Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl

Modern Fantasy
3rd Grade

This is fun and exciting chapter book full of laughter, sneaky characters, and wonderful illustrations. Roald Dahl begins the book by painting a vivid picture of the main characters. There are three farmers in this story Boggis, Bunce, and Bean, who are all trying to protect their farms from a fox that steals their animals in the middle of the night. Night after night they sit and wait for the fox but always miss him, and one night they decide to sit outside of the fox's whole to make sure they catch him, but instead they just get his tail. This frightens the fox, the fox's wife, and their three children. They realize that the farmers will not stop at anything to catch Mr. Fox. The farmers come up with the bright idea that they will just dig the fox out of his hole. So as the farmers are digging with farm machinery, the foxes are digging their hole deeper and deeper.

After days of exhaustion and starvation Mr. Fox has a bright idea. Him and his children will dig their way to Boggis', Bunce's, and Bean's farms to get their food. So the four dig and dig and in the meantime run into other animals that can no longer gather food because of the farmers trying to catch Mr. Fox. Because of this Mr. Fox feels bad and invites all of these animals to a feast at his hole. Sneaky Mr. Fox was able to get the job done and gather enough food from the farms without the farmers ever even knowing.

Dahl leaves children at the end of the book with the picture that the fox is still getting food without the farmers knowing and the farmers are still waiting outside of the fox hole for him to come out.


This is a wonderful book to use to have children create an alternative ending. As a whole class we will read this novel; some of it will be read aloud and other parts students will read on their own. After we have finished reading the book students will write the last chapter over. They will write another ending to the story, other than the one Dahl used. This will allow them to use their imagination. After everyone is finished they will get into groups and share their ending to the story with their peers.

IF YOU Lived When Women Won Their Rights by Anne Kamma

Nonfiction
5th Grade

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

I will use this book with students to help them understand how women earned the right to vote. The book is divided into many sections and so we will read it over a period of several days. Also, the book mentions several women that helped with the Suffrage Movement. After reading the book I will have students research one of these women and to present their findings I will have them create an animoto to share with their peers.

Johnny Appleseed: The Story of A Legend by Will Moses

Folk Literature
3rd Grade


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Each year on Johnny Appleseed's birthday I will read this book with my students. We will spend the day incorporating Appleseed into math, science, social studies, language arts, art, and technology. After reading the book I will have students create a Wordle about Johnny Appleseed.

Transformed: How Everyday Things are Made by Bill Slavin

Nonfiction
4th Grade

This is a kid friendly book that teaches them how things they encounter everyday are made. The book is divided into five sections: Fun and Games, Around the House, Soup to Nuts, Cover-Ups, and Back to Basics. Some of the items that it discusses are soccer balls, crayons, wax candles, licorice, tea, work gloves, lumber, etc. The text structure of this book is written in sequence order. Each step is numbered and has a clear description. Also, there is a picture presented with each item being made. This gives students the opportunity to see a visual representation of what they are reading. At the top of each page the item being described is presented in bold print and underneath it there is a description of what the item is used for. At the end of the book there is a glossary with terms that students may not know. There is also an index and table of contents so that students can quickly find what they are looking for without having to search the whole book.


I will use this book as a design project for students. I will have them pick a section of the book they want to focus on. The students will then be divided into groups based on which section they choose. Each group will spend time looking at the items in the section, how the information is presented, and how the items are created. After this students will have to create something using a variety of materials that would fall into the section they choose. For example, if they choose fun and games they may choose to design a ball for a new sport they may event. After they have created their design they will write up a description that could be inserted in their section. They will be expected to follow the same format as the book does. This will allow the students to use the book in a creative way and also gain knowledge on how to read nonfiction text.
I will also have this book available for students to read at any point in the year that they wish. This will hopefully help them answer some of their questions about how their favorite things are made.

Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman by Alan Schroeder

Historical Fiction
5th Grade

This is a story about Harriet Tubman as a child and her first realization that one day she wanted to be freed from slavery. When Minty was a young child she worked inside of the big house for her owners until she disobeyed an order. It was then that she was forced to work in the fields and she found herself wondering how she could escape.

One day her owner took her to the river near the plantation to get all muskrats out of the traps. While in the river Minty freed the muskrats (instead of capturing them for the master) and also tried to run herself. Unfortunately, her master captured her and whipped her extremely hard. Minty's father, Old Ben, knew that Minty wanted to escape so he spent the summer teaching her how to swim quietly, how to find her way north, and many other things.

Towards the end of the summer Minty's mother, Old Rit, sent her to the master's house to retrieve some flour. When Minty got to the front of the house she saw a horse tied to a tree and she then for one second prepared to escape but became frightened. That night she laid amongst her brothers and sisters and decided that one day she would run away. The last page of the book goes on to explain how Minty became Harriet Tubman the leader of the Underground Railroad.


This book will be used in a unit that focuses on Slavery and the Civil War. I feel that the Underground Railroad is an important part of these events in history. To begin this unit I will do a book pass that will include a number of picture books from this time period. This will be one of the books I use. Each book will be read aloud throughout the unit and students will use these picture books to help them connect to this time in history.

Luba and the Wren by Patricia Polacco

International Literature
3rd, 4th, or 5th grade


This story is about a small child from Russia named Luba. Luba lived in a small farm house with her father and mother. As she was walking through the forest one day, she heard a bird crying for help. Luba, with her kind heart, helped the bird. Because Luba helped the bird, he granted her with a wish. When her parents heard of this they told Luba to wish for a bigger house for their family. Just like the bird promised he granted Luba with her wish. Luba's family soon became obessessed with gaining a larger house and gaining power and kept asking the bird for more and more wishes. It was not until Luba's parents asked to be gods that the bird took the family back to their small farmhouse. The family discovered that this small house is were true happiness was.


I absolutely love the illustrations in all Patricia Polacco's books. After reading this story aloud to students I will use it for art. I will have the students create an illustration that could be used in Luba and the Wren. Any materials in my classroom would be open for their use but I would remind them that the point of the illustration is to use the same techniques as Polacco. I would encourage students to do some research on the techniques she uses before beginning their illustration.
Using this book would serve two purposes. It would introduce students to Russian culture and give them an opporunity to focus on the illustrations as much as they do the story.

The Watsons Go To Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

Historical Fiction
5th Grade

This story is about a family living in Flint, Michigan that has been spared by the racial acts being committed towards African Americans in the south. This story is told by the middle child Kenny, a boy that is becoming a teenager and is facing things he has never experienced in life. The Watson family consist of a mom, dad, two sons, and one young daughter. The book begins by describing the characters and telling funny family stories. When the family begins having problems with the oldest son and his attitude, they decide to take him to live with his grandmother in Birmingham. As the whole family travels from Michigan to Birmingham they begin to face what other African Americans are going through in the south. When they finally reach Birmingham they are faced with a terrible scare. A church that the youngest daughter is visiting for Sunday school is blown up and the family realizes that more than likely their youngest daughter is dead. Luckily, the daughter was not inside the church. Kenny suffers from this tragedy still. He is now faced with reality of what his race is going through.



I will use this book as a connection between language arts and social studies. As part of the unit where we discuss the Civil Rights Movement, I will have students participate in Book Clubs with every chapter to hear a side of this historical event from someone other than the typical storytellers of this time.

Yeh-Shen A Children Story from China by Ai-Ling Louie

Traditional Literature
3rd Grade

Yeh-Shen is an asian version of Cinderella. This story is about an orphaned girl named Yeh-Shen that is left in the care of her stepmother. She was a beautiful girl that was envied by her stepmother and step sisters. Because of this Yeh-Shen was forced to do dirty work and was never given the opportunity to meet anyone, so her only friend was a fish. Yeh-Shen would feed the fish and the fish grew to be enormous. Yeh-Shen's stepmother did not like this, so she went to the pond and killed the fish. Yeh-Shen was crushed by the lose of her friend.

It was not long after this tradegy that an old man presented Yeh-Shen with the fishes bones and explained to her that all she had to do was kneel before the fish bones and tell them what she desired. Every wish that Yeh-Shen wished for became true.

Yeh-Shen soon desired something that her heart never thought was possible. She desired to go to the festival in the village where men choose their wives. She wanted to find someone to love her. Yeh-Shen knelt before the fish bones and told them her wish. Just like with everything else the fish bones made her desire come true. She was given a beautiful cloak and golden slippers to wear so that she would not be recognized by her evil stepmother and step sisters.

When Yeh-Shen enters the festival, everyone is stunned by her beauty. Shortly after arriving, Yeh-Shen hears her step sister talking to her stepmother about how the beautiful woman looks like Yeh-Shen. This frightens Yeh-Shen and she leaves the festival. On her way she lost one of her golden slippers and because of this the fish bones would no longer hear her. She then hid the remaining shoe under the tree and cried herself to sleep.

Meanwhile, a villager found the mate to the golden slipper and presented it to the king. The king had a desire to find the woman who owned the golden slipper so, he searched the entire kingdom. Yeh-Shen sneaked to the pavilion in the middle of town at night to steal her golden slipper back. The king noticed her steal the shoe and asked his men to follow her, for he knew it must be the owner of the shoe. When the king and his men reached Yeh-Shen's home, he asked Yeh-Shen to place the golden slipper on her feet and immediately the beautiful cloak was wrapped around Yeh-Shen. The king and Yeh-Shen later married and the evil stepmother and stepsisters were thrown in a cave.



I will use this version of Cinderella to teach about fairy tales from different cultures. After reading this book aloud I will have students find other versions of Cinderella. When reading the other versions students would use Venn-diagram charts to compare and contrast two versions from two different cultures. This will help students see how fairy tales and folk tales differ among cultures.