What REALLY Happened to Humpty? by Joe Dumpty as told to Jeanie Franz Ransom

A great read aloud of a familiar nursery rhyme told by a different point of view.

Voice

Written from the point of view of Humpty's brother, Joe, the author creates a bit of a mystery surrounding Humpty's infamous fall. Joe is convinced that Humpty was pushed and as the resident detective in Mother Gooseland, he is determined to find the culprit. So did Humpty fall off the wall. . . or was he pushed? Lesson Idea: Reading aloud great model texts seems to be the best way to teach voice to students. Another model text is The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka. Both texts are written from a different view point of a traditional children's tale. Read aloud these texts as models for students and then have them choose a different popular tale (Three Billy Goats Gruff, Little Miss Muffet, Little Red Riding Hood, etc. )to write from a different view point.

Into the Sea by Brenda Z. Guiberson

An informational book, with beautiful pictures of sea life, describing the life cycle of the sea turtle.

Sensory Details

This book is a well written piece of nonfiction. The author eloquently explains the life cycle of the sea turtle with wonderful descriptions: "Tap,tap. Scritch." Can you hear the sea turtle as she breaks out of her egg? Lesson Idea: This book would work perfectly with a unit on ocean life or living things. Divide the class into five small groups: taste, touch, hear, see, smell. Provide each group with a sensory chart (five columns, one for each sense). As you read aloud, ask student groups, to mark the correct column with the sensory details from the text. For example, the hearing group would write "Tap, tap. Scritch." in the hearing column. After reading aloud, discuss the sensory details from the text. Create a class sensory chart, combining each group's contributions. As an extension, students can use this text as a mentor text when researching and writing about an animal's life cycle or other informative piece about an animal. Encourage the use of sensory details in the writing piece.

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee

A very cute story based loosely on the author's son's adventures during a week at a friend's grandparent's house.

Ideas

James and Eamon spend a week at Jame's grandparent's house enjoying nature camp, and a few other adventures along the way. This time together allows them to enjoy the best week ever. Lesson Idea: Since this book is based loosely on true adventures of James and Eamon, it is a great book to use as an introduction to memoir writing. Read this book as part of a unit of study on memoirs. Have students determine characteristics of a memoir. Ask students to brainstorm a list of events that occurred in their lives and then pick one event to elaborate on in a memoir.

Dear Mr. Blueberry by Simon James

An imaginative little girl shares letters with her teacher about a whale living in her pond.

Visualizing

Through a series of letters exchanged between Emily and her teacher, Mr. Blueberry, Emily learns about whales and Mr. Blueberry learns about imagination and faith. Lesson Idea: The pictures in the story show Emily's story, but we never see Mr. Blueberry. Read aloud the story. Ask your students to close their eyes and imagine what they think Mr. Blueberry looks like. Have them draw a picture of Mr. Blueberry. Share the pictures and discuss how each person has individual mental images and activating these mental images as we read helps us to comprehend text.

The Hermit Crab by Carter Goodrich

A story about a shy hermit crab who becomes an unexpected hero to his underwater friends.

Motivating Boys

The hermit crab in this story does not set out to be a hero... so begins this beautifully illustrated picture book by Carter Goodrich. Hermit Crab is rather shy and prefers to search for food and keep to himself. One day, he finds a new and different looking shell. One like he had never seen before. When a contraption lands in the center of town, everyone is afraid to go near it until they realize that flounder is trapped underneath. Hermit Crab comes upon the contraption and inadvertently saves flounder. But who's the hero? Hermit Crab or the shell? The superhero aspect to this story makes it a motivating read aloud for boys. Lesson Idea: This book can act as a catalyst to motivate boys to write. Read aloud this book to your reluctant boy readers/writers. Have students brainstorm components to a superhero story. Conduct a shared writing experience with the group to write a superhero story.