John Henry by Julius Lester (Folk Tale)

John Henry was story about a man who was fast and strong in everything he did. He could fun faster than you could say go and break through stones no normal man could break. When he was old enough he left home with two twenty pound sledgehammers that had four foot handles that his granddaddy once owned. He was headed toward Virginia so he could find work building the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad through West Virginia. On his way there he ran into men who needed help. John Henry, being the hard working man he was, helped the men build a tunnel through the mountain. They didn't believe he could do it with just his sledge hammers so John made a bet that who ever made it to the middle of the tunnel wins. John Henry was so fast that he met the steam drill on the other side and when he did, he didn't realize how much it took a toll on his body, for he didn't live long after to celebrate his victory. 

I would use this book to help students pay attention to what's being read by asking them questions, summarizing the story, stating the feelings behind the story, make connections, and ask them what questions came to mind when reading the story.

A Story A Story: An African Tale by Gail E. Haley (Folk tale)

This book is about how the "Spider Stories" of Ananse began. Ananse was a man who wanted to buy the stories of the Sky God. Ananse built a web that lead to the Sky God so he could talk to him. When Ananse asked if he could buy the stories from him, the Sky God laughed and told him that he had to pay the price by bringing him three things: Osebo the leopard of-the-terrible-teeth, Mmboro the hornet who-stings-like-fire, and Mmoatia the fairy whom-men-never-see. Ananse being a cleaver man, retrieved all those things and brought it back to the Sky God. The Sky God was pleased and so he release the stories to Ananse which were scattered to the corners of the world including this one.

I would use this book to introduce folktales and talk about what they are. After reading this book we would discuss the characteristics of a folk tale and compare it to other genre.

Johnny Appleseed by Eva Moore (Folk literature)

Johnny Chapman was a man who loved apples. His friend Mr. Crawford taught Johnny all about apples when he was little boy; everything you can do with apples Johnny knew. When he was older, he created an orchard and tried giving little apple trees to the pioneers that walked by his house. After while, Johnny became known as Johnny Appleseed because he traveled all throughout the wilderness planting appleseeds so more apple trees would grow. 

I would have students read two to three pages of this book when doing reading groups. They would have to summarize those pages, make predictions, connections, and write down questions that came to mind.

Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti by Gerald McDermott (Folk tale)

Anansi is a spider that had six sons. On day Anansi traveled a long way from home and got lost. One of the sons names, See Trouble, could see that their father was in trouble so they all went to help him. After they saved him, later that night Anansi saw this big bright light in the sky and wanted to give it to one of the sons, but he couldn't chose who to give it too. He prayed to Nyame, the God of all things, for help. In end, Nyame took the bight light high into the sky for everyone to see and it remained there for all the sons to share.

I would use this book to discuss the illustrations of the book and discuss the language that was used. Do these people use those words in their language? Is this a story they pass down from generations? I would have them make connections to other stories or even their lives.

Robot City Adventures: City in Peril by Paul Collicutt (Science Fiction)

In metropolis world where robots and humans are treated alike, a robot named Curtis the Colossal, a coast guard robot, is on the job again. After a long days work, the crew had planned on going home to rest, but plans were deferred. They received a distress from the oil rig saving there's a hug fire and oil is spilling everywhere. They need help right away. It's up to the team and Curtis the Colossal to save the city from this oil spill disaster.

I would use this book for fun. I would allow the students to read this book for entertainment purposes.

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren (Fantasy & Chapter)

Pippi Longstocking was a nine-year old girl who lived in a ram-shackle house without any parents telling her what to do. Her life was perfect to a child that age. The children that lived next door to Pippi were curious about her so they went over to introduce themselves. Once they met her they weren't disappointed. They soon realized that she wasn't like any other neighbor. Pippi could turn anything into an adventure and so they were off. 

This book is a fun book to read. I would read this book to my students for fun, but ask them questions pertaining to predicting and making connections.

...And Now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold (Multicultural & Chapter book)

Miguel Chavez was the middle child in the family who lived near Taos, New Mexico where his family lived on a sheep-raising farm for many generations. He yearned to go with the men of his family to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains where the men of the family go to protect the sheep from the weather, sickness, and wild animals. That was his secret. Miguel is unhappy because he's too young to do things his older brother Gabriel can do, and too old to be happy with the things he has like his younger brother Pedro. So Miguel decides its his last adventure of being a boy and first adventure of becoming a man by leaving home, which is where the adventure begins. 

I would use this book to discuss culture and how it is different in many places in the world. We would discuss what a culture is, what makes them different, why are they different, etc.

Addy Learns a Lesson by Connie Porter (Historical fiction &Chapter book)

Addy is a courageous, smart, and strong African American girl who grew up during the Civil War time. Her and her mother just traveled to Philadelphia where they were starting their new life as free slaves. Addy had imagined that being free was going to be exhilarating, but it wasn't like she imagined. When Addy started school she met, Sarah, an African American girl that taught her about school, the big city, and friendship, and Harriet, a popular and smart African American girl who lived the fancy life Addy dreamed about. Sarah and Harriet didn't like each other, but Addy wanted them to be friends so they all could be friends together.  Because Harriet was rich and popular, Addy hung out with Harriet more than Sarah. Later, Addy began to realize that Harriet wasn't a true friend and she apologized to Sarah for being a horrible friend to her. Addy and Sarah became the best of friends again.

After reading this book, I would have the students to compare and contrast school in those days to now. I would  have them write down four words that would describe how they would feel if they living in Addy, Sarah, or Harriet's shoes and explain why they chose those words.

Benito's Goal by Margarita Gonzalez-Jensen and Anne Kaske (Multicultural)

Benito is a boy that loves to play soccer with his friends Gina, Tuan, and Larisa. They've been best friends for three years; since they join the Cub's soccer team . One day on the bus, Benito told his friends some awesome news, he was asked to join the Tiger's soccer team and quit playing for the Cubs. His friends realized they were going to lose their friend,  but they supported him anyway. After a while Benito began to get so caught up with his new friends and winning, that he forgot about his old friends. During one of Benito's games, he decided to take a risky move and steal the ball from his opponent; he hurt his leg. His new friends ditched him and focused on winning the game while his old and true friends checked up on him. After that game Benito realized who his true friends were and learned to never turn his back on them again. 

NO IMAGE

I would use this book to teach about respect and knowing the characteristics of a good friend. Showing respect to your classmates is something that is needed in school and I want my students to learn that respect is necessary in school as well as outside school.

The Emperor and the Kite by Jane Yolen (Multicultural)

There was princess named Djeow Seow who was the youngest and smallest daughter of the Emperor. She was hardly ever noticed or thought of because she was so small and so she spent most of her day playing with her kite. Her brothers and sisters on the other hand were bigger and stronger than her, so they were looked at as rising suns and midnight moons in their father's eyes. One night the emperor was taking captive and no one saw it except Djeow, and she knew where they took him. To save her father she patiently weaved a long, strong rope of her hair and attached it to the end of the kite in hopes of saving her father. After everything Djeow did for her father, he finally recognizes her worth. 

I would read this book for fun. I would have to students to build their own kites out of the materials given to them and once their done, we'll going to go outside and try them out.

To incorporate technology, I would take pictures of each student with their kite as well as them playing outside. I would upload the pictures to Prezi.com and have the students type one or two sentences about their kite under their individual pictures. Once we've finished, we'll have each student present their kite on the power-point to the class using the smart board.

http://prezi.com/ag1f65okzbzf/the-princesses-and-princes-with-their-kites/

You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?! by Jonah Winter (Biography)

Sandy Koufax was a Jewish lefty baseball pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He pitched with is left hand for 6 years. When he first began playing for the Dodgers, he didn't play much because he was a rookie and rookies were known to lose. Koufax was a quiet guy and he kept to himself most of the time, so he never really had any friends. After a season of playing baseball, he decided to leave, but by next season everything changed. He began to pitch like never before; he was known as the strike out machine. After six years of baseball, Koufax decides to retire because his arm was giving him trouble so had to make a choice. 

I would use this book to discuss with the class why this is considered a non-fiction book. We would then go into depth of the characteristics of a non-fiction book and compare it the characteristics of a non-fiction book.

Almost to Freedom by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson (Historical Fiction)

A doll named Sally is telling the story of "living" in slavery with a little girl named Lindy, and her family from her perspective. Lindy's mother, Miz Rachel, using rags stitched Sally together and gave her to Lindy to play with. Lindy loved Sally so much that she took her everywhere. One night, Miz Rachel woke Lindy up so they could run away to freedom. On the way to freedom, they met up with Lindy's father and stayed at an old white couple's place to eat and rest.  Not to much later, they had to leave in a hurry because the slave owners where coming after them, but Sally was left behind. After days went by, another family with a little girl name Willa, came to stay with the old couple. She picked up Sally and changed her name to Belinda, and they became best friends.

After reading this book we would discuss how they felt, how they would've felt if they were in Sally's, Lindy's, or Miz Rachel's shoes. This would also help introduce a lesson on slavery compare it to modern day times.

Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope by Nikki Grimes (Biography)

Barry, a young man that went through times of sadness and joy. He was sad because he wasn't able to see his dad as much as he wanted, seeing people who were homeless, and being torn with who he was. He was happy when he played basketball with his friends, or got to see and talk to his father, but he still felt sad when he saw people struggling; the yearning to want to help them and change the world. The one thing that kept him going was hope. Hope continued to encourage him and push him into the powerful and world changing man he is today, Barack Obama. With hope and the support of people that believed in him, he is now president of the United States of America; Hope equals "Yes We Can!"

I would read this book to the students and have them to describe what "hope" meant to them. They would then draw a picture to represent their idea of "hope" and around the picture things or people that give them hope.

Seven Brave Women by Betsy Hearne (Historical Fiction & Chapter)

"History should be her story too.." The seven brave women in this story were talked about through their granddaughter. She wanted to pass the history of her grandmothers down to the next generation, and show how these women were brave even though they never fought in the wars that were taking place during their time of living. These women where brave women because of the things they endured. The granddaughter ended the story stating that she wasn't a women yet, but she was going to make history just like her grandmothers. 

Before I read this book, I would show the student's the pictures and have them make analyze the pictures, make inferences, and predictions on what was going to happen next for each page; this is to help develop these skills when they're on their own reading a text. This would also be a fun way to help students understand the use of illustrations and how they can be used in various ways when reading.

The Ugly Duckling by Rachel Isadora (traditional literature)

The ugly duckling was a "duck", that didn't look like any normal duck. He had was large, clumsy, and didn't like any of his brothers or sisters. He constantly was picked on and teased about how different he was until one day he felt he had no choice but to leave. The "duck" went on a journey trying to find out where he truly belonged. One day after a long winter and spring blossoming in, the "duck" had grown into this large bird that when he looked at his reflection, he didn't recognize himself, but something happened that changed his life forever. He had seen some beautiful birds near by that looked like him, and he realized that he was a beautiful swan.

I would use this book during a science lesson on life cycles. We would discuss the stages the "duck" went through before he became an adult. I would then bring in a live chick egg and have us watch him/her until it hatches.

To incorporate technology, I would have the students set up a camcorder every afternoon before the bell rang so they could record over night just in case the bird hatches at night. Once the bird hatches, we could edit the video to present a new video of the bird's process. Afterwards, the students will journal about the process using Wordle, expressing their ideas of what they've learned about the life cycles and their experience.

<a href="http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3263942/Life_Cycle_Experience" 
          title="Wordle: Life Cycle Experience"><img
          src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/3263942/Life_Cycle_Experience"
          alt="Wordle: Life Cycle Experience"
          style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd"></a>

The Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles (Biography)

Ruby Bridges was born in Tylertown, Mississippi. She was one of the four African-American girls to attend a white school, William Frantz Elementary School. Everyday she went to school, she was escorted by Federal Marshal because of the mob of people that were outside the school. The people called her names, wanted to hurt her, the parents took their kids out of the school, etc., but Ruby kept going to back and prayed for the people who were mean to her. After a while, the people realized Ruby wasn't afraid of them, so they gave up. They allowed their children to go back to school with Ruby and she continued to excel in school.

I would use this book to help introduce a lesson on discrimination. After reading this book to the class, we would have a class discussion on what happened, ask questions about how they felt, and after hearing this story what they thought discrimination meant. I would then proceed with the lesson.

Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood by Mike Artell (folktale)

Petite Rouge Riding Hood, a small Cajun duck that lived in the Louisiana swamp with her mother was sent to her Grandmere's house with some gumbo (soup) because she was sick with the flu. On her way there, she ran into o'l Claude the alligator who wanted some of her gumbo and maybe her too. Petite Rouge refused to share the gumbo and thought she scared o'l Claude away, but when she reached Grandmere's house, it didn't go as planned.

This story is very fun to read because the text is written using Cajun language. After reading this book aloud to the students, we would compare and contrast the language and lifestyle of the Cajun community to our own communities. This would help introduce a lesson on community differences when teaching social studies.

To incorporate technology, I would have to students log onto Glogster.com and create a collage of what they think is a great community.

http://janq123.glogster.com/edit/glog/?action=glogs_create

Robot City Adventures: Rust Attack by Paul Collicutt (graphic novel)

In a metal metropolis world where robots and humans are equals, two detectives name Rodney, whose a robot, and Mike go undercover to investigate and save the city from a rust epidemic. With the help of Rosie Mcfarlane, the victim, and their secretary, Elaine, they go out in search of the crook to stop this from happening. With time unknown, they must hurry before it's too late.

I would you this book to teach my students about making predictions and creating connections to a story. After a brief introduction on what predictions and connections are, I would read this story to the students. While reading this story, I would have the students make predictions and ask connection questions to create meaning behind the story which in return help build their understanding. 

Martina the Beautiful Cockroach by Carmen Agra Deedy (folktale)

Martina Josefina Catalina Cucaracha was a beautiful cockroach that turned 21 days old and was ready to marry. The word about Martina being ready to marry spread across town and men began preparing to ask her leg in marriage. In the meantime, Martina's Abuela, grandmother, told her the trick to picking the right man was by pouring coffee on the his shoes because it will shoe Martina how he would speak to her when he loses his temper. Martina didn't think it was a good idea, but she did as her Abuela asked. Will Martina find the man of her dreams or will she come up empty legged?

I would use this book to introduce a lesson on different cultures. This story is a Cuban Folktale and I would discuss the differences between American and Cuban culture.

Earthworms by Lola M. Schaefer (non-fiction)

What animals are invertebrates that live in the ground and eat dead plants, seeds, roots, and stems for food? You named it, Earthworms. Earthworms are animals that live in homes called burrows and they slide through the dirt with the help of mucus that covers the skin of their bodies. They are very good for farmers because they mix up the dirt as they dig.

This non-fiction book is a great book for first graders to use to increase their reading skills and build vocabulary. I would use this book as a take home book or during silent reading time.