Bria's Bookshelf

AR: 2.9

Grade Level: 3rd-6th

Summary: Boycott Blues is a book all about how people, during the civil rights movement, dealt with segregation. The story is told from a "dog-tired hound", which makes the book even more interesting! 

Idea: I absolutely fell in love with this book the first time I read it! The fact that it's told from a dog, who's singing the "boycott blues" is amazing! I also love the fact that the author personifies segregation, as a menacing bird. This is an amazing book to intertwine social studies with, and to teach figurative language!

AR: 3.3

Grade Level: PreK-3rd

Summary: Rainbow Fish, by Marcus Pfister, is all about the value of friends. It teaches children that you cannot always stand alone. Sometimes you need help. Sometimes you have to make sacrafices! Together is always better!

Idea: I absolutely love this book. I would most definitely use this book for character education. I would stress the importance of not being selfish and being open to making new friends. An activity that I would use for this would be to label "the rainbow" fish. I would do this activity with my younger students, such as Kindergarten. 

AR: 4.4

Grade Level: 2nd-5th

Summary: My Name Is Truth describes the life of slave, Sojourner Truth. It goes into detail of her life as a slave, then dwells into how she received her name Sojourner Truth. 

Idea: I absolutely love this book! It's an excellent book to help introduce slavery to students. It encourages determination, what we want all of our students to have. I will most definitely be using this book to cover a unit on slavery during social studies. 

AR:

3.5

Grade Level: 

Prek-4th

Summary:

Have you ever had anyone tell you that you couldn't be something because of your race, gender, etc? Yeah? Well Grace can relate. Amazing Grace is about how Grace chooses to take on the role of achieving her goals, despite what her peers have to say about it. No matter what, YOU CAN be anything and everything you want like to be!

Idea:

I absolutely love this book! It teaches so much about character and diverisity! A fun activity that I would allow students to participate in is acting out the book. This way, they can literally put their foot in someone else's shoes!

AR: 2.9

Grade Level: PreK-1st

Summary: The Very Hungry Caterpillar is all about how a very hungry caterpillar transformed into a not so hungry butterfly! This book is excellent for teaching numbers and the cycle of the butterfly. 

Idea: I will most definitely be using this book to teach a science lesson on the life cycle of a butterfly. This would be beneficial for my younger students because it is fun and educational! This is also an opportunity to incorporate math into my lesson. 

AR: 4.6

Grade Level: K-2nd

Summary: The Fortune Tellers is about a carpenter who thought his life would stay the same. So he often wondered, hmmm. What will my fortune hold? He then goes to a fortune teller to see what his fortune is, which eventually comes true.

Idea: The Fortune Tellers introduces a series of cause and effect relationships. It also introduces vocabulary that many children may not have encountered yet. I will most definitely be using this book for a lesson on context clues. A fun activity that I would like to include with this book would be writing to your future self. We would not so much be telling our fortunes, but instead seeing where we want to be in the near future. 

AR: 2.4

Grade Level: Prek-1st

Summary: This book is a collection of inspirational quotes from various well-known people. It would bring positivity to anyone who reads it!

Idea: I will most definitely be using this book in my classroom to allow students to choose one quote a day. The students will then use their chosen quotes to work on weekly.This activity would help to build character. 

AR: 3.1

Grade Level: K-2nd

Summary: Hellen Keller describes the life of a young girl, who personally struggles with being both blind and deaf. It is great for younger students who may not understand this concept. 

Idea: I would use this book in my classroom to teach students more about diversity. I would make sure they learn that not everybody is made the same. An activity that I will allow my students to take part in, all school year, is sign language. I feel like sign language is a very useful tool. You never know when you may encounter someone who cannot speak with their mouth. I want to make sure that all of my students get a taste of as much diversity as possible. 

AR: 8.5

Grade Level: 6th-8th

Summary: Anne Frank: A Hidden Life is all about what Anne Frank and her family endured through the Holocaust. Anne Frank: A Hidden Life gives extreme detail, and allows the reader to experience the Holocaust through Anne's perspctive. 

Idea: This is a great way to intertwine reading into social studies because it covers a momumental part of our history.  I would most definitely use this book for upper grades, most likely 6th. I feel like the reading level and content is most appropiate here. For my lower level students, I can always fit this book into where I would meet their needs. This way, they would not miss out on a first hand account of a young girl, who experienced every bit of the Holocaust. 

AR: 5.0

Grade Level: 3rd-7th

Summary: Have you ever been through so many obstacles, while trying to reach a certain goal? Well, Bud has! He has been through foster homes, traveling through places unfamiliar to him, and has even had trouble with some vampires! His goal is to try to meet his father. This book shows the journey Bud travels through to get to his destination!

Idea: I would use this book to demonstrate how one is able to reach a set goal, no matter what. This is something I would want students to apply into everyday life. One activity I would have students do is to list their short and long term goals. I would meet with them, individually (once a week), to check on the progression of meeting those goals. I would want to see where they are, to make sure they are closer to reaching those goals! 

AR: 4.5

Grade Level: 4th-7th

Summary: Have you ever written about someone, for your personal use? Well, Harriet has! She has this notebook where she records everything in, about EVERYONE! Then she loses it, and someone gets a hold to it. This person reveals all of Harriet's secrets, and here is where she learns the concept of empathy. 

Idea: I would use Harriet the Spy for a lesson on character. Specifically speaking, I would use it for building empathy. I could use a variety of lessons from having students starting their own notebook, where they write something they did for someone else to giving each other compliments every day. This would all be for the sole purpose of being empathetic!

AR: 4.6

Grade Level: 4th-8th

Summary: This book is all about imagination! Two friends come together to build a magical kingdom, until something tragic happens. However, this devastation is an impetus for Jess' understanding of strength and courage. 

Idea: I would use this book for the purpose of building character. I would allow for my students to come up with their own magical kingdom (class-wide). They would be required to build a script, then act it out. It would be a made from scratch. It would be an original readers' theater!

AR: 4.4

Grade Level: 2nd-7th

Summary: Have you ever made a friend, unexpectedly?! This book is all about friendship and encouragement. It also provides a good lesson on animals and humans coming together to find a solution to a problem. 

Idea: I will most definitely be implementing a variety of activities in my classroom, using this book. These activies could range from building character to writing! I also feel like you could use this book for almost any grade level. One just has to implement it where appropiate. 

Guided Reading Level: L

Grade Level: K-2nd

Summary: Have you ever told a fib? Well Sister and Brother Bear have, and it makes Mama Bear really sad! One day Brother and Sister were bored, with nothing to do. They ended up dribbling the soccer ball in the house. And guess what?! It knocks Mama Bear's favorite lamp over! Uhooo..Brother and Sister Bear are in for a ride. 

Idea: I will most definitely be using this book for a discussion on character. I will emphasize the importance of always telling the truth, no matter how big or small the situation is. There are numerous amounts of activities one could do with this book! One that I would choose would be composing a T-Chart. This chart would be on causes and effects of telling both truths and lies. 

Guided Reading Level: L

Grade Level: 2nd-3rd

Summary: What kind of a family are you apart of? We all are different and come from different families, even Heather! Heather Has Two Mommies is about a little girl named Heather whose favorite number is two. She has two arms, two legs, two pets, and two mommies! 

Idea: With this book, I would be using it for a lesson on diversity. No matter where the child is from, and no matter what kind of family the child has, the teacher and students should be accepting towards that. It's all about diversity and open-mindedness! An activity that I would have students complete, as illustrated in the book, is to have students draw out their families and write a caption under it. 

AR: 3.0

Grade Level: 2nd-4th

Summary: We've all read some form of The Three Little Pigs, right? Well, THE TRUE STORY OF THE 3 LITTLE PIGS! is an excellent book to read to young readers. It's even an excellent book for them to read even to themselves! This particular book is all about perspective, from the text even to the illustrations! It's extremely hilarious, even with relatable moments. 

Idea: I will use this book in my classroom for a unit about perspective. I may even have my students take the role of either a pig or the wolf, and act out how each character sees things from their pespective.