America's White Table

Citation: Raven, M.(2011). America's white table.  Ann arbor, MI : Sleeping Bear Press.
Category: Historic Fiction
Summary:  All over, White tables are set in honor of veterans who have fallen, are missing or held captive.  This book discusses how the table is set and the significance of each part of the table setting, from the salt to the titled chair, Katie and her family honor all of those who serve in the armed forces.
Classroom Use:  I will use this book to provide student awareness about the importance and observance of Veteran's Day.  It is a very powerful text that uses symbolic representation well.  After being exposed to the text, students will write a story using symbols to share about their family.

James and the Giant Peach

Click to view the James and the Giant Peach Prezi

Seriously, Cinderella is SO Annoying! : The story of Cinderella as told by the Wicked Stepmother

Shaskan, T. & Guerlais, G. (2012). Seriously, Cinderella is SO annoying! : The story of Cinderella as told by the Wicked Stepmother.  North Mankato, MN: Picture Window Books.

Please Click for Summary and Application of this Book

The Chronicles of Narnia : The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Citation: Lewis, C. (1950). The chronicles of narnia : the lion, the witch and the wardrobe. New York, NY : Harper Collins Publications
Category: Fantasy, Chapter Book
Summary: In C.S. Lewis' classic tale, 4 siblings embark on a journey though a wardrobe into the land of Narnia. In their journey, they encounter a wide variety of personified animals that are victims of the White Witches rein.  Edmund fall victim to the temptations of the White Witch and falls on the side of evil.  Lucy, Peter and Susan help Asalan, the true king/god of Narnia take down the evil white witch.  In the end, the siblings rein over Narnia as adults as Asalan has disappeared.
Classroom Use:  I would use this book to talk about temptations with my students - what makes some one decide to go to the "evil" side?  Is evil really as bad as good depicts in?  After talking about this, students would  practice connecting the story to their lives by writing a personal story about time they choose to do the wrong thing, maybe stealing a cookie before dinner, and analyze why they think they made that decision

Winnie-the-Pooh

Summary:

Citation: Milne, A. (2009). Winnie-the-pooh.  New York, NY : Dutton Children's Books.
Category: Fiction, Chapter Book
Classroom Use:  I would use this book in a young classroom to teach students how to write fiction stories with dialogue   This book has a lot of great examples of dialogue use and it is a fun, timeless story that the younger students can relate to, especially since it includes characters that they already have an attachment too.

Oh, the Places You'll Go

Citation: Seuss, Dr. (1990). Oh, the place you'll go.  New York, NY : Random House.
Category: Fantasy
Summary:  In Dr.Seuss book of rhyme, he take the reader on in inspiration adventure about the life journey you will take and all the ups and downs you will face.  He presents the wisdom that life won't always take you where you expect but it is up to us to make the most of it. The road maybe a bit shaky at times, but the book reminds up that we can overcome any challenges we are determined to face head on.
Classroom Use:  I will use this book to talk about rhyme patterns in text.  We will also discuss the journey's that life takes us on and how to handle things when they don't go as planned.  We will discuss as a class times that things didn't go as planned and how we overcame those hurdles, no matter how small.  Students will write using Seuss' ABCB rhyme pattern in telling a story about where they hope their journey will take them in life. We will make our own classroom Seuss book made up of their stories.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Dahl, R. (1998). Charlie and the chocolate factory. New York, NY: Puffin.
Category: Fantasy 
Chapter Book
Awards: New England Round Table of Children's Librarians Award, Surrey School Award, Millennium Children's Book Award, Blue Peter Book Award  

Summary:  In this beloved tale, the main character is from a home of little means.  The glorious chocolate factory holds a contest and there are 5 lucky kids that will win a golden ticket and given a chance to explore the factory.  Despite the odds, Charlie finds a golden ticket and goes with the other 4 children to the chocolate factory where the group embarks on a wild array of vividly depicted journeys.

Use in the Classroom:  In my classroom I would use this book to teach students about building a schema.  We would practice using our schema to build on what we learn as we read.  We would stop and think about what we know about different things like the ompalompas and discuss how we know it and watch how our schema about them changes as we learn more throughout the story.

Out Of My Mind By Sharon Draper

Citation: Draper, S.M. (2012). Out of my mind. Atheneum. 
Category: Realistic Fiction, Chapter Book
Awards: Josette Frank Award by the Children's Book Committee of the Bank Street College of Education, Buckeye Children's Book Award, the Sunshine State Young Reader's Award in both the middle school and elementary categories, the Black-Eyed Susan Book Award, the Beehive Book Award, and the Virginia Reader's Choice Award.
Summary: In Sharon Draper's novel, Out of My Mind, we are taken inside the mind of Melody, an 11 year old girl, who has been confined to a wheel chair and her own mind for her entire life.  Melody faces an inner struggle of knowing so much but being unable to share her thoughts, and it is eating her alive.  Melody finally gets a devise to help her communicate, but the world still looks at her though a different lens.
Classroom Use:  I would use this in the classroom to promote awareness of student differences and disabilities.  There is a documentary based on this book that is really powerful that I would show after reading the book.  Students would use the book as a jumping off point to write a narrative about an initiative to start a community awareness outreach project.