Gathering The Sun

A Pura Belprie Award Winning Book!

M is for Mexico.

My grandparents came from Mexico.
My parents returned to Mexico.
My dream is to visit Mexico.

Y tu?

What's your dream?

Follow the lives of these young children as they take you into the heart of Mexican culture. With rich, vibrant pictures and poems in both english and spanish, you'll be able to see just what it's like to belong to a culture rich in tradition, family, language, and love. It's amazing that this book can take something as simple as learning the alphabet, and effortlessly turn it into a stepping stone for so many other things.

Keep the culture of your bilingual students alive in the classroom. Let them share this tale with you, their peers, or simply keep it around as a reminder of something familiar. Believe me, having bilingual books on hand goes a long way in reaching across the gap to meet the needs of students who have a harder time staying afloat.

Ada, A. F. (1994). Gathering the sun: An alphabet in English and Spanish. Trans. Rosa Zubizaretta. New York, NY: Lothrop, Lee, & Shepard Books.

Lon Po Po

A Caldecott Award Winning Book!
Please visit the following website for an accompanying cyber (online) lesson about Lon Po Po. Learn about the author, the country of China, compare Lon Po Po to the real Little Red Riding Hood story and much more!
http://publish.bsu.edu/00smtancock/CyberLessons/LonPoPo/



The shadows of the evening stretch forth across the pastel panorama to make the wolf eerily visible despite the darkness. Stalking across the shadows, he finds a home with three children who are all alone. The children are excited to see their Po Po (or grandmother), and invite him inside. Decieved by the cunning wolf, he promptly blows out the only light in the house. This isn't your typical red riding hood story. There's no adult around to save these three children. No, they must learn to think quick and fend for themselves to protect their lives and their home.

Have your students on the watch for the wolf who lurks in the shadows!

Ed Young (1989). Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story From China. New York: NY: Philomel Books.

House of Dies Drear

An ALA Notable Book!

History tells us that Dies Drear was an abolitionist, and this huge house of his was a station on the Underground Railroad. Thomas Small knows all about the history of the Underground Railroad. More than he really wanted to know considering his father is a college professor. But what about the legend of Dies Drear himself? They say that the murdered spirit of Dies Drear still haunts the house to this day. Thomas is about to find out there's more than meets the eye when he and his father stumble on a secret that has been jealously protected for more than a hundred years.

Hamilton is a master of language. Her words roll ominously off the tongue, captivating her readers. This book fits collaboratively into any history lesson on slavery and the Civil War. Try these links below to use with your students:

Dies Drear: A Study Guide
file:///Users/joyreid/Desktop/house_of_dies_drear.pdf

Dies Drear: A Resource for Middle School Teachers
http://www.leasttern.com/DiesDrear/diesdrear.htm

An Interview with Virginia Hamilton
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/collateral.jsp?id=1474_type=Contributor_typeId=3195

Hamilton, V. (1968). The House of Dies Drear. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

I'm Dead At Recess

Please visit the following link to view the book on the Tumblebooks Library Website:
http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/asp/full_book.asp?ProductID=2

Tumblebooks are online interactive storybooks. They feature narrated read alouds, an interactive story pad where you can follow along as the words are being read, as well as animated graphics and illustrations which bring your favorite characters to life.

If your kids act up like mine do, then here's the perfect story for them. Told in poetic verse, it's a terror-filled rhyme of how one boy's antics cause him to live in fear as he counts down the hours to his demise. Once your kids get a load of this, they may think twice about getting out of line.

The Pendragon Series

"I hope you're reading this Mark. Heck, I hope anybody's reading this because the only thing that's keeping me from going off my nut right now is getting this all down on paper so that someday when it's all over, it'll help prove that I'm not a total whack job."

I, Bobby Pendrake, just got ripped out of my earthly existance to travel to this place called Denduron. All so I can save a society of people that I don't even know. Now my house is gone. The house I grew up in for 15 years of my life. isAnd the only family I have left my Uncle Press...the one who started this whole mess in the first place. But I can't really blame him since we were chased to Denduron by his archnemesis, Saint Dane. Besides, I've met a lot of cool people along the way. People like Loor, a powerful female warrior whose around my age. She taught me to believe in myself and my abilities. I could never have stood up to Saint Dane if it weren't for her.

But that's not important now. The important thing is that I'm a traveler. Jumping between worlds. The only people who know are my best friend Mark and Courtney Chetwine. THE Courtney Chetwine who kissed me for the first time on the same day this whole thing started. They read my journals whenever I can send them through the porthole.

I want you to read my journals too. Spread them around to as many people as you can. Let people know that there are other worlds out there. Worlds outside of the small box that most people stuff themselves in!

MacHale, D.J. (2002). New York, NY: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers.

The Composition

Pedro has to write a composition during class about what his family does from the time he gets home to the time he goes to sleep. What a strange topic. It's even stranger that his regular teacher has been replaced by Captain Romo, a government soldier. When Pedro gets home, his parents react very strangely.
Will they get in trouble with the government and disappear just like Don Daniel, Pedro's best friend's dad?

Welcome to life in a dictatorship. What would your students do if they were in Pedro's place? How would their lives change if the government took over your school? Have your students write a composition like Pedro's, but don't tell them why until the end of class. Would they change what they wrote if they knew?

Teach your students about different types of governments by having them live through it. It's sure to be a lesson they won't forget!

Skarmata, A. & Ruano, A. (2000). The Composition. Berkeley, CA: Groundwood Books.

Fever 1793

Philidelphia, 1793.

It's the middle of summer and the heat is unbearable. The once thriving city is deserted. Our coffeeshop, my only home, been ransacked by thieves. Yellow ribbons flutter about on doors and gates signaling certain death for those inside. Corpses have been flung outside of doors and windows. All because the families had to wait for the ominous bell ringer yelling "bring out your dead!" before they could be carted away without even being given a proper burial. All we can hope to do is wait until the frost when the sickness goes away and the people come back to the city. But will we survive until then?

Fever 1793 is a poignant historical account of the yellow fever epidemic during the Revolutionary period in American history. Each chapter takes an excerpt from famous documents of the 1700s and explores them at length through the eyes of Matilda. This book could be used for any subject in the curriculum. Perhaps a scientific study on how plagues are spread? Or a literary study on the multiple perspectives offered from the various tracts?

Whatever you decide, this book is sure to capture the attention and emotions of your students as it puts them in the shoes of someone who has lived through it all and lived to tell about it.

Anderson, L.H. (2000). Fever 1793. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks.