Syar's blog

  Title: Moses: When Harriet Led Her People to Freedom Genre: Historical Fiction Author: Carole Boston Weatherford Major Awards: Coretta Scott King, Caldecott Grade Level: 1-3 Age: 5-8 Summary:  Carole Boston Weatherford describes Tubman's spiritual journey as she hears the voice of God guiding her north to freedom on that very first trip to escape the brutal practice of forced servitude. Tubman would make nineteen subsequent trips back south, never being caught, but none as profound as this first one. Courageous, compassionate, and deeply religious, Harriet Tubman, with her bravery and relentless pursuit of freedom, is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Evaluation:

  Title: Be A King: Dr. Martin Luther King's Dream and You Genre: Historical Fiction Author: Carole Boston Weatherford Major Awards: N/A Grade Level: PK-3 Age: 4-8 Summary:  Carole Weatherford's poetic text encapsulates the moments that readers today can reenact in their own lives. See a class of young students as they begin a school project inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and learn to follow his example, as he dealt with adversity and never lost hope that a future of equality and justice would soon be a reality. As times change, Dr. King's example remains, encouraging a new generation of children to take charge and change the world Evaluation:

  Title: Becoming Billie Holiday Genre: Historical Fiction Author: Carole Boston Weatherford Major Awards: Coretta Scott King Grade Level: 6-7 Age: 12-13 Summary:  Through a sequence of raw and poignant poems, award-winning poet Carole Boston Weatherford chronicles Eleanora Fagan's metamorphosis into Billie Holiday. The author examines the singer's young life, her fight for survival, and the dream she pursued with passion in this Coretta Scott King Author Honor winner. Evaluation:

  Title: Magic Tree House: Dinosaurs Before Dark Genre: Historical Fiction Author: Mary Pope Osborne Major Awards:  Young Readers Choice Awards Grade Level: 1-4 Age: 6-9 Summary:  Upon entering a tree house in the woods close to their home, siblings Jack and Annie discover that it is filled with books and magic! Before they realize what is happening, the pair are whisked off to prehistoric times where dinosaurs roamed freely. Jack and Annie must face their fears and work together to find a way to return to Frog Creek. Evaluation: I would use this book in my classroom to teach my students about sequencing since this story does a good job at going in chronological order. They will get a work sheet with a list of events that took place in the story and using numbers 1-10, they will use 1 as the first event that took place and list the numbers off to the last event that took place using 10.

  Title: The War That Saved My Life Genre: Historical Fiction Author:   Kimberly Brubaker Bradley Major Awards: Newbery, Golden Kite for Middle Grade Fiction Grade Level: 2-12 Age: 9-12 Summary:   Bradley (Jefferson’s Sons) examines WWII through the eyes of a disabled child eager to escape her life of neglect and abuse. With the threat of German bombs being dropped on London, most parents are anxious to get their children out of the city. But Ada’s mother, shamed by her daughter’s deformed foot, doesn’t seem to care. Ada takes it upon herself to board an evacuee train with her younger brother and, without their Mam’s knowledge, they arrive in a country village with a crowd of students. Malnourished and filthy, the siblings are placed with Miss Smith, a woman lacking any experience with children, who claims she isn’t “nice.” Nonetheless, she offers Ada and Jamie food, clothing, and security, and she owns a pony that Ada is determined to learn to ride. In this poignant stor...

  Title: Third Grade Pet Genre: Realistic Fiction Author: Judy Cox Major Awards: N/A Grade Level: 2-5 Age: 7-10 Summary: A  girl with a fear of rats overcomes that fear in this fast-paced classroom story, where the personalities of the students and a funny, alert teacher take center stage. Rosemary is horrified when a rat becomes the class pet. She can’t help herself, though, when the students are deciding on a name; she shouts “Cheese” and the name is adopted. When it’s her turn to take care of Cheese, Rosemary grows fond of the pet. So fond, in fact, that she steals it rather than let her awful classmate Brian take it home. After several  fails of  trying to hide it at home, she gets it back into the cage, confesses to Mr. Wilder, and gives Brian a quick lecture on how to care for Cheese properly. Evaluation: I would recommend this book because it’s appropriate for kids to relate to. For example, this book indirectly shows how Rosemary was afraid of rats until her...

  Title: The Only Girl in School Genre: Realistic Fiction Author: Natalie Standiford Major Awards: N/A Grade Level: 4-6 Age: 8-12 Summary:  Claire, the only girl in her small Maryland island school, recounts her fifth-grade year in a series of humorous yet poignant letters to her best friend who moved away.  With Bess in California and Henry, her other best friend, ignoring her, Claire is lonely. She does have the girls’ bathroom to herself, transforming it into a cozy clubhouse where she can read and create wall drawings of her daily trials, which range from Yucky Gilbert’s relentless pursuit to kiss her to Webby’s bullying behavior. From the traditional annual elementary school square dance to the production of  A Christmas Carol , in which she plays all female parts, from having hot sauce poured on her pizza to being tripped in soccer—nothing dampens Claire’s spunk. A champion in previous sailing regattas, Claire convinces Henry to crew for her; they are a team ag...

  Title: Amber Brown: I, Amber Brown Genre: Realistic Fiction Author: Paula Danziger Major Awards: N/A Grade Level: 2-5 Age: 7-10 Summary:  I,  Amber   Brown   is about a nine-year-old girl named   Amber  whose parents recently got divorced, and both share joint custody of her. As a result of her parent's hostility towards each other and the battle of joint custody, Amber suffers from a lack of self-esteem and lying because she is misunderstood.  Evaluation: I feel like this is an appropriate and relatable book for younger students. Especially for the students who may be going through their parents getting a divorce and may feel just as discouraged as Amber Brown is. Since most of the book revolves around her lack of self-esteem, I could have the students write on a sticky note (provided) 6 great things about themselves that they love. Some kids in my class my deal with low self-esteem because of other circumstances so this is a great way to build...

  Title: Pay it Forward Genre: Realistic Fiction Author: Catherine Ryan Hyde Major Awards: N/A Grade Level: 3-7 Age: 3-12 Summary: This story is about Trevor McKinney, a twelve-year-old boy in a small California town who accepts his teacher’s challenge to earn extra credit by coming up with a plan to change the world. Trevor’s idea is simple: do a good deed for three people, and instead of asking them to return the favor, ask them to “pay it forward” to three others who need help . He envisions a vast movement of kindness and goodwill spreading across the world, and in this “quiet, steady masterpiece with an incandescent ending. Evaluation: This is a good book to use in a classroom to teach about paying a good dead to other people. To have my students actually understand what it is to do a good deed, I will ask them to do three good deed during the week. One deed can be for someone at their school and the other two can be completed at home, in school, or during extracurricular acti...

  Title: Wonder Genre: Realistic Fiction Author: R.J. Palacio Major Awards: Texas Bluebonnet  Grade Level: 4-7 Age: 8-12 Summary:   August "Auggie" Pullman , a 10-year-old kid who suffers from a genetic condition called mandibulofacial dystosis that has left his face misshapen. People stare and judge him by his looks, but Auggie tries not to let it bother him. He feels like a normal kid on the inside and wishes others would get to know him for who he is. Auggie’s life of relative isolation is upended when he transitions from homeschooling to attending Beecher Prep Middle School. He faces bullying  and discrimination, because of his appearance, as well as the routine trials of growing up.  At the beginning of the story, Auggie believes he’s just like any other kid.  He makes a new friend, Jack Will; he and Jack Will  sit next to each other in practically every class, providing some relief from his status as an outcast. Auggie also befriends Summer ...

Title: Charlotte's Web Genre: Audiobook, Fiction Author: E.B. White (read by Meryl Streep, Robin Miles, Kirby Heyborne, Cassandra Campbell, Kimberly Farr, Lincoln Hoppe, Mark Deakins) Age Group: 6-7 Awards: Audie Awards Grade Levels: 2-4 Summary:  In the book, Wilbur and Charlotte show loyalty, devotion, and self-sacrifice within their relationship. For instance, Charlotte saves Wilbur's life by convincing everyone he is a special pig by spinning words in her web that seem like miracles. These miracles make Wilbur famous enough that Homer Zuckerman, owner of the farm, decides not to slaughter him. Later in the story, when Charlotte dies, Wilbur saves her egg sac and protects it until the baby spiders emerge.   Evaluation: This book is very appropriate to use in a classroom and I would actually use it for a word wall activity for 4th graders. To teach more vocabulary words, I would create a "spider web" and put it all on a bulletin board and I would have a sheet of pap...