The Night of the Twisters by Ivy Ruckman

Ruckman, Ivy(Author). Night of the Twisters [NIGHT OF THE TWISTERS]. New York: HarperTrophy, 1986. Print.

The Night of the Twisters by Ivy Ruckman is a story about a Boy named Dan who gets stuck in a tornado with his best friend, Arthur, and his little brother, Ryan. The boys are all alone in the house when the tornado strikes and they must fend for themselves as they try to get through the storm. This book is based on an actual tornado in Nebraska during 1980. Even though these  boys are quite young, Dan is able to gain great courage in order to help his friend and brother in a time of great distress and his mother is not around. This book is great for historical, sceintific events that have occured and also provides a great story line involving the main character, Dan.

Resources:

http://www.gitwisters.com/twentyyears/twistersbook.php

This site provides the teacher an dstudents with even more information on the actual night of the twisters. There are stories about the real event, times after, how people dealt with the tornados, facts about tornados and much more. This information can be very useful when teaching this book so that students can relate what they have read in story and the actual events.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/weather/tornado/

This a site where students can go and learn more about tornadoes. They are able to learn very interesting facts about tornadoes such as speed, duration, classification, vocabulary and more. There are activities that the teacher can provide for the students to participate in during class as well. Students can also learn about Tornado Valley and where is it located and why it is so significant.

Vocabulary:
tornado, cyclone, twister, eye, forecast

During Reading:
Students can take note and keep track of the character traits of the main characters in the novel and how they change throughout the book. Students can discuss why the believe each characters fits into different characters traits and whether they consider these to be good or bad character traits of a person.

Writing Activity:
Students can expand on their discussions of character traits. They can first write about how a certain character or multiple characters could be described as at the beginning of the novel. Then, they can write about how the characters either changed or remained the same by the end of the novel. The students can write about how a certain character's change was important to the storyline.

Lady Liberty: A Biography by Doreen Rappaport

Rappaport, Doreen. Lady Liberty: A Biography. Library Binding ed. Cambridge: Candlewick, 2008. Print


This a great book by Doreen Rappaport and illustrated by Matt Tavares which shows a very interesting  view  point of the building of the Statue of Liberty. The author takes many perspectives of different people who were effected by this and they participate in telling the story of the statue. This way, readers get many perspectives from just one book. The reader learns about why we have the Statue of Liberty, where we got it, when it was built and who was effects by this statue. The text is also accompanied by great illustrations that help capture the events. This is great book to use when teaching about the Statue of Liberty and famous United States monuments.
Resources:
http://www.statueofliberty.org/default_sol.htm
This is a site part of the Statue of Liberty- Ellis Island Foundation. This is a great place for students to expand on what they learned from the book. There are current pictures, facts, and information about how students can possibly visit the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island.
Vocabulary:
statue, monument, liberty
Before reading:
The teacher should see what information the students may already know about the Statue of Liberty. They can be asked questions such as when it was built, who built it, why it was built and where it is located. They can help the students to prepare them for the information that they will be given during the reading of the book.

Writing Acitivity:

Students can reflect upon what they learned about the Statue of Liberty through this book. They can talk about what facts about the monument they did not know before reading the book. They can also reflect upon the illustrations provided by Matt Tavares and how they impacts the imformation they learned or how it influenced their thoughts about the creation of the monument.

Lunch Lady and the Cybord Substitute by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Krosoczka, Jarrett J.. Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute. New York: Knopf Books For Young Readers, 2009. Print.


This is a graphic novel, the first of a collection, that takes a view of lunch ladies that is not usually thought of. The students' substitute is quite odd and the lunch lady is able to pick up on this. The students wonder where the lunch lady goes after school and follow her. Meanwhile, the lunch lady is also following the new substitute to see where he goes after school. This is a great series to have students read because it an unusual format of novel that many students may not realize are available to them.


Resources:


lunchladycomics.com
This is a site dedicated to the Lunch Lady novels. Student can visit this site to find out about upcoming books and explore activities involving these novels


http://www.imcpl.org/kids/blog/?p=4823
This is a blog site about the Lunch Lady novels. Here, students can participate in blogs and share their thoughts about the novels.


Vocabulary:
substitute


During Reading:
Students ask questions/make comments about any sections that they may not understand what is going on in the novel since it is a much different format than most kids are used to.


Writing Activity:
Students will create and write their own mini graphic novel that could go along with the Lunch Lady comics.

I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree by Laura Hillman

Hillman, Laura. I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree. New Ed ed. New York: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books, 2006. Print.


I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree by Laura Hillman is a memoir of her life as a Schindler's list survivor. This novel tells of her life right before she is forced to leave for the concentration camps, following the death of her falls because of the Nazis. She is separated from her mother and brothers and must find the strength to survive through the awful years in the camps. She meets a Polish soldier who keeps her motivated to stay alive and make it through the camps. This is a great novel to use to help teach about the Holocaust and World War II.


Resources:


http://www.adl.org/education/edu_students_holocaust.asp
This site provides students will a lot of information on the Holocaust to give students a good background on the Holocaust and what was involved in it.


http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/war/
This site provides students with information World War II so that they can know the important historical background of the war.


Vocabulary:
concentration camp, ghetto, fascism


Before Reading:
Students will learn about the events of the Holocaust in  World War II. They will learn important figures, camps and events.


Writing Activity:
Respond to a prompt about how the students feel about what happened to the people during the Holocaust.

Reaching Out by Francisco Jimenez

Jimenez, Francisco. Reaching Out. United States: Graphia, 2009. Print.

Reaching Out by Francisco Jimenez is a biography about the author's life in his college years. It starts off with Jimenez getting in to Santa Clara University. His family and him are immigrants from Mexico who are trying to have a successful like in the United States. The novel tells of his struggle to adapt to the college life and pay for his schooling plus room and board. He takes his classes very seriously and is also trying to fit in with his classmates. Francisco also becomes very involved in organizations and a march to stand up for people like his family. 


Resources:


http://www.mexidata.info/id350.html
Students can information at this site about immigration between the United States and Mexico. 


http://www.earthyfamily.com/mexico-culture.html
This site provides students information about the Mexican culture so that they can better understand the culture of  Francisco Jimenez's family.


Vocabulary:
Immigration, deportation


Before Reading:
Students can read about Francisco Jimenez's life before going to college so that they can know what his childhood was like. Students can read his books, "The Circuit" and "Breaking Through.'


Writing Activity:
Students will write summaries of certain chapters in order to practice their summarization skills and paragraph writing.

Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff

Giff, Patricia Reilly. Eleven. New York: Yearling, 2009. Print.

This book is about a boy named Sam who is turning age eleven but has a fear of the number eleven. He soon discovers that he is possibly not part of his family. He finds a newspaper that leads him to believe he was at one point missing. He confides in the help of a new girl named Caroline to help him find out the truth. This is a great book for students to read who like mysteries.

Resources:

http://www.emporia.edu/libsv/wawbookaward/curriculumguides/eleven.html
This site is a helpful place to get a brief review of the story and discussion questions to help further thoughts about the novel.


http://www.readingrockets.org/article/223
Since Sam has a reading disability, this is a site students can go to for information about reading disabilities and how they effect people with them.


Vocabulary:
periodical, rummage


During Reading:
Students record thoughts and make predictions about what they think will happen next.


Writing Activity:

Running Out of TIme by Elizabeth Levy



Levy, Elizabeth. Running Out of Time. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Ny, 1980. Print.

Running Out of Time by Elizabeth Levy is about three friends who have gone for a run and go into a large patch of fog. They momentarily cannot see each other but once they come out of the fog, they find themselves in ancient roman times. They are dressed like the Romans and are thought to be Roman slaves. They are brought to fight as gladiators and meet another gladiator named Spartacus. The friends and the others plan to have a revolt so that they can be free and not have to fight each other in the gladiator fights.

Resources:

http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/romans/
This cite gives a lot of information about the history of the ancient Romans and what life was like at those times. They can read about the slavery, food, homes, people, clothing, architecure and more.

http://rome.mrdonn.org/spartacus.html
This cite tells the history of who Spartacus was and how he became a slave. This can help the students understand how he is connected to the Spartacus in the book.

Vocabulary:
slavery, empire, gladiator

Before Reading:
Students read information about ancient Rome and who Spartacus was in history.

Writing Activity:
Students will respond to a prompt that they will write as if they are a Roman slave telling about what type of life they live and their daily routine.

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose

Hoose, Phillip. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice. 1 ed. New York: Farrar, Straus And Giroux (Byr), 2009. Print.

In the book Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose tells the less known story of Claudette Colvin. She is was a young African-American girl who stood up for herself by refusing to move her seat on the bus. She knew that she had to stand up the injustice that so many people put in front of her. She would help lead to the civil rights movement along with famous individuals such as Rosa Parks. This is a great book to use when teaching students about black history and the civil rights movement. The book includes copy of primary sources that were released throughout the events of Claudette Colvin's life.

Resources:

http://www.neok12.com/Civil-Rights-Movement.htm
This site has plenty of multimedia to show the students about the civil rights movement and what it consisted of. There are many pictures and videos for the students to view.

http://www.kidskonnect.com/subject-index/21-people/161-parks-rosa.html
This site gives students more information on the civil rights movement and Rosa Park's involvement. There is also information on other women who were involved in the movement.

Vocabulary:
civil rights, boycott

The Poet Slave of Cuba by Margarita Engle

Engle, Margarita. The Poet Slave of Cuba. Unabridged ed. Detroit: Listening Library (Audio), 2009. Print.

The Poet Slave of Cuba by Margarita Engle is a collection of poems about the life of Juan Francisco Manzano. Margarita Engle creates a great book of poems by taking the perspective of the people in Juan's life and telling his biography through those perspectives. Juan Francisco Manzano was a Cuban boy who was completely mistreated by the woman of the house who does not appreciate him and only uses him for his talents of using words. The poems are written in a way that the reader must continue on reading. The poet does a great job of sharing this story of Juan Francisco Manzano's life through the various perspectives of people in his life and how they viewed him. There is a great range of emotions that keep the reader interested.

Resources:

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/places/find/cuba/
This cite gives students an opportunity to learn some information on Cuba in order to better understand what it would have been like to live in Cuba as a child.

http://www.teachingbooks.net/book_reading.cgi?id=2435&a=1
This cite is a place students can visit and hear the author talk about her book and how she went about writing it. She also reads a portion of the poetry so the students can hear how she would read it.

Vocabulary:
slave, verse

Before reading:
Students should do some research on Cuba in 1797 in order to understand what life was like in Cuba at that time. Otherwise, students may assume that life in Cuba was just like life is today.

Writing Acitivity:
Based upon the poems that tell the biography of Juan Francisco Manzano, students will write a report in paragraph form that also tells his life story. This will make sure that the students are understanding what the poems are telling about his life.

If Bees Rode Shiny Bicycles by Michelle A. Taylor

Taylor, Michelle A.. If Bees Rode Shiny Bicycles. New York: University Of Queensland Pr (Australia), 2004. Print.


If Bees Rode Shiny Bicycles by Michelle A. Taylor is a collection of poems for children that are about various aspects of nature. They are broken up into categories and then the poems within each chapters relate to the various parts of nature. Most of the poems are fairly short while a few are longer. The poems are very fun to read and there are so many that cover a range of topics for children to relate to. All students can find a topic of a poem in this book that they find interesting or fun to read.

Resources:

http://www.poetryarchive.org/childrensarchive/home.do
This cite provides students a chance to explore more poems and poets online so that they can learn about a range of poetry styles.

http://www.poetry4kids.com/
This cite provides students with many opportunities to read, write and study poetry. They have poetry contests that the students can enter into and poetry podcasts that the students can listen to online.

Vocabulary:
rhyme, verse, stanza

During Reading:
Mark poems that they find interesting or have some trouble with. Students can also look up topics they are unfamiliar with in order to better understand the poems.

Writing Activity:
Students choose a section on the collection and write their own poem that would fit into that section about a particular living creature.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. New York: Wendy Lamb Books, 2009. Print.


When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead is a 2009 Newbery Medal Winner. It is about a girl named Miranda whose mother is preparing to be on $20,000 Pyramid. The novel is made up of chapters in which Miranda is speaking to someone whom the reader does not know yet. Miranda receives a series of notes and clues as to who is writing her these notes. These notes direct her to do certain things in order to save the life of a friend. It is a very well-written novel that interests the reader immediately and has a quite unexpected ending.

Resources:

 http://www.litlovers.com/guide_when_you_reach-me.html
This cite helps to expand on the novel by providing some helpful discussion questions that could lead readers to think more about the novel. There is also a brief summary and information about the author.

Vocabulary:
meditate, truce, anesthesia

During reading:
record any clues as to who is writing the notes and what friend the person is trying to save.

Writing Activity:
Have students write a reaction to the end of the novel about whether or not they are surprised by who was writing the notes and explain why.

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

Patron, Susan. The Higher Power of Lucky Edition: 1. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2006. Print


The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron is a 2007 Newbery Medal winner that has been praised for its great story line. She is a ten year old girl who is currently being raised by her French step-mother, Brigitte. Throughout the book she is wrapped around the idea of finding people's own "higher power" and is determined to find her own. Since she fears that Brigitte will also leave her, Lucky makes the decision to run away. She is also determined to cast her mother's ashes into the wind of the desert as a memorial. This is a very endearing novel for young readers which makes it a great choice for students of third to fifth grade.


Resources:


http://www.edhelper.com/books/The_Higher_Power_of_Lucky.htm


This cite has a wide variety of activities and reviews to help teach this book. There are word puzzles, quizzes and ideas for extended activities.


Vocabulary: power (pertaining to book)


During reading: discuss how different characters discovered their higher power and how it is significant to them


Writing Activity: Have students respond to prompt about how Lucky discovered her higher power and the process she had to take in order to find her higher power.

Books to Read!

A Long Way from Chicago- Richard Peck


Dear Mr. Henshaw- Beverly Cleary


Matilda- Roald Dahl


Number the Stars- Lois Lowry


Maniac Magee- Jerry Spinelli


When Hitler Stole the Pink Rabbit- Judith Kerr