2. From Scholastic: A peddler walks from town to town, selling the caps he proudly balances in a stack on his head: "First he had on his own checked cap, then a bunch of gray caps, then a bunch of brown caps, then a bunch of blue caps, and on the very top a bunch of red caps." On this particular day, however, business is slow, and tired of walking without selling anything, the peddler goes to the countryside to take a nap under a tree. When he wakes up, he discovers that monkeys high up in the tree have stolen all the caps — except for his own checked one. Nothing will convince them to give them back. When the peddler points, the monkeys just point back; when he shakes his fist, they merely shake theirs. When he stamps his foot, the monkeys stamp theirs. Finally, the peddler throws his cap on the ground in despair and frustration. And what do the monkeys do? They throw their caps down, too! Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys, and Their Monkey BusinessBy: EsphyrSlobodkina
3. Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys, and Their Monkey BusinessBy: EsphyrSlobodkinaLanguage Arts: 1.7.10 Use visual aids, such as pictures and objects, to present oral information. Math: 1.4.6 Arrange and describe objects in space by position and direction: near, far, under, over, up, down, behind, in front of, next to, to the left of or right of. Activity: Read the story aloud to students. Have students create their own gray, blue, brown, red, or checkered hat out of construction paper. Students will then reenact the story using their caps as props. Make sure students arrange themselves in order. Instruct students to discuss who should be first, last, in front, in back, behind, next to, etc. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence: Verbal-linguistic
4. Cloudy With a Chance of MeatballsBy: Judith BarrettIllustrated by: Ron Barrett From Scholastic: Life in the wonderful town of ChewandSwallow is great: Some of its citizens even say it's downright delicious! Instead of snow, wind, or rain, they get a different kind of weather that falls from the sky three times a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The only bad part about living in ChewandSwallow is that the people don't get their choice of what they'd like to fall from the sky: it may snow mashed potatoes, or rain juice or soup, or there might even be a storm of hamburgers that takes them by surprise. But no one is too worried about the weather, until it takes a turn for the worse — the portions of food get larger and larger and fall faster and faster, until everyone in the town fears for their lives. They all need to think of a plan, and they need one fast! With teamwork, smarts, and some extra-large bagels, Chewandswallow residents are able to save themselves from the torrential weather. A cheerful approach to gearing up for a science lesson or just for reading aloud, this book makes food and weather fun.
5. Cloudy With a Chance of MeatballsBy: Judith BarrettIllustrated by: Ron BarrettLanguage Arts: 1.3.4 Distinguish fantasy from reality. Science: 1.3.4 Investigate by observing, and then describe how things move in many different ways, such as straight, zigzag, round-and-round, and back-and-forth Activity: Read the story aloud to students. Take a trip outside. Ask the students to observe the sky/clouds. What do they see? Is the wind blowing? Are the clouds moving? How are they? Are there any rocket ships or cheeseburgers in the sky? Why? Ask the students to draw a picture of the clouds they are observing. Have volunteers show their picture and describe to the class what they observed. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence: naturalistic
6. From Scholastic: Don Freeman's classic character, Corduroy, continues to stir the hearts and imagination of children and adults around the world. Published thirty years ago, this children's book, in which a bear leaves the safety of his department store shelf in order to do almost anything to be adopted by a little girl, is one of the most endearing... and enduring in existence. Instilling the theme of hope and compassion, there's no doubt that this beloved picture book will continue to be a favorite for each new generation awaiting to have their own "Corduroy" experience. CorduroyBy: Don Freeman
7. CorduroyBy: Don FreemanLanguage Arts: 1.5.2. Write brief expository (informational) descriptions of a real object, person, place, or event, using sensory detailsMath:1.4.3 Classify and sort familiar plane and solid objects by position, shape, size, roundness, and other attributes. Explain the rule used. Activity: Read the story aloud to students. Have students draw a picture of their favorite stuffed animal. Ask the students to write a description of their animal. Students will then show their picture of the stuffed animal and listen to their description. When all students have shared, ask the students how they could separate them into groups. Classify as a class, each student’s favorite stuffed animal. Can be done by color, animal, shape, years owned, etc. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence: interpersonal
8. From Scholastic: One moonlit night, Harold wanders away from his familiar surroundings out into the world. Along the way, Harold uses his purple crayon to create his own adventures that keep him amused. But little Harold also uses his purple crayon to make his trip easier: he sketches a boat to keep from drowning, a purple pie when his stomach starts to grumble, and important landmarks to help him find his way back home. Harold and the Purple CrayonBy: Crockett Johnson
9. Harold and the Purple CrayonBy: Crockett JohnsonLanguage Arts: 1.4.1 Organization and Focus: Discuss ideas and select a focus for group stories or other writingScience: 1.5.3 Observe and describe similar patterns, such as shapes, designs, and events that may show up in nature, like honeycombs, sunflowers, or shells. See similar patterns in the things people make like quilts, baskets, or pottery Activity: Take a trip outside. Slowly go on a walk around the school. Encourage students to look for shapes in everyday object and in nature Ask students if they had a magic crayon what would they draw? Draw a simple shape on individual pieces of construction paper and give one piece of paper to each student. Instruct students to draw a picture on their piece of construction paper. They must include the shape you have already drawn on. Read the story aloud to students. Take a long piece of paper and hang it at students’ eye level from one end of the room to the other. Have students line up. the first student will move the crayon on the paper any way he/she likes. Discuss what the first student’s marking looks like. Have each child add an appropriate detail to the drawing. As a class, have the students dictate a story based on the picture they made. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence: Bodily-Kinesthetic
10. From Scholastic: When a generous boy shares a cookie with a hungry mouse, it is the beginning of a chain of events that keeps the boy busy all day long, and might keep him busy for days to come. If you give a mouse a cookie, after all, he's bound to ask for a glass of milk, for which he'll certainly need a straw, not to mention a napkin, and a mirror to check for a milk mustache, which will only lead to him noticing that he needs a haircut. This imaginary mouse has the kind of needs a child might have; he needs a nap with a soft pillow, and he needs his drawing hung up on the refrigerator. By the end of a day with such a mouse, a boy-hero might have an idea what it's like to be a Mommy! If You Give a Mouse a CookieBy: Laura JoffeNumberoffIllustrated by: Felicia Bond
11. If You Give a Mouse a CookieBy: Laura JoffeNumberoffIllustrated by: Felicia BondLanguage Arts: 1.7.10Use visual aids, such as pictures and objects, to present oral information.Math: 1.1.10. Represent, compare, and interpret data using pictures and picture graphs Activity: Read the story aloud to students. Start a class discussion about cookies. Ask the students to name a type of cookie. Begin to compile a list on the board. Continue the list until no more cookie types could be named. Set up a graph on the board. Go around the room and ask the students what their favorite cookie is. (Make a space of each type on the graph) Have each student draw a picture of their favorite kind of cookie. Instruct every student to come to the board and put their cookie drawing in the space for their specific type of cookie. When everyone has entered their picture, have everyone look at the class picture graph. Discuss what type of cookie is the most popular. What is the Least popular? Compare the amount of students whose favorite cookie was the most and least popular? How many students is the difference? Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence: Visual-Spatial
12. From Scholastic: Late one Christmas Eve, a boy boards a mysterious train: The Polar Express bound for the North Pole. Once there, Santa offers the boy any gift he desires. The boy asks for one bell from the harness of a reindeer. The bell is lost. On Christmas morning, the boy finds the bell under the tree. The boy's mother admires the bell, but laments that it is broken — for you see, only believers can hear the sound of the bell. The Polar ExpressBy: Chris Van Allsburg
13. The Polar ExpressBy: Chris Van AllsburgLanguage Arts: 1.5.2. Write brief expository (informational) descriptions of a real object, person, place, or event, using sensory details Math/Science: 1.2.7. Write brief informational descriptions of a real object, person, place, or event using information from observations Activity: Make this a very fun, special day for the students. Discuss that many great books are later turned into movies, much like the polar express. Read the story aloud to students. When finished reading the story, give each student a bell for them to keep. Have students return to their desks and write a description of their new bell using as many of their five senses as possible. Once everyone has finished their descriptive writing, Begin the movie version of the polar express. Have the students watch carefully to see if they notice any differences between the movie version and the actual book itself. When the movie is finished, Have students volunteer and give examples of ways the movie and the book were similar and ways that they are different. Have students complete a venn diagram to compare and contrast the movie and book. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence: interpersonal
14. From Scholastic: The Rainbow Fish is the most beautiful fish in the ocean. But he is proud and vain and none of the other fish want to be his friend - until he learns to give away some of his most prized possessions. The Rainbow FishBy: Marcus Pfister
15. The Rainbow FishBy: Marcus PfisterLanguage Arts: 1.3.3. Confirm predictions about what will happen next in a storyScience: 1.6.2. Use tools such as objects or drawings to model problems Activity: Begin by asking if any students know what predicting means. Ask for students to give you an example of a prediction. ThenRead the story aloud to students. Stop every so often and have the students to predict what may happen next in the story. When you finished reading discuss their predictions. Were they right? Were they wrong? What was something important the rainbow fish learned in the story? Pass out a handful of goldfish crackers to each student. Instruct them NOT to eat them until you finish the activity with them. Practice simple math problems with the goldfish used as manipulatives. For instance, Rainbow fish had 15 silver scales but decided to share 5 scales with his friend. How many scales does the rainbow fish have? Do several problems together as a class. Write 3 simple word problems on the board for them to do independently. Remind students to use the goldfish to help them figure the problems out. After everyone is finished students may eat their goldfish crackers. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence: logical-mathematical
16. From Scholastic: Skippyjon Jones is no ordinary kitten. He's actually El Skippito, a great sword-fighter ready to battle banditos the world over! With a little imagination and a whole lot of fun, this frisky cat dons a mask and cape and takes on a bad bumble-beeto to save the day. And along the way, he'll be sure to steal young reader's hearts, yes indeed-o. Skippyjon JonesBy: Judith Byron Schachner
17. Skippyjon JonesBy: Judith Byron SchachnerLanguage Arts: 1.1.7. Create and state a series of rhyming words.Math: 1.2.7. Understand and use the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction facts (such as 4 + 2 = 6, 6 - 2 = 4, etc.) to solve problems Activity: Read the story aloud to students. Ask the students what they heard while they listened to the story. Did any words sound similar? What are words that sound alike called? Have students begin by providing examples of rhyming words. Make a two-column chart of them on the board. Once they have an understanding of rhyming words, have students give you specific words for the story that rhymed. Continue making the list. Once out of words, read the list together as a class. Ask the students how many lives cats are said to have. What happens if they lose 5 lives? How many would they have? Lose x amount of lives? What if they only had 5 lives? How many had they already lost? Go thru similar equations. Ask the students to find a similarity between the problems you are doing. Discuss what you are told. Ask for any more examples. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence: musical
18. From Scholastic: A hungry caterpillar eats his way through a varied and very large quantity of food until, full at last, he forms a cocoon around himself and goes to sleep. The Very Hungry CaterpillarBy: Eric Carle
19. The Very Hungry CaterpillarBy: Eric CarleLanguage Arts: 1.5.5. Write for different purposes and to a specific audience or person Science: 1.6.2. Observe that and describe how certain things change in some ways and stay the same in others, such as in their color, size, and weight Activity: Read the story aloud to students. Begin by having students describe the caterpillar at the beginning of the story, then the middle, and finally the end. Discuss as a class how the caterpillar changed. In what specific ways did the caterpillar change? Ask the class why they think caterpillar changed. Pose the following questions to the class: Have you changed?In what ways have you changed? Has anything stayed the same? Instruct students to write their reflection in their journal. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence: intrapersonal
20. From Scholastic: This Caldecott Medal winner is a whimsical fantasy about a young boy whose imagination transports him far away from problems at home to a land where almost anything can happen. Max is looking for a little fun, so he dresses up in a comical wolf suit. Unfortunately, his mother is tired of his antics, and sends him to bed without any supper. But unexpectedly a forest grows in his bedroom and Max is taken away to a land of Wild Things. Fortunately, the Wild Things do not eat Max; instead they make him their king. And lucky Max is allowed to continue his romp. Will Max return to his mother and finally eat his dinner? Where the Wild Things AreBy: Maurice Sendak
21. Where the Wild Things AreBy: Maurice SendakLanguage Arts: 1.5.5. Write for different purposes and to a specific audience or personScience: 1.4.1. Identify when stories give attributes to plants and animals, such as the ability to speak, that they really do not have Activity: Read the story aloud to students. Discuss with the class if this could actually happen, or if this story is just a fantasy. What were some clues that it was a fantasy book? Can a forest really grow in someone’s bedroom? Can Animals talk? Ask the students to give you other examples of stories they have read where the stories gives attributes to animals, plants, etc. that they really do not have in real life. Then discuss max’s feelings within the story. Have they ever made their parents angry? Have any students ever been in trouble and sent to their room? As a class, pretend to be max and write a letter to max’s mom apologizing. Display the students’ apology note to max’s mother somewhere in the room. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence: bodily-kinesthetic
