Title of Book: I Can T Said the Ant

Wells 1

Title of book: “I Can’t” Said the Ant

Author’s name: Polly Cameron

Genre: Fantasy

Synopsis: Miss Teapot fell off the counter top and broke her spout. An ant discovers her in pain while going for a walk. Encouraged by the other items in the kitchen to help poor Miss Teapot, ant tries to push her back up off the floor. Soon the other items and he realize the job is too big for one ant and the ant runs off to find his friends. As the small ants and spiders work together to get Teapot back onto the sink the other kitchen items cheer them on. Finally everybody celebrates when Miss Teapot is restored to the sink top fixed spout and all.

Activity One:

-Original Idea

-Have students pick a room in their house different from the kitchen. Then give them the scenario that something in that room has been broken. Ask them to choose ten items found in that room and write a sentence for what each item would say about the broken friend. (The sentence should rhyme with the item saying it. Ex. “is she dead?” asked the bread.)

Activity Two:

-Play rhyme bingo. Have students make bingo cards using a list of words from the book such as; ant, pot, fly, soap, sink, pan… Once the students have finished their cards play bingo as a class, the teaching calling out words that rhyme such as; can’t, not, die, hope, think, can… Bingo game can then be provided for small groups during reading time.

Wells 2

Title of book: Time Train

Author’s name: Paul Fleischman

Genre: Fantasy

Synopsis: A young girl’s class gets on a train to go to Dinosaur National Monument in Utah for a field trip. But the students start realizing that the farther the train travels the further back in time they go. By the time they reach their destination the train drops them off in the middle of a swamp filled with larger than life insects and birds. The class soon discovers that they are back in time and will see real dinosaurs. As the teacher tries to figure out what to do and how to keep order the children run all over taking full advantage of this new world. As the students have fun making dinosaur friends the days pass and the train comes to take them back home. Finally home the kids joke with their parents about seeing dinosaurs and their teacher gets a much needed break.

Activity one:

-Original idea

-Explain to the children that the train went through five time periods and that Stuart took photographs in each. Have the students draw one picture that Stuart might have taken from each time period and write a one sentence caption to go with it.

Activity two:

-Original idea

-Ask the students where they would go if they had a time train. Tell them to write a short story of their own journey on their time train and what they would do. Allow them to illustrate their story if they wish. Then combine the stories together to create a class book titled Our Time Train.

Wells 3

Title: How I Became a Pirate

Author: Melinda Long

Genre: Fantasy

Synopsis: Jeremy Jacob spots a pirate’s ship coming to shore while spending a day at the beach with his family. However, his mom and dad are too busy to notice. The pirates come ashore and notice Jeremy digging in the sand. Thinking he is just the man they need to dig a hole for their treasure they invite him to come aboard and become a pirate. Jeremy enjoys being a pirate, until night falls and there is no one to protect him. After a storm hits the pirates decide the treasure needs buried as soon as possible and turn to Jeremy who then leads them to his backyard, the perfect digging spot.

Activity one:

-Mary Jane Dickey

-As a class create a list of words that pirates use. The teacher can write what the children say on the board or a large pad. Then ask the kids what each word/term means. Create a crossword using the pirate words as answers and what they mean for the clues

Activity two:

-Original

-Hide three to four special items on the playground. Then split the class into three or four groups and give each group a “pirate’s map”, a list of instructions they must follow. Starting in the class room give the students time to read their clues, each clue leads to another clue in a scavenger hunt fashion (call it treasure hunt). The goal will be to see which group can follow the instructions and find their group’s hidden “treasure” first.

Wells 4

Title: The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!

Author: Mo Willems

Genre: Fantasy

Synopsis: Our friend Pigeon finds his favorite food on the ground. A full ready to eat hot dog is just laying there waiting for him to come by. As he is just about ready to settle down and enjoy his tasty treat a curious little duckling comes along to bother him. This little yellow bird has a lot of questions about what hog dog is, having never eaten one himself. Pigeon becomes suspicious of the little bird thinking he’s trying to get the hot dog away from him. But just as he gets his maddest the little duckling comes up with an idea to split the hot dog so that Pigeon can learn to share and enjoy the tasty hot dog.

Activity one:

-Make pigeon puppets. Have children draw and color the pigeon and the duckling

on construction paper or oak tag (file folder card).Cut out the figures, and glue them onto paint sticks tomake stick puppets. Working in pairs, kids can then reenact the dialogue of the book or engage the twocharacters in a new situation.

Activity two:

-Compare and contrast the pigeon from the other pigeon books and the duckling. How did each act, what did they do to get what they wanted. Create a Venn-diagram on large pad paper based on the class’ suggestions. Then discuss who’s attitude got them what they wanted and why it worked better.

Wells 5

Title: Derek the Knitting Dinosaur

Author: Mary Blackwood

Genre: Fantasy

Synopsis: Derek the dinosaur feels alone. He is not like the other dinosaurs because he spends his days knitting and making things for himself and his mouse friend. He sometimes wishes that he could fight like his bigger brothers. Not feeling like a “real” dinosaur, Derek spends his days filling his house with sweaters, scarves, mittens, and socks. One day it starts getting colder out side and all the strong “real” dinosaurs find themselves freezing. As snow comes down Derek’s brothers become too cold and have nowhere to turn for help except for their knitting brother. Derek has more than enough warm clothes to help his freezing brothers and all of their friends.

Activity one:

-Original

-Teach the students to knit. Have each student make a short scarf or potholder. Teaching knitting helps with counting and math. The students can use their hands and learn the importance of making things themselves.

Activity two:

-Original

-Discuss as a class why it was getting cold. Explain that some people believe the dinosaurs disappeared because it became much too cold for them to live. Break the class into groups of 4 or 5 and have them do research on other ways we think the dinosaurs might have gone (each group with a different theory). Then have the groups present their findings the next day to the class.

Wells 1

Title of book: Henry’s Freedom Box

Author’s name: Ellen Levine

Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: Henry doesn’t know his birthday because he has grown up a slave. One day his owner gets sick and gives Henry to his son. While working for the son he meets a girl and they become married and have children. But then one day his wife and children are sold because they have different masters than Henry. Deeply saddened Henry and some helpful white men come up with a plan to free Henry. They put him in a box marked “handle with care” and ship him to some friendly folk in Philadelphia. After a long trip (not handled with much care) the lid of Henry’s box pries open and he emerges with a middle name, Box, and a birthday, March 30, 1849.

Activity One:

-Explain to the children that this was a true story and that Henry was part of the Underground Railroad. Explain that the Underground Railroad was set up to help free slaves to the North. Explain that people in the Underground Railroad wrote messages in code so people not a part of the railroad could not figure out the messages. Have the students create their own code, with key, and have them use it to write a message about Henry to the people he is being shipped to.

Activity Two:

-As a class write, from beginning to end, the story of Henry’s life in play form. The teacher should write down what the kids say. Then chose students to read the parts and act out each character.

Wells 2

Title of book: Mary McLean and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Author’s name: Steven Kroll

Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: A young girl moves from Ireland to America with her family during the potato famine. They move into an area filled with Irish people like them and she starts going to school. Then she hears about a parade that is held on March 17 each year and how the local store owner rides a grand float and appears a hero to all the Irish in the neighborhood. Nelly, the young girl decides she wants to ride the float with him, but he tells he she must provide a perfect clover to ride the float. One day she finds a leprechaun with a clover on his jacket. She is able to get the clover from him and proudly rides in the parade.

Activity One:

-Original Idea

-Tell the kids that Mary had to leave her country because potatoes stopped growing and there was no way to get money or food. Now have them pretend they are Mary McLean and their family is on a boat for eight weeks to head to America. Explain that Mary would have most likely kept a journal on this eight week trip, but that she would not have had a lot of paper so she might only have written once a week. Have the students write that journal about life on the boat, they should have one entry per week (eight total), and they should be sure to include things like what she is feeling, sea storms, rats and what life on a boat is like.

Activity Two:

-Original Idea

-Have each student pick a realistic part of the book and draw themselves in that scene. How would they feel if it was happening to them, it should show in their drawing. If they are one the boat are they happy or sad, how would they be looking for a clover in the park, what if they draw themselves on the float with Mr. Finnegan?

Wells 3

Title: Maple Moon

Author: Connie Brummel Crook

Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: An Indian boy that is unable to walk gets made fun of by the other children his age. He moves around by sitting on a sled and using his arms or having his dog pull him. So while the others dance and pray for a good hunt, as food is running low this winter, the Indian boy wanders off alone to be by himself. Soon he reached a tree called Ninautik and saw a squirrel drinking something from it. He gets a taste of the water from the tree and finds it sweet. He rushes back to this wigwam and grabs an ax and asks the tree for more sweet water. Soon he fills a basket with the syrup and takes it back to his tribe. They all love its sweetness and ask where they can get more. They all rush back to the maple tree and wait all day for the slow syrup to drip and because of his discovery the young boy never got made fun of again and his tribe did not go Hungary.

Activity one:

-Take the class outside to maple trees if there are some near school. If not take class on trip to a maple tree farm. Show the class the items needed to make syrup and the process used to make syrup. Allow each student to take part in one step of syrup making with a watchful eye always on them. Have them then create a similar/different column chart listing the similarities and differences between the book and making syrup today.

Activity two:

-Original

-Cook some meat in sap like they did in the story and share it with the class. Ask which way they like the meat best, with or without the sap cooked into it. Ask them what they like syrup on. Then ask them each to come to the board one at a time and list one thing we would have to put on pancakes if we did not have maple syrup.

Wells 4

Title: More Than Anything Else

Author: Marie Bradby

Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: Booker is a young black boy that must work hard with his brother and father in the salt fields. While he packs salt all day long more than anything else he wants to learn to read. One night after work he sees a man reading to a crowd from a newspaper. He tells his mom of his wish to read and she gives him a book with all the letters, but she cannot help him as she does not know how to read herself. So Booker seeks out the man with the newspaper and he teaches Booker the alphabet song and all the letter sounds. He even teaches Booker how to write his name in the dirt floor.

Activity one:

-Original Idea/ Mary Jane Dickey

-Provide each student with a pan of colored sand or dirt. Ask the students to think back to how they learned how to read and write. Explain that they will be writing a short story in the pan of dirt, they will be writing about how they learned how to read. Tell them if they cannot remember that far back they can make up a believable story. Then once each has written his or her story come around with a camera and take a picture of each one to hang on the wall, and later have the students take home.

Activity two:

-Original Idea

-Provide the class with a stack of newspapers or magazines that are kid friendly. Tell them each to find a story of a child doing something, such as working hard to help out his or her family. Have them each cut out an article gluing it to the top of a piece of construction paper. Under the article have them write two or three sentences about something the child would rather be doing, such as learning to read.

Wells 5

Title: Going to Town

Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder

Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: A little girl named Laura lived in a big woods with her family and had never been to a town. Now that she and her sisters were old enough her Pa said that they would go to town tomorrow. The girls had to get clean and put on their best dresses while Pa had to get ready the horses. It was a long ride out of the woods into town and when they got there there were more houses then the girls could ever imagine. They spent all day having fun in the shop, eating special candies and having a picnic but soon it was time for the long ride back home into the woods.

Activity one:

- Barbara S. Yingling

-Have the students in groups of 4 or 5 create maps using poster board and construction paper. The maps should be from the little house in the woods to town and should use hints from the story for the details. Then have the students in their groups discuss what they would bring to town and why. Have each group share their maps and where from the book they got ideas for their details, if time.

Activity two:

- Barbara S. Yingling

-Use the story to change up the weekly mini economy. Explain to the children that this week we are not going to be using our classroom money bun instead we will be trading like Pa had to do in the story. After mini economy is over ask the children to share how trading was different from using money, what was worse, better? Then ask how today’s world would be worse/better if we traded instead of using money.