Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Index

Blog Index

This is an alphabetical list (by title) of the books in my blog.Under each title you can find the requirements the book meets.


1.     Brown Girl Dreaming
o   Poetry collection
o   Nonfiction, Biography
o   After Reading Strategy
o   Reflects diversity

2.     El Deafo
o   During Reading Strategy
o   Nonfiction, Autobiography
o   Graphic Novel

3.     Funny Bones
o   Nonfiction, Biography
o   Reflects diversity
o   Read Aloud

4.     One Crazy Summer
o   Before Reading Strategy
o   Reflects diversity
o   Historical Fiction

5.     Out of My Mind
o   Choice List
o   Web 2.0
o   After Reading Strategy

6.     Shooting Kabul
o   Reflects diversity
o   After Reading Strategy

7.     The Crossover
o   Newbery Winner
o   Poetry collection
o   During Reading Strategy
o   Voki

8.     The Graveyard Book
o   Newbery Winner
o   During Reading Strategy

9.     The Invention of Hugo Cabret
o   Web 2.0
o   Before Reading Strategy
o   During Reading Strategy
o   Graphic Novel

10.  The One and Only Ivan
o   Newbery Winner
o   Choice list
o   Before Reading Strategy
o   During Reading Strategy

11.  The Right Word
o   Nonfiction
o   Choice List
o   Before Reading Strategy
o   After Reading Strategy
o   Read Aloud

12.  The Westing Game
o   Newbery Winner
o   Before Reading Strategy
o   Infographic

13.  Tricky Vic
o   Nonfiction
o   Read Aloud
o   During Reading Strategy

14.  Tua and the Elephant
o   Reflects diversity
o   After Reading Strategy

15.  Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
o   Reflects diversity

o   Web 2.0

Monday, April 4, 2016

The Crossover

The Crossover
Written By Kwame Alexander
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2014
Awards: Newbery Medal Winner, Coretta Scott King Honor Award Winner


Summary:
Twin brothers, Josh and Jordan Bell are amazing basketball starts and basically inseparable. That’s until a girl comes into the picture. Not only that, but illness falls over the family and things start to get a little more serious. “Life doesn’t come with a playbook and, sometimes, it’s not about winning.” Kwame Alexander writes this book entirely in verse and it’s amazing! The format, poems, rhymes, everything stands out in this novel. Definitely a great read!

Brotherhood. Athletic. Rhythmic. Growth. Sizzling.

Grade Level: 5-7
Lexile Measure: 750L
Description: Fiction
Suggested Delivery: Independent

Key Vocabulary:
·      Gloat- dwell on with satisfaction
·      Inspire- to encourage
·      Flaunt- display proudly
·      Phenomenal- exceedingly or unbelievably great
·      Hypertension- an arterial disease
·      Amateur- someone who pursues a study or sport as a pastime
·      Camaraderie- the quality of affording easy familiarity and sociability
·      Pulchritudinous- having great physical beauty

Electronic Resources:
Voki allows students to record their voice into an animation. This can be used for a student’s favorite poem or a short description of their favorite part.

This is a great book trailer for The Crossover. Here Kwame Alexander speaks a little bit about the book and then students share their opinions as well.

Teaching Suggestions:
This is a very detailed educator’s guide with the types of poetry Alexander uses, along with class activities.

Before: Ask students to predict what they think the story will be about by only looking at the cover and title. After they write their predictions you can read the summary on the book jacket to them. Then they can compare their thoughts and predictions to it.

During: Choral reading is great practice for students to read out loud. While reading The Crossover, this strategy would be a lot of fun for students because of the rhythm in the poetry. Some students might even want to act out and perform the poem and moves.

After: Students can create a venn diagram or split notes to compare the two brothers Josh and Jordan. Just because they are twins doesn’t mean they are the same person, so students should be able to find many characteristics of each brother to fill their notes with.


Writing Activity: Have students write a form poem for The Crossover. They can choose any form they would like, but should include details, characters, and events from the book.

Shooting Kabul

Shooting Kabul
Written By N.H. Senzai
Published by Simon & Schuster/ Paula Wiseman Books 2010
Awards: Youth Literature Award Winner


Summary:
Fadi and his family are forced to leave home in Afghanistan and move to California. However, as his family is leaving, Fadi’s little sister is separated from him and left behind with the Taliban. Fadi is determined to get his little sister back, but the task becomes nearly impossible after the attacks on September 11th. It isn’t until Fadi hears of a photography contest at school that he finds the perfect opportunity to save his sister. The winner of the contest gets a trip for two to India. Fadi enters and works hard to take the winning photograph, but can he win it all and save his sister?

Powerful. Hope. Determination. Family. Peace.

Grade Level: 3-7
Lexile Measure: 800
Description: Fiction
Suggested Delivery: Small Group

Key Vocabulary:
·      Squatter- someone who settle on land without right or title
·      Naïve- lacking information or instruction
·      Grim- filled with melancholy; gray
·      Asylum- shelter or protection; sanctuary
·      Sacrilegious- disrespect to something that is considered sacred
·      Impend- to threaten; approach
·      Shooting- fire a weapon, hit someone; record something on film

Electronic Resources:
SimpleMind App is great for student to use to help map out brainstorming and ideas. This can help with comprehension during reading.

This is a short book trailer that would be great to introduce the novel.

Teaching Suggestions:
This includes a full reading guide along with writing and research activities.

Before: Students can locate Afghanistan, Kabul, India, and California on the map to get a visual representation of how far they are from each other and how far Fadi had to travel with his family. Also students should have some background knowledge of the attacks on 9/11 so they can make the connections during the reading.

During: Stopping during key parts of the story, have students make predictions of what they think will happen next and why. This activity can be written down or just discussed. It will measure students’ inferential comprehension and create a great discussion. Examples of stopping points would be before the contest winner is revealed and before Fadi sees the picture of his sister.

After: Have students talk about their predictions and what they read. Then continue onto the Epilogue. I suggest this be a read aloud for the entire class. Finally students can reflect on their feelings about the book and the ending.
 Exit slip: “Can one photo really bring Mariam home?” “What does the title of the book mean now that you have finished it?”


Writing Activity: Students pretend they are entering into the photography contest just like Fadi. Have them take an “award-winning photograph” and write a short essay to accompany it. The essay should include what the picture is, a title, why they took it, the meaning behind it, and why it should win the contest. This could even turn into a real class competition if you wanted to!