity is used in literature. ________________________________________________________________________

Born to Read
6.) Sierra, J. (2008) Untitled. New York City: Alfred A. Knopf . Book: Born to Read Grade: Second Grade Standard: 2.RL.3- Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges. Summary: A boy named Sam loves to read. He reads everywhere he goes. He reads in bed, at the mall, and even when he plays basketball. He reads a sign that said cycling race and decided to join in. Then, one dark December afternoon a baby giant came and destroyed Sams town. Sam went to go find the giant to make friends with him. He gave him a piece of cake and asked the giant if he would want to read with him and he did! They read about silly cats, a caterpillar getting fat, and an alphabet that climbs a tree. Finally, a cargo jet from UPS came and transported the giant back to his mother. Sam saved the day! Activity: Have the students write down on a small piece of paper what they think they were born to do and hand it into the teacher. Instruct them not to tell anyone what they wrote down. Have the students come to the carpet area and instruct them that they will be playing the game charades. Each student will have a chance to act out what they were born to do while the other students guess what they were born to do.

Literacy Development: Born To Read helps support literacy development by allowing the child to make connections between everyday context of the home and community and written text. This book shows the child that printed words have meaning and purpose. For example, children begin to understand that stop on a street sign means for you to stop your car as Sam discovered in Born To Read. _____________________________________________________________________

Mummy Math
7.) Neushwander, C. (2005) Mummy Math. New York City: Henry Holt and Company. Book: Mummy Math Grade: Second Standard: 2.G.1- Recognize and draw shapes having specified attributes, such as a given number of angels or given number of equal faces. Identifying triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagon, and cubes. Summary: The Zills were famous scientists and needed to go to Egypt for some work. Matt Zills and Bibi Zills, their sons, were so excited to learn new things in Egypt. Once they arrived to Egypt the family was asked to go to a pyramid site. Once they were inside the pyramid the door closed behind them and they were trapped inside the pyramid. Matt noticed that the tomb was cover with colorful, geometric hieroglyphics. They noticed the walls were covered with a mysterious message. To decode the message Matt and Bibi must use their math skills to locate the chamber where the map is located. This map will lead them out of the pyramid. Activity: Students will be given a chart listing the different shapes they came across in reading Mummy Math. Each student will take their chart and identify objects in the classroom that represent the different shapes listed on their chart. They will also be asked to write how many faces each object has. Literacy Development: Mummy Math supports literacy development by teaching the child to use language to enhance and demonstrate understanding. This book helps the child make connections between literature and understanding concepts. ______________________________________________________________________

Absolutely Not
8.) Mcelligott, M. (2004) Absolutely Not. New York City: Walker Publishing Company. Book: Absolutely Not Grade: Second Standard: 2.RL.3- Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges. Summary: Gloria and Frieda are best friends. Gloria is brave and Frieda is the complete opposite. One day Gloria wants to go on a walk but Frieda does not because she is too scared. Gloria finally gets Frieda to go on the walk with her but Frieda is scared of everything. She thinks the river looks like a snake; the moldy log looks like a mean dog. Then, Frieda sees something in the trees. She tries telling Gloria but Gloria doesnt want to hear it! It turns out that Frieda was right it was a bird. They managed to get away from the bird without being harmed. Gloria and Frieda both learn valuable lessons that day. Gloria learned she must be a little bit more cautious and Frieda learns that she should not be so scared of everything. Activity: Students will be asked to bookmark their books using post-its. One post-it note will be if I was that character I would. The second post-it note will be for a connection to the book in their everyday lives. The third will be for a time when I felt like that and the last post-it note will be for the students to write or sketch an interesting part of the book. Then the students will be asked to share their responses. Literacy Development: This book supports literacy development by showing the child that through literature one can communicate life conflicts through their writings. Absolutely Not allows the child to make a connection between solving problems through written text. For example, Frieda faced her fears by going out for a walk with Gloria. _______________________________________________________________________

Cindy Moo
9.) Mortensen, L. (2012) Cindy Moo. New York City: Harper Collins. Book: Cindy Moo Grade: First Standard: 1.RL.10- With prompting and support, read prose and poetry of appropriate complexity for grade one. Summary: Cindy Moo is a rhyming book about a cow that wanted to prove to all the other cows that they were wrong and show them that cows can really jump over the moon. By using rhyming the author tells the story of how Cindy Moo gets laughed at for thinking that she really can jump over the moon. Cindy Moo tries to jump over the moon but fails time and time again. Until one rainy night she noticed the moon had slipped down to the earth upon the rain-soaked ground. Cindy then jumped across the moon and all her other cow friends came out to cheer for her. Activity: Students will be given a sheet of paper with a rhyming poem however the rhyming word will be omitted from the sheet. Students will have to complete the poem by filling in the blanks with their own rhyming words. When students are finished they will share their rhymes with the class. Literacy Development: The book Cindy Moo supports literacy development by building vocabulary and develop sound discrimination. Being exposed to rhyming books allows the child to develop these literacy skills that will increase the childs ability to become a strong reader/writer.

Who was George Washington?

10.) Edwards, R. (2013) Who was George Washington? 2009: Grosset & Dunlap. Book: Who was George Washington? Grade: Third Standard: 3.RIT.1- Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

Summary: Who was George Washington is an easy read ten-chapter book. The book goes through Washingtons life. The first couple of chapters are all about who George Washington is and what was his early life like. They talk about where George grew up and how he became a soldier. The book goes into details about some of the battles he fought and even how he became president. This book has cartoon pictures to appeal to the younger aged students and has a timeline to outline Washingtons life. Activity: Students will use information learned from the reading to create a trading card about George Washington. The card will have the following information: name, picture of President Washington copied from an Internet site, birthday, what he is famous for, and one or two sentences of biographical information. If time allows students can add in some memorable interaction and some personal impression of George Washington. Students can either make this trading card by hand or they can use the website Read Write Think to make a trading card. Literacy Development: The book Who Was George Washington supports literacy development in that it allows students to increase their engagement in reading by using non-fiction texts. Exposing children to non-fiction material allows them gain background knowledge about real world events and makes the connection between factual events and writing.