Multicultural

Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match / Marisol McDonald no combina

Written by: Monica Brown
Illustrated by: Sara Palacios
Lee & Low Books 2011.
32 pages
Multicultural Book

Multicultural books help students from other countries or different nationalities be interested in reading. They can really relate to the story. This book is written in language and Spanish all in the same book. This is great for students learning English. You can have them read with a fluent reader that way they can hear our language. This story is about a biracial little girl that is perfectly normal but everyone else thinks she doesn’t match. She speaks English, Spanish, and sometimes even both together! She begins to think she needs to be normal like the other kids and match. Will she ever figure out who she is supposed to be? I’ll give you a hint and say polka dots and stripes match for Marisol.

This book has very nice illustrations. They are attractive to eye and really draw you in. The illustrations are a mix between bright and light pastel watercolors. You can really see the details on each page. You can see defined facial expressions as well when her mood changes.

I think you can use this in social studies, writing, and art. Social studies would be a great area to research your lineage. Each student will ask a parent what their lineage is and then in class we will research that culture. From the research we found we will draw a picture wearing traditional clothes from our lineage. This will show the students how different each culture dresses. We will sum up this unit by writing about the research we found. Writing about the culture you connect with. At the end of this unit it would be a great idea to ask the students to dress up in clothes like their picture and present their culture to the class. This will help students learn about their classmates.

Biography

The Story of Ruby Bridges

Written by: Robert Coles

Illustrated by: George Ford

Scholastic Paperbacks. 2004

32 pages

              This book is about Ruby Bridges. This book looks at a brief time in her life. This book looks at her schooling. .  I chose this story to do my biography post on because I really enjoy this book. My students in my third grade classroom also really enjoy reading about Ruby. Not every student can relate to. It tells us where she was born and where they moved too. She was just a normal little girl until she was chosen to go to a white only school. She was the first African American student to attend a white only elementary school. It tells about her struggles coming to and from school. This book also highlights a special teacher in her life. Will Ruby be able to handle the struggles placed before her? You will have to read Ruby’s story to find out.

              The Illustrations for this book are a more of a controlled abstract to me. The outer focus of the pages are more blurred. You can tell what the image is but they aren’t very distinct. It looks like he is using dark water colors with a pop of color thrown in places.

              This book is appropriate for first through third graders. This book to my knowledge has not won any awards. This book can be integrated into writing, social studies, and a humanities lesson. You can ask your students to write about how they would feel if they didn’t have any friends in their classroom all day. This will set them in a similar state of mind as Ruby. After all she was just a child, she probably didn’t understand the gravity of what was surrounding her. A social studies assignment would to research others that stood up in the turmoil like Ruby did. This could be a whole unit. You can also turn this into a humanities lesson. Showing students that we might not be the same on the outside but on the inside we are all just alike. There are many activities that can show how we are all alike on the inside.

Informational Text

The Planets

Written and Illustrated by: Gail Gibbons

Holiday House. 2005

32 pages

Informational Text

              Informational books have really began to grow on me this semester. I am in a third grade classroom and the boys only read informational books. I was so surprised how excited they were about finding out new facts while reading. As they would read and find new facts they would run over to me and say Ms. Wilson look and then give me a fact. Most of their books were on animals. They would teach me a new fact almost every day. In this informational book we learn about planets. This book goes over the planets. It also talks about how they move together and in what direction. The students learn key vocabulary words as well. This book goes right along with what students are learning about the solar system.

              The illustrations in this book are very bright and eye catching. They will catch students and keep them engaged. Some of the pictures look hand drawn like the people or alien on one page. Others look very precise. The precise pictures to me look like a textbook picture but added to make it pop in a children’s book.

              This book is great for kindergarten through second grade. This book has not won any awards to my knowledge and research. There are really endless possibilities of activities to do when talking about the solar system. For a writing center you would have the book available for your students. You would pose the question, “Pick a planet and talk about your journey there and what conditions you encounter on the planet.” For a science station we would act out the solar system we would have students standing as the planets maybe even allowing them to dress up. As they stand we will spin as our planets and then rotate around the sun. This will get the students involved in the learning. An art activity we can do with this book is to create models of our solar system. This will be a take home project for students. 

Historical Fiction

Under the Quilt of Night

Written By: Deborah Hopkinson

Illustrated By: James E. Ransome

An Anne Schwartz Book. 2002

40 pages

Historical Fiction

              Historical Fiction is one of my favorite genres. History elements in these stories really draw me to these books. This genre is great for students who love history elements like I do. I also think if students do not really get interested in history it is a good genre to get in some of the knowledge. I picked this book because it was highlighted at my public library near where I live.  Under the Quilt of Night is a story about the Underground Railroad. The story highlights a young girl and her journey to freedom. It shows the dangers and struggles they endured as well. Showing the travel dangers as well as running from her master throughout the story. It tells a story about how the quilt lets the runaways know if you are taking them in or not.

              The illustrations are oil paintings. The paintings are deep and very detailed. Without the illustrations this story wouldn’t deliever the point as well as it does. These give a realistic look to the pictures. It makes it easy to put yourself in those pictures because they are so detailed. The illustrations also highlight the text.

              I think this book is appropriate for grades third through fifth. This content is a little to in depth for most children below third grade. For writing you can pose the question “If this book was set in todays time period what are some challenges they would face?” This gives them more critical thinking of relating their journeys in the present as apposed to the past. In social studies you could have a Underground Railroad journey throughout the school. This would be a fun activity for the children to get them moving and keep them engaged. An art activity would be to draw a quilt patch like they have in the book, and once they are done with their square you can put them altogether.

How I Became A Pirate- Book Trailer

How I Became A Pirate 

Book Trailer 

Modern Fantasy

Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type

Written By: Doreen Cronin

Illustrated By: Betsy Lewin

Scholastic Inc. 2000

32 pages

Modern Fantasy

              Modern Fantasy is geared toward people that like to use their imagination.  With these books you have to use your imagination to picture the events happening. With modern fantasy picture books it is a little easier because of the pictures. If you are reading a chapter book you have to imagine these things happening in your mind as you read. Chapter books will give you a lot of details to help you make these images in your mind. I found this book myself by ordering from scholastic. This book came in a book pack. I didn’t buy the pack for this book but instantly fell in love with it when I read it. This book is about the farmer Browns cows that are giving him some problems. They are typing, what does he see when he gets to the door? A note that demands electric blankets for the cows and until they get them NO MILK! The farmer was upset. The next day the chickens refused eggs until they got electric blankets as well. The farmer proposes an offer and the cows agree to give the type writer up if they get the blankets. The cows agree. They get their blankets but does the farmer get the type writer? Does another animal get their hands on it? Find Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type in your library today!

              For this book the illustrator states she used brush drawings using watercolors on trace paper. You can tell by the pictures that she used brush drawings. The pictures lines are blurred and not perfect. The drawings are beautiful and shows children their art doesn’t have to be perfect. The colors used are proper colors for the animals and the farm life depicted. The pictures help students imagine what this would look like if it was real.

              This book is appropriate for preschool to third grade students.  You can use this book as a writing prompt. You can pose the question, “What would you ask for if you were the cows talking to Farmer Brown?”  You can have the students do an art activity using this book. You can have them use brush drawings like the illustrator to make an image of their own farm. Another activity is to compare and contrast the farm in this book to a real life farm. Talk about the things that are the same and different. This will be easy for students since the book is a fantasy.

             

Fractured Fairy Tale

Seriously, Cinderella is so annoying! : The story of Cinderella as told by the wicked stepmother

Written by: Trisha Speed Shaskan

Illustrated by: Gerald Guerlais

Picture Window Books, 2011

24 pages

Fractured Fairy Tale

I picked this fractured fairy tale because I think the stepmother was always the wickedest character in fairy tales. All of the fractured fairy tales fascinate me. I had never heard of this genre before I entered the education program and I think that turn of perspective is genius. This book was recommended to me by a friend in Lit Block. She introduced me to this book and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. This book takes the classic Cinderella story and puts a twist on it. Instead of showing the step mother as an evil character, she is shown as a character that is worried about Cindy. Cindy as she goes by in this book is shown as a whimsical character who almost sounds crazy with her storytelling.  The step mother is shown making all both of her daughters clean but they can’t keep up with Cindy’s pace. Does Cindy get the whole house cleaned? Does she continue to tell ludicrous stories? The most important question is does this fractured fairy tale princess still get her prince?

              The illustrations in this picture book are very detailed. The illustrations and text are critical to the story. The use of digital illustrations provide a cartoon like image. The lines the illustrator uses suggest movement throughout the book. The colors used are very dull, not bright or exciting. Even though the colors aren't very bright the pictures still draw your eyes to every detail. These illustrations help the readers visualize and comprehend as they read the story.

              This book is appropriate for four to eight years old. This book is grade level appropriate for 1^st graders. You can use this book for a social studies, arts, and writing activities. Social studies activity could include creating a timeline. You could have strips of events and have the student’s place them on the timeline is their order they go in. In the arts you can have the students create their own castle they would like to live in if they were in a fairy tale. The boys and especially the girls could get into this activity. Writing activities with this book are endless. You can prompt the students with many questions. Prompting the students to write from a different point of view would make a interesting paper to read. The fractured fairy tales show children point of view that is easy for them to understand and catch on to. Everyone has heard the real Cinderella story so they automatically know that something is different. I could not find any awards presented to this book.