Maniac Magee

Jerry Spinelli
Scholastic Inc., 1990
Grade Level: 5
Lexile: 820L
Fountas & Pinnell: R
Suggested Delivery: Independent

                    Winner of the Boston Globe/ Horn Book Award and the Newbery Medal

                              Individuality, Prejudice, Tolerance, Experiences, Learning

Jeffrey Lionel "Maniac" Magee might have lived a normal life if a freak accident hadn't made him an orphan. After living with his unhappy and uptight aunt and uncle for eight years, he decides to run--and not just run away, but run. This is where the myth of Maniac Magee begins, as he changes the lives of a racially divided small town with his amazing and legendary feats.

Teaching Strategies:
Key Vocabulary:
emanations
gaping 
pandemonium
maniac
shinnied
preposterous
filigreed
marauding
pavilion
dovetailed
astonishment

Before Reading Strategies: Discuss with the students some of the legends told about Maniac Magee. Do they believe these to be true? Why or why not? Based on these legends, have teh students predict what might happen in this novel.

During Reading Strategies: The students should be filling out a notetaking and summarizing chart. This chart will include; the setting, characters, summary and predictions. the students should complete this for each chapter. 

After Reading Strategies: Using their note-taking and summarizing chart, have the students complete a timeline of what they believe to be the most crucial points in the novel. The students will need at least six events, and an explanation to why it is a turning point or an important part of the text. 

Writing Activity: No one had ever been able to untie the Cobble's Knot before Maniac Magee even though many had tried. Imagine you are a newspaper reporter covering this story the day that Maniac Magee attempts this feat, making sure to document what happens during the events of the day.

 Activity Packet!

Extension Activities!

Because of Mr. Terupt

 Rob Buyea
Delacorte Press, 2010
Grade Level: 4
Lexile: 560L
Fountas & Pinnell: L
Suggested Delivery: Read Aloud
Winner of the CT Nutmeg Award

                          Challenging, Heart Breaking, Inspiring, Anticipation, Dynamic

It’s the start of fifth grade for seven kids at Snow Hill School. There’s . . . Jessica,the new girl, smart and perceptive, who’s having a hard time fitting in; Alexia, a bully, your friend one second, your enemy the next; Peter, class prankster and troublemaker; Luke, the brain; Danielle, who never stands up for herself; shyAnna, whose home situation makes her an outcast; and Jeffrey, who hates school.

Only Mr. Terupt, their new and energetic teacher, seems to know how to deal with them all. He makes the classroom a fun place, even if he doesn’t let them get away with much . . . until the snowy winter day when an accident changes everything—and everyone.

Teaching Strategies:

Key Vocabulary:
knits
looping
sketch
blames
reliving
microphone
iodine
Inoculated
contorted

Before Reading Strategy: Have the students complete an anticipation guide as a before reading activity guide. The students should put an X next to the statements that they agree with. 

During Reading Strategy: The students should each be assigned a character. The students will write the characteristics of these characters when they are first introduced. As the story progresses the students should track any changes that they witness in their character.

After Reading Strategy: Have the students revisit the cover art of this book. In what ways are the images represented symbolic for the events that transpire throughout the course of the books? Have a class discussion where the students discuss these questions. 

Writing Activity: How does Mr. Terupt’s accident profoundly impact and change the lives of each of his students? Do you think they are ultimately better people because of what happens to him? Why or why not?

Book Trailer!

Official Author Website!

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Brian Selznick
Scholastic Inc., 2007
Grade Level: 5
Lexile: 820L
Fountas & Pinnell: Q
Suggested Delivery: Independent Reading
Winner of the Caldecott Award

                                 Imaginative, Clever, Independent, Mysterious, over -coming obstacles

Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

Teaching Strategies:

Key Vocabulary:

agitated
furious
snatch 
shudder
scavenge
rickety
decrepit 
apprentice
cavernous

Before Reading Strategy: play the movie trailer for The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Next play the book trailer. Ask the students if they have ever seen this movie? How are the book trailer and the movie trailer different? Brainstorm how the book and the movie could differ?

During Reading Strategy: The students will participate in a prediction relay. With a partner they will develop predictions, they will then read for five to ten minutes. After this time, they will check in with their partner to discuss whether their predictions were correct or incorrect and then summarize the main points of what they have just read. 

After Reading Strategy: Prepare a question- answer relationship. Have four types of questions prepared to discuss with the class. These questions should include; literal question, questions whose answers are gathered from several parts of the text put together, text to self related questions and questions based on prior knowledge. 

Writing Activity: Author Brian Selznick uses pictures as a way of representing his story, not only to convey what is happening- but the characters emotions as well. The reader is able to gage how the character is feeling by the artistic depictions. Create a graphic story of your own either making a text to self or text to world connection. 

explore the world of Hugo Cabret!

Official Website of The Invention of Hugo Cabret!

The Gollywhopper Games

Jody Feldman
Greenwillow Books, 2009
Grade Level: 5
Lexile: 590L
Fountas & Pinnell: L
Suggested Delivery: Read Aloud

                       Heart Stopping, Exciting, Anticipation, Nerve Wracking, Fantastic

Are you ready?

Gil Goodson's future happiness depends on winning the GollyToy & Game Company's ultimate competition. If Gil wins, his dad has promised that the family can move away from all the gossip, false friends, and bad press that have plagued them ever since The Incident. Inside the toy company's fantastic headquarters, Gil will have to master trivia, solve puzzles, and complete physical stunts—and he'll have to do it better than all of the other kids competing.

Oh, and did we mention that Gil's every step—and every mistake—will be broadcast on national television? Hold on tight, because the ride of his life is about to begin!

Teaching Strategies:
Key Vocabulary:
exhilarating
corridor
sapphires
tousling
incompetent
multifacet
anagram
cordon

Before Reading Strategy: Ask the students if they have ever participated in a contest of any sort. Ask the students to share what type of contest this was, was it independent or did they work with a team? Was it physical or mental challenges?

During Reading Strategy: Keep track of the causes and effects that we see throughout the book. For example, Gil's father was accused of embezzling, because of this, Gil is receiving much more attention from the media than he would have otherwise.

After Reading strategy: Have the students pick a section of the text that they believe was the most important. The students will then work in small groups to create a script for readers theatre. Once they have completed this script the groups will share with the class why they chose this scene, and then perform their readers theatre.

Writing Activity: Since you as a reader play along with Gil and his friends during the competition, write a journal articles reflecting as if you were truly a part of this competition. Make sure to make references to the text, and include not only facts, but how you would feel emotionally as well.


Book Trailer

Official Site of The Gollywhopper Games!

I, Too, Am America

Langston Hughes
1994 By The Estate of Langston Hughes
Simon and Schuster, 2012
Grade Level: 3
Lexile: 390L
Fountas & Pinnell: D
Suggested Reading: Read Aloud
2013 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award

                                   powerful, inspiring, moving, encouraging, courage

Winner of the Coretta Scott King illustrator award, I, Too, Am Americablends the poetic wisdom of Langston Hughes with visionary illustrations from Bryan Collier in this inspirational picture book that carries the promise of equality.
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Langston Hughes was a courageous voice of his time, and his authentic call for equality still rings true today. Beautiful paintings from Barack Obama illustrator Bryan Collier accompany and reinvent the celebrated lines of the poem "I, Too," creating a breathtaking reminder to all Americans that we are united despite our differences.

Teaching Strategies:

Key Vocabulary:
Ashamed
Darker Brother

Before Reading Strategy: The students will create an anticipation guide. Given the students prior knowledge of the Civil Rights Movement, they will create an anticipation guide on their prediction of what this poem will be about. 

During Reading Strategy: The students will perform an echo reading with the teacher, the teacher will read one line of the poem and have the students repeat. The students should pay close attention to the inflection and tone that the teacher reads with because it will mirror the emotions of this poem. 

After Reading Strategy: The students will perform a found poem activity using I, Too, Am America and another Langston Hughes poem of their choice. The students will take phrases from these poems and create one of their own. 

Writing Activity: The students will write a journal entry in the shoes of Langston Hughes or who they believe the narrator of this poem is. The students will write a journal entry making sure to stick to the era, and write their emotional reaction to the world around them. 

Langston Hughes Reads "I, Too"

Biography and Poetry Collection

One Crazy Summer

Rita Williams- Garcia
HarperCollins Publishers, 2010
Grade Level: 4
Lexile:  750L
Fountas & Pinnell: O
Suggested Delivery: Independent
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, Newbery Honor and Scott O'Dell Award Historical Fiction

                           Heart-Wrenching, Danger, Disappointment, Arising, Engaging 

                Eleven-year-old Delphine has it together. Even though her mother, Cecile, abandoned her and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, seven years ago. Even though her father and Big Ma will send them from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to stay with Cecile for the summer. And even though Delphine will have to take care of her sisters, as usual, and learn the truth about the missing pieces of the past. 

           When the girls arrive in Oakland in the summer of 1968, Cecile wants nothing to do with them. She makes them eat Chinese takeout dinners, forbids them to enter her kitchen, and never explains the strange visitors with Afros and black berets who knock on her door. Rather than spend time with them, Cecile sends Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern to a summer camp sponsored by a revolutionary group, the Black Panthers, where the girls get a radical new education. 

          Set during one of the most tumultuous years in recent American history, one crazy summer is the heartbreaking, funny tale of three girls in search of the mother who abandoned them - an unforgettable story told by a distinguished author of books for children and teens, Rita Williams-Garcia.

Teaching Strategies:

Key Vocabulary:

Brace

Jab

Whimper

Spectacle 

Signature

Terminal

Judgement

Riot

Black Panther Party

Before Reading Strategy: Have the students create a KWL about the Black Panthers and the Civil Rights Movement. 

During Reading Strategy: document a timeline about how Delphine interacts with the Black Panther Party. Pay close attention to how her feelings change. 

After Reading Strategy: Have the students work in small groups to create a reader's theatre from one of the scenes in this novel that they feel is one of the most important. The students will perform this for the class. 

Writing Activity: Write a passage in journals either defending or critiquing Cecile, the girls’ mother. Find evidence from the book that suggests she is a “Mommy, Mom, or Ma” or a “statement of fact,” as described by Delphine.

Interview With Rita Williams- Garcia

Meet The Author Book Reading

Third Grade Angels

Jerry Spinelli
Scholastic Inc., 2012
Grade Level: 3
Lexile: 390L
Fountas & Pinnell: H
Suggested Delivery: Independent

                                          Friendship, Behavior, Peppy, Obsession, Angst

George, aka "Suds," has just entered third grade, and he's heard the rhyme about "first grade babies/second grade cats/third grade angels/fourth grade rats," but what does this mean for his school year? It means that his teacher, Mrs. Simms, will hold a competition every month to see which student deserves to be awarded "the halo" - which student is best-behaved, kindest to others, and, in short, perfect. Suds is determined to be the first to earn the halo, but he's finding the challenge of always being good to be more stressful than he had anticipated. Does he have to be good even outside of school? (Does he have to be nice to his annoying little sister?) And if Mrs. Simms doesn't actually see him doing a good deed, does it even count?

Teaching Strategies:

Key Vocabulary:
fired (in regards to giving Mrs. Simms a smile)
shocked
spirit
dangle

Before Reading Activity: In the beginning of Third Grade Angels Mrs. Simms asks her students if they are perfect. Pose the same question to the class and discuss why or why not, and what makes a person an "angel"? 

During Reading Activity: Have the students work in their small groups of four to form literature circles. There will be one discussion director who generates questions, a vocabulary enricher who researches unknown vocabulary and clarifies these words to group members, a literary luminary who guides oral reading for purpose and the checker who makes sure everyone stays on task. 

After Reading Activity: Have the groups of four choose their favorite scene from the book and perform a readers theatre! 

Writing Activity: Respond to this writing prompt question "Suds’s mom tells a little white lie to encourage Suds to be good even when he’s not at school. What is it? When does Suds realize that his mom has exaggerated? Do you think it’s unfair of her to mislead him?"

Discussion Questions!

Book Trailer!