Follow the Drinking Gourd (Multicultural)

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Follow The Drinking Gourd is a story about the African American slaves in America during the times of slavery. Peg Leg Joe secretly helped the slaves to freedom by teaching them a song called "Follow the Drinking Gourd" that included the directions to help them to freedom.  The slaves have to endure a series of trials before they get to their destination but they have Peg Leg Joe's song to help along the way.

This story has some graphic pictures and it may be the first time that some students will be exposed to material about slavery.  I think this is a time for students to do their own personal reflecting.  I would ask students students to "talk back" to parts of  story to express their own emotions.  I would ask some students who are comfortable to share with the class.

Tippy Lemmey (Historical Fiction)

Even though this story was set in 1951 during the time of the Korean War, 3 kids are dealing with much bigger problems.  A dog with 2 first names, Tippy Lemmey, is causing problems in their neighborhood.  He always barks at them and tries to chase after them!  The kids really want him gone but they soon come to realize why he acts the way that he does and then come to find that he is a hero!

This book is mini-chapter book that introduces the Korean war and the effects that it had on this small town.  I would expose the students to some background information about that particular war and open discussion up for students that may have experienced some effects from wars that they have lived through. 

Aliens for Breakfast (Modern Fantasy)

Richard is just a regular boy in elementary school.  When a new boy comes to his class, he realizes how cool he is, how nice his clothes are, how popular he is, and most importantly, how beautiful and dazzling his smile is.  While Richard is trying to figure out how to be more like Richard, his mom introduces him to a new cereal,  Alien Crisp. When he begins to eat this cereal he is in for a big surprise.  A surprise that also has news about the new student in his class.

For this book, I would let have the students do a creative writing assignment in their journals about their experiences if they found an alien in their cereal box.

Freckle Juice (Realistic Fiction)

To introduce my students to Glogster, I would ask them to write a brief summary.  Afterwards, all the entries would be shared with the class.

http://jmr2012.glogster.com/freckle-juice/

No Talking (Realistic Fiction)

 Dave is a fifth grade student at Laketon elementary who is inspired to spend a day in silence in honor of Gandhi.  Although he had no problem accomplishing this goal, it caused quite a stir at his school.  In fact, it ended up being a competition of silence between boys and girls. Dave has to prove that he is better than the girls and prove that girls can't control their talking even if they tried!

After reading this book, I would have my students brainstorm what other projects they can do as a class to make a difference in the school.  I would then ask students to write in their journal about the specific project they would want to take on, why it's important to them, and how they would go about doing it.

Cendrillon (Multicultural)

Author: Robert San Souci

On an island in the Caribbean sea, there was a girl who came from a poor family.  When her mother died, the only thing she could give her was a wand made of mahogany.  She was told that she could tap anything three times and it would temporarily change into something else and that the magic must be used on someone that she loved.
Time passed and the little girl, called Nannin', grew up to be a washerwoman for the people of her town. She became the godmother of a baby girl, Cendrillon, whose mother passed away of an illness shortly after giving birth. Cendrillion's father remarried an evil woman who gave birth to a girl who was just as evil as the mother! Cendrillon is forced to do hard housework and is treated very badly by the two women.
Nannin' must help Cendrillon find happiness and what other way to help than to use her wand!

After reading this story, I would ask my students to create a Venn diagram comparing this story to the American version of Cinderella.

Kamishibai Man (Multicultural Fiction)

 Author: Allen Say

This story is about a  man that lived in Japan his entire life.  During his younger years, he told stories to children using a cart filled with pictures and candies. Because of this, he was called the Kamishibai man. The children loved his stories and always came back for more.  As the years progressed and technology advanced, the children watched more television, used hand-held games, and really didn't have an interest in listening to his stories.  The Kamishibai man aged and didn't have the chance to tell many more stories but he later found out that he'd influenced people in ways he never imagined.

After this story, I would ask the children to become Kamishibai men/women and create their own never-ending stories, record it on a flip-camera and share with  a small group of their classmates.