Penny From Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm

Penny From Heaven (2006)
Written by: Jennifer L. Holm
Jacket Illustration by: Craig Nelson
Random House Children's Books, New York, New York
Lexile: 730L
Accelerated Reader: 7.0

Culturally rich, Dynamic, Amusing, Coming of Age, Relatable 

Suggested Delivery:  whole class read aloud

Electronic Resources to Support Learning:

     1.  World War II Internment

          This site provides information on the events leading up to, and the actual internment of thousands of Italian Americans in the United States for suspicion of alliance with Mussolini.  Just as Penny's father was taken into an internment camp, thousands of other innocent Italian Americans were forced into internment camps during WWII.

     2.  National Italian American Foundation

          This website explains what the National Italian American Foundation is and its importance; membership requirements, culture, programs, events, and scholarships available for students.  

Key Vocabulary:

• guffaw - a loud, boisterous laugh
• rotunda - a round building with a dome
• patanella mia - Italian, meaning "my little potato"
• pastiera - Italian dish, made with spaghetti, eggs, cheese, and black pepper, baked and served cold
• tesoro mio - Italian for "my treasure"
• snide - acting in a nasty, rude manner
• turpentine - distilled from the resin of pine trees, may be used to remove stains or medicinally 

Before Reading:  Mrs. Lewis, a 2nd grade teacher in the building, has a grandmother that came over with her family from Italy and had to adjust to an American way of life.  Although she never had to go to an internment camp because she completed her American citizenship, she knew of many who were abruptly taken from their families and forced into internment camps.  Mrs. Lewis's grandmother, Mrs. Falucci, will come in and speak to the class about what life was like as an Italian American, the challenges she faced getting accustomed to a different way of life, and give students insight on some Italian customs.

During Reading:  Although Frankie is Penny's cousin and best friend, many adults distrust him and disapprove of Penny hanging out with him so much.  Using what students have read so far about Frankie throughout the book (how he cheats during card games and never listens to adults), read aloud to the class Chapter 15, stopping on page 179 when Frankie is trying to convince Penny to go to the pool even though she's not allowed.  Pose the question to students of "What do you think will happen if Penny goes to the pool with Frankie?"  Students will discuss this question and its implications with their classmates at their groups, then report their predictions aloud to the whole group.  Students are encouraged to discuss punishments as well as safety issues or threats (polio is a big concern during this time to Penny's mother), as well as any embarrassing scenarios that could occur.  After discussing, finish reading the chapter aloud and compare what events occurred in the story to students' predictions.

After Reading:  Students will participate in a socratic seminar to debate and discuss the internment camps that were present during WWII, specifically the Italian American internment camps.  The whole class will read aloud together the "Author's Note" on pages 259-265 to learn more about the fear and propaganda the U.S. Government placed in its citizens during the war.  Students are encouraged to discuss why internment camps were formed and the underlying fear of the unknown that may have been the root cause.  How do we still see fear of the unknown in various cultures in present times?  Students will then research images of propaganda from various wars or aimed towards specific cultures and share their findings with the class.

Writing Activity:  Students are to talk to their family and find out about their own culture and heritage.  After taking notes, interviewing family members, bringing in photographs or artifacts, students will write about their background and where their ancestors came from.  Students are encouraged to write about family customs their family used to do or still do, favorite cultural foods, cultural activities, pasttimes, etc.  Students should also include why it is important to learn about your family background and the customs that shape individual cultures.  

Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly

Deep Blue WaterFire Saga: Book One (2014)
Written by: Jennifer Donnelly 
Endpaper maps & chapter opener illustration by: Laszlo Kubinyi
Disney Hyperion, New York, New York
Lexile: HL580L
Accelerated Reader: 10.0

Majestic, Harrowing, Mythical, Venturesome, Brave 

Suggested Delivery: small group reading

Electronic Resources to Support Reading:

      1.  WaterFire Saga

           This website provides information on the author, Jennifer Donnelly, as well as summaries of all of the four books in the WaterFire series.  Students may begin reading excerpts from each of the other books.  The site also provides a fun "Mermaid Quiz" for students to take to see which mermaid they most identify with.  

      2.  Jennifer Donnelly
           This website is the author, Jennifer Donnelly's, personal website.  Students may explore her other books, FAQ, and news and events.

Key Vocabulary:

      A complete glossary of all relevant and unique terms used in Deep Blue are located on pages 329-340.

• beguiling - to influence someone through trickery or flattery or misleading
• fractious - irritable or quarrelsome, difficult to control
• scimitar - a sword or sabre with a curved blade, originating from the Middle East 
• infallible - incapable of making mistakes or errors
• adversary - an opponent in a contest 
• talisman - an object believed to have magical powers and bring good luck 
• brusque - to converse in a curt, short, or sharp manner 

Before Reading:  As students read together in their groups, they will record words that will be presented and defined on a class word wall.  Many vocabulary words appear in Deep Blue that are unique to the story and are not apart of conventional English vocabulary.  Starting in the first chapter, the word wall will be added to throughout reading the rest of the story, constantly being expanded and added to.  This will serve as a reading strategy for students to keep terms clarified and to enhance the reading experience of the story.  Students may also refer to the glossary in the back of the book, but the word wall will solidify understanding as students are selecting vocabulary as they read and producing their own definitions, as well. 

During Reading:  Students will participate in Literature Discussion groups to discuss sections of the story as it is being read.  In order to model effective discussions, the class will participate in a Fishbowl Discussion each week, alternating groups to be in the fishbowl group with the teacher.  The other groups will form a circle on the outside of the fishbowl discussion group and observe the discussions and types of questions and responses that are shared in the fishbowl discussion.  Students will pick up on discussion strategies and concepts to discuss, as well as appropriate behavior in their own Literature Discussion groups.

After Reading:  Have a whole class discussion about the beginning of the novel to the end.  Many changes occurred, specifically, the main character Serafina experienced many changes that caused her character to grow and evolve.  On chart paper, record these events that contributed to Serafina's character change, similar to the manner of a timeline.  Discuss with students how people change and evolve in real life, as well.  What are some events that have occurred in students' lives that caused them to change as young people?

Writing Activity:  Each member in the literature groups will write from the point of view of one of the mermaids: Serafina, Becca, Neela, Ava, Ling, or Astrid.  Students should fully immerse themselves in their mermaid's life, using their family background, personality traits, special powers, and beliefs they hold to write about what might happen during the next part of their adventure.  Because Deep Blue ends on a cliffhanger, students are to write about what will happen on the next leg of the journey, according to the character's perspective they write about.  Students will then divide into groups based on which mermaid they chose to be in their writing and share aloud their writing pieces.

Fly Away by Patricia MacLachlan

Fly Away (2014)
Written by: Patricia MacLachlan
Jacket Illustration by: Amy June Bates
Margaret K. McElderry Books, New York, New York
Lexile: 490L
Accelerated Reader: 1.0

Pure, Familial, Heart Warming, Poetic, Gentle

Suggested Delivery:  independent

Electronic Resources to Support Reading:

      1.  North Dakota

          This site provides students with general information and interactive activities about North Dakota, where Lucy and her family go to visit and help Aunt Frankie with her farm during the flooding season.  It will help students gain better understanding of where Lucy's family travels to and what the state is like.  

      2.  Patricia MacLachlan

           This site provides a biography of Patricia MacLachlan's life and lets students into her inspirations behind her stories.  A big part of the biography is dedicated to her love for family and the importance of strong familial ties, which will help students understand the value of the family bond in Fly Away.

Key Vocabulary:

• raucous - loud, disturbing, noisy
• Dutch Belted - cattle (cows) that are normally black with a big white stripe around the middle
• Holstein - cows with black and white color patterns
• Guernsey - cows with orange/red and white color patterns
• triumphal - used in a great celebration or victory
• mosey - to move in a leisurely, slow, relaxed manner

Before Reading:  Students will complete an Anticipation Guide before reading Fly Away.  Students will observe the front and back covers and listen to the description on the jacket of the book in order to form hypotheses about the story they are about to read.  After all students independently fill out the Anticipation Guide, have a class discussion on each question and allow children to share their predictions and why they think certain events will or will not happen, are true or untrue.

During Reading:  After students finish reading Chapter 10 independently, we will complete a CLOSE reading of the chapter as a whole class.  This chapter is a very highly emotional chapter in which Teddy wanders away his mother on the farm, and the whole family frantically runs around trying to find him.  The first half of the chapter evokes a feeling of panic and terror as Teddy is nowhere to be found, while the second half of the chapter brings a feeling of relief and calmness once Teddy is found again.  The turning point is when Lucy begins to sing aloud because Teddy is always drawn to Lucy singing, even though it pains Lucy to sing aloud in front of her family and she and Teddy's singing is their own personal secret.  Students will be led through a teacher led discussion to analyze the passage closely: the different feelings and emotions that are felt throughout the chapter, the importance of the song Teddy and Lucy sing to each other throughout the book, but how much more important the song is now, and the melancholy feelings of Boots towards the end of the chapter, although he is obviously relieved his son is now safe.

After Reading:  Students will work with the other students at their groups to discuss and analyze which character changes the most from the start to the end of the story:  Lucy, Teddy, Boots, Lucy's mother, or Aunt Frankie.  Students will collaborate and discuss with each other why and how these characters developed and changed, and what events caused them to change by the end of the story.  After the collaborative conversations are over, groups will choose a Reporter to report their findings to the rest of the class about which character changed the most and why.

Writing Activity:  Students will construct a Response Writing piece after finishing reading the story.  Students are to compare their own family dynamic to that of Lucy's in Fly Away.  Are there any similar family members in the student's family to those of Lucy's family?  Which character can they most personally relate to and why?  How is Lucy's family different than their own family?

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

The Higher Power of Lucky (2006)
Written by: Susan Patron
Illustrated by: Matt Phelan
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, New York, New York
Lexile: 1010L
Accelerated Reader: 5.0

Witty, Charming, Honest, Resourceful, Daring

Suggested Delivery: independent 

Electronic Resources to Support Reading:

      1.  Mojave Desert

           This site explains where the Mojave Desert is located, its climate, the wildlife that lives there, and a glossary.  Students may explore this website before and during reading in order to gain a better understanding of where Lucky lives and the conditions she and her neighbors face living in Hard Pan, California.

      2.  Susan Patron

           This site is the author, Susan Patron's website.  It contains brief summaries of her books, more information about her personal life, as well as the controversy of censorship that her book and others have been exposed to.

Key Vocabulary:

• commodity - goods or services that satisfies wants or necessities
• crevice - a narrow opening, a crack; 
• 12-step program - guidelines or principles offered in order to solve a problem, such as alcohol or drug abuse
• guardian - a person appointed to take care of a person who is not legally old enough
• ward - a person who has a guardian to take care of them, because they are not old enough or able to do so
• corrugated - a material shaped into grooves and ridges, such as a roof
• languid - slow, relaxed, physically tired or fatigued

Before Reading:  Analyze the title of the book, "The Higher Power of Lucky" with students.  Ask if students have heard of the phrase "higher power" before or have an idea of what it means.  Review with students the meaning of "12-Step Program" and relate the meaning of these programs to finding a "higher power."  Students may write in their writing journals about their current thoughts or ideas of higher power, if anyone they know has a higher power, or if they personally have a higher power that helps them in their daily life.  Students will review this entry after the story is finished, and make changes or add to their entry about what a higher power entails.

During Reading:  In the story, Lincoln decides to fix a street sign that reads "Slow Children At Play" to "Slow: Children At Play".  Discuss with students how the insertion of the colon changes the meaning of the sign completely.  Inform students that they will go on a scavenger hunt in order to find more examples of short phrases or fragments that distort the intention of the meaning.  These can be examples found in other street signs, newspaper headings, or advertisements.  Giving them ample time to find real world examples, students will report back to their peers about what examples they found, and how they would change the wording or insert punctuation in order to project the intended meaning.  Then, present a challenge: students will produce their own examples of intended mistaken wording, and working in pairs, have to decode each other's examples in order to revise the phrase to regain the correct meaning.

After Reading:  After reviewing Susan Patron's website under the tab "Censorship", and discussing with students what it means when a book or other medium is censored, introduce the topic of debate.  After reviewing with students proper behavior and ethics of a debate, divide students into two groups.  One group will be pro-censorship and the other group will be anti-censorship.  The question at hand will be "When writing a book, should an author be careful not to include any words that may make people feel uncomfortable?  Why or why not?"  Teacher will prompt students along if necessary to continue debate and discussion, with possible questions such as "Have you ever gone out of your comfort zone and felt a little uneasy, but then benefited from having done so?"  "Have you read other pieces of writing that has made you or others around you feel uncomfortable?  Was it necessary to the quality of the writing?"

Writing Activity:  Introduce to students the concept of SPAWN writing.  Tell students in this SPAWN writing activity, they will be completing part S of the "Special Powers" writing piece, that is, students may change one aspect of the text, explain why they changed it, and how this change effected the story.  The whole class will brainstorm aloud ideas of what aspects of the story could be changed that would effect the rest of the story's events in order to make sure all students have at least one possibility they would prefer to write about in this activity.  Examples could include, "What if Lucky's mother had never stepped on the wire after the storm?"  "What if Brigitte did not agree to be Lucky's guardian?"  "What if there was not a dust storm that hit Hard Pan on the day Lucky decided to run away?"

Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night

Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night (2010)
Written by: Joyce Sidman
Illustrated by: Rick Allen
Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston
Lexile: 1020L
Accelerated Reader: 0.5

Graceful, Majestic, Mysterious, Eye-opening, Stimulating, Informative

Suggested Delivery: whole class read aloud

Electronic Resources to Support Reading:

      1.  Raptors

           This site is University of Minnesota "Raptor Center" which includes a monthly activity that is ecologically friendly and may teach students ways to reduce their carbon footprint, as well as further information about various raptors, including bald eagles, owls, and hawks, to name a few.

      2.  Writing Poetry with Joyce Sidman
           Joyce Sidman provides writers with a starting ground for writing poetry, geared towards younger writers or older writers.  There are numerous ideas for themes to adopt while writing a poem and tips to get started, walking a writer through the thought process.  This site will especially come into use while students write their own poem.

Key Vocabulary:

• abdomen - in spiders, the hindmost part of the body (usually the largest)
• echolocation - used by animals such as bats or dolphins, the act of locating objects by bouncing high-pitched sounds against them
• fungi - a group of spore-making organisms that feed on decaying organic matter
• nectar - a sugary liquid made by plants to attract pollinators (such as moths and bees)
• nocturnal - active at night
• omnivorous - eating a variety of both plant and animal foods
• orbit - to travel around a larger planet or star in a circular path
• photosynthesis - the chemical process by which plants make energy into sunlight
• spinnerets - organs in a spider's body that produce and squirt out silk
• ubi sunt - the name of a style of medieval poetry that expresses the loss of heroic and beautiful things

           

Before Reading:  Simulate dusk in the classroom by turning off the lights and playing a "nature sounds at night" audio.  Tell children to relax, they may close their eyes if it feels helpful to them, in order to visualize being outside at dusk or nighttime in the summertime.  What sounds do they hear around them, as the night world and its nocturnal creatures awake and thrive?  After hearing the audio, review with students what "nocturnal" means, and have students write down words or phrases that came to mind when they visualized being outside at night in the summer.  They may write down visual observations, anything they perceive with their senses, or feelings they personally experienced.  Tell students to listen to how the author, Joyce Sidman, uses her own "nighttime" words and phrases to describe her experience in the dark outside, and if they are the same or similar to the way they described nighttime.

During Reading:  After reading aloud each poem, have students work together at their tables to analyze Sidman's choice of wording and phrasing and hypothesize what type of night creature she is writing about.  After each response is shared, announce the title of the poem, and go on to read the expository information on the right side of the page, explaining to students the difference between the poem presented beforehand, and the factual information presented afterwards.  How are these bodies of writing different?  How do they each contribute to the importance and message of the book?  Have students share what new information they have learned and record new information and facts that students have just learned and recalled on big poster paper.  

After Reading:  Each student will create an infographic that presents at least ten pieces of information about one of the animals presented in Sidman's book.  This will require additional research on behalf of the student in order to have enough factual information to present in their infographic.  They may use piktochart.com or another approved infographic website.  Students will then present their infographics to the class and share with each other important facts they learned about their species.

Writing Activity:  Students will compose a poem about their animal they researched and created the infographic.  Similar to Joyce Sidman, they are encouraged to write about all senses, evoke feelings, and translate the beauty of each animal or living entity they are assigned.  They may clearly state which animal they are talking about in the poem, or create a mysterious poem that leaves readers with a little interpretation to do on their own.

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Dead End in Norvelt (2011)
Written by: Jack Gantos
Farrar Straus Giroux, New York, NY
Lexile: 920L
Accelerated Reader: 5.7
Infographic

Adventurous, Historical, Laughable, Surprising, Unusual

Suggested Delivery: small group reading

Electronic Resources to Support Reading:

    1. Eleanor Roosevelt 

         This website provides readers a look into Eleanor Roosevelt's life and her contributions to the New Deal programs that Norvelt was built under.

    2. Writing an Obituary

         This website provides information and tips on how to write an obituary.  Students will refer to this site while completing an activity after reading the book.

Key Vocabulary:

• abscond - to leave in a hurry, secretly
• contempt - to show that something is beneath care or consideration
• simian - characteristic of an ape
• ingrate - an ungrateful person
• noxious - harmful or poisonous
• feral - an animal in a wild state, acting like a wild animal
• incredulous - unable to believe something
• barter - a trade, involving an exchange for goods or services without using money

Before Reading:  Before reading, discuss with students the time period Dead End in Norvelt was written and discuss elements of the New Deal that Roosevelt put in place.  Students will conduct an interview with someone who was alive during that time period (around 1962, within 5-10 years) and gain information on what the New Deal was like, what people were concerned with and worried about during this time period, as well as their personal opinion about the New Deal, communism, worries, and joys during this period in American history. 

During Reading:  Students will participate in literature circles to conduct discussions and conversations about the book while they are reading.  In order for students to have effective literature circles, a fishbowl discussion will take place with each group, where the teacher is apart of the literature discussion, facilitating and prompting the discussion as needed, while the rest of the class stands around the literature group and observes and listens in on the discussion.  By every student participating in a literature discussion with the teacher, as well as observing literature discussions with the teacher several times, the quality and effectiveness of each group's literature circle will improve.

After Reading:  Students will create a "Wanted" Poster for Mr. Spizz using www.piktochart.com.  Students will include crimes Spizz is wanted for, such as poisoning the elderly town citizens, blaming their deaths on Miss Volker and tying her up in the basement, and being an overall pest to the Gantos family!

Writing Activity:  Students will compose an obituary, referring to the electronic website provided above.  Their obituary may feature a fictional character, a real person, or an animal or pet, such as the deer obituary Jack writes at the end of the story.  Students are encouraged to write an obituary that evokes emotions, feelings, inspirations, and historical content similar to Miss Volker's obituary writing, as well as some humor if they so choose.