America: A Patriotic Primer

Lynne Cheney has drawn on a lifetime of learning about the American past, and on the inspiration that comes from witnessing recent history firsthand in order to choose which twenty-six people, historical figures, symbols, events, or ideas would be put together to create this book. Illustrator Robin Preiss Glasser exemplifies Cheney's words with exuberant drawings. Together they created a book that teaches history by celebrating the diversity, tenacity, and faith of the American people.

The book not only teaches primary grades their ABC's, but also about important historical figures or events that have occurred. The book was published on May 1st, 2002. It can be classified as a work of nonfiction due to it's historical contents. The material is all fact-based, appropriate for children in primary grades (intended audience) to understand, and uses appropriate terminology. The illustrations, which were fully reviewed in Publisher's Weekly as being "rendered in ink, watercolor washes and colored pencil" provide multiple images on each page and features inventive borders that contain pictures and brief factoids that have been washed-out in order to provide an older feel to it. The illustrations in this book do a magnificent job of illuminating the facts and concepts which Cheney is trying to share with the children of our nation.

Discussion Questions

1) What do you think the purpose of Mrs. Cheney creating this book was for?

2) Why do you feel it is important to know the history of our country?

3) Do you feel that the illustrations created by Robin Glasser take away from or add to the overall quality of the book? Explain.

4) What was your favorite letter that Mrs. Cheney included in her book? Why? Do you feel it could have been represented differently?

5) Think of any of the letters and the objects or figures used to represent that letter, do you think there was a better historical event, figure, symbol, etc. that could have have been better suited to represent this letter. Discuss your answers.

Motivational Activities

1) Symbolism: Display a picture or draw a simple symbol on the chalk or whiteboard. After establishing the children’s schema for symbols, point to the American flag in the classroom. Ask: “What is that?” Most of the children will say that it is the flag. Ask some of the following questions, or other questions to lead the discussion:

• What does it stand for?
• Is this America?
• Where are some of the places you have seen the flag flying?
• What do you notice about the flag?
• What is it a symbol of?
• What colors do you see?

2) Parts of the Flag: Display the classroom flag near the children’s eye level. Spread it out so the children can see all the parts of the flag. Ask the children to identify the colors of the flag. Discuss with the children the suggested meanings of the three colors. Working either with large groups or as a center activity, have the children complete the chart The Colors of My Flag. Put some red paint in one dish and blue paint in another. Place marbles in each dish and roll them around to coat completely with paint. Have the children place their paper, print side down, in the cake pan. Drop a marble onto the paper and move it around by tilting the cake pan. Repeat this with marbles of both colors until the child is satisfied with his painting. These can be mounted and displayed in the classroom, or sent home to share with families.

3) The American Flag Book: Using these templates--- The American Flag book, prepare enough books in advance for the class members. Set up a sample of a completed book, or provide support for the children to fill in the blanks. Make crayons, markers, or colored pencils available. Have each student talk about the significant of the colors they use, the number of stars on the flag, and why they think we pledge allegiance to it at school.

Refererences

Cheney, Lynne. America: A Patriotic Primer. New York: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 2002. Print.

Galda, L., Cullinan, B., & Sipe, L. (2010). Literature and the child (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.

Rules

Book Trailer

Catherine, a twelve year old, wants to live a "normal" life, but finds out through this heartwarming novel that she doesn't quite know what "normal" is. Catherine has a younger brother, David, who has autism. She learns many important life lessons in this tale, all the while teaching her younger brother about some of these lessons and providing him with a list of rules or guidelines to live by.

Rules by Cynthia Lord is a realistic fiction book that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. I include it in my literature collection blog as being a book for an intermediate level reader, but truly feel that anyone (with the right reading level and so on) can read, enjoy, learn from, and love this book. I say this because I for one know that I personally love this book and I read it in my Junior year of college!

The book was published by Scholastic Paperbacks in 2006 and was a Sunshine State Young Readers book from 2008-2009. Being that it is of the realistic fiction genre, I feel that Lord does a magnificent job at creating a vivid and realistic setting that supports the events throughout the story. She also does a fantastic job at using dialogue to help the reader's better understand how the character is feeling at a particular time in the story. There are no illustrations, but there are 

Motivational Activities

1) Book Bag: Have students collect 2-3 items that represent each character from 

the novel. Decorate the bag but make sure they do not have any clues as to what 

is in the bag for which character. Pair students up, switch bags, and then have

 them fill out a sheet of which item they believe belongs to which character and 

an explanation as to why. When both students are finished have them check 

each others answers. Lastly, have them compare and contrast the different

 items that each of them bought in.

2) Volunteer: Have a planned day where you can take the students on a field trip to 

either a special needs classroom or facility outside of school. Have them read aloud 

a few chapters of the book and talk to other people about it. This will really help to 

bring the students attention to just how severe cases of Autism or is not audible

(like in Jason's case). It would bring a better sense of understanding and really 

drive home how Catherine feels the way she does. 

Discussion Questions

1) How does David stand in the way of what Catherine wants for herself? What has

she done to try to resolve that? Do your siblings ever stand in the way of what you want? How? What have you

done to solve that? 

2) How are Catherine’s rules good for David? How do her rules hold him back?
How do Catherine’s rules hold her back? 

3) Name at least three characters who exhibit prejudice in RULES. What do they

say or do which shows that prejudice? 

4) Do you think it’s true that “Leaving out isn't the same as lying?” If not, is it ever

true? 

5) What choices does Catherine make near the end of the book that show growth
on her part? 

6) Have you ever had a conflict with a new friend? How did you resolve it? 

Have you ever had to choose between two friends? What did you do?

7)  Would you feel similar to Catherine if you had a sibling with autism? Why or why not?

Respect

Rules has an element of respect all throughout it. Catherine learns to respect all people who may not be "normal". She teaches the importance of respecting the rules to David and why some people treat him the way they do. She also learns about self-respect and how to not care what anyone thinks about her, her brother, or her relationship with Jason. Respect can be most exemplified by my motivational activity of having the children step into a world that is "different" from what they are used to and learn to respect others as they are and to not just treat them poorly or cast them aside if they have a mental disability, physical impairment, or anything like that.

References

Galda, L., Cullinan, B., & Sipe, L. (2010). Literature and the child (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.

Lord, Cynthia. Rules. New York: Scholastic, 2006. Print.

Brown Girl Dreaming

"Jacqueline Woodson, one of today's finest writers, tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse." ~Description of the book as found on Goodreads.

 Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In this novel, Jacqueline Woodson tells a story of what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960's and 1970's. She does this through the use of vivid poems, mostly written as free verse.

The book, as previously stated, can be classified under poetry, but it also is a memoir, as well as a cultural eye opener. As far as being classified as poetry, Woodson tells her tales through the use of narrative poetry. She makes the content interesting to the readers, as well as uses careful word selection as to really portray the emotions and thoughts that may have been going on at that particular time in her life. The book was published on August 28, 2014 by Nancy Paulsen Books

Motivational Activities

1)The Impact of “History”- Throughout Brown Girl Dreaming Woodson references historic events and figures that parallel and impact her life. Have students create a timeline of Woodson's life, a timeline of their own life, and then a historic timeline. Have them talk to their peers about what has happened in history during their lifetime, their parents lifetime, and Woodson's timeline. 

• Woodson’s Timeline: Students can create a timeline of Woodson’s life along with the historic events and figures she mentions in Brown Girl Dreaming. This can be extended by having students add additional historic events to the timeline. Students can also write about the impact of these events and people on Woodson’s life as evidenced in Brown Girl Dreaming, other sources or as speculated.
• Personal Timeline: Students can create a personal timeline that features events in their life as well as important events and people during their lifetime. This can be extended by having students select some events or people to write about in regards to the impact on their lives.
• Researching Historic Events or People: Students can be divided into groups and assigned people or events mentioned by Woodson in Brown Girl Dreaming to research. To extend the use of timelines, one can be created for an historic figure or event tracing how the person came to be “historic” or what led up to an event.

2) Family Map- Woodson describes a great deal of traveling between parts of her family, particularly between New York City and Greenville, SC. In this activity, students can create a map of Woodson’s family instead of a family tree, since Woodson already provides her family tree at beginning of Brown Girl Dreaming. Enhancement: Have students create their own family maps. After completed, have students compare and contrast all of the different places their families have been!

3) Writing Prompts- Have students complete a series of writing prompts throughout the whole time they are reading this book.

• During: Identify different characters in the book and infer their perspectives on dreams. Use evidence from the text to support your thoughts. As you think about the different characters - where they live, their lifestyles - how might you compare and contrast their dreams or what they think about dreams?
• After: Imagining Jacqueline Woodson's life growing up, we know her dream was to be a writer. What is your one dream? If you would have one wish come true, what would it be and why?
• Comparing and Contrasting/Reflection: Think about Jacqueline Woodson's one dream that you identified and your own one dream, do you see how you might be similar? Whether you have the same color skin as Jacqueline Woodson or not, what similarities do you see between her dream and yours? 

Discussion Questions 

1) How does the author come to find herself? What are the strongest influences on her identity? 

2) In what ways does Woodson show the power of family? How do Woodson’s siblings impact her decisions? 

3) What role does history play in this book? 

4) In what ways does Woodson manipulate words, phrasing, and white space? How does this influence your reading?

5) In the chapter “Stevie” the author talks about being excited to find a book with people that look like her. Do most books you read have people that look like you or people from other cultures and backgrounds? Why is this something to think about?

References

Galda, L., Cullinan, B., & Sipe, L. (2010). Literature and the child (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.

Woodson, Jacqueline. Brown Girl Dreaming. Nancy Paulsen, 2014. Print.

The Lorax

"Unless someone like you...

cares a whole awful lot...

nothing is going to get better...

It's not." ~Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss's The Lorax, is a poetic fable that tells the tale of a tiny creature who "speaks for the trees". It was first published in 1971 and has since been adapted into a full feature movie. The language and word choice in this book is innovative and make it easy for children to understand the importance of respecting the Earth and how cutting down trees and polluting the Earth's atmosphere can have dire consequences.

The illustrations are bright and cheery in the beginning, but as the story continues all the color seems to go away once the trees have all been cut down. The terrain then just looks dead and dreary. Seuss does an amazing job at depicting his scenes. He uses color, line, shape, and texture in magnificent ways to really capture the readers attention and drive home the point in which he is trying to make throughout his story.

Motivational Activities

1) Challenge students to come up with conservation goals to meet by Student Earth Day. They may want to pledge to recycle a certain number of bottles, plant a certain number of trees, clean up a local park, or adopt an endangered species. Have them write these pledges on a poster and draw a picture for you to post on the "Pledge Board" bulletin in the classroom. Enhancement: Compete against another classroom or school to make it more fun or join forces with an environmental group in your community.

2) Make creations from recyclable materials, such as tire swings or pinecone bird feeders, for the playground. This promotes the motto of recycling "reduce, reuse, recycle". Enhancement: Have students listen to Jack Johnson's "3 R's" song and have them sing it while creating there crafts. Song Here!!!! 

Discussion

1) What was the land of the Lorax like before the Once-ler arrived? Did it seem like someplace you'd like to live? What parts of your own environment would you be sad to see go?

2) What kind of person is the Once-ler? Why won't he listen to the Lorax? The Lorax says to the Once-ler, "You are crazy with greed." Why does the Lorax say that? Do you agree or disagree?

3) Why does the Lorax speak for the trees? Why is it important to speak up for others? Have you ever spoken up for someone else? Has someone else ever spoken up for you?

4) How does the Once-ler's Thneed business hurt the land of the Lorax? What happens to the Swomee-swans, the Brown Bar-ba-loots, and the Humming-fish? How could things have been different if the Once-ler listened to the Lorax?

5) The Once-ler says, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." What does the Once-ler mean? Can one person make a difference? Can you? What are some things you can do to better your own environment?

6) How does the Once-ler feel about what his Thneed business did to the Lorax and friends? Do you think you would feel like the Once-ler if you were in his situation? Why or why not?

References:

Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2010). Literature and the child (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworths, Inc.

Seuss, Dr. The Lorax. Random House, 1971. Print.

Corduroy

One of my all-time favorite childhood books was Corduroy, written and illustrated by Don Freeman, which was published in 1968. In this book a young teddy bear, named Corduroy, loses one of his buttons to his overalls and sets out on an adventure to find it in the department store in which he is a toy set up on the shelf to be sold. 

Corduroy is a fictitious children's picture book, a mere work of fantasy. Corduroy as a character is dynamic and full of life and has a certain appeal to adventure. The illustrations in this book are very artistically striking and provide the reader a visual representation of what is going on in the story. Freeman's outline style and use of texture, color, and shapes is brilliant!

Reading Discussion

1) Why do you think no one ever seemed to want Corduroy?

2) What did Lisa see about Corduroy that no one else saw?

3) Why did Corduroy think he had climbed a mountain and visited a palace?

4) Why didn't the night watchman suspect Corduroy of making the mess in the furniture department?

5) What if Corduroy had not found a button? Would Lisa have taken him home? Why or why not?

6) Why didn't Lisa want the sales lady to put Corduroy in a box?

Motivational Activities

1) Button Count: Count the number of buttons everyone in class is wearing. For each button counted the teacher will then hand out an assortment of that number to each child. Once each child has those buttons they can do addition and subtraction problems (i.e “If we have 2 red buttons and add 3 blue buttons, how many buttons would we have all together?”

2)  Classification: After the button count activity is completed, students can then sort and classify the buttons by color, size, shape, or even the number of holes the buttons have. Have them keep a chart of the ways they classified each button and then compare and contrast their charts to their classmates to see if anyone else had any other ways of classifying them.

References:

Galda, L., Cullinan, B., & Sipe, L. (2010). Literature and the child (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.

Freeman, Don. Corduroy. New York: Viking, 1968. print.

I am Abraham Lincoln

I am Abraham Lincoln is a children's biography book intended for readers who are five to eight years old or for grades Kindergarten through 3rd. The book was written by Brad Meltzer and was illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos and was published on January 14th, 2014. It is part of a series of books that Meltzer and Eliopoulos created to give children real-life actual "heroes" that they could look up to.

This book is great because children are taught and able to learn about important historical events through a great story! This series of books allows children to see that one ordinary person at any given moment can truly make a difference. 

Being that the book is a biography, I feel that Meltzer did a wonderful job on making sure that it is grounded in fact, has a flow to it rather then just the cut and dry facts, and that the details are both vivid, but accurate. The illustrations done by Eliopoulos help the reader visualize the scenes in which Meltzer is talking about as well as help to illuminate Abraham Lincoln (the subject of the book) so students can "see" who it is the author is talking about.

Motivational Activities

1) Have students separate into groups of 4-5. When all grouped up, assign each student a role card (i.e. bully, witness, Abraham Lincoln, etc.). When all students have an assigned role, allow them 10-15 minutes to prepare a skit. After all skits are completed, talk to all of the students together about the importance of standing up for what is right and why bullying is wrong. Lastly, have the students talk or discuss why they think Abraham Lincoln can be considered a hero.

2) Have each student remember a part of Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address. Have them recite (in order) the speech out loud in front of the class. After all parts of the address have been read, have students reflect on the importance of this speech. Have them include comments about how this famous speech helped to abolish slavery.

Discussion Questions

1) What do you feel Abraham Lincoln's greatest achievement was throughout his lifetime? 

2) Think about how the author represents Lincoln as someone who stood up to bullies throughout his whole life. Do you feel that this personality and trait shined through within his political and presidential life as well? Why or why not?

3) If you were born in the 1800's like Abraham Lincoln was, do you feel you would have stood up to the bullies (i.e. slave owners) and defended the little guys (i.e. slaves)? Why or why not?

4) If you were Lincoln and you had to give the Emancipation Proclamation, what may have you done differently or included in your speech that was left out in his speech?

Respect

Though Abraham Lincoln respected all things, human or animal, many people did not respect his choice to abolish slavery. He was assassinated because of his act of kindness. Students can take to heart the lesson that though one person may be willing to do the right thing, not everybody will agree with those actions and that's okay. Students will have to realize that self-respect is far more important than gaining respect from peers for the wrong reasons. Abraham Lincoln remained true to himself throughout his life, and I feel students should take that lesson and remember it; always. The two activities I suggested for students to do can relate to the aspect of respect because in the first one where students are acting out the skits of being bullies or other key people, they can see that being a bully is disrespectful and hurtful and can cause people to be very sad or discouraged. They can talk then of how it made them feel. They could also talk about when Abraham Lincoln (another student) stepped in to help them how they felt so much joy and happiness and thankfulness for that person and ultimately had a greater respect for that student as a person over the bully. The second activity promotes respect by having students remember to keep Abraham Lincolns original speech in mind and to make sure that they do not diminish or depreciate the value that is already instilled within his speech. They should remember that every opinion is viable and that though they may not agree with it, it should still be respected.  

References:

Galda, L., Cullinan, B., & Sipe, L. (2010). Literature and the child (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.

Meltzer, Brad, and Christopher Eliopoulos. I Am Abraham Lincoln. Dial, 2014. Print.