Into the Forest

Browne, Anthony. (2004). Into the Forest. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press.
A young boy goes off, into the forest, to deliver a cake to his grandmother who lives there. Along the way, he meets lost souls in the forest and eventually becomes lost himself. But as he wanders, he finally finds his grandmother's cottage.

Connecting to the Standards
Grade 2 RL (7): Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

• The illustrations in the story are very detailed when it comes to explaining characters and setting of the story.

Grade 2 RL (9): Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.

• This story includes stories such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Jack and the Beanstalk, and elements of Little Red Riding Hood.

Grade 2 SL (1): Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

• Students will discuss the illustrations in groups.

Adapted to the Classroom

Students will most likely already be familiar with the stories present within this book, so establishing prior knowledge will probably not be necessary. I would possibly pair this lesson with the other fairy-tale lessons presented in this blog such as Lon Po Po and The Three Pigs. 

The teacher will read the story aloud, possibly having the illustrations projected for students to see up close. Students should recognize some of the elements of other stories they see, either in the text or in the illustrations. The teacher might ask if they recognize the different characters and what stories they're from.

Once the reading is over, students will break up into small groups, each group getting a copy of the book. Students will be prompted to study the illustrations in conjunction with the text. Have students write down what fairy tales they see present in the story. Prompt them to look very closely at the illustrations, as some of the fairy tales are not as obvious as others. Students will share their findings with the class.

Bloom's Taxonomy

Distinguish what fairy tales are present in this story. (Analysis)

What story does the main character present? (Analysis)

Differentiation

Students who have trouble in small groups may need support, either by putting them with other students they work well with or by having the teacher standing by ready to give support to the student and redirect their behavior.

The Relatives Came

Rylant, Cynthia. The Relatives Came. (1993). Gammell, Stephen (Illus.).   Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Who does not love leaving at 4:00am to drive to spend weeks on end with your relatives. Through this text you will see how daily life changes when the relatives come to town. You will also see traditions that only happen when the relatives come to visit.

Connecting to the Standards

Grade 2 SL (4): Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audibly in coherent sentences.

• Students will meet this standard when they are given the change to present to the class about their family tradition. 

 
Learning Outcomes  
Students will write about a tradition that they have with their family with 80% accuracy.

Adapted to the Classroom  
To start this less you can your students if they know what a relative is, and what traditions the students have when relatives come to visit. If the students do not know what a relative is, you will give them context clues to help them get to the point where they can figure it out on their own. After you have established what a relative is with the students you will read this text. While reading the text you will use reading strategies to make sure the students are still engaged into the story. After the story is over, talk with the class about family traditions that happened within the text. When this conversation has closed, you will give students the chance to write about one of their traditions. When they finish writing about their traditions, students will be given the chance to tell the class about their tradition they have with their family.

Bloom's Taxonomy
What is a relative? (Knowledge)
Identify three traditions your family has. (Application)


Differentiation 
For students with Dyslexia, they will be given the option to either type their response or they will be provided with a dictionary to help with spelling if they choose to hand write it
For students who finish their assignment early, they will be ask to draw a picture of what their tradition looks like.

Catfish Tale

Stewart, Whitney. Catfish Tale. (2014). Guerlla's, Gerald (Illus.). Park Ridge Illinois: Albert Whitman & Company

Have you every heard of a Catfish with magical powers down in they Bayou? Well Jack has and when he tells his wife everything changes. She makes bigger and bigger wishes, until she just simply wishes she could go back to the way things were. 

Connecting to the Standards 
 Grade 2 RI (4): Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area

• Students will meet this standard when they are learning vocabulary words. When you go over the vocabulary words, not all the vocabulary words will be gone over so that when you get to them in the text you can ask the students and they can use context to figure it out 

Grade 2 RI (9): Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic

• Students will meet this standard by creating their chart to see if each fair tale meets their component of a fairy tale they are looking for. 

Learning Outcomes
In groups of two or three, students will be in charge of finding one component of a fairy tale in each of the fairy tales read throughout the lesson. Students will be in charge of charting whether the component is there or not. 

Adapted to the Classroom 
This text would be used when you are studying about fairy tales. Before reading this students would know what a fair tales is and all the components of a fairy tale. In the fairy tale unit you would be working on finding all the components of a fairy tale, in text that are believed to be fairy tales. Students would be in groups of two or three and would be looking for a certain component for each fairy tale read. Students would be given a chart with their component and all the fair tales read, the the story is being read they would check the box to see if the component had been met or would leave it blank if it had not. At the end of the unit, we would create a big chart with all the components and the stories read. Students would then be invited to mark the stories that met their component.

For this text in particular before reading you would introduce new vocabulary. There are so many knew vocabulary to students because of the setting of the story, that this is a major learning opportunity for students.

Bloom's Taxonomy 
What is a Bayou and where is it located? (Knowledge)
Why do you think that Jolie made the wishes she did? (Analysis)
How would you use a wish from a magical Catfish if you found one? (Application)

Differentiation
For ELL students, directions on what the task is would be given in both English and their native language.
For gifted students, they will have to make a graph at the end showing how many books where fairy tales and how many books where not fairy tales

If You Take a Mouse to School

Numeroff, Laura. If You Take a Mouse to School. (2002). Bond, Felicia (Illus.). New York, New York: HarperCollins

You never know what the mouse is going to ask for next when you decide to take him to school. The illustrations help you guess what is going to happen next, but sometimes you never know what the mouse is actually going to want.

Connecting to the Standards
Grade 2 RL (4): Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem or song.

• Students will meet this standard through the active participation in the read aloud. As the students catch on the the repeated sentences, the teacher will invite the students to read along. 

Grade 2 RL (7): Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

• Students will meet this standard because before we flip pages, students will be given the chance to make an inference as to what is coming next in the text.

Learning Outcomes  
Students will be able to finish the sentences "If you take a mouse to school, he'll ask you for your _______. When you give him your ______ he'll want a ______ to go with it, by following the same pattern set up in the text. Student will also draw a picture of their sentence.

Adapted to the Classroom 
When reading this book you would read in a manner that students would be able to catch up on the pattern and be able to eventually guess what is going to come next.

While reading students will actively  participate in the read allowed. Students will be given a chance to guess what is coming next. After reading students will create their own explain following the same pattern from the text.

Bloom's Taxonomy 
List three request that the mouse had. (Knowledge)
How would you use the pattern in the story to develop another page to the story. (Application)

Differentiation 
For students with a hearing impairments the teacher will be wearing a microphone and the student will be wearing the receiver so that the sound is amplified and they can hear what the students are saying.
For students with visual impairments the teacher would use a large print book so that the studnet can follow along with the teacher.

Ramona Quimby, Age 8

Clearly, Beverly. Ramona Quimby, Age 8. (1981). Rogers, Jacqueline (Illus.). New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers

Ramona is in the 3rd grade and she is experiencing things that she has never had before, both good and bad. Ramona has an enthusiasm for life that no one can take from her and often rubs off on people. Throughout the text we watch Ramona do some crazy things but also some things that she believes to ruin her reputation.

Connecting to the Standards
Grade 2 L (3): Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening. A: Compare formal and informal uses of English

• Students will meet this standard by writing a letter to their future self, and making the choice how to write the letter to themselves. 

Grade 2 L (2): Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. B: Use of commas in greetings and closing of letters.

• Students will meet this standard by making sure they have the proper letter format when writing a letter to their future self. The letter format would have already been taught to the students.

Learning Outcome
After finishing reading Ramona Quimby, Age 8, students will write a letter to there future selves about anything they want with 80% accuracy. 

Adapted to the Classroom 
Prior to reading this text we would have already read the books prior to this one in the series. Since my students would be in the second grade we would read this towards the end of the year. After we finished reading this students would then write a letter to themselves, but the letter would not be given to them until the next year when they are in the 3rd grade. This letter could be about anything the student wanted to write about. Whether it be out Ramona gets through the 3rd grade and being 8 years old, or something that is is more personal.

Bloom's Taxonomy 
 Based on the text that was read, make an inference on what you think will happen next. (Comprehension)
What age is Ramona during this book? (Knowledge)


Differentiation
For students who finish writing their letter early, they will be given another task of writing a letter for themselves 5 years down the road about anything they want.
For ELL students, they will be given the option to write their letter in their native language

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Atwater, Richard and Florence. Mr. Popper's Penguins. (1993). Lawson, Robert (Illus.). New York, New York: Little, Brown and Company

Mr. Popper, was just a poor house painter who lived in Stillwater Oklahoma until one day when he suddenly own a penguin named Captain Cook from Admiral who promised him a surprise. Shortly after getting Capital Cook, they got a female penguin from the zoo who matted with Captain Cook and had 10 baby penguins. Mr. Popper and his penguins make a circus act, which may seem like a good idea but things suddenly take a turn in opposite directions and Mr. Popper winds up in the North Pole with his penguins and Admiral.

Connecting to the Standards 
Grade 2 W (5): With guidance and support of adults and peers, focus on a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including collaboration with peers.

• Students will meet this standard when they take turns to type out the cause and effect chart of the events in the story while reading the text.  

Grade 2 SL (2): Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.

• Students will meet this standard when we discuss what happened during the last reading time before we read another passage.

Learning Outcomes  
While reading Mr. Popper's Penguins, the class will create a cause an effect chart outline the events within the story, with 80% accuracy.

Adapted to the Classroom
This would be a book that would be read aloud by the teacher after lunch/recess to calm the students down. Throughout reading the text you can create a cause an effect chart. This chart would also be a guide for students to understand what is happening in the story. While reading this text you can also do a science lesson on penguins and animals that live in the cold climates. Each day you would review what you wrote down the day before on the cause and effect chart. The cause and effect chart could be on the computer and each day a different students gets to take turns typing into the chart.

Bloom's Taxonomy 
What is the name of Mr. Popper's first penguin? (Knowledge)
Give a summary of the chapter read aloud today (Comprehension)

Differentiation 
For students who are auditory learners, instead of you reading the text one day you can find a recorded read aloud allowing for the students to listen to the text in a different tone.
For students with hearing impairments, the teacher will wear a microphone while the student has the receiver, amplifying the sound for the student to hear the story.

Enigma - A Magical Mystery

Base, Graeme. Enigma- A Magical Mystery. (2008). Base, Graeme (Illus.). New York, New York Abrams Books for Young Readers

Bertie was expecting a typical visit to see his grandfather at his retirement home. But much to Bertie's surprise it was not a typical visit. Bertie spend his time trying to find his grandfather's rabbit Enigma, and helping the other residents of the retirement home get their magic back.

Connecting to the Standards
Grade 2 RL (2): Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

• Students will demonstrate this when we are discussing the different character and what their magic power is. 

Grade 2 RL (7): Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

• Students will meet this standard when they make predictions about what magic power each character has prior to finding out what magic power they actually have.

Learning Outcomes 
Given the question "If you could have any magic powers, what would they be and why?," students will formulate an answer with 80% accuracy.

Adapted to the Classroom
This would be a read a loud used when discussing sequence and patterns due to the code that has to be broken in the back to display. While reading students would make predictions as to what the different characters magical powers are before we read.When we are finished reading we will make a chart listing the character and their magic power. After we are done reading we will work toward trying to solve the code in the back of the book.

After discussing the code, we would go back and discuss the events that happened in the text. While discussing we would touch on Magic and discuss Magicians. While discussing Magicians and what they do we would discuss magic. After discussing I would students the chance to answer the question "If you could have any magic powers, what would they be and why?" After students had a chance to answer this question they would report back to class, so the class could hear about what magic power they would want to have.

Bloom's Taxonomy 
What is a Magician? (Knowledge)
What approach would you use to solve the mystery in the retirement home? (Application)

Differentiation
For students with Dyslexia, they would be aloud to use the dictionary to look up words they are not sure how to spell in order to answer the questions about which magic power they would want
For students who finish early, they would be given worksheets where they are trying to crack the code.

Abe Lincoln's Dream

Smith, Lane. (2012). Abe Lincoln's Dream. New York, New York: Roaring Book Press

The ghost of Abe Lincoln keeps coming back every year because he can't rest until he knows the fate of the nation. A nice young lady on a tour of the White House helps to show him what has happened since he passed. She takes him across DC and even to the moon to show him how far the U.S. has come, but also how far we can go.

Connecting to the Standard
Grade 3 RI (1): Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answer

Grade 3 RI (2): Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.

Grade 3 RI (3): Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.

Grade 3 W (2): Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. a. Introduce a topic and group related information together; include illustrations when useful to aiding comprehension. b. Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details. c. Use linking words and phrases (e.g., also, another, and, more, but) to connect ideas within categories of information. d. Provide a concluding statement or section.

• Though this text is not necessarily non-fiction, it does have informative parts to it, mostly about US history. 

Learning Objectives

Students will learn how to understand an historical fiction book that is informative and how to engage in research on the topics introduced in the story. Students will be able to research using a variety of resources including internet, library, etc. Students will also learn to use word-processing applications to create their informative writing.

Adapted to the Classroom

This lesson will also incorporate some Social Studies/History standards.

After doing a teacher-guided classroom read, students will engage in a research process on the changes that have occurred in the social and political landscape of the country since the time of Abraham Lincoln's passing. Why might Lincoln be happy with changes that have been made based off of the progress he started making during his presidency? Students should choose one topic to write on and be able to explain and support their reasons behind why the progress they chose would make President Lincoln happy. Students will present their findings in an essay which will be written using a word-processing application on the computer. 

Bloom's Taxonomy

What is the main idea of the story? (Comprehension)

Why are the things shown by the little girl significant? (Application)

Choose a topic of progress and support your reasoning why President Lincoln would be happy with it. (Evaluation)

Differentiation

Giving students who struggle with research and writing extra support is important during this assignment. It may be helpful to have individual meetings with students to check their progress over the course of the research process and writing process.

Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem

Barnett, Mack. Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem (2009). Rex, Adam (Illus.). New York, New York, Disney-Hyperion

Billy never believed his parents when they would say "Billy you need to do this or we will buy you a blue whale." Until one day his parents actually bought him a whale. After this Billy is forced to take care of the whale, and begins that having a whale for a pet is not as fun as it sounds.

Connecting to the Standards
Grade 2 L (2): Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. B: Use commas in greetings and closing of letters

•  Students will meet this standard by writing a letter asking for a whale using the correct letter format.

Grade 2 L (3): Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening

• Students will meet this standard by writing a letter asking for a whale, in their letters they will have to use the English language correctly to make sure they ask for their whale correctly.

Learning Outcomes 
After discussing the components of a letter, students will write a letter requesting a whale with 80% accuracy.

Adapted to the Classroom 
During our pre-reading this text, students will be given a chance to physically look at this book. While students are looking this text will be giving the chance to find the spot where is says they can send for a whale. Prior to reading we will also do some research about whales and learn about whales.

While reading the text, we will use some during reading skills. We will make connections to information we already know about whales and new learning. While reading we will also go over new vocabulary words that come up

After reading, I will ask students if they found anything interesting in the book. Through the use of scaffolding I will lead them to get to the point about sending for a whale. After they discover this, we will discuss letters, how to write them, and what a letter is. It is at this point I will give students a chance to draft a letter asking for a whale. Once we have received our whales we will write letters to our whales each month and students will be given a chance to call their whale as well.

Bloom's Taxonomy 
Suppose you were in Billy's shoes, how would you have reacted to receiving a whale? (Synthesis)
What would have resulted if Billy would have listen to his parents in the beginning? (Application)

Differentiation
For students with Dyslexia, they will be able to use technology to help them write their letters asking for a whale.  
For students who are finished early, they will be given the chance to do a work sheet with questions about whales on it.

Apt. 3

Keats, Ezra Jack. (1971). Apt. 3. New York, New York: Penguin Group

The sounds of their apartment fill their ears as two brothers seek out the music they hear playing. They end up at Apt. 3 where they discover a blind man playing the harmonica. They learn a lot about what he can do, and invite him to take a walk with him the next day.

Connecting to the Standards
Grade 3 RL (1): With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

• This story has a clear theme.

Grade 3 RL (2): With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

• The main topic I want students to gain from this is the sounds they hear on a daily basis.

Grade 3 W (3): Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. a. Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. b. Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations. c. Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order. d. Provide a sense of closure.

• This story gives a great opportunity for students to write about the sounds they hear on a daily basis.

Grade 3 L (3): Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening. a. Choose words and phrases for effect.* b. Recognize and observe differences between the conventions of spoken and written standard English.

• Students will be required to listen and write about what they hearing during the activity in this lesson.

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to answer questions about the text and, with prompting from the teacher, should be able to identify the main topic of the story for the purpose of this lesson. Students will engage in a soundscape activity where they will identify the sounds they hear on a daily basis in different parts of their everyday. They will write a simple narrative based around these sounds.

Adapted to the Classroom

The class will engage in a teacher-led read-aloud of the book Apt. 3. The teacher should stop along the way to ask questions about the sounds that are heard in the apartment complex. Ask if students hear these sounds where they live too. Students should be asked to hear these sounds in their head, imagining what it would sound like to be in that environment.

Students will then engage in a creative-writing activity that takes the sounds of their environment and turn it into a narrative. Students should engage in listening exercises in various places that they spend a large amount of time in. Students will have a chance to write about each soundscape after they occur. The soundscapes could be done over a long period of time since students will need to take down their thoughts during each one. These soundscapes should not only help students writing skills, but also their listening skills which are critical in group work.

Bloom's Taxonomy

What are the sounds of the apartment? (Knowledge)
Imagine what that environment would sound like. (Synthesis)
Determine the sounds you hear in your everyday life. (Application)
Create a narrative based off of these sounds. (Synthesis)

Differentiation
Clearly, deaf students would be unable to participate in this type of activity, so it may not be an appropriate activity for an inclusion classroom that has a deaf student.

My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Farris King, Christine. My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (2006). Soentpiet, Chris (Illus.). New York, New York: Simon & Schuster

This text was told through the eyes of Christine King Farris the only survivor of king family and sister to Martin Luther King Jr. Christine felt as though it was important for her side of the story to be told, which is why she wrote this text. Throughout the text Christine recalls different events throughout their childhood and everything her brother did to work for change.

Connecting to the Standards 
Grade 2 W (7): Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report)

• Students will meet this standard, because they will work in groups to research facts about Martin Luther King Jr. during a set of particular years in his life. 

Grade 2 SL (2): Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.

• Students will meet this standard by being able to recall information read from text but will also use other media to find the information they need. 

Learning Outcomes
 Given a particular set of dates, groups of students will work together to come up with 5 important facts about Martin Luther King Jr.'s life, with 80% accuracy.

Adapted to the Classroom
Prior to reading this text you would discuss who Martin Luther King Jr. is and what he he did. While you spend time talking about Martin Luther King Jr. you would set aside to discuss his family members. At this point you would read this text. After reading the students would be divided into groups. Once divided into groups students would use their knowledge of Martin Luther King Jr. and his family to create a timeline of his life. Each group would focus on a certain years, within those years students would have to come with 5 important events. Within each group their will be different roles assigned to each student to make sure all information need is being collected.

Bloom's Taxonomy 
Imagine you were Martin Luther King Jr., would you be able to fight for something you believe in? (Synthesis)
Who is Christine King Farris? (Knowledge)

Differentiation 
For ELL students, they will be given the opportunitiy to work in a group giving them the chance to work with others.
For students who are gifted, they will be required to do extra work on their time period and find more in depth information about Martin Luther King Jr.

Off We Go

Yolen, Jane. (2010). Off We Go. L. Molk (Illus.). Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company

No matter what animal, big or small, the best place in the world will always be grandma's house. From spiders to snakes, mice to moles, they all enjoy going off to grandma's house.

Connecting to the Standards
Kindergarten RL (5): Recognize common types of texts (e.g., storybooks, poems).

• This story is a clear example of a rhyming poem.

Kindergarten RL (6): With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.

• The author and illustrator are important aspects of the story. Without them, the story wouldn't exist. Students should understand this.

Kindergarten RL (7): With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

• The illustrations and text are clearly related in this story as they go through different animals.

Kindergarten RF (2): Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes). a. Recognize and produce rhyming words

• There are rhyming words in this story.

Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to recognize that this story is a form of rhyming poetry. They will explore the variety of rhyming words used in the story. They will also recognize the recurring theme of "Off to grandmother's house I..." and "Sings little..." Students will be able to name the author and illustrator and will go back through the story and explain how the text by the author relates to the art by the illustrator.

Adapted to the Classroom
This story is a great way to introduce a different type of rhyming scheme (AAAB) repeated throughout the story. Students should be carefully listening for the ending rhyme sounds of each stanza. Students should try to figure out what the rhyme scheme is. The teacher will establish a rhythm so the students can understand the meter of the story.

Students will then take what they heard, go back through the book, and identify each rhyming word in the poem. As a class, they will discuss what makes a rhyming word a rhyming word. Through teacher guidance, students will be given the chance to name other words that rhyme with the words from the books. Students will hopefully recognize homonyms as well.

Bloom's Taxonomy
Give an example of a word that rhymes with _____. (Application)
What is a rhyming word? (Knowledge)
Restate some of the rhyming words in the story. (Comprehension)

Differentiation
Students with aphasia may have difficulty recognizing that certain words are rhyming words. Maybe giving them basic rules to understand what words rhyme with what, like similar spelling endings, could help them. However, this won't help when it comes to homonyms.

And Tango Makes Three

Parnell, Peter and Richardson, Justin. And Tango Makes Three. (2005). Cole, Henry (Illus.). New York, New York: Simon & Schuster

In the Central Park Zoo, there are two male penguins who only dream of having an egg to raise. They try everything they can to get an egg to raise but are no successful. After much waiting they finally got their egg, and were able to be parents. Throughout the text you see the two grow penguins grow into amazing parents.

Connecting to the Standards
Grade 2 W (5): With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.

• Students will meet this standard when they work on their paragraphs about their family and go through the writing process to get their final product. 

Grade 2 L (2): Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. A: Capitalize holidays, product names, and geographic names. E: Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings.

• Students will meet this goal when work through writing process. After creating the rough draft they will have to go through and revise, making sure they have spelled unknown workds correctly and that they use proper capitalization in their paper.

Learning Outcomes
Students will create a paper about their family by working through the writing process with 80% accuracy.

Adapted to the Classroom
This would be used in the classroom when discussing the topic of families. When talking about families we would talk about the different traditions each family has and who makes up your family.  After reading this text students would work through the writing process to write a paper on their family. For the final draft students would be allowed to either type their paper on the computer or hand write it if they would like. After they finished writing their paper they would draw a picture of their family to go along with their paper. After students have finished their paper students would be given a chance to stand up in front of the class and read their paper. While the student is reading their paper, their picture of their family would be displayed on the board so that all students could see the visual representation of what the students family look like.

Bloom's Taxonomy 
How many members do you have in your family? (Knowledge) 
Identify one tradition that your family has. (Application)
Elaborate on what your favorite memory is with your family. (Synthesis)

Differentiation 
For students who are ELL, they would be given the option to incorporate some of their native language into their paragraphs and presentation.
For students with Dyslexia they will be allowed to use a dictionary to make sure they are spelling the words correctly.
For students who visual learners they will be given the chance to draw their family members for people to see.

Mary Poppins

Travers, P.L. Mary Poppins. (1934). Shepard, Mary (Illus.). Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Inc

"A blast of wind, a house rattling bang, and Mary Poppins arrives at Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane." Marry Poppins is not your average nanny, she is able to make the most ordinary events into some extraordinary events. Throughout the text Marry helps Jane and Michael until her work is done and she floats away.

Content Standard 
Grade 2 RI (9): Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic

• Students will meet this goal when we compare and contrast Mary Poppins the movie and Mary Poppins the book.  

Grade 2 SL (2): Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media

• Students will meet this goal when they are asked to give important details from the text to our class chart of important details.

Learning Outcomes 
After reading and watching Mary Poppins, students will write down one similarity and one difference between the book and movie with 80% accuracy 

Adapted to the Classroom 
This would be a text that we would read over time a few chapters at a time. After each reading we would record important details from the chapter read that day. Along with recording important events, we would also make predictions as to what will happen next.

After finishing reading the text we will watch the Disney movie Marry Poppins. While students are watching the movie I will ask them to write down important details. After we finish viewing the movie we will come together and make a list of important details. When this list is finish, we will compare and contrast the book and the movie.

To finish, students will be asked to write down one similarity and one difference that they notice between the movie and the book.

Bloom's Taxonomy 
Where is the setting of Mary Poppins? (Knowledge)
Why do you think Mary Poppins left Jane and Michael? (Analysis)

Differentiation
For students with hearing impairments we will put close captions on the movie so that they can read along with the text.
For students with Dyslexia they will be allowed to verbally tell the teacher one similarity and one difference between the book and the movie.

So You Want to be President

St. George, Judith. So You Want to be President (2000). Small, David (Illus.). New York, New York: Philomel Books

In this text you learn all the positives and all the negatives that come with being President of the United States. While learning about the positives and the negatives, you also learn a little about each President. Not only do you learn fun facts about each President but you also learn fun facts about all the Presidents, like how many were born in long cabins and how many have the same name.

Connecting to Standards
Grade 2 W (7): Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g. read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations)

• This content standard is met by the students getting into groups and doing research on the description of the president and having to report back to the class 

Grade 2 W (2): Write informative/ explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.

• This content standard is met by the students having to write paragraphs about one President of their choice. These paragraphs will be comprised on the information they found when doing research on the President of their choice

Learning Outcomes
After reading this text, students will pick a President to research and will write a paragraph biography about said President with 80% accuracy.

Adapted to Classroom
Prior to reading this text we would discuss the different Presidents of the United States. While discussing the Presidents we would make a time line so that students can visually see when the Presidents where President. While we are making a timeline we would discuss each President, whether that be by watching a video, reading a book, or doing some class research together on said President. During this discussion we would do some class research about the job's the President has, requirements to be President, and just overall important information regarding the President. This research would be done by having students break into groups and pick different categories of information to research on the President

After priming the students with all the information we would read this text. While reading this text we would start by taking a tally of how many students say "yes" or say "no" for wanting to be president. While we are reading the text we would make connections to the research that the students did.

After the read aloud is finished we would retake our poll and see who still wants to be president and who does not want to be President. After taking this poll we would discuss what we read in the text. While discussing this would be when I introduce the project to the children. For the project each student would research one particular President. They would answer research questions and would write a paragraph about the President they picked. These paragraphs would then be hung in the hall with a picture the student picked. 

Bloom's Taxonomy 
What is the name of the house the President lives in? (Knowledge)
In your opinion what is the best thing about the President you researched? (Evaluation) 

Differentiation
One way to differentiated this lesson is by allowing students to work in partners. This will allow students who are ELL or with SPED services to receive extra help from their classmate.
For students who are gifted you can require extra questions for them to answer forcing them to go in depth with research. 

The Junkyard Wonders

Polacco, Patricia. (2010). The Junkyard Wonders. New York, New York: Philomel Books

This inspiring book of perseverance and overcoming challenges focuses on a group of students with exceptionalities including a girl with dyslexia who has trouble reading, a boy with Tourette Syndrome, a girl who doesn't speak, etc. Over the course of the book, the children's teacher tries to inspire them to think of themselves as more so they can accomplish anything. They set out to win the science fair and, in the process, learn a lot about life and overcoming hardship.

Connecting to the Standards
Grade 3 RL (1): Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers

• This story has a lot of information and students should be able to ask and answer questions about that information from the text.

Grade 3 RL (6): Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.

• The story has a strong narrator and students should be able to understand the narrator's POV.

Grade 3 W (3): Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. a. Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. b. Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations. c. Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order. d. Provide a sense of closure.

• Students will be able to write their own story about overcoming hardship.

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to take information directly from the text and answer simple questions about it. Example question: "Who are the main characters and why were each of them 'in the Junkyard?'" Students will be able to take the POV of the narrator as her and her classmates overcome hardships and find ways to succeed. Students will then write about a time in their own life when they had to overcome hardship much like the Junkyard Wonders who overcame the death of their friend, the bullying they put up with at school, etc. Students will also explain how they overcame or how they are overcoming that hardship.

Adapted to the Classroom

Junkyard Wonders is a pretty long book to read in just one sitting and it may be more appropriate to break it up into two pieces. I would say a good time to stop on the first day of reading would be after they find the airplane. This could give the teacher the chance to ask questions like "what do you think the students will do with the airplane they found?" Students will have the chance to make logical predictions about where the story is heading.

After the read-aloud, students should have a chance to discuss the important events in the book and the issues that are raised. This book does include some difficult subjects for adults to speak about to children such as death, but if presented correctly, children should be able to handle the subject. After discussion, students will begin the writing process by writing about overcoming hardship in their own life. It may be difficult for the students to think about hardship, but even just learning how to ride a bike, being sick, or other childhood difficulties will work.

Bloom's Taxonomy
What were some of the difficult things the Junkyard Wonders had to endure? (Knowledge)
How did they succeed in becoming geniuses? (Knowledge)
Write about a hardship you've had to overcome in life. (Synthesis)

Differentiation
This book/lesson may not be sensitive to students who have recently lost someone. If this is the case in the classroom, and the subject of death needs to be approached because of the circumstances, another book that is specifically aimed at that subject may be more appropriate. Be sure to know if this is going to be a problem before you start the lesson because it may be difficult for the student to deal with the assignment. If you believe that this assignment may help relieve some of the frustration or anger around the subject by writing about it, then it may be helpful to use this lesson.

Other than that, students who may have had difficult pasts or are in the middle of something difficult may not want to do this kind of assignment. It may dredge up feelings that shouldn't be examined in the classroom through a writing assignment.

The Book that Jack Wrote

Scieszka, Jon. (1994). The Book that Jack Wrote. D. Adel (Illus.). New York, New York: Penguin Books

Using cumulative rhyme, Scieszka takes classic nursery rhymes and creates a poem. The end result is a rather hilarious story with an effective and understandable rhyming scheme.

Connecting to the Standards
Grade 2 RL (4): Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.

• This cumulative poem has a lot of rhyme and rhythm in it.

Grade 2 RL (5): Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.

• Not only is this poem cumulative, but it is also circular making it rather unique in this instance.

Grade 2 RL (7): Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

• The illustrations really illuminate what the story is telling in pretty clear visuals.

Grade 2 SL (1): Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups

• Students will work in small groups to create a visual timeline, sequencing the events in the story.

Adapted to the Classroom

Students will most likely have heard some of the nursery rhymes mentioned in this story like the cow jumping over the moon and Humpty Dumpty. If not, it may be necessary to establish that understanding, and can be done during the course of the reading of the book most likely. It may not be necessary for the teacher to do a read aloud for this one and may be more appropriate for small groups to read together. After all, the vocabulary is not too difficult for 2nd graders. Students should be actively thinking about the sequence of the story and how the beginning and the end relate.

After they have read the story and discussed the sequence, they will create a visual timeline to show that they understand how the story is sequenced. This can be done through visuals for each line; like a pie for the baker and an hat for the hatter. They may draw in the visuals too if you, as the teacher, believe that is something that your classroom can manage effectively. This activity will hopefully help students understand the circular motion of this story. 

Bloom's Taxonomy

Outline the sequence of events. (Analysis)

Create a visual map to go along with the sequence of events. (Synthesis)

Differentiation

There is some more difficult vocabulary in the story, so the teacher should be standing by and observing groups as they read. If a group gets stuck, the student should support the students; possibly guiding them through sounding it out, or asking if they've ever seen that word before. Students who have trouble reading should be put in groups with higher level readers who can support them through their reading.

Mirette on the High Wire

McCully, Emily Arnold. (1992). Mirette on the High Wire. New York, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.

When a Paris boardinghouse gets a new lodger, famous tightrope walker Bellini, young Mirette is intrigued by his talent. She teaches herself the ways of the tightrope and, when Bellini sees her progress, he decides to take her as a student. As the story progresses, Mirette becomes a talented tightrope walker and she ends up helping Bellini overcome his fears.

Connecting to the Standards
Grade 3 RL (3): Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

• The two main characters in the story, Mirette and Belinni, have a friendship that motivates the other person. Students should attempt to understand how the two characters interact and what leads to the final scene.

Grade 3 RL (4): Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.

• This book contains a lot of phrases such as "her feet tingled" and "arms flailed like windmills," that contribute greatly to the action and the emotions of the characters. There are also some wonderful vocabulary words such as devoured, acrobat, and trance. 

Learning Outcomes

Through this lesson, students will be able to connect with the emotion of the main characters and understand their motivations and traits. Students will look at interesting phrases from the story that contribute to the overall emotion or feeling of the story. Students will also acquire new vocabulary through this story.

It would be interesting to work this lesson in to fit with 3rd grade standards for visual art and have them use the emotional aspects of this story to create their own work of art. See "Adapted to the Classroom" below for ideas on how to do this.

Adapted to the Classroom

A teacher read-aloud would probably be most appropriate to introduce this book because it may have difficult vocabulary and phrases for students to understand, so the teacher can be there to support the students' learning. During the read aloud, discussion over the emotions of the characters and their behaviors/motivations/traits should occur to get the conversation started. Students may connect with Mirette when she is told she should not do something like try to walk on the tightrope. By connecting the story to their emotional response, students may be drawn into the story.

After the reading, discuss some of the more interesting phrases from the story that added to the emotional factor of the story. 

An activity to go along with this, that connects to 3rd grade standards for visual arts, could draw on the emotional elements of the story. The teacher could prompt the students to imagine being up on the tightrope, high above the ground like Mirette at the end. Imagine the emotions she's feeling. Then have the students use either their choice of medium, or a teacher-chosen medium, to represent that feeling in an artwork. The less teacher-driven this activity is, the better. Students should try to think creatively when expressing the emotion through their art.

Bloom's Taxonomy

Determine the factors that lead to the final scene. (Analysis)

Predict what emotion Mirette feels as she walks high above the town square. (Synthesis)

     Create your own artwork based around this feeling. (Synthesis)

Differentiation

Because this activity involves different levels of emotional understanding, some students may have more or less of an ability to take on different perspectives. Giving those students words to put to feelings that they may not quite understand could help support them through the activity. When it comes to the art activity, students who may have difficulty holding a paint brush or colored pencil may need some other way to express their art. Finger painting may be more appropriate for some students who have difficulties with fine motor movements.

Double Fudge

Blume, Judy. Double Fudge (2002). New York, New York: Dutton Children's Books

Double Fudge, is the final book in Judy Blume's Fudge series. In the book the Hatcher family takes a family trip to Washington D.C to show Fudge that Bureau of Engraving and Printing, in hopes that his love for money would stop. Fudge's love for many may not have stopped but along the way he found his twin. While the family is in D.C, they find some long lost cousins who have a young boy name Drexel Hatcher, which just happens to be Fudge's real name. 

Connecting to the Standards 
Grade 2 W (3): Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure

• This standards is met through having to write a summary at the end of each reading time but also at the never end when students sequence the events of the story  

 Grade 2 SL (2): Recount or describe key ideas or details form a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.

• This standard is met through the class timeline that the students will make at the end of each reading. Students also meet this standard when they write a summary of the chapters read that day in their journals.

Learning Outcomes 
In small groups students will put events from the text in order for which they occurred with 70% accuracy.

Adapted to the Classroom
This book would be one that I read aloud to students after lunch/recess to just simply calm them down. Before reading this text, we would have already read the first three and students would be family with Judy Blume, but also Fudge and his story.

While reading this text I would have students at the end of each reading time, write down in their journals what happened during those chapters and what they think to be important. After the students have written down we would come back together as a class. It is at this point that we would make a timeline of the important events from that section. We would add these important events to a class timeline from previous chapters.

At the very end of reading the book, children would be given pieces of papers that would have the events typed out on them and would put them in order by which event happened. The students would use glue to put the events in order of how they happened in the text. For this activity that would work in groups to put the events in order.

Bloom's Taxonomy
What do you think Fudge thought when he first found out someone else has his name? (Analysis)
What is the main idea of _____ chapter(s)? (Comprehension)
Where is the setting of the story? (Knowledge)

Differentiation
For students who are ELL students, I would do my best to try and find a way to get the text into their language. Be that they listen to the text read aloud in their native language. I would also translate the events into their native language for them to put in order.
For students who are unable to use fine motor skills to paste the events on another piece of paper, I would provide them with an assistive technology to help them complete the activity.

Henry and Mudge: In the Green Time

Rylant, Cynthia. Henry and Mudge In The Green Time. (1987). Stevenson Sucie (Illus.).
     New York, New York: Bradbury Press

This adventure of Henry and Mudge takes place in the summer and all the things they can do on green grass. They have a picnic on the grass in the park where Henry gets stung by a bee but Mudge cheers him up. They play with the water hose out on the green lawn to give Mudge a bath that he does not like, so he gets Henry back soaking him when he shakes all the water off. Finally Henry and Mudge head up a hill where they let there magic imaginations unleash and eventually get worn out and fall asleep under the tree.

Connecting to the Standards
Grade 2 RL (1): Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in text

• This story allows student to answer a questions about what Henry and Mudge
   do when they are in the 3 different chapter. 

Grade 2 W (3): Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order and provide a sense of closure

• This story allows students to meet this standard because they can write about the different events in each of the 3 different chapters.

Learning Outcomes
Students will answer the question, "Which Henry and Mudge story was your favorite and why, and who is your favorite character and why?" citing the text twice with 80% accuracy

Adapted to the Classroom 
After reading the text as a class we would discuss what happened in each story. While discussing we would write down a class summary of each text and events we think to be important. It is at this point that I would ask questions to help the children. Through this discussion I would make sure that each students have a good understanding as to what happened in each story. Once student's understanding have been checked, I would then dismiss students to answer the overall question. It is at this time that students would answer the question "Which Henry and Mudge story was your favorite and why?" and "Who is your favorite character and why?"

Once students have completed this text as a class we would then create a graph to see which story was the class favorite and which character was the class favorite.

Bloom's Taxonomy
Who are the main characters in our story? (Knowledge)
 If you were Mudge, how would you solve the problem of not wanted to take a bath? (Application)
Suppose you could have a magical place like Henry and Mudge, what would do when you are at your magical place? (Synthesis)

Differentiation 
For students who are not able to write, we would make sure that they have access to assistive technology that would allow them to type out their answer to the questions.
For students who are gifted we would take the questions one step further to make sure that they are stilling being challenged

The Wizard

Prelutsky, Jack. (2007). The Wizard. B. Dorman (Illus.). New York, New York: Greenwillow Books

This adaptation of a poem from Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep shows the life of a wizard living in a tower. Bored by the monotony of his daily life, he decides to have fun when a bullfrog shows up, turning him into everything from a cockatoo to a flash of light.

Connecting to the Standards

Grade 2 RL (4): Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.

• Students will be able to recognize and identify the rhyme and beat of this poem.

Grade 2 SL (5): Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

• Students will write and perform their own poem that has rhyme and rhyme.

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to identify rhythm and rhyme in a story. They will identify the ending words that create the rhyme and the meter that creates the rhythm. Students will be able to write, edit, and revise their own poetry using meter and rhyme, much like The Wizard. 

Adapted to the Classroom

Students should have already had some experience with poetry and identifying rhythm and rhyme before they are asked to complete the creative writing activity in this lesson, writing there own poem with rhythm and rhyme. 

The book in this lesson, The Wizard is just one example of a poem book that can be used along with this creative writing activity. Students should be exposed to a variety of rhythm-and-rhyme poetry to establish an understanding of different types of rhythm and possibilities for rhyme. 

Once this understanding has been established, students will engage in a creative writing activity that tests their understanding of rhythm-and-rhyme poetry. Students will, over a long writing period, create their own poem using rhythm and rhyme. Students will write over a period of 2-3 weeks, editing and revising their poems. When they are finished, the poems could be recorded by the students and posted to the classroom website.

Bloom's Taxonomy

What are the parts or features of a rhythm-and-rhyme poem? (Analysis)

Create your own rhythm-and-rhyme poem. (Synthesis)

Differentiation

Because this assignment occurs over a long period of time, teachers will have the chance to meet with students who are having trouble completing the assignment and help them get back on track. Some possibilities for support may include a rhyming dictionary or give students the chance to look online for rhymes for their poems. 

Lon Po Po

Young, Ed. (1989). Lon Po Po. New York, New York: Philomel Books.

This retelling of the classic Little Red Riding Hood flips the story on its head by bringing the wolf to the children. At first, the children believe that the wolf is, in fact, their grandmother. But as they soon realize, they set out a plan to get rid of the wolf.

Connecting to the Standards
Grade 2 RL (2): Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.

• Students will recognize that this is a version of a story from a different culture and uses unique names and vocabulary.

Grade 2 RL (3): Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

• As the story progresses, the views of the students change as they come to realize their Po Po is actually a wolf in disguise.

Grade 2 RL (9): Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures

• Students will take what they know about the original story of Little Red Riding Hood and compare/contrast it with Lon Po Po. 

Grade 2 SL (1): Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

• Students will create a Venn diagram or T-chart to compare and contrast the two versions of the same tale.

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to continue to understand how to compare and contrast elements of stories that have similar tropes and devices. In this case, the big familiar trope is the "big, bad wolf." They will understand how the characters respond to the discovery of the wolf and how their actions lead, ultimately, to its death. Students will engage in a compare/contrast activity using the original story and Lon Po Po. They will be able to put their findings into a Venn diagram. 

Adapted to the Classroom

This book/activity can be paired with the "The Three Pigs"  lesson from our blog. 

Starting out, the original version of the story should be established with the students to give them a base story to compare Lon Po Po with. Attention should be given to important details of the story, especially those that connect with the elements in Lon Po Po. Students should have the chance to discuss what they believe are the most important elements of the story.

Once that is established, a read-aloud of Lon Po Po should follow, probably the next day. Students will, once again, discuss the important elements of the book. They will then break up into small groups and create a Venn diagram presenting the differences between the two stories. These Venn diagrams will then be posted around the classroom for students to view.

Bloom's Taxonomy

How does the original story compare/contrast with Lon Po Po? (Analysis)

What differences exist between the two stories? (Comprehension)

Differentiation

To give students with exceptionalities support, put them in groups with students a) they work well with, b) who will be supportive and helpful, and c) who will encourage them to be a part of the group and succeed. If students are having trouble succeeding in their group, stay close to the group and see what additional support you can give to the student.

The Three Pigs

Wiesner, David. (2001). The Three Pigs. New York, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Taking The Three Pigs to new heights and new places, this unpredictable retelling of the classic story will delight children's imaginations. The three brothers wander from the own story, admittedly leaving the wolf a little baffled, and pick up eccentric characters from different tales. '

Connecting to the Standards
Grade 2 RL (9): Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.

• This story provides students with a different version of the familiar story, The Three Little Pigs.

Grade 2 W (3): Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.

• Students will do a creative writing exercise using the same conventions in The Three Pigs, but will have the chance to use the characters in their favorite books to tell the story.

Grade 2 L (2): Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

• Students will write their own narrative and will demonstrate mastery over these conventions through their writing.

Learning Outcomes

From this reading and subsequent activity, students will gain an understanding of comparing and contrasting two similar stories. Over the course of the year, students will continue to read different versions of familiar and similar stories. Students will then use this understanding of differing stories to write a narrative based off a story they are familiar with, using similar storytelling devices to The Three Pigs. Through the writing of this narrative, students will demonstrate their command over writing conventions including "capitalization, punctuation, and spelling..."

The final product, the written narrative, plus any previous rough drafts will be used to show progress towards the standards. Students will have multiple chances to revise and edit their narrative as they work their way through the writing process.

Adapted to the Classroom

Before reading The Three Pigs by David Wiesner, the class will participate in reading other versions of the The Three Little Pigs. Prior to that, it may be a good idea to also introduce other tales and different versions of them to get students used to the idea that storytelling is an art and a story may change based off of who is presenting the story.

Once the book is read, in a teacher-guided read aloud, students will have the chance to discuss the differences in this version of the story to past versions. This discussion will be mostly student-led, but the teacher will most likely need to guide the discussion if it becomes stagnant. Once students have an understanding of the storytelling devices used in The Three Pigs, they will have a chance to go to the library to pick out a book they are familiar with or want to become familiar with. The teacher should also provide more books for students to use who are having trouble deciding what story to use.

Students will then engage in a creative writing exercise that will most likely span over 4-5 days. Students will start with a rough draft of their favorite story, that should follow the devices used in The Three Pigs, such as characters escaping the story, duping the main villain in clever ways, or meeting characters from other stories along the way. Over the course of the next few days, students will have time to revise and edit their stories until they are left with a final draft that they submit. It would be fun for the teacher to put these stories into a classroom collection, either in book form or online for parents to view. 

Bloom's Taxonomy

Who are the main characters in your narrative? (Knowledge)

What differences exist between the original story and this retelling? (Comprehension)

How would you create a new ending for your story? (Synthesis)

What might happen if you combined this story with this other one? (Synthesis)

Differentiation

Because this project involves a lot of reading and writing, the main concern would be with students with disabilities that affect their ability to read and write such as students with dyslexia. Additional support should be provided to these students and possibly include one-on-one sessions with these students to check their progress. Additional supports could be put in place to make sure they succeed such as having a dictionary nearby for students to refer to (this could be done for any student) or having technology that is meant to support students with dyslexia or other language disorders.

John, Paul, George, & Ben

Smith, Lane. (2006). John, Paul, George & Ben. New York, New York: Hyperion Books.

Laced with historical humor, this book is a (mostly) accurate telling of the events leading to the American Revolution and the men involved. It shows how the five men, John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson, acted when they were children and how that behavior led to their bravery and ingenuity as adults.

Connecting to the Standards
Grade 2 RL (1): Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text

• .The books main characters are familiar historical figures and the book does a good job of differentiating each character and what part they play in the story. Students will be able to recognize at least who they are, what they did, when they lived, and how they effected the outcome of the story.

Grade 3 RL (3): Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

• Through a little more research, students will be able to understand and describe each character including their behaviors and their individual personalities. They will also be able to explain the effect they cause through their actions.

Grade 2 W (7): Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations).

• Students will participate in a group project exploring one of the five characters in the books in more detail. 

Grade 3 W (7): Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

• Students will participate in a group project that researches in detail the lives of one of the five characters from the book.

Grade 2 SL (1): Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

• Students will discuss, in small groups, the cause-and-effect shown in this story, the characters of the story, and how it connects to previous discussions on the American Revolution.

Grade 2 SL (2): Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.

• Students will present their findings from their research project to the classroom in a group effort.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this lesson, students will have, at least, a basic understanding of cause-and-effect and will be able to explain how cause leads to effect. Students will be able to set out to research any topic using various resources. Students will be able to effectively collaborate with group partners to implement and execute a research plan. Students will be able to present their research findings clearly and effectively to the classroom.

Adapted to the Classroom

First off, it is important to establish some background knowledge on the American Revolution and, in particular, the five people mentioned in the book. Students will watch informational videos, read about the war, and talk about what they know about the American Revolution.

Once students are familiar with the Revolution, I would read the book in a teacher-guided read-aloud. Students should be able to make connections to what they know to what they hear during the reading. They will be encouraged to raise their hands and ask questions or make comments (within the boundaries of the rules).

Students will then engage in a project with small groups of 5 or 6 to research one of the individuals from the story. They will learn to work as a team by doing group research and assembling a presentation together. Students will use a variety of resources to research including internet, informational texts, historical accounts, etc. Finally, students will present the information they've accumulated to the class.

Bloom's Taxonomy

Who, what, when, where, and how. (Knowledge)

Why is _______ significant? (Application)

Outline (Analysis)

What is most important? (Evaluation)

Differentiation

Because this lesson does have a lot of research involved, a lot of support should come from the teacher. This may be one of the first time students engage in a large amount of research and may not know exactly where to look, giving the teacher an opportunity to establish a scaffold. Once students have enough knowledge on research, the scaffold can be slowly removed. SPED students can still participate in this project and should be paired with traditional students who can give them some additional support.

Pet Show!

Keats, Ezra Jack. (1972). Pet Show. New York, New York: Viking Penguin. (Picturebook).

It's time for the Pet Show and Archie is eager to try to win an award. But his pet, his cat, is missing! Archie's quick-thinking still gives him the chance to win an award and he finds his cat in the process.

Connecting to the Standards
Kindergarten L (5a,b): With guidance and support from adults, explore word relationships and nuances in word meanings. a. Sort common objects into categories (e.g., shapes, foods) to gain a sense of the concepts the categories represent. b. Demonstrate understanding of frequently occurring verbs and adjectives by relating them to their opposites (antonyms).

• The book has a variety of words that can be organized into groups including animals and adjectives.

Kindergarten RL (3): With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

• There are multiple recognizable characters in the story, from the main character, Archie, to the supporting characters, Roberto, Peter, and Susie. 

Kindergarten RL (7): With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

• In the illustrations, you can see clear connections to the text. The clearest connection is during the sequence, "Willie chased the mouse. Roberto chased Willie. Peter chased Roberto. Susie chased Peter." The illustration clearly shows this sequence in a linear fashion.

Learning Outcomes

Through this book, students will be able to sort words into categories including animals and adjectives. During the pet show, a diversity of pets and adjectives to describe the pets are used in the text. Students should be able to take a list of these words mixed up and organize them in small groups into their respective categories. They will create a graph that shows the different words in their categories which will be collected as data.

Adapted to the Classroom

I would start by establishing some prior schema about sorting before reading the book. Students would sort familiar categories such as fruits, numbers, letters, etc. Then I would do a full classroom read-aloud, guided by the teacher. This would help to establish the story with the classroom before they begin to work in groups/independently. 

Once students are familiar with the story, they can begin to work in small groups, sorting the words found in the books into a graph. On one side would be animals, the other side adjectives. Here is the word list:

Animals: ant, mouse, cat, parrot, frog, fish, canary, goldfish, dog, puppy, turtle

Description: noisy, handsome, friendly, yellow, busy, bright, long, fast, soft, slow

The final activity would to have students bring in their stuffed animals (or have the teacher provide them because of lice and bed bugs) or have students have their very own pet show. They could use the adjectives or new one's they've come up with to give every pet their own blue ribbon. This may be difficult because not every student may have a pet. Another idea would be to introduce one or two classroom pets and have the children decide on an award for the pets. 

Bloom's Taxonomy

Who is the main character of this story? (Knowledge)

Classify a list of words according to the category. (Analysis)

Create your own blue ribbon awards using descriptive words/adjectives for ___________. (Sythesis)

Differentiation

Most of these activities should be doable for most students. If there is any cutting for the graph students are to make, the teacher should probably do it as there are a lot of words to be cut out. Because animals are an interest among many young children, this book and the accompanying activities should hold most students interest. Activities will be limited to a short time and may even be spread over a few days to make sure interest doesn't wane and children are actively involved.

Welcome!

Hello dearies,

Thanks for tuning in to C and E's collection of children's literature! We're very excited to present to all of you a selection of books that we have found to be brilliantly exceptional and exceptionally useful. We hope that you will all be able to enjoy, use, and utilize these books to the fullest extent.

Elizabeth and I will be using the following genres to categorize our collection: "Folk, Fairy, and Tall Tales," "Non-fiction," "Historical Fiction," "Science Fiction," "Realistic Fiction," "Mystery and Suspense," "Fantasy," "Fables," and "Myths." We will also be organizing each post based on author, grade level, content connections, etc. We're very excited to begin!

All our best,

     Cody Tudor and Elizabeth Gerken