On the Night You were Born Written and Illustrated by Nancy Tillman

On the Night You were Born Written and Illustrated by Nancy Tillman

 

On the Night You Were Born is a story about how the entire universe rejoiced at the birth of the reader. It is written in rhyming prose that attempts to address the young reader personally.

Target Age: Infant and Toddler

Springboard Lessons: this book is great to read in one-to-one settings with a child. It highlights each child’s uniqueness. Additionally, children can participate in the book’s reading by chanting their name as it is “carried by the wind” throughout the land.

The book uses quite a few animals and can also be used to go over animal names, sounds, and behaviors

This book might also be a good springboard for parents to tell the actual story of the night their child was born. They could also write letters to their children explaining why they chose their particular name.

Yummy! Eating through a Day Poems Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins and Illustrated by Renee Flowers

Yummy! Eating through a Day Poems Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins and Illustrated by Renee Flowers

Yummy! is a great introduction to poetry to very young readers. The poems are simple, accessible, and silly, focusing on favorite foods and meals.

Target ages: Preschool, kindergarten, 1^st grade

Springboards for lessons: This book naturally lends itself to explore rhyming patterns. Students can create a matching game that requires to pair matching rythming together.

Additionally, students can be encouraged to choose their own favorite food and create descriptive poems and illustrations about it. Older students can write these poems themselves and younger students can dictate their ideas to their teachers. These can also draw attention to cultural differences within meals and how food is celebrated differently around the world.

If You Lived A Hundred Years Ago Written by Ann McGovern and Illustrated by Anna Divito

If You Lived A Hundred Years Ago Written by Ann McGovern and Illustrated by Anna Divito

If You Lived A Hundred Years Ago gives students a glimpse into what life was like 100 years ago in New York. Additionally, it illustrates the contrast of dress and activity between the weathly and the working class.

Target Age: 1^st and 2^nd grade

Springboards for lessons: this book is great to emphasize the use of technology in modern day versus the lack of technology 100 years ago. Students can create  “Then and Now” collages that depict different uses of technology (such depictions of older trains vesus modern trains)

Additionally, students can discuss the difference in styles of dress and lifestyle between 100 years ago and now.

Marshall Armstrong is New to Our School Written and Illustrated by David McIntosh

Marshall Armstrong is New to Our School Written and Illustrated by David McIntosh

Marshall is a new kid to school and the other students think he is a little strange because he is so different. It is not until they are invited to his birthday party that they realize Marshall is a very interesting person who is a lot of fun to be around.  

Target Age: 2^nd grade

Springboard for lessons: Ice breakers--The purpose of the ice breaker activity is to illustrate to students that we cannot always make correct judgments about people without first getting to know them.

Teachers will read the book Marshall Armstrong is New to Our School by David McIntosh. After reading, teachers will point out important themes within the book such as: how we should get to know someone before making judgments, how sometimes we might think we know something about a new person but later on find out we are incorrect, and appropriate ways to greet and get to know new students, etc. Students will be put into pairs and given ice breaker worksheets with two columns of 8 questions. Each student will fill out the first column “What I think my partner’s answers are” on their own. Afterwards, they will take turns asking those same questions to their partners to find out what their partners’ real answers are. Teachers will reconvene the class and ask students to introduce their partner by modeling the dialogue “This is my partner Jane. Her favorite color is blue but I had thought it was green. Her favorite food is pizza but I had thought it was… etc”. Once all students have introduced his or her partner to the classroom, teachers will ask them how they felt making guessing about what their partner’s preference might have been. Teachers will prompt students to discuss the benefits of finding out accurate information about other people before making judgments. Additionally, teachers will ask students to consider what happens when we make assumptions that are wrong; how does this affect other people? How would students feel if they were judge or if other people made assumptions about them without first getting to know them?

Rationale: This activity serves the dual purpose of community building in the classroom as well as illustrating to students that we cannot always make correct assumptions about other people. By allowing students to work in pairs, this activity helps to foster a constructive dialogue that may help students find previously unknown common ground (such as discovering that both students share the same least favorite subject). Additionally, the class discussion that follows filling out the worksheets illuminates the faults of making assumptions—though some students might have been able to accurately intuit their partner’s answers, it is likely that several of their guesses would be incorrect. Such an activity and discussion helps to underscore the importance of getting to know one another and opens the conversation towards what kinds of pro-social behavior we can utilize in the classroom so that we treat one another respectfully.