Who would you like to see on here? Give us some ideas and we can do a book talk about these authors and books!

This book is about Swimmy who is a black fish that lives in a community of red fish, down in the deep blue sea. The school of fish are scared to travel very far because there are dangers in the sea! With team work, Swimmy shows his community that they can overcome fear by hard work and working together! Another interesting note about this book is that it won the Caldecott honor in 1964!










Interest level: grades pre-k-2
Grade level equivalent: 3.5
Lexile Measure: 640L AD
Guided reading level: L
DRA: 20

Our rating (1-10) : 9




Teaching ideas:
1.Students could make a collage of the ocean
2. Students could write their own class story about an adventure Swimmy and his community could go on.

Frederick

While the other field mice work to gather grain and nuts for winter, Frederick sits on a sunny rock by himself. “I gather sun rays for the cold dark winter days,” he tells them. Another day he gathers “colors,” and then “words.” And when the food runs out, it is Frederick, the dreamer and poet, whose endless store of supplies warms the hearts of his fellow mice, and feeds their spirits during the darkest winter days. Frederick’s story will warm readers as well in this Caldecott Honor winning fable

Grade Level Equivalent: 3.8
Lexile® measure: 500L

Classroom ideas:

Could be used at the beginning of the year to help with classroom responsibility

Used to talk about how important working in groups is

The Umbrella

A walk through the Costa Rican cloud forest provides a wonderfully lush setting for Jan Brett's beloved animal illustrations. When Carlos drops his umbrella to climb a tree for a better view of the animals, they all cram into the banana-leaf umbrella as it floats by--from the little tree frog to the baby tapir to the big jaguar and more. It gets so crowded in the umbrella that there isn't even enough room for a little hummingbird! So over the umbrella tumbles, everyone falls out, and poor Carlos comes back wondering why he didn't see any animals all day.

Interest Level :Grades K - 2
Grade Level Equivalent: 3.7
Guided Reading: L
Lexile Measure® : 680L AD
DRA: 28


Teaching Ideas:

Readers theater

The Mitten

The Mitten by Jan Brett is about a little boy named Nicki who loses his mitten in the snow. These mittens are snow-white, made by his Grandmother, and he loses them the first time he wears them! There are some animals (such as a fox and a bear) that find the mitten to be very warm and inviting. Eventually, the mouse tickles bear's nose, he sneezes, and all of the animals come tumbling out!






Our rate: (1-10) 9
Interest level: K-2
Guided reading level: Advanced Independent
ELP Level: M
Grade level equivalent: 3.2
Lexile Measure: 800L
DRA: 24

Teaching ideas:
1. Students could put on a play being the animals in the story.
2. Students could design and cut out snowflakes, animals in the story, and mittens to make a class collage.

Pancakes, Pancakes!

Pancakes, Pancakes! is a fun book all about pancakes by Eric Carle! It is about a little boy who wants a pancake for breakfast, and his mother says he has to help make it. By starting from scratch (taking grain to the Miller to make the flour) and ending with a jar of jam and eating the pancake, this book is all about how hard work can lead to great rewards!











Our rate (1-10) 9

Interest level: Grades K-2

ELP level: Advanced independent

Guided reading level: M

Lexile Measure: 670L AD

DRA: 28


Teaching Ideas:
1. Students could make pancakes and enjoy as a class! (Students could also collaborate with another class and make pancakes for school staff, families, etc)

2. Students could write a song/poem/story about pancakes, their favorite foods, or favorite meal.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is probably one of Eric Carle's most famous books, and one of my favorite books of all time! First published in 1969, It is about the transformation the caterpillar goes through to become a beautiful butterfly. A fun fact about this book: Since it's publication, it has been said it has sold a copy per minute! There are several educational ways this book would be a must have for your classroom: Counting, the days of the week, and the life cycle of a butterfly.



Interest level: Grades K-2
Grade level equivalent: 2.6
Guided reading: J
Early Independent
Lexile Measure: 460L AD
DRA: 16

Our rate (1-10) 1o


Teaching ideas:
1. Students could draw pictures of their favorite foods that the caterpillar could eat .
2. Students could research the life cycle of a butterfly and act out the stages they learned about.

*Be sure to visit each author's pages at the top of this blog to get more information about each of them and their books! *

Farmer Boy

Farmer Boy is written about Laura Ingalls Wilder's husband, Almanzo. Almanzo grew up in Malone, New York! The book talks about his farming days, and the hard work that it takes to run a farm. His biggest dream is to own a horse; Almanzo wants to prove to his family that even though he is young and small, they can count on him to get the job done.


Guided reading level: Q
Experienced Reader
Lexile: 820L
DRA: 40
Grade level equivalent: 4.3
Interest level: Grades 3-5

Our rate (1-10) 9







Teaching ideas:
1. Students and the teacher could visit the farm in Malone NY or a local farm nearby to see how a farm operates.

2. Students could research/learn about local farm animals in their area, come up with a play or story and then present it to some of the school community, or community as a whole.

Our books.

For class, we created books online through Bookr! Check one out here!

Little House on the Prairie is an all time favorite of mine. I remember reading it when I was a little girl and imagining I lived way back then.

Laura and her family leave their little house in the Big Woods of Wisconsin and set out for Kansas. They travel for many days in their covered wagon until they find the best spot to build their little house on the prairie. Soon they are planting and plowing, hunting wild ducks and turkeys, and gathering grass for their cows. Sometimes pioneer life is hard, but Laura and her folks are always busy and happy in their new little house.

This is a great book for introducing pioneer life to students and what it was like to travel before roads.






Interest Level :Grades 3 - 5
DRA: 40
Grade Level Equivalent: 4.3
Guided Reading: Q
Lexile Measure® : 760L

Our rate (1-10) 9


Classroom Ideas:

JOURNAL WRITING
Pa tells Laura, “The government is going to move these Indians farther west,
any time now. That’s why we’re here, Laura.White people are going to settle all
this country, and we get the best land because we get here first and take our
pick” (pp. 236–37). Do you agree that the pioneers should get the best land, or
do you think that the Native Americans should have been allowed to hold on to
their homeland? If you could write a letter to Pa to discuss this, what would you
say? You may want to do research to back up your opinion.


THEN AND NOW
The Indians are described as “dirty and scowling and mean” (p. 232). What
happens between the Ingallses and the Indians in this book? If you were a child
living in Indian Territory at that time, how would you feel about the Indians?
What about now, when you know that it was actually the pioneers who were
invading the Native Americans’ land?

The Berenstain Bears Give Thanks

Believe it or not, Thanksgiving will be here sooner than we think! This week, we are blogging about "The Berenstain Bears" and this is a great book to have in your "to read" book list for the fall, since we are so close to Thanksgiving! From costumes and props to a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner, these bear cubs show the true meaning of Thanksgiving.










Our rating (1-10) 9
Interest Level: Grades K-2
Guided reading level: P
DRA: 38
Lexile Measure: 720L



Teaching ideas:
1. Have students put on a play about the first Thanksgiving
2. Students could write stories about what they are thankful for, and share with the class and their families.

Trick or Treat

The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat offers a fun read about Brother Bear and Sister Bear. As Brother and Sister Bear do their costumes to go trick-or-treating by themselves for the first time, they plan to avoid Miz McGrizz's spooky home. But during their Halloween outing, the cubs discover that appearances can be deceiving.

Teaching ideas:

1. Students could color a Halloween picture, and the class could make their own Halloween story.
2. Students could make paper bag Halloween puppets.

Interest Level: Kindergarten - Grade 2
Grade Level Equivalent: 3.2
Lexile® measure: 670L
DRA: 20
Guided Reading: L

Our Rate: 9 (1-10, 10 being best)

Green Eggs and Ham

Green Eggs and Ham is one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books. I love it because it is great for beginner readers. It starts out with a few words per page but then gradually increases. Although the pages have alot of words most of the words are repeated throughout the book. It also has a great message of trying new things because you may like them. I have read this book hundreds of times to both sons and think it is one of those books that is a must in your library.

Teaching ideas: 1. Introduce a cooking lesson to make green eggs and ham

2. Have students make menus for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack.

Interest Level :Grades K - 2
Grade Level Equivalent: 2.2

Guided Reading: J

Our Rate: 9 (1-10) 10 being the best

Dr. Seuss

This week we are talking about Dr. Seuss!

The first book we are talking about is "The Cat in the Hat"
Our evaluation of the book (based on a scale of 1-10; 10 being the best, 1 being the worse) 9
Interest level: K -3
Guided reading level: J

The Cat in the Hat is fun book about a cat who visits two children stuck inside while their mother is out for the day. Throughout the book, we see what could be a fun day turn to disaster in a matter of moments. Thing one and Thing two are introduced and reek havoc throughout the house. "They ran up! They ran down! On the string of one kite we saw Mother's new gown!" In the end the kids made the cat and his Thing one and Thing two leave as their mother was fast approaching their home. The cat miraculously showed back up saying

The mother comes in and asks the kids

"Then our mother came in

And she said to us two,

"Did you have any fun?

Tell me. What did you do?""

The Story ends with

"And Sally and I did not know

What to say.

Should we tell her

The things that went on there that day?

Should we tell her about it?

Now, what should we do?

Well.....

What would you do

If your mother asked you?"

Teachable ideas:

1. a journal write where the kids discuss the infamous question " what would you do if your mother asked you"



2. give the students a list of words from the story and have them create their own story.

FUN FACT:

Dr. Seuss actually was given a list of site words and told to write a children's book. He was given 348 words that were considered important words all 6 year olds should know. He had to limit the book to about 225 words. 9 Months later he finished The Cat and the Hat, actually using 223 of the words and only add 13 words that weren't not on the list.

For more information about Dr. Seuss and the cat in the hat visit our Dr. Seuss page on the top of our blog.