Wells 1Title of book: “I Can’t” Said the AntAuthor’s name: Polly CameronCopyright year: 1961Genre: FantasySynopsis: Miss Teapot fell off the counter top and broke her spout. An ant discovers her in pain while going for a walk. Encouraged by the other items in the kitchen to help poor Miss Teapot, ant tries to push her back up off the floor. Soon the other items and he realize the job is too big for one ant and the ant runs off to find his friends. As the small ants and spiders work together to get Teapot back onto the sink the other kitchen items cheer them on. Finally everybody celebrates when Miss Teapot is restored to the sink top fixed spout and all. Activity One:

- Original Idea- Have students pick a room in their house different from the kitchen. Then give them the

scenario that something in that room has been broken. Ask them to choose ten items found in that room and write a sentence for what each item would say about the broken friend. (The sentence should rhyme with the item saying it. Ex. “is she dead?” asked the bread.)

Activity Two:- www.connected-learning.org/Products/myerdolu2.doc - Play rhyme bingo. Have students make bingo cards using a list of words from the book

such as; ant, pot, fly, soap, sink, pan… Once the students have finished their cards play bingo as a class, the teaching calling out words that rhyme such as; can’t, not, die, hope, think, can… Bingo game can then be provided for small groups during reading time.

Wells 2Title of book: Time TrainAuthor’s name: Paul FleischmanCopyright year: 1991Genre: FantasySynopsis: A young girl’s class gets on a train to go to Dinosaur National Monument in Utah for a field trip. But the students start realizing that the farther the train travels the further back in time they go. By the time they reach their destination the train drops them off in the middle of a swamp filled with larger than life insects and birds. The class soon discovers that they are back in time and will see real dinosaurs. As the teacher tries to figure out what to do and how to keep order the children run all over taking full advantage of this new world. As the students have fun making dinosaur friends the days pass and the train comes to take them back home. Finally home the kids joke with their parents about seeing dinosaurs and their teacher gets a much needed break.Activity one:

- Original idea- Explain to the children that the train went through five time periods and that Stuart took

photographs in each. Have the students draw one picture that Stuart might have taken from each time period and write a one sentence caption to go with it.

Activity two:- Original idea- Ask the students where they would go if they had a time train. Tell them to write a short

story of their own journey on their time train and what they would do. Allow them to illustrate their story if they wish. Then combine the stories together to create a class book titled Our Time Train.

Wells 3Title: How I Became a PirateAuthor: Melinda LongCopyright year: 2003Genre: FantasySynopsis: Jeremy Jacob spots a pirate’s ship coming to shore while spending a day at the beach with his family. However, his mom and dad are too busy to notice. The pirates come ashore and notice Jeremy digging in the sand. Thinking he is just the man they need to dig a hole for their treasure they invite him to come aboard and become a pirate. Jeremy enjoys being a pirate, until night falls and there is no one to protect him. After a storm hits the pirates decide the treasure needs buried as soon as possible and turn to Jeremy who then leads them to his backyard, the perfect digging spot. Activity one:

- Mary Jane Dickey- As a class create a list of words that pirates use. The teacher can write what the children

say on the board or a large pad. Then ask the kids what each word/term means. Create a crossword using http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/CrissCrossSetupForm.asp.Use the pirate words as answers and what they mean for the clues

Activity two:- Original - Hide three to four special items on the playground. Then split the class into three or four

groups and give each group a “pirate’s map”, a list of instructions they must follow. Starting in the class room give the students time to read their clues, each clue leads to another clue in a scavenger hunt fashion (call it treasure hunt). The goal will be to see which group can follow the instructions and find their group’s hidden “treasure” first.

Wells 4Title: The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! Author: Mo WillemsCopyright Year: 2004Genre: FantasySynopsis: Our friend Pigeon finds his favorite food on the ground. A full ready to eat hot dog is just laying there waiting for him to come by. As he is just about ready to settle down and enjoy his tasty treat a curious little duckling comes along to bother him. This little yellow bird has a lot of questions about what hog dog is, having never eaten one himself. Pigeon becomes suspicious of the little bird thinking he’s trying to get the hot dog away from him. But just as he gets his maddest the little duckling comes up with an idea to split the hot dog so that Pigeon can learn to share and enjoy the tasty hot dog.Activity one:

- http://www.pigeonpresents.com/teachersguides/pigeon_teachguide.pdf - Make pigeon puppets. Have children draw and color the pigeon and the duckling

on construction paper or oak tag (file folder card). Cut out the figures, and glue them onto paint sticks to make stick puppets. Working in pairs, kids can then reenact the dialogue of the book or engage the two characters in a new situation.Activity two:

- http://www.pigeonpresents.com/teachersguides/pigeon_teachguide.pdf - Compare and contrast the pigeon from the other pigeon books and the duckling. How did

each act, what did they do to get what they wanted. Create a Venn-diagram on large pad paper based on the class’ suggestions. Then discuss who’s attitude got them what they wanted and why it worked better.

Wells 5Title: Derek the Knitting Dinosaur Author: Mary BlackwoodCopyright Year: 1987Genre: FantasySynopsis: Derek the dinosaur feels alone. He is not like the other dinosaurs because he spends his days knitting and making things for himself and his mouse friend. He sometimes wishes that he could fight like his bigger brothers. Not feeling like a “real” dinosaur, Derek spends his days filling his house with sweaters, scarves, mittens, and socks. One day it starts getting colder out side and all the strong “real” dinosaurs find themselves freezing. As snow comes down Derek’s brothers become too cold and have nowhere to turn for help except for their knitting brother. Derek has more than enough warm clothes to help his freezing brothers and all of their friends. Activity one:

- Original- Teach the students to knit. Have each student make a short scarf or potholder. Teaching

knitting helps with counting and math. The students can use their hands and learn the importance of making things themselves.

Activity two: - Original- Discuss as a class why it was getting cold. Explain that some people believe the

dinosaurs disappeared because it became much too cold for them to live. Break the class into groups of 4 or 5 and have them do research on other ways we think the dinosaurs might have gone (each group with a different theory). Then have the groups present their findings the next day to the class.

Wells 1Title of book: Henry’s Freedom BoxAuthor’s name: Ellen LevineCopyright year: 2007Genre: Historical FictionSynopsis: Henry doesn’t know his birthday because he has grown up a slave. One day his owner gets sick and gives Henry to his son. While working for the son he meets a girl and they become married and have children. But then one day his wife and children are sold because they have different masters than Henry. Deeply saddened Henry and some helpful white men come up with a plan to free Henry. They put him in a box marked “handle with care” and ship him to some friendly folk in Philadelphia. After a long trip (not handled with much care) the lid of Henry’s box pries open and he emerges with a middle name, Box, and a birthday, March 30, 1849. Activity One:

- http://www.afb.org/braillebug/RCActivities.asp?bookid=42 - Explain to the children that this was a true story and that Henry was part of the

Underground Railroad. Explain that the Underground Railroad was set up to help free slaves to the North. Explain that people in the Underground Railroad wrote messages in code so people not a part of the railroad could not figure out the messages. Have the students create their own code, with key, and have them use it to write a message about Henry to the people he is being shipped to.

Activity Two:- http://www.afb.org/braillebug/RCActivities.asp?bookid=42 - As a class write, from beginning to end, the story of Henry’s life in play form. The

teacher should write down what the kids say. Then chose students to read the parts and act out each character.

Wells 2Title of book: Mary McLean and the St. Patrick’s Day ParadeAuthor’s name: Steven KrollCopyright year: 1991Genre: Historical FictionSynopsis: A young girl moves from Ireland to America with her family during the potato famine. They move into an area filled with Irish people like them and she starts going to school. Then she hears about a parade that is held on March 17 each year and how the local store owner rides a grand float and appears a hero to all the Irish in the neighborhood. Nelly, the young girl decides she wants to ride the float with him, but he tells he she must provide a perfect clover to ride the float. One day she finds a leprechaun with a clover on his jacket. She is able to get the clover from him and proudly rides in the parade. Activity One:

- Original Idea- Tell the kids that Mary had to leave her country because potatoes stopped growing and

there was no way to get money or food. Now have them pretend they are Mary McLean and their family is on a boat for eight weeks to head to America. Explain that Mary would have most likely kept a journal on this eight week trip, but that she would not have had a lot of paper so she might only have written once a week. Have the students write that journal about life on the boat, they should have one entry per week (eight total), and they should be sure to include things like what she is feeling, sea storms, rats and what life on a boat is like.

Activity Two:- Original Idea- Have each student pick a realistic part of the book and draw themselves in that scene.

How would they feel if it was happening to them, it should show in their drawing. If they are one the boat are they happy or sad, how would they be looking for a clover in the park, what if they draw themselves on the float with Mr. Finnegan?

Wells 3Title: Maple MoonAuthor: Connie Brummel CrookCopyright year: 1997Genre: Historical FictionSynopsis: An Indian boy that is unable to walk gets made fun of by the other children his age. He moves around by sitting on a sled and using his arms or having his dog pull him. So while the others dance and pray for a good hunt, as food is running low this winter, the Indian boy wanders off alone to be by himself. Soon he reached a tree called Ninautik and saw a squirrel drinking something from it. He gets a taste of the water from the tree and finds it sweet. He rushes back to this wigwam and grabs an ax and asks the tree for more sweet water. Soon he fills a basket with the syrup and takes it back to his tribe. They all love its sweetness and ask where they can get more. They all rush back to the maple tree and wait all day for the slow syrup to drip and because of his discovery the young boy never got made fun of again and his tribe did not go Hungary. Activity one:

- http://home.howstuffworks.com/tree-activities-for-kids5.htm - Take the class outside to maple trees if there are some near school. If not take class on

trip to a maple tree farm. Show the class the items needed to make syrup and the process used to make syrup. Allow each student to take part in one step of syrup making with a watchful eye always on them. Have them then create a similar/different column chart listing the similarities and differences between the book and making syrup today.

Activity two:- Original- Cook some meat in sap like they did in the story and share it with the class. Ask which

way they like the meat best, with or without the sap cooked into it. Ask them what they like syrup on. Then ask them each to come to the board one at a time and list one thing we would have to put on pancakes if we did not have maple syrup.

Wells 4Title: More Than Anything ElseAuthor: Marie BradbyCopyright Year: 1995Genre: Historical FictionSynopsis: Booker is a young black boy that must work hard with his brother and father in the salt fields. While he packs salt all day long more than anything else he wants to learn to read. One night after work he sees a man reading to a crowd from a newspaper. He tells his mom of his wish to read and she gives him a book with all the letters, but she cannot help him as she does not know how to read herself. So Booker seeks out the man with the newspaper and he teaches Booker the alphabet song and all the letter sounds. He even teaches Booker how to write his name in the dirt floor. Activity one:

- Original Idea/ Mary Jane Dickey- Provide each student with a pan of colored sand or dirt. Ask the students to think back to

how they learned how to read and write. Explain that they will be writing a short story in the pan of dirt, they will be writing about how they learned how to read. Tell them if they cannot remember that far back they can make up a believable story. Then once each has written his or her story come around with a camera and take a picture of each one to hang on the wall, and later have the students take home.

Activity two:- Original Idea- Provide the class with a stack of newspapers or magazines that are kid friendly. Tell

them each to find a story of a child doing something, such as working hard to help out his or her family. Have them each cut out an article gluing it to the top of a piece of construction paper. Under the article have them write two or three sentences about something the child would rather be doing, such as learning to read.

Wells 5Title: Going to Town Author: Laura Ingalls WilderCopyright Year: 1996Genre: Historical FictionSynopsis: A little girl named Laura lived in a big woods with her family and had never been to a town. Now that she and her sisters were old enough her Pa said that they would go to town tomorrow. The girls had to get clean and put on their best dresses while Pa had to get ready the horses. It was a long ride out of the woods into town and when they got there there were more houses then the girls could ever imagine. They spent all day having fun in the shop, eating special candies and having a picnic but soon it was time for the long ride back home into the woods. Activity one:

- http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/socialstd/files/lessons/econ-geog- books/Going_Town.html Barbara S. Yingling

- Have the students in groups of 4 or 5 create maps using poster board and construction paper. The maps should be from the little house in the woods to town and should use hints from the story for the details. Then have the students in their groups discuss what they would bring to town and why. Have each group share their maps and where from the book they got ideas for their details, if time.

Activity two:- http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/socialstd/files/lessons/econ-geog-

books/Going_Town.html Barbara S. Yingling- Use the story to change up the weekly mini economy. Explain to the children that this

week we are not going to be using our classroom money bun instead we will be trading like Pa had to do in the story. After mini economy is over ask the children to share how trading was different from using money, what was worse, better? Then ask how today’s world would be worse/better if we traded instead of using money.

Wells 1Title of book: Jazz On a Saturday NightAuthor’s name: Leo and Diane DillonCopyright year: 2007Genre: Multi-cultural Synopsis: After working all week a crowd of people shuffle into the theater for a jazz show. The musicians unpack back stage and finally the announcer comes on telling the audience the show is about to start. This audience gets to hear jazz greats such as; Miles Davis, Max Roach, Charlie Parker, and many more. The evening is filled with cool beats and wonderful improvised melodies. The audience leaves after the show with the cool jazz vibrations still running through their bodies. The back of the book comes equipped with short biographies on each famous jazz star featured on stage as well as a CD with jazz history and a sampling of jazz sound. Activity One:

- Original Idea- Play track two of the provided CD for the class (it’s the book song in a jazz style). After

hearing the jazz style of melodies and improve pass out classroom interments and have the class improvise their own jazz song.

Activity Two: - Original- Have the CD and book as a center. Have the students listen to the first few minutes of

track one (up to “The Insterments”) and make a list of four things they learned about jazz history from the book or CD.

Wells 2Title of book: The Legend of the BluebonnetAuthor’s name: Tomie DePaolaCopyright year: 1983Genre: Multi-Cultural Synopsis: After months of no rain the Comanche people start getting hungry and desperate. They sing and dance asking the gods what they need to do to end the drought. After beating on drums and dancing for days the people send the shaman to the top of a hill to talk to the gods. When he returns he brings news that the gods are unhappy because the people are too greedy. He tells that they must make a burnt offering of the most prized item in the whole group, then it will rain. As everybody wonders home unwilling to give up their most favorite thing a small girl decides to give her only friend, her doll. Late one night she takes a burning log and carries the doll to the hill and makes it a burnt offering to the gods. The gods reward the girl and the people with plenty of rain and wonderful blue flowers.Activity one:

- http://www.atozkidsstuff.com/blueb.html - Provide the class a box of items that Indians might have. (such as feathers, leather, beads,

and stones) Then have each child choose items from the box and have them make their own Indian doll.

Activity two:- http://www.atozkidsstuff.com/blueb.html - Explain to the children that the bluebonnet is the Texas state flower. Then tell them

Indiana’s state flower is peony and show them what it looks like. Then tell the students that this book was a legend/or story about the Texas flower and that they will write a legend for the peony. Then hang the stories up in the hall for other classes to see.

Wells 3Title: My Rows and Piles of CoinsAuthor: Tolowa M. MollelCopyright: 1999Genre: Multi-Cultural Synopsis: Saruni, a young boy of Africa helps his mother each Saturday at market. For his work he is given a small pile of coins that he can buy anything with. His father is teaching him how to ride a bike using the only bike they have. As Saruni becomes much better at riding he thinks he will be able to ride a bike to market to help his mother carry the heavy load. He decides to save all his coins so he can get a bike of his own. Working all year he, saves every coin and sorts them into piles and rows to count them. One day when he has more coins than he ever thought he would he goes to the man to buy a bike. When the man finds out he only has thirty shillings, he laughs at poor Saruni and refuses to sell a bike that cheap. However, when he gets home he finds that his father is willing to sell his bike to him for just that amount. He quickly gathers his money and hands it to his father for the bike. His father gives the money to his mother who in turn gives it back to Saruni for all his help. Overjoyed Saruni thinks about the next thing he’ll buy, a cart for his bike. Activity one:

- http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~elbond/coins.htm- Teachers can give to young children is to set up an amount of payment that the children

could receive for doing various chores with family or community members.  Ask the children what they would save for and why.  Ask how long it would take for them to purchase their object depending on the amount of money they earn and how often they earn it.  The information supplied from these questions could also be displayed in bar graphs, line graphs, etc. which are also great math classroom connections.

Activity two:- http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~elbond/coins.htm- Students could illustrate the country of Tanzania showing different areas and types of

land, animals, desert, areas of dense populate, area of scarce population, etc.

Wells 4Title: Head, Body, LegsAuthor: Won-Ldy Paye and Margaret H. LippertCopyright: 2002Genre: Multi-CulturalSynopsis: Long ago Head rolled around alone. Only eating what he could reach on the ground made him pine for cherries up in the trees. Soon Arms came along and Head and Arms decide to help each other by becoming one. Soon Head sees some fruit on the other side of the river he wishes to eat. At just the right time Body comes along and they find he makes a great boat and Arms make good paddles. But the fruit is too high for them to reach. Then Legs show up and all realize that Legs could help them get fruit in higher trees, so Legs attach themselves to Arms. Finding that legs attached to arms, arms attached to head, and head attached to belly does not seem to work quite well enough the group decides to reform itself. The head goes to the top of the body, arms to the side and legs to the button creating a person that works perfectly.Activity one:

- Original- Have students act out the book in groups. One person should be the head, one should be

the arms, one the legs, and the body. Make sure the “head” doesn’t use his arms or legs and so on. Have them talk about what if felt like not being able to use a part of their body.

Activity two:- Original- Have the students use play dough to make a head, two arms, two legs, and a body. Have

them experiment with ways to put the four together. Are there any better ways to put the body parts together, which ways worked which ways would not work.

Wells 5Title: I Lost My Tooth in AfricaAuthor: Penda DiakiteCopyright: 2006Genre: Multi-CulturalSynopsis: An American girl takes a trip with her family to visit relatives in Africa. While there she looses her tooth and is told of the African tooth fairy. Her father tells her that the African tooth fairy will bring a child a chicken if they put their tooth under a gourd. Egger to get her own chicken the child puts the tooth under a gourd and waits all day for her chicken to come. She finally discovers that the tooth fairy did come and left her two chickens of her own. She takes good care of the chickens and soon they lay eggs for her. On her last day in Africa the eggs begin to hatch and she is presented with chicks. Not wanting to leave the chicks the girl wishes she could stay, but after a promise from her grandmother to take care of them while she’s gone she heads home counting the days until her next African visit. Activity one:

- Carol Fike- Have students choose another country and holiday and have the research how it is

different than in American. Much like the girl found out how the Tooth fairy is different in Africa

Activity two:- Carol Fike- Have the students write a letter to the tooth fairy. Have the kids explain to the tooth fairy

what other items they would like to get for their teeth other than money.

Wells 1Title of book: Mary Had a Little LampAuthor’s name: Jack LechnerCopyright year: 2008Genre: FictionSynopsis: This delightful twist on the old nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb” contains laughs on every page. The little girl named Mary in this story thinks a lamp makes a good pet. She takes the lamp everywhere with she goes, even to school. She takes the lamp to the playground and all through town. People stop and look at her but she does not care because she just likes the lamp’s light and company. But one day Mary goes off to camp where lamps are not allowed. She has a great time at camp and comes back home realizing she might be much too old to hang around with a lamp, so she gets a toaster. Activity One:

- Original Idea- Introduce the computer game “Mixed Up Mother Goose” as the game at the computer

station for the day. Each student will have the allowed station time to play this game. In the game one must travel around Mother Goose land finding nursery rhyme characters and bringing them back to where they belong. Such as Little Bo Peep might be wondering around Old King Cole’s castle, or maybe Humpty Dumpty can’t find his wall.

Activity Two:- Original Idea, Mrs. Good- Have the children think of another nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty, Little Bo Peep…

Have the children think of a way to chance it or make it a messed-up nursery rhyme such as Mary and her lamp. They will talk with a partner about their idea. They will then take a paper and write down the main points of the new nursery rhyme and sketch the messed-up character/part. The paper should be able to be used if the student were asked to make this into a really story.

Wells 2Title of book: And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry StreetAuthor’s name: Dr. SeussCopyright year: 1937Genre: FictionSynopsis: A young boy walks home from school trying to make sure he notices everything he can to tell his father about. But a horse and a wagon happens to be all the boy sees on his way home from school. Thinking this not very exciting he turns the horse and wagon into a zebra and wagon. As he walks he keeps thinking of more and more things he can add to the horse and wagon to make it more exciting when he tells his father what he saw on the way home. By the time he reaches home he turned a horse and wagon into a massive parade with bands and kings, all kinds of animals and even the major. Rushing up the stairs to tell his father of all the wonders he has seen he realizes he has thought up too much and tells his father the truth of just a horse and wagon. Activity one:

- Original idea- Have the students think of something they saw, or might see, on the way to school, such

as a tree. Then have the student think of what that simple thing could be turned into, such as an elephant. Then the student will create a sculpture using recycle items (paper towel roll, boxes, bags…) and paints. The sculpture should visually show the normal item seen and what it turned into, such as an elephant sculpture with one leg paint as a tree.

Activity two:- Original idea- Play telephone with the class, first as a whole class then in smaller groups. The teacher

will start with something simple, still using the something seen on the way to school idea, such as “today I saw a tree”. Whispering into each other’s ears the students will then say what they heard and add one item of their own idea to the story. The last student will then reveal to the class what he/she was told. When in groups students can add up to two items. This activity can be done when time allows and/or as a fun reward for the class.

Wells 3Title: Is There Really a Human Race?Author: Jamie Lee CurtisCopyright year: 2006 Genre: FictionSynopsis: A little boy spends the day in the park with mother and sees all kinds of different people walking around. He starts to wonder if there really is a human “race”. He starts to think of the human race as a running race and he asks a lot of questions wondering where he falls and how he’ll make it to the end. Asking all these questions of his mother he starts to learn that we are all in this together and maybe things would be better if we worked together. Activity one:

- Thomas Turner- Have the children create a board game based on the book. Make sure that the board game

has spaces/cards that work for people with different abilities such as a tall person, short person, hairy person, smartest person… Students might want to use the maze page to model their board after and they should design it so the players have to work together at points.

Wells 4Title: Charlie Cook’s Favorite Book Author: Julia DonaldsonCopyright Year: 2005Genre: FictionSynopsis: A boy cozy in his living room settles down to read his favorite book. In the book he’s reading the character reads a book. The story then switches to that book and that story has a character reading a book. This goes on, reading a book about reading a book about reading a book, until the last book has a character reading a book about Charlie Cook reading his favorite book.Activity one:

- Original idea- Have the students choose one of the books inside Charlie Cook’s favorite book. Have the

books in the classroom so the students can easily get them and read at least part of the book they choose. Have them then do a small project for the book they have chosen, such as a magazine article for the Glamorous Lady’s Magazine, or building a nest for Stories of Real Birds and so on. Of course some of these books may not be really real books but similar ones can be found easily.

Wells 5Title: There is a Bird On Your HeadAuthor: Mo WillemsCopyright Year: 2007Genre: FictionSynopsis: Piggie and Elephant are sleeping when a bird lands on Elephant’s head and wakes them up. Elephant does not want a bird on his head but suddenly he has two birds. The two birds build a nest on Elephant’s head, which he does not want. Then all of a sudden he ends up with two birds, a nest, and three eggs on his head. Piggie enjoys this event and thinks it cute, however, Elephant does not want any of it on his head. Piggie suggests he tries asking them to leave. Elephant asks the birds to take their next and go someplace else and they do, Piggie’s head.Activity one:

- Heather Schilling- Explain to the children how Elephant got want he wanted by using manners with word

like Please and Thank you. Point out that he did not get what he wanted when he yelled and ran in anger. Ask the students to come up with ideas where they would have to use please and thank you to get something they want. Have them create a fold chart showing 1. The idea 2. What yelling would get them 3. What please and thank you would get them. Each chart should have 3-4 ideas.

Wells 1Title of book: What To Do About AliceAuthor’s name: Barbara KerleyCopyright year: 2008Genre: Non-FictionSynopsis: Theodore Roosevelt had a daughter named Alison. She was a wild little girl that all through her life gave her president father trouble. She liked to jump around and play silly games. She would dream of pet monkeys and refuse going to proper schools. She horse played with her siblings and acted as a tomboy. When she was older she traveled the world and did not do as expected. She liked to read a lot and she loved being in the public eye, even when advised not to be. The people loved Alison and she received many gifts. She ate up the world with her wild ways and un womanly style and didn’t calm down even after marriage. Activity One:

- Original Idea- Have students create a blueprint of the white house. Have them place a picture of Alice

Roosevelt in the rooms she would spend the most time, such as the library. Then have them make a blueprint of their house and place pictures of themselves in the rooms they spend most time in, such as a bed room. Have them compare and contrast the two houses and where they spend the most time.

Wells 2Title of book: Science Court, Water CycleAuthor’s name: Craig StrasshoferCopyright year: 1997Genre: Non-FictionSynopsis: A man slips in a puddle and looking up discovers so pipes that are leaking. He takes the case to Science Court where he sues the owner of the pipes. Through an event of scientific experiments the court finds the pipe owner not at fault, for the pipes were not leaking at all.Activity one:

- Science Court, Water Cycle- Create your own refrigerator. Provide the needed materials to each student; clay pot,

water, bowl, thermometer, and a food for cooling. Have each student construct their own home made refrigerator according to the instructions. Measure temperatures at the beginning and then some time later. Explain how the evaporation causes the cooling of the object under the pot.

Wells 3Title: United Tweets of AmericaAuthor: Hudson TalbottCopyright year: 2008Genre: Non-FictionSynopsis: All the state birds are presented as if in a beauty contest. Listed alphabetically by states all the birds are represented. Facts about each bird cover each page. Not only do the birds have short facts but their states also get covered briefly with things like; state flowers, famous state people, songs, and other things the state is known for. Some birds even have little fights from state to state as the some states hold the same bird. All the birds end up being winners in the state bird pageant and many new facts about every state are brought to light. Activity one:

- Mrs. Jo Keller- Have each student chose a different state. Tell each student to bring a light bulb from

home. Then have each student make a paper mashie version of their chosen state’s bird using the light bulb as a base.

Wells 4Title: The Story of Valentine’s DayAuthor: Clyde Robert BullaCopyright Year: 1988Genre: Non-FictionSynopsis: The story of Valentine’s day is told. The story reviles that this day is one of the oldest holidays we celebrate. This holiday story starts at the Romans who seemed to celebrate a holiday similar to Valentine’s day to praise one of their gods. Then the story of the holiday goes through time giving examples of how the day began to look like the one we know today. Activity one:

- Original- Have the students chose a time period from the book. They will create a valentine as

close as they can from that time period. What would be written on the valentine? How would your valentine be presented?

Wells 5Title: Graphic Battles of the Civil War, The Monitor Versus The MerrimacAuthor: Dan AbnettCopyright Year: 2007Genre: Non-FictionSynopsis: The great story of the civil war ships, the Monitor and the Merrimac, is presented in a graphic novel way. This great format for young kids provides solid facts about the ironclad ships in a fun way. The graphic story line discusses reasons why the ships where invented. How they were built and how they would work. Battles and captions and life in the ironclads are also presented with factual details. Activity one:

- Original- Have the students chose the Monitor or the Merrimac. The students will then build a

replica of their chosen ship. Things that could be used include; tin foil, old pie pans, any other around the house metals. Students should then pair up with somebody with the opposite ship. The class will then hold a competition putting two different ironclads in a tube of water. The creators will then throw marbles at each other’s ships for 1 minute. The less damaged ironclad will be the victor and the next pair will be up.

Wells 1Title of book: Diary of a Wimpy Kid Author’s name: Jeff Kinney Copyright year: 2007Genre: Realistic FictionSynopsis: Greg Heffley just entered middle school. He is a normal boy, not the strong jock type and not really the popular type. Greg finds he is more of the type that gets beat up. Greg, against his wishes, creates a journal (not a diary) to chronical his year. He tries to invent ways to survive school without getting beat up everyday. He runs for school treasurer, joins sports teams, picks his seats in class carefully, and even joins the school play. Finally he becomes a safety guard, beating them up is against school rules. Greg has many adventures in middle school including creating a giant ball of snow, hanging with friends, eating really old cheese, and even becoming the new cartoonist for the school paper. Activity One:

- Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Do it Yourself - Pick a draw your own cartoon page from the do it yourself wimpy kid. Create your own

cartoon as the page instructs.Activity Two:

- Diary of a Wimpy Kid (pg 146-150)- In your table groups come up with an idea for a robot. You must make a list of things the

robot will be able to do, your robot must be able to perform 15 tasks. Each group must turn in a picture of their robot performing one of its tasks. Remember it is assumed that the robots will not curse so there is no need to make a list of curse words it can not say.

Wells 2

Title of book: JessicaAuthor’s name: Kevin HenkesCopyright year: 1989Genre: Realistic FictionSynopsis: Ruthie Simms didn’t have a dog. She didn’t have a cat, or a brother, or a sister, but Jessica was the next best thing. Ruthie had an imaginary friend named Jessica and they did everything together. Ruthie liked playing with Jessica and she didn’t think she needed anybody else. One day it was time to go to kindergarten and Ruthie brought Jessica with her. They played together until it was time to line up, then suddenly another girl came to Ruthie’s side. She asked if she could walk with Ruthie and introduced herself as Jessica. The two were best friends from that moment on. Activity one:

- Mary Jane Dickey- Paint a picture using water color of what your imaginary friend would look like. What

would you do together?Activity two:

- Original idea- Have the students rewrite the story from Jessica’s view point. How does the imaginary

friend view all these games, and what does she think when Ruthie makes a real friend?

Wells 3Title: Albie theLifeguardAuthor: Louise BordenCopyright year: 1993Genre: Realistic FictionSynopsis: Albie and his friends visit the town pool the first day it opens for the summer. His friends sign up to join the swim team first thing. Albie however is a little more worried about joining the swim team. He enjoys swimming and playing around in the water just as well. He likes watching the lifeguards and decides to pretend lifeguard in his yard while the others are at swim practice. After watching his friends in a few swim meets he decides that the pool might not be as big as he thought and joins the team. After a few practices of his own Albie discovers he likes swimming and shows up early each day for practice. Activity one:

- Original Idea- if you were going to play lifeguard in your back yard what are some things you would

need?  Have the students brainstorm some ideas of items lifeguards need, and then what could they find around the house to be those items.  ex: an old baby chair could be a lifeguard stand

Activity two:- Mary Jane Dickey- Have the students collect the items needed to play lifeguard. Have some students bring in

pool stuff as well. Then spend some time playing pool. Before you start make sure everybody in the room has a job, who would you find at a pool, what would they be doing.

Wells 4Title: Knuffle Bunny TooAuthor: Mo WillemsCopyright Year: 2007Genre: Realistic FictionSynopsis: Trixie, now old enough to talk head off to school with her father. She rushes to school because she is so excited to show all her new friends her one of a kind Knuffle Bunny. However when she gets to school she sees that Sonja has a bunny almost just like hers. The two girls try to out do one another each saying their bunny is the best but all this gets is both bunnies taken away for the day. At the end of the day Trixie gets her bunny back and she rushes home and to bed with it. Then suddenly she realizes that this is not her bunny. The girls have their dads call each other and the meet to exchange bunnies in the middle of the night.Activity one:

- Knuffle Bunny Too Event Kit, Mo Willems- Trixie careens through a wide range of emotions in this story. with your children,compile

a list of adjectives that categorize her many facial expressions. (They may say she looks happy, shocked, surprised, angry, jealous, and upset, to name a few.) Then have them act out each state. Tell them, “You be Trixie. When I say each feeling, act out that emotion with your face and with your whole body.”

Activity two:- Knuffle Bunny Too Event Kit, Mo Willems- Have the students pick an object that they like to have with them and have them draw

several pictures of themselves with the object. Then have them write a short story about them with the object. Then provide them with a variety of kid friendly magazines that have a wide number of scene pictures in them. (rooms, yards, parks, inside buildings…) Allow the children to cut out the scenes needed for their story from the magazines and paste the drawn pictures of themselves into the magazine pictures to create the same effect as the book.

Wells 5Title: Song and Dance ManAuthor: Karen AckermanCopyright Year: 1988Genre: Realistic FictionSynopsis: A group of kids go to visit their grandpa. While they wait for grandma to finish super grandpa takes them up to the attic. Here they discover that grandpa use to be a song and dance man. He puts on his old tap shoes and puts on a little show. The kids clap and cheer having as much fun as possible imagining what it must have been like when grandpa was young. Activity one:

- Original- Read the book around the time the local high school is putting on their musical. Take the

kids to the high school to watch the students perform one or two numbers from the musical. Have each of your students come up with one question to ask the high school performers about performing.

Activity two: - Joel Eichenauer Manchester Elementary- Have the students write a short story about their own grandparent. Make sure they

include something unique about their grandparent and why they enjoy being their grandchild. After they are done writing having them draw pictures and then staple the pages together to create a book.