The Classics!

I feel as though both of these Disney Movies promote positive and loving relationships between people. Mary Poppins is one of my favorite movies. I love how the story shows the not so close relationship between the two children and their parents. Mary Poppins comes to take care of them and ends up giving them the fantasy world and all the love they are craving.
Lion King is another favorite of mine. It tugs at your heart strings when Simba's father dies, leaving him without a parent. He grows up with his Mom and friends but misses his Dad terribly. His Dad speaks to him through the clouds and tells him to be strong. Simba grows up to become a great Dad himself.
Both The Lion King and Mary Poppins are great for children to experience. They are filled with excitement and adventure, but at the same time have great messages.

Kudos to Mom!

http://www.kaboose.com/index.html

I found this great website that revolves around the relationship between kids and their Moms. This fun website has many features for both. There are many interactive online games kids can play. Children can play, "Mominator" which is a game in which kids have to clean a room, by targeting the germs! Another fun game is titled, "Mom Mania by Motts". Kids have to be the mom and feed her hungry children with Mott's products. These games are fun and promote healthy and clean living habits! Among these fun "Mom" games are also vocabulary, math, and sports games. For moms, this site offers recipes, crafts, and parenting advice. It is a fun website and user friendly. The children's section is recognizable and easy to navigate through. This site also offers coupons for Moms and health guidelines and tips for healthy children. There are a few advertisements on the page, but overall, most of the sidebar information is related to Kaboose. I really enjoyed exploring this site and could see it be very fun and useful for both Moms and their kids!

The Fossil Girl of Lyme Regis...

Author: Laurence Anholt
Illustrator: Sheila Moxley
Title: Stone Girl, Bone Girl; The Story of Mary Anning
Publisher: Orchard Books, 1998
Genre: Biography
Pages: 32
Reading Level (Lexile): 520L

This book has not received any awards. I found it within the children’s section under biographies in my local library.

Plot Summary: This colorful biography tells the story of little Mary Anning. She survives a lightning strike when she is just 15 months old and her father knows she is special. She grows up on the cliffs in Dorset, England. She is always digging in the dirt, trying to find interesting things. She ends up finding “the sea monster” the townspeople have always talked about. It ends up being fossils from an ichthyosaur, or “fish lizard” and scientists from all over come to marvel at her findings. Mary had always been made fun of and called “stone girl”, but never cared and kept on doing what she loved. The fossils she found as a young girl can now be found in many museums all over the world.

I had never heard of Mary Anning before and was excited to learn about her life. Her father reminded me of my grandfather. He was a craftsman and made wonderful things for people. My grandfather, too, makes furniture and has a workshop. As a child, I can remember going downstairs to see him working away in his amazing workshop.

Stone Girl, Bone Girl would be a great story to share with students. The illustrations are awesome and really complement the story. I think students would be engaged, especially when she finds the prehistoric fossil. This story could be used to introduce fossils to students and to begin a discussion on dinosaurs. I could foresee using this book with older students as well, because the reading level is a little higher. Students could research more about Mary and her findings, as well as where the fossils she found are located in different museums.

Would You Take a Chance?

Author: Eileen Lucas
Illustrator: Kimanne Smith
Title: Prudence Crandall; Teacher for Equal Rights
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books, Inc., 2001
Genre: Biography
Pages: 48
Reading Level (Lexile): 570L

This book has not received any awards. I found this book in the children’s biography section of my local library.

Plot Summary: Although this book is a biography, it reads like a story of Prudence’s struggle in Connecticut. In the 1830’s, Prudence opened a school in Canterbury, CT. It was a successful school and many parents thought Prudence was a great teacher. Sarah Harris was a friend of one of the students and wanted to come to the school. Prudence accepted her, despite her skin color. The town went crazy. Prudence continued to do what she thought right, and eventually opened a school for African American Girls. The townspeople continued to display their anger and hate towards Prudence and the girls. Prudence was arrested for breaking the law and faced several trials. She eventually was forced to close the school.

This book relates to my theme because Prudence showed her love towards her students no matter what color their skin was. She never gave up, despite the hateful acts that the townspeople did to her. She stood up for what she believed in. Her special relationship with Sarah Harris is what she was proud of. She knew Sarah had the right to go to school just like anyone else.

This biography was unlike any other I had read before. I hadn’t really heard of Prudence Crandall before. It was interesting to read about what Connecticut was like in the 1830’s and how African Americans were mistreated in the North as well as the South. Her spirit is that of a true teacher, one that believes in their students and their right to learn.

Prudence Crandall is an “On My Own” Biography, one that is written with easier terms for students to understand. Students in grades 1-3 would be able to read this biography. Other features I liked were the author’s note and afterword section. These provide more information. As a teacher, this is great for building background knowledge on Prudence, as students are probably not familiar with her. I think this biography would great to be used with children in grades 4 and 5 as well. It could be paired with social studies and learning about that time period in our country’s history. Students could use this book to research her life, among any other sources they could find on the internet. The colorful illustrations also add to the story and would allow students to picture the time period and clothes people wore.

A House of....

Author: Patricia Reilly Giff
Title: A House of Tailors
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books, 2004
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 176
Reading Level (Lexile): 750L

Patricia Reilly Giff is an award winning author, but this book has not received any awards. I found this book in the children’s section of my local library.

Plot Summary: Dina is a 13 yr old girl growing up in Germany, during War in 1870. She works with her mother to sew as many pieces as she can. She can’t help but have admiration and eyes for the soldiers. Dina is forced to leave Germany and go live with her Uncle in Brooklyn, NY. She dreams of America and how her life will be better there. When she arrives, she is not treated as well as she thought she would be. She works hard and eventually grows to love her family. She even saves her cousins from near death experiences.

A House of Tailors fits in nicely with my theme of Relationships. Dina misses her mom and Germany, but knows she has a better life in America. She can’t quite figure out her new family, but works extra hard to impress them. She grows to love them and live happily.
This book, set in the late 1800’s, does remind me of other Historical Fiction stories that I have read. What makes it different is the style of writing Giff uses. As the reader, you can really connect with Dina and feel for her situation. I think it is a good portrait of what a girl’s life would be like in a family of tailors, in that time. The story as it takes place in Brooklyn, also depicts a time when the epidemic was very serious.

A House of Tailors would be a good book to use with upper elementary level students. Even middle school students would benefit from reading this story. Because it is Historical Fiction, teachers could pair this story up with other facts or Nonfiction pieces that give information around this time period. Teachers could also use this book to compare what a 13 yr old girl’s life was like back then with how girls live today. I think this book lends itself well to also allowing students to create authentic projects, like journal entries, newspaper articles, timelines, etc.

Take a look at the sky...

Author: Thomas Locker with Candace Christiansen
Title: Sky Tree
Publisher: HarperCollins, 1995
Genre: Nonfiction
Pages: 40
Reading Level (Lexile): 490L

I found this book in my local library, in the Children’s Nonfiction section.

Plot Summary: Sky Tree is a collection of paintings of a Tree. Each painting is unique in that the sky behind it is different, as well as the change in the weather. The book follows a tree through each of the four seasons. Each page describes the life around the tree and asks children a question about it at the bottom of the page. For example, one question is “What does this painting show us about autumn colors?” This question goes along with the painting of an autumn tree and description of the colors of its leaves.

Sky Tree relates to my theme because it connects the life of a tree with its relationship to the sky and the seasons.

While reading Sky Tree, I thought about how much I enjoy looking at the trees as they change colors in the fall. I also was able to picture a snowy day while looking at one of the winter paintings in the book. I think this is an excellent nonfiction book to share with students because it personifies a tree and shows how it changes. The author worked with a Chemistry teacher in order to put more science into the book and understand facts about our natural world. The questions at the bottom of the page are thought provoking and tap into feelings evoked from the paintings. Children can use prior knowledge of how trees look in each season in order to connect with the book. I also like how the author connects the tree with the sky. This discovery could really allow children to not only notice the trees, but the sky around them. I could foresee teachers using this book in a variety of ways. The writing is in somewhat of a poetic form. This would be a great resource to use when teaching description and vivid word choice in writing. The questions at the bottom of each page could definitely be used as journal entries or discussion points. I really love this book because teachers could use it in a variety of ways and with all ages of elementary students. The younger students could benefit from reading this book as they learn about trees and the four seasons.

"The Promise of Eternity..."

Author: Nathaniel Harris
Created and Designed by: David Salariya
Title: Mummies; A Very Peculiar History
Publisher: Franklin Watts, 1995
Genre: Nonfiction
Pages: 48
Reading Level (Lexile): 960L

I found this book in my local Library, in the Children’s Nonfiction section.

Plot Summary: Although this book does not have a plot, the book is organized into different chapters. Each chapter covers different information about mummies. The pages have a lot of diagrams and captions to go along with the pictures. There is a ton of information about mummies as well as the Egyptian people and their beliefs. The book kind of has a spooky tone to it, which makes it a little more exciting to read! The book also goes through the mummification process and talks about the afterlife of Egyptians.

Mummies relates to my theme because the Egyptians had unique relationships with each other and the Gods they believed in. They did unique things to their corpses in order to mummify them and truly believed they would go to a better place. They took great care in wrapping them and placing objects in their tombs that they would need in the afterlife.
I could relate with this book because it reminded me of when I was able to visit an exhibit on King Tut. I had previously seen some Egyptian artifacts in the exhibit, but I was able to learn new things about mummies.

Mummies is an excellent book to use a resource in the classroom. Because of its “spooky” tone and the content, I would probably use this with upper elementary students. This book does some content that older students would be able to handle. Mummies would be a great nonfiction book to use as a research project, or just to learn more about mummies. I think students would really like diving into this book because of the pictures. In my experience, kids love nonfiction books, especially boys. I think kids would love to read this and find out more about the complex world of the Egyptians.