EDUCATION 340

30 Trade Books Literacy Block

Jordan Robert Moss

5/6/2011

5 Multi-Cultural, 5 Fantasy, 5 Realistic Fiction, 5 Historical Fiction, 5 Non-Fiction, and 5 My Choice

Table of Contents

Multi-Cultural Book Activity

D is for Drinking Gourd: An African American Alphabet Cultural Alphabet Rock of Ages Group presentations over Church’s Seven Spools of Thread Word Unscramble Boxes for Katje Pen-Pals Ali, Child of the Desert Berber Cultural Facts

Fantasy

Book Activity Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs Falling Foods Porkenstein Perfect Friend Story The True Story of the Three Little Pigs Compare and Contrast Frederick Memorize Poem Magic School Bus Island Outline

Realistic Fiction Book Activity

Alex, the Kid with AIDS. Group Poster about AIDS The boy who didn’t want to be Sad Venn Diagram- Happy and Sad The Enemy Messages in a bottle The Top Job Presentation of parents Job The Fiddler of the Northern Lights Class Crazy Story Book

Historical Fiction Book Activity

The Babe & I Newspaper article A bus of our Own Trading Cards Quest for The West Travel Brochure Owney: The Mail-Pouch Pooch Owney’s Pic Sisters of Scituate Light New lyrics to Yankee Doodle

Non-Fiction Book Activity

By my Brother’s Side Description of twins The Chicago Bulls Make a mascot Langston’s Train Ride Response to his Works

Satchel Paige Baseball Game Peyton Manning & The Indianapolis Colts Team or Player Report

My Choice

Book Activity Lou Gehrig-The Luckiest Man Organized Web The Boy Who Invented TV Invent and Patent The Great Ball Game Board Races The Three Snow Bears Write own 3 Bears Story OUCH! Any Super Power

Title of book: D is for Drinking Gourd: An African American Alphabet Author’s name: Nancy I. Sanders. Illustrated by E.B. Lewis Copyright year: 2007 Genre: Multi-Cultural Number of pages: 36 SYNOPSIS OF STORY: This multi-cultural book is about the alphabet. The book takes us through each letter of the alphabet and uses an African American word with that letter. Each letter they use describes and explains an important concept, groups of people, or an important event in the African American culture. Along with each letter explaining the African American culture, the side of each page explains the letter in greater detail. ACTIVITY: This is an original activity that I would have students do after reading this book would be to make their own alphabet book. For each letter pick a person, event, saying, or hobby that you believe has made your life what it is today. For each letter include information explaining the word or phrase you chose. This is activity that I got from the book above, this also fit well with standard 5.1.2 Vocabulary and Concept Development. Use word origins to determine the meaning of unknown words. Title of book: Seven Spools of Thread: A Kwanzaa Story Author’s name: Angela Shelf Medearis Illustrated by Daniel Minter Copyright year: 2000 Genre: Multi-Cultural Number of pages: 34 SYNOPSIS OF STORY: This multi-cultural book is about seven sons who could not get along. They argued about everything from sun up to sun down even though this upset their father. When their father died, they argued about who would receive his inheritance, but the chief of the village would not have any of the arguing. He told the seven sons that they had one day to turn seven different spools of thread into gold and they could not argue or fight while doing this. If they broke the agreement then they would become beggars and all of their father’s inheritance would be given to the poor people in the village. The seven sons then worked together and made a beautiful cloth out of there seven spools of thread. They sold the cloth to the king and they were awarded their fathers inheritance. Then they taught there village how to make this beautiful cloth so the village could prosper as well. ACTIVITY: This is an original activity that I came up with to incorporate teamwork and cooperation. Students are split up into groups of three or four and given words that are scrambled from the texts. The groups must work together to unscramble and correctly spell the words. Then they need to find when that word is located and write the sentence out that the word is found in. This activity fits in with standard 3.2.7 Follow simple multiple-step written instructions. Title of Book: Rock of Ages Author’s name: Tonya Bolden

Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie Copyright year: 2001 Genre: Multi-Cultural Number of Pages: 28 SYNOPSIS OF STORY: This multi-cultural book is about the black church. The book takes you through time and explains what the black church has meant to the people. This book explains who “she” has taught, helped, and healed throughout the years. Through all the trials and tribulations the church has always been there to help and comfort its people. This book gives a great look into the black experience and American history. ACTIVITY:

Split the students up into groups and give each group a church. Then have each group research and give a presentation on that church. What are the rituals, type of music, type of sermons, types of people commonly found in this church, and any other interesting facts about your assigned church. This is an original idea that complies with standard 5.5.3 Research Application: Write or deliver a research report that has been developed using a systematic research process (defines the topic, gathers information, determines credibility, reports findings) and that: uses information from a variety of sources (books, technology, multimedia) and documents sources.

Title of book: Ali Child of the Desert Author: Jonathan London Illustrated by Ted Lewin Copyright year: 1997 Genre: Multi- Cultural Number of pages: 29 SYNOPSIS OF STORY: This multi-cultural book takes place in the Sahara desert. Ali, a boy, is making a three day journey with his father to the market. This is Ali’s first time traveling with his father to the market. Suddenly a sand storm separate’s Ali and his father and strands Ali in the desert with just his camel. Ali luckily finds Abdul and his grandson who heard a flock of goat, they invite Ali to go with them into the mountains or wait in the desert for his father to find him. Ali decides to wait for his father and try to survive being along in the desert, finally Ali’s father finds him and they make it to the market. Activity: This is an activity that I have done before with students. Each student will need to research the people of the Berber culture. They need to come up with 5 facts and 3 different pictures that represent what the Berber is about. This activity fits with Indiana academic Standard 5.5.3

Research Application: Write or deliver a research report that has been developed using a systematic research process (defines the topic, gathers information, determines credibility, reports findings) and that: • uses information from a variety of sources (books, technology, multimedia) and documents sources (titles and authors). • demonstrates that information that has been gathered has been summarized.

Title of book: Boxes from Katje Author: Candace Fleming

Illustrated by Stacey Dressen-McQueen Copyright year: 2003 Genre: Multi- Cultural Number of Pages: 31 SYNOPSIS OF STORY: This multi-cultural book is about two girls who became friends from across the world. Katje was a small girl who lived in Holland after the WWII had ended. Her family along with the town struggled to survive with a limited supply of food and clothes. One day Katje got a box from Rosie, a girl in America with socks, soap, and chocolate. Katje was very grateful and wrote Rosie back by saying that she was thankful for these items and that her town has been struggling to get by and the winter was going to be tough. This led to many more boxes and letters between the two girls and ended up helping the town get through the winter. After winter Katje wanted to send Rosie back a box, so she packed a box full of tulip bulbs and sent them to Rosie in Indiana. ACTIVITY: This is an original idea. Students will write Pen-Pal letters to children in other countries. They will tell there Pen-Pals about themselves and ask questions about their Pen-Pals. After writing these Pen-Pals they will be sealed, addressed and mailed out. This is an idea that I got from when I was in school and I believe that it goes with standard 5.5.6 Write for different purposes (information, persuasion, description) and to a specific audience or person, adjusting tone and style as appropriate. Fantasy Title of book: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs Author: Jon Scieszka Illustrated by: Lane Smith Copyright: 1989 Genre: Fantasy Number of Pages: 28 SYNOPSIS OF BOOK: This is a fantasy book about the true story of the three little pigs. This time the story is told from the wolf’s side. The wolf was trying to make a birthday cake for his granny and did not have any sugar so he went to his neighbors and asked if they had any sugar. His neighbors just so happened to be the three little pigs. When he went to their house he accidentally sneezed and blew their house down, thus killing the first two little pigs. When he went to the third little pigs house who insulted his granny, the wolf got angry and started huffing and puffing and sneezing so of course it looked bad to the cops when they showed up. The wolf said he got framed and the reports made up a story so know everyone knows him as the big bad wolf. ACTIVITY: This is an Idea from the brain of Jordan Moss. Compare and contrast this story to the original three little pig’s story. What is different, what is the same, and who do you believe is right? This is an original activity and can be used with standard 5.3.3 Contrast the actions, motives, and appearances of characters in a work of fiction and discuss the importance of the contrasts to the plot or theme.

Title of book: Porkenstein Author: Kathryn Lasky Illustrated by: David Jarvis Copyright date: 2002 Genre: Fantasy Number of pages: 30 SYNOPSIS OF STORY: This is a fantasy book about the third and smartest little pig. His name was Dr. Smart Pig and he was very lonely and had no friends to go trick-or-treating with on Halloween. So Dr. Smart Pig went to his laboratory and tried to invent a friend. His first two inventions went wrong and he created a pig fish and a pig bat. After messing up twice Dr. Smart Pig invented Porkenstein a giant pig who ate everything in sight. Dr. Smart Pig was worried until the big bad wolf showed up at his door on Halloween and Porkenstein ate the big bad wolf. After that the two pigs became best friends and lived happily ever after. ACTIVITY: This is an original idea. After reading the story have the students write down ideas for their perfect friend. Once they have accumulated ideas have them draw a picture of their perfect friend. Then develop a story with your friend this story should be 5 paragraphs long and include a setting, a problem and a way that you and your perfect friend solved that problem. This activity would fit in well with standard 5.4.2, Write stories with multiple paragraphs that develop a situation or plot, describe the setting, and include an ending. Title of book: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Author: Judi Barrett Illustrated by: Ron Barrett Copyright date: 1978 Genre: Fantasy Number of pages: 30 SNYOPSIS OF STORY: This is a fantasy book about a town that had all there food fall from the sky. The story stats out by the kid’s grandpa making them breakfast. Later that night he told them a story about the town of Chewandswallow. This town had all of their food fall from the sky, the food fell 3 times a day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This was great until the food started to destroy the town and all of the people had to move away. The next day when the kids woke up and went sledding they swear that the hill looked like a big pile of mashed potatoes with butter on top which made them feel like they were in there grandpa’s story. ACTIVITY: The students need to be writing ideas of food that they would like to have fall from the sky if they lived in a place like this. What would be the good days? (Sunny and Warm) What food would be the bad days? (Cold and Rainy) This is an original idea and would work with standard 5.4.1 Organization and Focus: Discuss ideas for writing, keep a list or notebook of ideas, and use graphic organizers to plan writing. Title of book: The Magic School Bus: Blows its Top Author: Joanna Cole Illustrated by: Bruce Degan

Copyright date: 1996 Genre: Fantasy Number of pages: 29 SNYOPSIS OF STORY: This fantasy book is about a class that learns about how the earth is changing all the time. Ms. Frizzle’s class is trying to put together a globe but can’t do it because they don’t have all of the pieces. Then Ms. Frizzle takes them on a Magic School Bus Field Trip to a volcano in the ocean and shows them how a volcano is made. The students there see how an island is made and understand how the world is always changing. ACTIVITY: The students will write a summary after reading this book. They will discuss how islands are made by thoroughly explaining the process in detail. Do not worry about the story instead focus on hoe the island is made. This is an original idea and goes along with standard 5.5.7 Write summaries that contain the main ideas of the reading selection and the most significant details. Title of book: Frederick Author: Leo Lionni Copyright date: 1967 Genre: Fantasy Number of pages: 27 SNYOPSIS OF STORY: This book is a fantasy book. This is a story about a family of field mice that were getting ready for winter. They all worked to gather food and supplies for winter except for Frederick. Frederick just sat there and said he was gathering the sun’s rays, the colors of the meadow, and the words of fall. The other mice were confused but just let Frederick be. So when winter came the family of mice all ate well and kept full for most of the winter until then started to run out of food. Then they asked Frederick what about his supplies that is when Frederick told them to close their eyes and imagine the things he had collected. He finished off by telling them the poem which made them all feel better. The other mice were all grateful. ACTIVITY: Students will memorize and present the poem that is in the end of this story. The students can either present this in front of the class or to the teacher one on one. They must recite the poem without error before they are awarded their grade. This is an original idea and goes along with standard 5.7.4 Organization and Delivery of Oral Communication: Select a focus, organizational structure, and point of view for an oral presentation. Historical Fiction Title of Book: The Babe & I Author’s Name: David A. Adler Illustrators Name: Terry Widener Copyright Year: 1999 Genre: Historical Fiction

Number of Pages: 30 pages Synopsis of Story: This is a story that deals with historical fiction. The Babe & I is about a little boy who sold newspapers during the depression. He started selling newspapers to help out his family because his dad did not have a job and was forced to sell apples on the street corner every day. The boy quickly realized that if he went to Yankee Stadium and sold papers to people that he would sell a lot more. The reason that he has great success selling papers is because he tells people that there are stories about Babe Ruth in the newspapers. From selling papers he is able to help out his family and even gets to meet Babe Ruth and see a Yankee game. Activity: This is an original activity that I came up with. The student will write a newspaper article that they believe would help sell newspapers. The article should be at least 100 words. The students should also list where they would sell these newspapers. I would use the 4th grade writing academic standard 4.6.3 * Create interesting sentences by using words that describe, explain, or provide additional details and connections, such as verbs, adjectives, adverbs, appositives, participial phrases, prepositional phrases, and conjunctions. Title of Book: Quest for the West- In search of Gold Author’s Name: Peter Kent Copyright Year: 1997 Genre: Historical Fiction Number of Pages: 29 pages Synopsis of Story: This book is about a family that migrated to California from Bohemia which is in the Czech Republic. They decided to leave there country hoping to strike it rich when they got to California. The book takes us through their journey, describing major stops along the way. Explaining how tough and difficult the journey was for the family of four, the book takes us through the 10 stages of their journey. The journey took 5 months and they were not lucky enough to find gold but they were able to prosper in other ways. Martina the wife started a restaurant and Thomas used his wagon to carry the supplies for the miners. To this day there great, great, grandchildren still prosper in the far west. Activity: This is an original activity that I came up with. The students will pick a town or city in Europe to travel from that they will travel back to their home town. The students will create a travel brochure for their trip. They need to calculate the distance from the two places. The students will also create precise instructions and directions to get from one point to another. They will write these instructions on the back of a map showing the route that they will take. This activity goes along with standard 4.7.4 of the 4th grade listening and speaking standards. * Give precise directions and instructions

Title of Book: A Bus of Our own Author’s Name: Freddie Williams Evans Illustrators Name: Shawn Costello Copyright Year: 2001 Genre: Historical Fiction Number of Pages: 29 pages Synopsis of Story: This story is about a little African-American girl named Maple Jean. She and her brother have to walk five miles to school every day in all weather conditions. On the way to school every day, Maple Jean and her brother always see a bus full of white kids that make fun of them. So when it starts to get cold out they will not be able to get to school because it is too cold. Once the community hears about this they start to raise money for their own bus. They are able to raise enough money to buy two old and run down buses but they combine the parts and are able to make one nice bus. Activity: This is an original activity that I came up with. The students will create trading cards. They will pick a famous African American and research this person. What did they do? Draw a picture on one side? Write important information about these people to help students learn about these people. * 4.5.2 * Write responses to literature that: • demonstrate an understanding of a literary work. • support statements with evidence from the text Title of Book: Sister of Scituate Light Author’s Name: Stephen Krensky Illustrators Name: Stacey Schuett Copyright Year: 2008 Genre: Historical Fiction Number of Pages: 28 pages Synopsis of Story: This story is about two girls who became heroes in there town. Abbie and Rebecca, who were the light house keeper’s daughters, kept up with the light house when their dad was gone. This was during the war of 1812, when the British would go into town and set flame to everything they could. When the British were approaching there town, without any hesitation the girls got out instruments and started playing Yankee Doodle dandy. This warned the town that the British were coming, but the British were close enough that they thought there were American soldiers occupying the town. This scared the British away and saved the town. Activity: This is an original activity that I came up with. The students will pair up into groups of 3 and come up with new words to Yankee Doodle. When they are done the students will get up in front of the class and recite there new version to Yankee Doodle. This activity relates to the Listening and Speaking standards. This is a 4th grade standard that will help the students engage the audience. * 4.7.9

* Engage the audience with appropriate words, facial expressions, and gestures. Title of Book: The Fiddler of the Northern Lights Author’s Name: Natalie Kinsey-Warnock Illustrators Name: Leslie W. Bowman Copyright Year: 1996 Genre: Historical Fiction Number of Pages: 29 Pages Synopsis of Story: This story is about a young boy and his grandpa and the fiddler of the northern lights. Grandpa Pepin always told Henry these crazy stories about the fiddler that made the Northern Lights dance and how the rabbits would dance in the moonlight. After Henry would hear these stories he would go and tell his family and friends. Of course Henry’s friends didn’t believe him and would tell Henry no to believe his grandpa. So one night Grandpa took young Henry and the skated down the river to try and hear the fiddler. They had no luck so they turned back because it was late. When they were back at home warming up, there was a sudden knock at the door, it was the fiddler asking if he could warm up. The fiddler stayed and played all night until the family and neighbors couldn’t dance anymore. Before Grandpa and Henry went to bed, they both looked at each other and smiled because they knew grandpa’s crazy stories were true. Activity: This is an idea that I have gotten from my previous teachers. I want every student to write about a crazy story that they have heard from someone in their family. They will write their stories and then conduct peer conferencing with each other. After those conferences then they will meet with the teacher. When all the stories have been revised we will put them all together and make a crazy story book. This activity falls in with a 4th grade writing standard. o 4.5.1 o Write narratives that: • include ideas, observations, or memories of an event or experience. • provide a context to allow the reader to imagine the world of the event or experience • use concrete sensory details. Title of Book: The Top Job Author’s Name: Elizabeth Cody Kimmel Illustrators Name: Robert Neubecker Copyright Year: 2007 Genre: Realistic Fiction Number of Pages: 30 pages Synopsis of Story: This story is about a little girl who talked about her dad’s job during career day. Her dad’s job was to change light bulbs, the whole class made fun of her for this. The little girl went to work with her dad one morning and realized he was changing the light bulbs of the Empire State Building. This made the little girl extremely proud of her dad. Then she went back and told her class about what her dad really did, they were all extremely impressed. They all wanted to go with her and her dad but she said

they couldn’t because next weekend he was washing windows, little did they know they were the windows on the Statue of Liberty. Activity: This is an original idea that I came up with. The students will write and then present a descriptive presentation about what their parents do. If they do not want to report what their parents do, then they can pick a dream job that they would like to do and present on that. The presentations need to be at least 4 minutes and use good descriptive details. This is a 5th grade Listening and Speaking standard. o 5.7.15 o Make descriptive presentations that use concrete sensory details to set forth and support unified impressions of people, places, things, or experiences. Title of Book: Alex, the Kid with AIDS Author’s Name: Linda Walvoord Girard Illustrators Name: Blanche Sims Copyright Year: 1991 Genre: Realistic Fiction Number of Pages: 31 pages Synopsis of Story: This is a story about Alex, a kid who had AIDS. Alex got AIDS from a blood transfusion. Everyone knew that Alex had AIDS because of a letter the principle had sent home and the nurse came to every class and gave the students and teachers instructions about how to deal with Alex. Because of Alex’s condition, he was able to do whatever he wanted he was given special treatment from his teachers. Because of this nobody wanted to be Alex’s friend. One day he was partnered with a student, in this poem the two students made fun of the teacher. From this Alex got all of his special privileges taken away, this resulted in the other kids seeing that Alex had a personality. This helped Alex become more popular and make more friends. Activity: I have done group informational posters in class before. Students will be split into groups and asked to research and construct posters about AIDS and the HIV virus. They will then present these posters to the class. This is 5th grade Listening and Speaking standard. * 5.7.10 * Deliver informative presentations about an important idea, issue, or event by the following means: • frame questions to direct the investigation. • establish a controlling idea or topic. • develop the topic with simple facts, details, examples, and explanations

Title of Book: Owney: The Mail-Pouch Pooch Author’s Name: Mona Kerby Illustrators Name: Lynne Barasch Copyright Year: 2008 Genre: Realistic Fiction Number of Pages: 31 pages Synopsis of Story: Owney, A straggly terrier mutt, wondered through the street of Albany, New York was trying to get out of the rain. He awoke to find himself bundled up in the post office. When the mail employees arrived the next day, they cleaned him up and gave him a name. His job in the post office was to chase rats, cats, patrol the mail room, and supervise the employees. Owney became very protective of the mail, no matter where he would go he would find his way back to the Albany post office. The train that he would go on around the world to protect the mail would always make stops at various post offices where Owney would get medals for helping out. When Owney got old, he retired and the post office put him on a boat to go around the world. But he eventually found his way back to the Albany post office. Activity: This is an original activity but I have used writer’s notebooks a lot in school. The students will get out their writers notebooks and draw a picture of what they would like Owney to do for them. The topic for their story is what would you do if Owney was your dog? * 4.5.6 * Write for different purposes (information, persuasion, description) and to a specific audience or person. Title of Book: The Enemy- A book about Peace Author’s Name: David Cali Illustrators Name: Serge Bloch Copyright Year: 2009 Genre: Realistic Fiction Number of Pages: 30 pages Synopsis of Story: This book is about two soldiers that were in two separate holes. Both of the soldiers would not eat or make a fire so the other would not sneak up on them. At the beginning of the war, one solider got a gun and a manual that explained every about their enemies. Finally one solider got tired of waiting and got enough nerve to crawl out and attack the other solider. It just so happened that his opponent did the same thing. When he looked in the hole he saw that his opponent had a manual about him also but everything in the manual was wrong. So before he left, he wrote on a handkerchief that he was tired of fighting and threw it in his enemy’s hole.

Activity: This is an original activity idea. The students will write letter to their enemy’s and explain what they want to do. Do they want to keep fighting? Are they tired of waiting and just want to go home? Each students needs to write a letter or message and then put that message in a bottle. When the students are done writing there message and they have put them into bottles, the teacher will split up the room into two sides. When the sides are split up the students will then throw there bottle to the other side of the room. Each student should have a new bottle and then they will read that new message. This activity fits well with the academic standard of Writing: using different applications. This is a 5th grade standard. * 5.5.4 * Write persuasive letters or compositions that: • state a clear position in support of a proposal., • support a position with relevant evidence and effective emotional appeals. • follow a simple organizational pattern, with the most appealing statements first and the least powerful ones last. • address reader concerns. Title of Book: The Boy Who Didn’t Want To Be Sad Author’s Name: Rob Goldblatt Copyright Year: 2004 Genre: Realistic Fiction Number of Pages: 28 pages Synopsis of Story: This story is about a boy who was tired of being sad. So he made a decision that he was going to take everything out of his life that made him happy so that it would not make him sad later when it came to an end. But after throwing away all of his toys, friends, animals, and books he realized that the things that made him sad were also the things that made him happy. So he did everything backwards. The lesson here is to face your emotions and everything will work out in the end. Activity: This activity I have done before in class. The students will create a Venn diagram about what makes them happy and what makes them sad. They need to make a middle column about what makes them both happy and sad. They need to have a minimum of five things in each section. This is a 3rd grade standard that involves Writing: Process and Features. * 3.4.2 Discuss ideas for writing, use diagrams and charts to develop ideas, and make a list or notebook of ideas

Realistic Fiction and Historical Fiction Title of Book: By My Brother’s Side Author’s Name: Tiki and Ronde Barber with Robert Burleigh Illustrators Name: Barry Root Copyright Year: 2004 Genre: Non-Fiction Number of Pages: 29 pages Synopsis of Story: By My Brother’s Side is about the football superstar twins Tiki and Ronde Barber. This story takes them back to when they were boys and how they were always there for each other. During a summer day the boys were out riding their bikes when Tiki badly injured his knee. The doctors told the twin’s mother that Tiki might not be able to play sports again. That seemed to be the longest summer for the twins because Tiki had to sit and watch Ronde play sports every day. Finally, Tiki’s knee got better and his mother let him go play. Their mother always said that if they stuck together and worked hard then they could do anything. So that’s what the two did that fall during football, they decided that they were going to be great football players and that they were going to do it together! ACTIVITY: This is an original activity that I came up with for this book. Each student will describe the two Barber brothers using descriptive words. Identify the similarities and differences between the Tiki and Ronde Barber. They need to come up with 3 similarities and 3 differences from the book. This activity goes along with Indiana State standard 3.3.3

Determine what characters are like by what they say or do and by how the author or illustrator portrays them.

Title of Book: Lou Gehrig – The Luckiest Man Author’s Name: David A. Adler Illustrators Name: Terry Widener Copyright Year: 1997 Genre: Non-Fiction Number of Pages: 30 pages Synopsis of Story: Lou Gehrig- The luckiest Man is a very good book that demonstrates courage, sportsmanship, and citizenship. This is a book about Lou Gehrig and his life and he came from nothing to everything back to nothing all in 37 years. Lou Gehrig played for the New York Yankees during his career and is one of the finest baseball players of all time. This story explains how Lou grew up and made it to the majors. After making it to the Majors just 14 years later Lou Gehrig had to quit because he couldn’t play anymore. He was diagnosed with what is now called Lou Gehrig’s disease which has no cure. This book shows how to work hard and always be thankful for what you are given.

ACTIVITY: This is an activity that I made up from looking over the standards. Students need to make a web for Lou Gehrig. Put his name in the middle and then have at least 6 characteristics or things about Lou Gehrig that they got from the book. This is Indiana academic standard 3.3.3. * Determine what characters are like by what they say or do and by how the author or illustrator portrays them. Title of Book: Satchel Paige Author’s Name: Lesa Cline-Ransome Illustrators Name: James E. Ransome Copyright Year: 2000 Genre: Non- Fiction Number of Pages: 30 pages Synopsis of Story: Satchel Paige is about the famous black pitcher Leroy Paige. He was one of the greatest pitchers ever to play the game of baseball. Satchel got his nickname from carrying bags at the depot station. The name stuck and he always had a knack for throwing a baseball. Satchel started his baseball career at Mount Meigs Industrial School for Negro Children. The first time Satchel was on the mound he pitched a perfect game and after that he could not be touched. Satchel played for about every team that wanted him in his career while becoming a great showman of the game. Satchel finally got his chance to make it to the Major Leagues when he was 42 years old. He was also the first African American to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. ACTIVITY: This is an original activity that I came up with upon reading this book. The students will play spelling baseball. There will be a baseball board game available. The students will pick cards and spell words from the book that are given. The cards will tell them how many bases they will get. If the students spell the word wrong that is an out. This fits in with Indiana academic standard 3.1.1. o Decoding and Word Recognition: Know and use more difficult word families (-ight) when reading unfamiliar words. Title of Book: Langston’s Train Ride Author’s Name: Robert Burleigh Illustrators Name: Leonard Jenkins Copyright Year: 2004 Genre: Non- Fiction Number of Pages: 28 pages Synopsis of Story: Langston’s Train Ride tells the story about how Langston Hughes became a writer. He had just finished high school and he was traveling to Mexico to visit his father. He was alone riding on the train where he was just listening to the clicks and clanks. It was when the train traveled over the Mississippi river that Langston knew that writing was his future. This is when Hughes wrote his famous poem “The Negro Speaks of River”. Langston Hughes went on to become a famous writer and one a leader of the Harlem Renaissance.

ACTIVITY: This is an original activity that I came up with for this selected reading. Students are given a choice of 5 Langston Hughes works. They will then read, study, and analyze what that work means. They need to write a response to the piece of literature. The response will include what they believe the text means, if they liked the work, and what they liked about the work. This activity works well with Indiana academic standard 5.2.4. * Draw inferences, conclusions, or generalizations about text and support them with textual evidence and prior knowledge. Title of Book: The Great Ball Game Author’s Name: Joseph Bruchac Illustrators Name: Susan L. Roth Copyright Year: 1994 Genre: Fiction Number of Pages: 29 pages Synopsis of Story: The Great Ball Game is a book about an argument that took place long ago. This was an argument between the birds and the animals. The birds thought their wings were better and the animals thought that their teeth were better. In turn they created a game with high stakes. The first one to score a goal would win the argument and the other side would have to except a penalty from the winning team. There was a problem, though no team wanted to pick the bat because it had both teeth and wings. Finally, the animals picked the bat because they felt sorry for him. So they started to play and it started to get dark. This was an advantage for the bat and helped him win the game. So the animals made the birds fly south every winter because they lost. This was the story about the great ball game. ACTIVITY: This is an original activity that I thought of after reading this book. The students will be split into two teams for board races. The students will then compete and the winning team gets to pick the penalty for the team that lost. (Punishment needs to be verified by teacher). These races will include examples of text from the book. The examples will be formatted along with the Indiana academic standard 5.6.4. * Identify and correctly use modifiers (words or phrases that describe, limit, or qualify another word) and pronouns (he/his, she/her, they/their, it/its). • Correct: On the walls there are many pictures of people who have visited the restaurant. • Incorrect: There are many pictures of people who have visited the restaurant on the walls. • Correct: Jenny and Kate finished their game. • Incorrect: Jenny and Kate finished her game. Title of Book: OUCH! Author’s Name: Natalie Babbitt Illustrators Name: Fred Marcellino Copyright Year: 1998 Genre: Fiction

Number of Pages: 30 pages Synopsis of Story: OUCH! Is a story about a boy named Marco that was born with a special birthmark. This birth mark meant that he was supposed to marry princess. This is when the King found out and went and threw Marco into the river to die. Luckily Marco was found by a family that raised him until the king found him again at the age of 16. Then Marco married the princess when the king was away. When the king got back he was so mad that he made Marco go to the devil and get three gold hairs. Marco fulfilled the kings request but tricked him into become a fairyman. Marco and the princess lived happily ever after. ACTIVITY: This is an activity that I got from my brother Justin Moss. The students will type on the computer a response to: If you could be born with any super power, what would it be? They need to respond in at least 2 paragraphs. This document must be typed to be accepted. This activity fits in with Indiana academic state standard 6.4.7. * Use a computer to compose documents with appropriate formatting by using word-processing skills and principles of design, including margins, tabs, spacing, columns, and page orientation. Title of Book: The Three Snow Bears Author’s Name: Jan Brett Copyright Year: 2007 Genre: Fiction Number of Pages: 29 pages Synopsis of Story: This story is about a little girl that lost her dogs on an ice flow. On her way to find her dogs she found an igloo where mama, papa, and baby bear stayed. She drank their soup, wore their shoes, and slept in the bed of the baby bear. Once the bears returned after rescuing her dogs, they noticed that something was different and found the young girl lying in the bed. The girl ran out of the igloo, grabbed her dogs and yelled thank you to the snow bears. ACTIVITY: This is an activity that I came up with after reading The Three Snow Bears. The students will write their own story about the three snow bears. They need to be creative and make sure the story has a begging a middle and an end. The story also needs to have a problem and a solution. The story should be at least 5 paragraphs long. This goes along with Indiana academic standard 5.4.2. * Write stories with multiple paragraphs that develop a situation or plot, describe the setting, and include an ending

Title of Book: Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts Author’s Name: Michael Sandler Copyright Year: 2008 Genre: Non- Fiction Number of Pages: 23 pages Synopsis of Story: Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts are about just those things. This book takes us through the highlights of Peyton Manning’s life and how he and the Colts won the Super bowl in 2008. This book shows where Peyton went to school and when he got drafted. Also explaining the success of the Colts in past years and how they have become one of the most successful franchises in the NFL. ACTIVITY: This is an original idea that I came up with for this book. The students will pick their favorite athlete or sports team and write an informational report on that person or team. The report should include when they were born, where there from, life growing up, and how they became famous. They also should list any achievements that this player or team has had. This activity fits into Indiana academic standard 4.5.6. * Write for different purposes (information, persuasion, description) and to a specific audience or person. Title of Book: The Boy Who Invented TV- The Story of Philo Farnsworth Author’s Name: Kathleen Krull Illustrators Name: Greg Couch Copyright Year: 2009 Genre: Non- Fiction Number of Pages: 29 pages Synopsis of Story: Plowing a potato field in 1920, a 14-year-old farm boy from Idaho saw in the parallel rows of overturned earth a way to “make pictures fly through the air.” This boy was not a magician; he was a scientific genius and just eight years later he made his brainstorm in the potato field a reality by transmitting the world’s first television image. This fascinating picture-book biography of Philo Farnsworth covers his early interest in machines and electricity, leading up to how he put it all together in one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century. ACTIVITY: I have done this activity in school before. This activity involves inventing something and learning about patents. The students will brainstorm and come up with an invention. They will then draw a picture of their invention and write a description for their invention. Once they do this they will have to apply for a patent. The patent will go through me as the teacher. The students will then present their inventions to the class. This standard relates to the Indiana academic state standard 4.7.2. * Summarize major ideas and supporting evidence presented in spoken presentations.

Non-Fiction and My Choice

Title of Book: The Chicago Bulls Author’s Name: Mark Stewart Copyright Year: 2008 Genre: Non- Fiction Number of Pages: 48 pages Synopsis of Story: This is a story about the Chicago Bulls and their great NBA franchise. The Chicago Bulls are part of the National Basketball Association in which they are one of the original 10 teams. This book takes us through there great players and success over the past years. Explaining how Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Phil Jackson led them to 6 NBA championships. This book also takes a look into the ownership, the arena, and the mascot. ACTIVITY: This is an original activity that I came up with after reading this book. The students will pair up into groups and create a Mascot for a team. This can be for a team that is already in existence or a team that they make up. They need to create a mascot on a big poster board. Also come up with a name and what he is known for. This activity fits in with Indiana academic standard 5.7.8. o Analyze media as sources for information, entertainment, persuasion, interpretation of events, and transmission of culture.