Sibling Rivalry

The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davis is a story about a brother and sister, Evan and Jessie, who are going to be in the same grade and same class next year in fourth grade. Jessie was in second grade last year, but since she was ahead of all the other second graders she is going to skip the third grade. When Evan finds out that his little sister is going to be in his class, he is extremely upset and starts being mean to Jessie, because all he really wants is not to be compared to his sister. One of the last days of summer Evan decides he's going to sell lemonade and when Jessie asks to join in he refuses to let her, so she sells lemonade up the road from him with a girl from his class named Megan, when he finds out he is furious. Jessie and Evan get into a fight and to resolve the fight they decided to make a bet. They bet that whoever gets to $100 first after selling only lemonade over a five day period will win and have to give their money to the other person. If they do not reach $100 then it is whoever has the most at the end, or if they go over, it is also who has the most at the end. After only 3 days Evan is already over $100 and Jessie is no where close to $100. Although Evan is ahead now who will win? Jessie knows how to do the math and Evan knows how to work with people. This story a true tale of sibling rivalry, but also how people are smart in different ways. Jessie may be able to do the math, but Evan sure knows how to make more money.
Web resources for teachers:

• Making Connections: This site has a couple of different ways to connect this book not only to math and language arts, but also social studies. 
• Activities and Discussions: This site has multiple discussions, about the book and activities. 
• Author's Site

Vocabulary: Again the vocabulary was pretty easy but there were a few words I noticed might be difficult, they are: complicated, humiliated, compartments, vendor, infestation, expectantly, consultant, optimist, chintzy, bristly, pathetic, impatiently, taunting, miser, menacing, scorcher, rhododendron, investment. Also one of my favorite parts of this book is that there is new vocabulary at the beginning of each chapter and there is a definition. I think a great way to use these words is to have my students use them in sentences so they practice using the new words. There are also some specific economic words within the chapters that they could also write sentences about. 
Before Reading: I will talk with students about sibling rivalries. I will ask them to imagine what it would be like if their younger sibling skipped a grade and all the sudden was going to be in your grade? I would ask them to imagine how they would feel. Since some children may be only children I would then ask the students to share with three to four other students about what they think it would be like. Then I would flip the question and ask the students to share amongst themselves what it would be like if you skipped a grade and were in your older brother or sister's grade. Then I would tell them that the story they are about to read is about two siblings who end up in the same grade because the younger sister skips a grade. I will then tell them that they end up making a bet to see who can sell the most lemonade. Finally I will ask them to brainstorm if they think the older sibling or the younger sibling will sell the most and why do they think so?
During Reading: I will use these discussion questions.
After Reading: Now I will ask the students to make up their own word problems which involve selling lemonade.They will be required to come up with 5 different word problems.I will give them the example from the book that if each pitcher makes 64oz of lemonade and from that you get 8 glasses and you sell one glass for $0.50 how much will you make if you sell four pitchers worth of lemonade? Once they have made their word problems I will collect and the ones that make sense I will compile into one worksheet for the students to do in free time during class. 

Raw Egg Head

Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary is realistic fiction about an 8 year old girl. Like Olive’s Ocean, she goes through various struggles at all children her age would go through. Ramona struggles with her sister and her mother and her father and school, but most of all she struggles with Willa Jean Kemp, the girl whose house she goes to after school. Her home life is stressful since her dad has been back at school, he is never able to spend time with her.  While all this goes on she feels like everyone is depending on her.  Her problems with her family and Willa Jean Kemp aren’t her only problems she is faced with; she also tries hard to fit, sometime unsuccessfully, like when she cracks a raw egg on her head. She also thinks that her teacher hates her. All of these small problems could feel like a huge burden.  This realistic story is easy for students to relate to and is very enjoyable.

Web Resources:

• Awesome web resource, it has worksheets with questions for each section of the book, as well as activities for each section. There are also activities to do after the book is finished, and all of the activities are online and printable and it’s all FREE!
• All of the Beverly Cleary books are here, there are FREE teacher’s guides, which if you download, there are plenty of extension activities, an interview with Beverly Cleary , and a synopsis for each of her other books.

Vocabulary:

 Nuisance, squeamish, rueful, lariat, indignant, calamity, aloof, brood, quarrel, quaver, overwhelmed, encumber, arouse, dawdle, sheaf, exasperation, dawdle, scant, sulk, timid, reprimand, and triumphant

Before: I would pre-teach the vocabulary. I would pull out the sentences from the book with these words and write 5 on the board and all of the sentences on a handout. Then I would go through the first five with the students and ask them what they think the words mean from the context and/or the affixes and root words.

During:

To have the students practice their summary skills. I would hand out a worksheet with the following questions:

What was the main idea in the section you read?

What did the main character do?

After reading:

Since the written part CMTs in 3^rd and 4^th grade is a narrative piece, I will have my students write a short story about an event in their life in which they learned a lesson. I would give them the example that Ramona heard her teacher tell another teacher that she’s a nuisance, but in the end she finds out that the teacher really did not think that about her at all. Ramona’s lesson was that even though that is what her teacher said, it is not what her teacher meant, and that you shouldn’t take everything you hear literally. Then I would give the example in my life where I quit doing Irish dance because I thought I was bad at it only to realize years later that I was actually pretty good. The lesson I learned was that I shouldn’t give up just because I don’t think I’m great at something because I can only get better. Then I would tell them that you should describe all the events that lead up to your lesson. For me I could say how I was winning 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place medals but I still didn’t think I was good enough. I would emphasize the idea that you need to elaborate on everything so anyone who reads your story will understand and be able to follow.

Broken Promises

On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer is about two friends, Joel and Tony, who decide to go swimming after Joel promised his father he would stay in the park. While they are there Joel dares Tony to swim out to a sandbar in which Tony drowns and dies. This story is an event that I could see many young people encountering. I could see a young person telling their parents they were doing one thing, and then doing something they didn’t mention, in this case swimming, with no intention of anything bad happening. Then when they least expect it, someone gets serious hurt or worse, like in this book dies. I think this book teaches a good lesson to students about the importance of keeping your promises and telling your parents where you are going. I also think it shows them that they would never want feel like they were responsible for hurting or even killing a close friend. Joel has to live with what he did and it will forever haunt him.

Web resources for teachers:

·         Connections, Activities and more!

·         A Guide to On My Honor- Pre-reading, prediction guide by chapter, comprehension check, discussion guide, and projects, you get to all this information by clicking on classroom guide.

Vocabulary: Again for this book the vocabulary wasn’t particularly hard, so I would have the students write down the words they struggle with individually, with a definition and the sentence from the book with the word in it.

Before Reading: I will ask students to tell me what it means if you tell someone “on my honor”? Then I would ask them if they promised their parents’ they wouldn’t do something should they keep their promise and why? Then I would ask what do you think could happen if you don’t keep your promise? After asking these questions, I will tell them that the book we are going to read is about two friends Joel and Tony. Joel promises his dad that he is just going to the park, but he lies. Then I will ask them to write a short paragraph on what they think might happen. Then they may begin reading the book.

During Reading: I will have a class discussion using the discussion questions and comprehension questions from the online guide, but don't forget to click on classroom guide.

After Reading: I will have my students write to me about Tony’s death, telling me if they think it was  it’s Joel’s fault or who they think is responsible. I also think they should tell me what they think they wuld have done if they were in Joel’s situation.

Who Wants to be Popular?

The Popularity Papers by Amy Ignatow is an adorable graphic novel about two young girls’, Lydia and Julie, quest to become popular. As Lydia and Julie do experiments, they find they have different interest and they never realized before. They also realize they have talents that they never knew about. Not only do they find out new talents but they also test their friendship. Along the way they make new friends and come to realize that being popular is not the most important accomplishment in school.

                Since I am talking about a graphic novel, I cannot forget to mention the pictures. The pictures actually remind me of some of the drawings that a few of the girls in my school used to draw. They look like the drawings that middle school or high school aged students would draw. I also liked how the book was written in each of the two girls’ handwriting, which makes it easy to know who is writing. 

Teaching Resources:

• The author’s page: 
• This is an article on how to teach a graphic novel.

Vocabulary: This book was a pretty easy read even for 4^th graders. I would just have the students look up the words on their own as they come across them, that way I don't have to spend time teaching them. I may go over them in class if many people are having problems with similar words. 

Before reading: I would talk to the students about what makes a book a graphic novel. Then I would show the students what the book looks like and how the pictures show what happens in the book. After the students have looked through the pages, in a group discussion, I would ask them based only on the pictures from the book, what are some things they think might happen and explain why they think this might happen?

During Reading: I would ask them to write in their daily journal at least a few times about their thoughts about what happened in the sections they read.

In Addition to all of this I also have a 6th Grade lesson Plan:

Content Standards: 

1.      Grade 6 Writing- 3. Communicating with others 3.1, 3.2, 4. Applying English Language Conventions 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3. Persuasive: 30. Write a a persuasive piece using “least to most important” arguments.

2.      Grade 6 Writing-  1. Reading and Responding 1.4, 3. Communicating with others 3.2, 4. Applying English Language Conventions 4.1, 4.2, 4.3. Capitalization / Punctuation / Usage, 3. Use capitalization, punctuation, and usage rules from previous grades.

Learner Background: 

             The students will already understand that when you write a persuasive paper you start with your least important argument and move to your most important argument. They will also have already read and discussed The Popularity Papers.

Student Learning Objective(s): 

o   The students will be able to write a piece that is persuasive and has 3 strong supporting details.

o   The student will also be able to write using appropriate capitalization, punctuation, commas, maintain consistent person, and use paragraph conventions

o   The student will be able to cite from their book.

Assessment: 

            I will use a detailed rubric for grading the students. The students will be assessed using the criteria in the attached rubric.

Materials/Resources: 

·         Chart paper

·         The Popularity Papers

Learning Activities: 

Initiation: 

            To initiate the lesson, I will ask the students to summarize the graphic novel The Popularity Papers. Then I will remind the students using the chalkboard the main parts of a persuasive piece. I will ask them to raise their hands and tell me what these parts are. As they answer I will write what they say on the board. Then I will tell them that they are going to write a persuasive piece on which character in the book was the most popular. 15 minutes

Lesson Development:

            On the first day:

            The students will fill out their graphic organizer (attached) with example and page numbers from the book. I would give 30 minutes for this part.

             Then I will teach a lesson on how to appropriately cite their quotes and paraphrased information. On a blank piece of chart paper I will write out the rules as follows:

1.      If it is a direct quote, meaning 3 or more words are taken directly from the text you must put quotes (“”) around the whole thing.

2.      After the (“”) but before the (.) you must write the (author’s last name and the page it came from). Example (Smith 34)

3.      If you paraphrase meaning you take an idea from the book then you still need to put the author and page number in parentheses, but you do not need quotes.

4.      You do not need to make a works cited page since I know which book you are using.

I will leave this up in the classroom so they can refer to it while writing their papers. I will also tell them that it is very important to cite what you use to give the author credit. I would use the analogy that if they took a math test and got a 79 on it and someone copied off of them on some of the problems and got a 90 how would you feel? I would take about 15 minutes to do this part.

            On the second day:

            The students will write for 45 minutes using their graphic organizer on which character was truly the most popular.

            On day three:

             The students will read only their arguments to a partner. On this day they will tell one another if they think they need more supporting arguments, or what they should take away or consider re-arragning as far as order for least to most strong. 30 minutes

            On day four:

            The students will make corrections to their papers and add needed elements to their papers. The students will write the final draft of their paper one hour.

             

Closure:

 When the lesson is all done I have the students talk about what they wrote about. I would also have them discuss with me on what they liked and disliked about this paper. I would take about 15 minutes for this part. 

 

Free is not really free

Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry by Mildred D. Taylor is a book about what it was like to be black before the civil rights movement. This book is historical fiction and would be a great way to teach students about what the time was like back then. I think that any child could relate to the adventures Cassie and her brothers embark in, but most children wouldn’t think that they would get into as much trouble. I think that the part of the story when Cassie walks into Lillian Jean Simms and then is made to apologize is an event in which children would be outraged to find out that Cassie was treated so badly.

Web Resources for Teachers:

• This website is great; it has chapter by chapter summaries, activities, 4 lessons, comprehension questions and so much more for Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry!
•  This is another great website. It has all sorts of teaching materials, from online vocabulary, to  teaching about the Jim Crow laws, study guides, and so much more!

Vocabulary:

Chapter 1- meticulously, concession, intriguing, admonished, billowed, raucous, pensively, plantation, barren, emaciated, morosely, amiably, disdainfully, loitering, confederacy, gleaned, traverse, tarpaulin, dubious, monotonously, temerity, indignant, chignon, maverick, imperiously, scoffed, Chapter 2- Sinewy,  gusto, chiffonier, Chapter 3- resiliency, dejected, coddling, flippantly, veered, dismayed, relent, drastic stealthily, bypassing, hastened, careened, dismally, defiantly, haggard, listlessly, adamantly, transfixed, Chapter 4- expounding, discourse, haughtily, prevailed, feigned, ploy, chided, aloof, discretely,  rekindle, beckoned, momentarily, engrossed, vaguely, tenant, Reconstruction, ransacked, reaped, fidgeting, warily, guttural, wizened, patronize, Chapter 5- solemnly, subdued, envisioned, verandas, promenading, mercantile, malevolently, sullenly, ambled, faltered, Chapter 6- balked,  bewildered, reprimand, retaliated, vanity, Chapter 7- locusts, goaded, aristocracy, wry, sneer, Chapter 8- irritably, sentinel, jovial, sauntered, satchel, prophesied, condemning, indignant, distastefully, Chapter 9- persnickety, amenities, scoffed, agitated, despairingly, Chapter 10- shroud, lethargically, reproachfully, revival, reluctantly, jauntily, desolately, Chapter 11-despicible, grimacing, vulnerability, akimbo, crescendo, Chapter 12- kerosene lamp, traipsing, menacingly.

* Since there are so many words at the beginning I may give the definitions to some of the words and have them find the definitions to the rest. I would also have them write all of these words in sentences, chapter by chapter, but for the first 5chapters I would only have them write sentences for ten of the words.

Before Reading Activity: Teach the students a mini-lesson about slavery and how even when the slaves became free, that they were still treated poorly. Also teach the students that they were harshly discriminated against. In addition to the mini-lesson right before beginning the book I would make sure that I have already taught about slavery. I would also teach them about Jim Crow laws and I would use the website above for that.

During reading activity: Invite the students, in a group discussion to make text-to-self connections to their lives. Also encourage them to make text-to-world connections, to what the world is like today and what it was like when there was segregation.

After Reading:  After reading the book and class discussions on the book throughout, I would hand out the following essay:

You will have 45 minutes to complete this essay:

                After reading Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor write a persuasive essay on why you think the Jim Crow Laws should be eliminated. 

*I will give them a 45 minute time constraint so they know what it feels like to only have 45 minutes, since in the CMTs in 7th and 8th grade they will have to write a persuasive piece in that amount of time.

Poetic Note

Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer is a collection of poems which tell a story about a young girl with cerebral palsy. This book is a great way for students to see what it is like to be a young girl growing up with cerebral palsy, in a way which all students can relate. I think that this story may open some students’ eyes about what it is like to be teased, especially since what makes Josie different is that she just looks different, and when students make fun of her for being “retarded”, it only makes those students look ignorant. I think this book would be a great way to open up conversations about students with handicaps.  I loved this book and I think you definitely will too!

Web resources:

An article on why inclusion books are important. There is also a list of some other books you may like.

A government website about cerebral palsy, which could be helpful in answering any questions students have on cerebral palsy.

The author’s page which has information about the book as well as an interview with the author.

Before Reading: I would go over the vocabulary and have the students fill out a sheet with the definitions on them to keep with their books as they read. Then I would ask them who knows what cerebral palsy is? After talking about cerebral palsy I would discuss with the class what it means to have cerebral palsy.

After Reading: Since this book is written in a series of poems I would have my students write their own poem I am poem using: I am poem generator.

During Reading: I would ask the students to summarize on their own in their journals after every 2-3 chapters. I would also like them to make any connections or predictions that they can.

Vocabulary: etched, misdial, vinyl, mourn, tormentors, rehabilitation, chintz, porcelain, ogre, mosaic, gnomes, foliage, poppies, satiny, cerebral palsy, boll weevil, mortared, crochets, akimbo, hideous, Buddleia, boxwoods, terra cotta, palette, mural, foyer, spores, crimson, metronome, taut, croissant, prodding, and fluorescent.