The Old Woman Who Named Things by Cynthia Rylant

A lovely story about a lonely old woman and the items she loves.

Setting a Purpose for Reading

Cynthia Rylant introduces us to the main character and describes how she has outlived all of her friends and so she names inanimate objects now. She does not like the idea that she will be a lonely old woman without any friends to call by name. So she only chooses to name objects that will "outlive" her. She names her chair, her car, her bed, and her house. The objects become her friends. One day when she is out in her yard, a puppy stops by. Will the Old Woman resist the puppy or take the puppy in? Lesson Idea: Read aloud the beginning of the story up to the point where the puppy shows up. Stop and ask students, "What more would you like to know about the Old Woman and the puppy?" Record student responses. Students will wonder what will become of the relationship between the Old Woman and the puppy and will want to read on to find out, thus setting a purpose for reading. After reading, confirm student's predictions.

Verdi by Janell Cannon and Time for Kids: Snakes by Editors of Time for Kids

A cute story about a snake who doesn't want to grow up, but learns a valuable lesson about staying true to himself. A nonfiction text about snakes.

Twin Texts

Cannon beautifully writes and illustrates this tale of a carefree snake who learns to love himself despite the fact that he has to grow up. Even though he must age, he does not have to lose the fun-loving, figure-eight forming side of his personality. Lesson Idea: If snakes or animals is a topic of study in your classroom, or if you are trying to find something to interest boys, Twin Texts is a great strategy. Choose a fiction and nonfiction text that complement each other. In this case, Time for Kids: Snakes is a great complement to Verdi. Read the first page which describes Verdi being sent off into the jungle by his mother. She wants her hatchlings to grow up big and green, but Verdi is resisting this idea. He likes his yellow skin and bold stripes. After reading the first page ask, "What more do you want to learn about Verdi?" Have your students list all that they want to learn about Verdi. Discuss. Read aloud the text and see if students wonderments were answered. Similarly, prior to reading Time for Kids: Snakes, have your students complete the K and W of a KWL. Read aloud the text (or have students independently read) and then have students complete the L. These two activities together should provide students with the ability to activate their prior knowledge and come to a deeper understanding of the topic of snakes.

Dinner at Aunt Connie's House by Faith Ringgold

A fantastic book that highlights noteworthy African American women through history. Each woman introduces herself and discusses her contributions to U.S. history.

Making Text-to-Text Connections Using her internationally renowned artwork and historical facts, Caldecott award-winning author, Faith Ringgold weaves a story between past and present as noteworthy African-American women tell their stories to the current day narrator. Students can easily make connections to the adversity that the women went through to forge a place in U.S. history. Lesson Idea: Through a social studies unit on civil rights, have students read biographies about the various women. Ask them to make connections between Dinner at Aunt Connie's House and the biographies they read. Ask students to think about how women were part of the evolution of civil rights over the years, particularly African American women, beginning with Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman and moving on to Rosa Parks.

My Mama Had a Dancing Heart by Libba Moore Gray

A sweet memoir about a girl and her mother and the fun days they shared through the seasons.

Word Choice

Gray uses wonderful memorable language to convey feeling in this text: "When a warm spring rain would come pinging on the windowpane, we'd kick off our shoes and out into the rain we'd go." Her choice of adjectives and verbs paints a vivid picture of the activities she and her mother would embark on. Lesson Idea: After reading aloud the book, discuss how the author uses words to convey a feeling. Create a chart to show the langauge the author uses and the feelings the language conveys. Discuss how the word choice of the author makes a difference in the types of feelings conveyed.

The Web Files by Margie Palatini

Ducktective Web and his partner, Bill, have been called to the farm. All of the vegetables are vanishing! Will they be able to find the culprit and solve the mystery?

Conventions

This book provides a wonderful model for conventions as various punctuation marks are used throughout. Written in police report form, the sentences are short and to the point. As the Ducktective and his partner question witnesses, quotations are used throughout. Lesson Idea: Read the book aloud once to your students. Discuss what would happen if the book did not have conventions. Provide an exerpt of the book with the punctuation marks removed as a model on the overhead. Read each sentence and think aloud for the students as you determine the punctuation marks that are necessary. After, provide another exerpt with the punctuation marks removed for the students to work on with a partner.