Class Antics – Inside Elementary Education

I have found a magical teaching tool: Spectrum Publishing’s Little Critter Reading.  It’s a workbook with the perfect format: an engaging story based on the Little Critter books by Mercer Mayer, followed by a worksheet covering comprehension, phonics, and study skills.  Students beg to use it and groan when we put it away.

In my experience, Little Critter Reading improves a reader’s skills by a whole grade level.

You can buy Little Critter Reading at two levels: grade 1 and grade 2.  Grade 2 is appropriate for students in second and third grade.  Grade 1 helps students make the remarkable transformation from reading three sentences on a page to reading several paragraphs—in the space of one workbook.  Grade 1 is great for English Language Learners.

I recommend Little Critter Reading books for the classroom and for the home.  At home, a parent or older sibling can tutor a struggling reader with Little Critter Reading books.

How to use Little Critter Reading:

1.  Read the story to your students.  Very important—think how much better they can read if they already know what it sounds like!
2.  Let the student(s) read aloud with you.  This way, you’re pulling the student along and helping her experience fluency.  For the whole class, choral read the passage.
3.  If time and patience allow, the student can read the story aloud without your help.
4.  Do the worksheet that goes with the story.  You might have to teach a mini lesson on topics such as root words, ABC order, verb tense, etc.  Kids quickly catch on and complete the lesson easily.
5.  Review the lesson.

One caveat: you are not supposed to photocopy Little Critter Reading workbooks.  I applied for a grant and bought a class set of the workbook.  I use it with my third graders at the beginning of the year.  We put a page protector over the worksheet page and write on the page protector with an Expo marker.  We erase with old socks.

Students who behave well get to draw on the page protector for two minutes!

Seriously, I can’t recommend Little Critter Reading highly enough.

“School libraries are the foundation of our culture, not luxuries.”
Laurie Halse Anderson
Official Spokesperson for School Library Month

Now more than ever, it is important to recognize School Library Month.  School libraries and school librarians are vulnerable when states and districts face budget cuts.  Show your school’s students, teachers, staff, parents and friends how important the school library is to education.

Activities for School Library Month:
 – Make posters advertising the school library.  (Learn about techniques of persuasion while you’re at it!)
 – Create video or audio announcements about school libraries to show on the school announcements.
 – Imagine a school without the library.  Have your students write about what this would be like, and the opportunities they would lose.
– Make a class book about reading and the library.  Have each student write and illustrate an essay, poem or letter.  Have your class vote on a theme.  Examples: “Reading Takes us Places,” “Choose Your Freedom, Learn to Read,” or “Readers are Leaders!”

About Laurie Halse Anderson: She is a bestselling author of such novels as Speak, Fever 1793, Wintergirls, Catalyst, and Chains.  Many of Laurie’s books are YA (Young Adult) and are not written for the elementary classroom.

I have used Fever 1793 for fifth graders.  Students enjoy this story of the Yellow Fever epidemic in Phildelphia.  It connects especially well to lessons on American History and the American Revolution.   Laurie says she gets the most fan mail about her Vet Volunteers series, written for fourth to sixth grade students.

We honor George Washington and Abraham Lincoln on Presidents’ Day.  In the classroom or at home, you can enjoy great books about Presidents’ Day.

My favorite Presidents Book!!!!  So You Want to be President? (AR Reading Level  4.8; 0.5 points)  This Caldecott-winning book has witty illustrations that perfectly complement the clever premise: analyzing what it takes to become president.  (Hint: it helps if your name is James.  Being born in a log cabin helps, too.)

Presidents’ Day by Robin Nelson (AR Reading Level  2.4; 0.5 points)  A simple introduction to Presidents’ Day.  This is easily read by students in second grade and up.

Presidents’ Day by Anne Rockwell.  This is a cute book for younger readers, about a class that puts on a play for Presidents’ Day.

Fun with Presidents’ Day:

Stink: The Incredible Shrinking Kid (AR Reading Level 3.0; 1 point)  From the popular Stink Series, this book shows Stink, the shortest kid in second grade, learning about the shortest president as his class learns about Presidents’ Day.

Yo, Millard Fillmore! (And All Those Other Presidents You Don’t Know) (AR Reading Level 6.6; 1 point) A book of cartoons to help you remember all the presidents in order.  Kids love it!

Observation: Don’t let the reading level put you off.  This book is mostly cartoons.  Kids can read the mini-biographies of the presidents if they like, but most just want to see the cartoons and memorize the presidents.

About George Washington:

George Washington and the General’s Dog (AR Reading Level 2.5; 0.5 points) This lighthearted easy reader links two of kids’ favorite subjects: George Washington and dogs.  Children can learn little-known facts about Washington: did you know he named his dog Sweetlips?  Children will be impressed with Washington’s strength of character and how he could be kind to his enemies.

George Washington’s Socks (AR Reading Level 5.0; 6 points) An overnight campout turns into a time-travel journey to the Battle of Trenton.  Children will cross the Delaware River with Washington in a harrowing and thrilling adventure.  I love how this book shows the human side of war.  My fifth graders love it!  We have a class set.

 About Abraham Lincoln:

Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman.  (AR Reading Level 7.7; 5 points.)  This Newbery Medal winner is the gold standard.  Combining elegant yet easy-to-read biography with stunning photographs, this book teaches kids everything they need to know about Lincoln.  This book is entertaining, educational, and moving.  I cannot recommend it too highly!

Observation: Lincoln: A Photobiography has an  AR level of 7.7 but because of the pictures, the book is accessible to fifth and sixth graders.   Parents or teachers might need to explain historical context.

Coretta Scott King Book Awards 2010

Author Award Winner – Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U. S. Marshal, written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, is the King Author Book winner.  The book is illustrated by R. Gregory Christie.  AR Reading Level 5.2; 0.5 points.

Illustrator Award Winner – My People
, illustrated by Charles R. Smith Jr., is the King Illustrator Book winner. The book was written by Langston Hughes.  Visit Amazon’s Langston Hughes page.

Author Honor Book – Mare’s War by Tanita S. Davis.  AR Reading Level 4.9; 12.0 points.

Illustrator Honor Books – The Negro Speaks of Rivers, illustrated by E. B. Lewis, written by Langston Hughes.  Here is a video clip of Langston Hughes explaining the origin of his poem and then reading it aloud: 

John Steptoe New Talent Author Award – The Rock and the River, written by Kekla Magoon.  AR Reading Level 3.9; 8.0 points

Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement – Walter Dean Myers is the winner of this first-ever Coretta Scott King Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.  The award pays tribute to the quality and magnitude of beloved children’s author Virginia Hamilton. 

Myers’ books include: Fallen Angels,  (AR Reading Level 4.2; 11.0 points),  Monster, (AR Reading Level 5.1; 5.0 points),  and Sunrise Over Fallujah (AR Reading Level 5.3; 11.0 points).

From the American Library Association website:  Given to African American authors and illustrator for outstanding inspirational and educational contributions, the Coretta Scott King Book Award titles promote understanding and appreciation of the culture of all peoples and their contribution to the realization of the American dream of a pluralistic society.  The award is designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to honor Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood.

Mother Goose nursery rhymes are an important part of childhood.  I always thought they were practically innate—until I became a teacher.  That’s when I found out that someone has to teach nursery rhymes, and that this doesn’t always happen.

As teachers, we expect that some students won’t know the nursery rhymes.  English Language Learners, for example, may not know nursery rhymes in English.  (They might know rhymes from their own language.)

Somewhere along the way, probably about the same time as the demise of the bedtime story, we lost nursery rhymes.  It is very important to make sure children know them.  Why?

Nursery rhymes build fluency: Learning to say the rhymes, or read the rhymes aloud, builds a familiarity with a certain rhythm and style of speaking.

Nursery rhymes build vocabulary: The vocabulary is higher than what the child could read or say himself.  How often does “tuffet” or “contrary” come up in ordinary conversation?  By learning the words in conjunction with a fun rhyme, children effortlessly build vocabulary.

Nursery rhymes prepare children to read: To read successfully, children need an understanding of what teachers call phonemic awareness: an awareness of the sounds (phonemes) in our language.   Appreciating the rhyme and alliteration in nursery rhymes helps children learn to read.  By growing up with nursery rhymes, children more easily understand that words are made of sounds.

Nursery rhymes build rhythm: Developing a child’s sense of rhythm helps the child read better.  There have been studies on this.  From a classroom teacher’s point of view, I can say that building a sense of rhythm absolutely makes a difference.  The rhythm pulls children along in the reading—they don’t stumble as much, and they learn to read more naturally.  Rhythm also helps children work together because everyone has to keep the beat.  Learning nursery rhymes helps children build a sense of rhythm in language.

Connection: Learning to do the Hand Jive builds rhythm, too—but that’s another story!  The Hand Jive, with the rhythm and cross-body movement, is very good for developing growing brains.  The Macarena is also good, rhythm-building fun.

Nursery rhymes teach memorization: By memorizing nursery rhymes at a young age, children learn how to remember.  Often, the rhyme scheme aids in memorizing, and making this connection will help children see the patterns in language.

Nursery rhymes build cultural currency: many books, movies and plays refer to nursery rhymes.  Even in casual conversation, we might note that a couple is like Jack Sprat and his wife.  A harried mother might feel like the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.  Children who grow up not knowing nursery rhymes are at a disadvantage when it comes to understanding these references—they might lose a great deal of meaning in a conversation or book.

For further reading:
Mother Goose: A scholarly expedition
Nursery rhymes article at Wikipedia

By Sandra L. Pinkney
Foreword by Maya Angelou
AR Reading Level 3.0; 0.5 points
Available from Amazon.com

Summary:  This book is part of the Read and Rise literacy campaign to promote literacy, in which Scholastic teamed up with the National Urban League.   A main goal was to promote a love of reading in inner city, predominately African-American children.   The book opens with an inspiring poem by Maya Angelou.   The book is illustrated with photos of kids who let reading take them places, sometimes by dressing up in costumes like they find in books they read.  

Activities:   Read and Rise is partly designed for parents, to increase buy-in for literacy.   Teachers might consider making this book part of a Family Reading Night event.   Read and Rise  is inspiring for primary readers and preschool level.

Connection: Maya Angelou’s foreward to Read and Rise reminds me of  “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes, which is great for sharing with older students. 

I use an excerpt from Maya Angelou’s poem “Choose Your Freedom – Learn to Read” to inspire my students:

Reading is the pathway
From the dungeon
To the door

Freedom

Reading is the highway from
The shadow to the sun

Freedom

Reading is the river
To your liberty
For all your life to come

Let the river run

Learn

Learn to read.

–Maya Angelou

The American Girl series is a wonderful teaching tool.  The books and movies give girls a frame of reference for understanding important periods in United States history.

The American Girl books are grouped into series.  Each character has a book for her birthday, a holiday, a school story, etc.  The core books for each girl feature a wonderful section at the back of the book that ties the story in with history.  This section always has pictures of artifacts from the relevant historical period.

You can also buy American Girl mysteries.  There are far too many to list!

I recommend the American Girls books for grades 3 and up.  You can buy boxed sets of all books for each American girl.  The boxed sets are a good value because students read them over and over.

The American Girls books, in chronological order:

Kaya 1764: a Native American Girl

Felicity Merriman, 1774: a horse-loving girl caught between Patriot and Loyalist family and friends during the American Revolution

Josefina Montoya, 1824: lives in New Mexico when it was part of Mexico

Kirsten Larson, 1854: a Swedish immigrant who settles in the Minnesota Territory

Addy Walker, 1864: a fugitive slave who escapes to Pennsylvania during the Civil War

Samantha Parkington, 1904: an orphan being raised by a wealthy family during the Victorian period

Rebecca Rubin, 1914: a Jewish girl growing up in the Lower East Side of New York City

Kit Kittredge, 1934: faces the hard times of the Great Depression

Molly McIntire, 1944: keeps the home fires burning during World War II

Julie Albright, 1974: A San Francisco girl facing the changes of the mid-1970s

Observation: Although the American Girls books are popular, I usually have to push them on students.  Once I get one girl hooked, American Girl fever spreads through the classroom.  Usually, the boys end up reading the books, too.  The girls are careful not to embarrass the boys about reading these books.

American Girls Movies:  Felicity, Samantha and Kit each have their own movie.  (You can buy them in a 3-movie set, too.)  The movies are of very high quality and I enjoy using them in the classroom.  American Girl also features a wonderfully positive magazine and a plethora of dolls.

Getting the Boys to Buy In to Watching the Movies: I aways explain to the class that I understand the movies are about girls, but I think the boys in the class also will enjoy the movies.  I ask the girls in my class to promise not to tease the boys or tell students in other classes how much the boys in our class enjoy the movies.

Dav Pilkey’s humorous style is perfect for reluctant readers.

His most famous books, the Captain Underpants series, turn children into chapter book readers.

Dav Pilkey’s appeal goes far beyond that.

Part of the attraction to readers and teachers: Dav Pilkey writes in series.  Once you hook a child on one Dav Pilkey book, there is usually a series to be explored.  By the time the child reads one Pilkey series, he craves another.  Soon, you have hooked the child on reading.

Check out the Dumb Bunnies books, about a truly stupid family of rabbits.  My favorite is The Dumb Bunnies’ Easter (AR level 2.7, 0.5 points), a mishmash of holidays that the bunnies get completely wrong.  (Santa Claus is the Easter Bunny, and he comes in a shiny red minivan pulled by eight flying pilgrims.)

The reading level of the Dumb Bunnies books helps you reach more than one target audience.  Primary students will work hard to be able to read Dumb Bunnies.  Dumb Bunnies books are also good high interest/low reading level (hi/lo) choices for struggling middle grade students.

The same holds true for Dav’s Dragon series.  (AR reading level around 2.7)  The books are perfect for primary children, but can be used as a hi/lo choice for older readers.  Once a child reads Dragon’s Fat Cat or Dragon’s Merry Christmas, there is a series to enjoy.

Students who tend to read the easiest picture book possible can be lured into reading harder picture books with titles like Dav Pilkey’s Dogzilla (AR level 4.2, 0.5 points).  Combining a humorous story with hilarious photographic illustrations using Dav’s own dog, Dogzilla will entertain all elementary readers.  After Dogzilla, readers will enjoy Kat Kong (AR level 4.1, 0.5 points).

Create chapter book readers with two of Dav’s series: Ricky Ricotta and Captain Underpants.

Ricky Ricotta is slightly easier.  The books’ AR levels range from 2.9 to 4.1, with most in the 3^rd grade range.  Children will enjoy reading about Ricky, a mouse who befriends a giant robot and saves the city from an evil rat scientist named Dr. Stinky McNasty.

Children clamor for Dav Pilkey’s most popular books, Captain Underpants.  They are perfect gateway to reading real chapter books.

Dav Pilkey can be an important part of your classroom reading program!