In My Family

Garza, C., & Schecter, D. (1996). In my family. San Francisco, Calif.:

Children's Book Press.

The author takes the reader to her home town in Texas where she shares memories of her traditional Mexican American community. The story is told from the main character’s point of view, Carmen, who grew up in Kingsville, Texas and uses 13 illustrations that were painted by the author herself. Each painting gives the book the look of a photo album with short, independent stories for each. Painting topics are sharing a night in their local restaurant, a cousin’s wedding day and a visit to abuela Elisa’s house. This book is ideal to expose your kids to topics such as family, history and culture. In My Family has received numerous awards including the Tomás Rivera Children’s Book Award and the Américas Picture Book Award. It also includes a section where the author answers question from her young readers.

Pigeon Series

Willems, M. (n.d.). Pigeon Series. Disney-Hyperion

            This hilarious pigeon takes us on too many funny adventures. These books are my favorite for read alouds with young readers. Buy all the books here

This is the Rope

Woodson, J., & Ransome, J. (2013). This is the rope: A story from the Great

Migration. Nancy Paulsen Books.

A little African American girl skips rope “back home in South Carolina” in the mid-twentieth century. When she is grown, with a husband and a baby girl, she uses that rope to tie up their belongings as they move to New York City. A few years later, it becomes a skipping rope for her little girl. And when she grows up, her father uses it to tie up her belongings for the drive to college. Later, she marries and has a little girl of her own, who skips rope in Brooklyn. That child narrates this intergenerational family story, which (in an author’s note) Woodson relates to the Great Migration.

Here a lesson I wrote for this book: 

SAINT MARY’S COLLEGE

Lesson Plan

            I used Summer in the South in this lesson because my cooperating teacher wanted to teach it at some point in the school year and had not gotten to it. I chose This Is The Rope because it has a similar topic but a very different mood from the poem.

Overview:  ·       Grade ·       Topic/Title ·       Duration	5th Exploring mood using a poem and connected piece of children’s literature
Literacy and/or Interdisciplinary Connections:	Reading, speaking, listening, writing, art
Standard/s:	5.RL.2.1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what a text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
Objective:	Students will be able to write a summary of either the poem or story accurately depicting the mood.
Technology and/or New Materials	This Is The Rope, Summer in the South, white board, loose leaf paper
Communication	See below.
Instructional Sequence: 1.    Introductory Engagement 2.    Instructional Activities/Strategies 3.    Assessment ·       Formative ·       Summative ·       Progress monitoring ·       Reporting	1. Introductory Engagement Lately, I know you all have been studying poetry and mood, and how mood affects the way we feel while reading something. Today we are going to read two things, a poem and a story both about summertime in the South, and we are going to talk a little more about the mood. 2. Instructional Activities Have three different students read the poem three times. What kind of mood does this poem have? What are some words you would use to describe the mood? What are some words from the poem that create that mood? Write words on board: happy, cheerful, easy-going, sunny, bright, “green,” “sunshine,“ “laughing creek,” etc. Now I am going to read this story. While I’m reading focus, on the language and the mood created. Read This is the Rope. Does this story have a similar or different mood? What words give that mood? Write words on the board: bittersweet, happy but sad, nostalgic, reminiscent, “back at home in the south,” “flowers like the ones back at home,” etc. 3. Assessment Now I want you to close your eyes and think about both the poem and the story. Think about the words we wrote on the board. Now I am going to give you each a piece of white paper. On one side of the paper, I want you to write one or two sentences summarizing either the poem or the story. The most important think about your summary is that is depicts the mood we talked about. Now on the other side, I want you to draw a visual representation of the mood.
Learning Environment	Students are seated at tables.
Accommodations and/or Modifications	N/A
Resources	Cooperating teacher
Reflection	Being able to teach this lesson to three different classes was helpful and informative. I learned a lot about how to scaffold and question differently. It was educational for me to see how different groups of students need different things from me.          The first class I taught the lesson to was the high ability group. They needed very little scaffolding and came up with all the target words on their own. The lesson ran smoothly and the students remained engaged the entire time.         The second class was the lowest achieving group, so I knew my teaching needed to change. My first challenge would be keeping them engaged. However, they were engaged and involved in the lesson the entire time. They needed much more scaffolding, and I had to lead them to find the target words. They knew the general idea and the mood; they just needed help getting there. I was more comfortable with the lesson this time, which was good because I was not as nervous and more comfortable derailing form my lesson plan to help them get to where they needed to be.        The third time I taught the lesson to the middle ability group. This is the lesson Mrs. Higgs watched me teach, which added an element of nervousness. However, the lesson went smoothly and the students were extremely engaged and involved. It was clear they liked the lesson. The needed a little help identifying the target words, but mostly they got there on their own. They understood the assessment, with only a few students needing one-on-one clarification.         Overall, I was very happy with how the lesson went all three times I taught it. All three class’ assessments show me that they understood the concept and have a deeper understanding of how mood can affect our visualization of a story and poem.

Oh No, Gotta Go!

Elya, S., & Karas, G. (2003). Oh no, gotta go! New York: G.P. Putnam's

Sons.

We’ve all been there. As soon as the car pulls away, someone needs the bathroom. Where is un baño? ¿Dónde está? I really do need one," I told mi mamá.

After racing around town, passing a gushing fountain, and cutting the inevitable line for the ladies' room, this adorable little girl makes it to the bathroom in the nick of time. And because the bathroom is in a restaurant, the family stays for a wonderful meal-and lots of limonada. . . .

Wonderful illustrations and a clever mix of Spanish and English combine to capture the urgency and humor of the situation to the delight of kids and grown-ups alike.

Text includes some Spanish words and phrases.