Ratings by Rachel

Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is a picture book about a boy named Max who was causing trouble at his house one night.  For his mischief, Max's mom called him a wild thing and sent Max to his room with no dinner.  Max's room started to turn into a forest and Max travelled to the place where the wild things lived.  Max became the king of the wild things and ruled over them, but eventually became lonely.  Max decided to go back home to his mom.  When he arrived to his room again, Max's hot supper was waiting for him.  Where The Wild Things Are gives the teacher and the students the opportunity to be very imaginative.  A great activity for this book would be to have the students create a picture or poster of what their bedroom would turn into if they were wild things.  The reading level for Where The Wild Things Are is the middle of Grade 1 to the end of Grade 2 with a Direct Reading Assessment Level of 16.

Thank you, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco is a great story about a young girl named Trisha who struggles to read all throughout elementary school.  The book describes the frustration of not being able to keep up with other students and being bullied in the process.  Trisha makes it all the way to the fifth grade where her teacher, Mr. Falker, realizes that Trisha is dyslexic and needs extra help with reading.  The book ends with Trisha being able to read and growing up to be a children's book author (the author of this book).  Thank you, Mr. Falker could be used as a way to introduce students to dyslexia and the struggles some of their fellow classmates have.  It would also be a great bullying prevention and/or self-confidence book for students.  After reading this book, students could write about a time they have ever felt bullied or have ever been insecure and what the student did or will do to overcome his or her struggle. The reading level of this book is the middle of grade 1 to the end of grade 2 with a 24 level according to the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA). 

A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon is about a girl named Camilla Cream who loves lima beans, but pretends not to like them to fit in with her classmates at school.  On the first of school, Camilla comes down with a bad case of the stripes and changes into everything the people around her tell her to change into.  Camilla's situation becomes so bad until an old lady gives Camilla lima beans to eat.  When Camilla eats the beans, she is cured, and when she returns to school she accepts who she is as a person and eats lima beans without caring what others think about her.  A Bad Case of Stripes gives the perfect opportunity for teachers to help students embrace the things they like and accept who they are as a person.  An activity that could be done in the classroom is having the students make a drawing of themselves with the stripes, but draw the things that make them unique and that they like.  The reading level of A Bad Case of Stripes is 610L (2nd Grade) according to the Lexile leveling system.

Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss is a picture book about exploring the world and doing things with your life.  The book discusses the highs and lows people will experience in their life, but that no matter what occurs, people should continue to find and to go after the things they want in life.  An activity teachers could potentially use with Oh, the Places You'll Go! is to ask students what they want to be when they grow up and have the students dress up and write about it. The Lexile Leveling system ranges Oh, the Places You'll Go! from 600-699L (Grade 2-3). 

Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods That Make My Day by Jamie Lee Curtis is a picture book about a young girl experiencing many types of emotions.  Each page explains an emotion she is feeling and why. The emotions and moods range from silly, excited, and happy to sad, angry, and discouraged.  The book ends with saying that it is okay to have any of these feelings inside.  Today I Feel Silly is a great book for exploring all different kinds of feelings that students might have felt, but never knew what it was called.  Students could write about an emotion they have felt before and describe what it felt like.  In addition, teacher should integrate music with this lesson by associating musical instruments to specific emotions, like drums to angry and maracas to happy. The reading level for this book is 490L (2nd Grade) according to Lexile Leveling.  

Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is a picture book about a boy named Max who was causing trouble at his house one night.  For his mischief, Max's mom called him a wild thing and sent Max to his room with no dinner.  Max's room started to turn into a forest and Max travelled to the place where the wild things lived.  Max became the king of the wild things and ruled over them, but eventually became lonely.  Max decided to go back home to his mom.  When he arrived to his room again, Max's hot supper was waiting for him.  Where The Wild Things Are gives the teacher and the students the opportunity to be very imaginative.  A great activity for this book would be to have the students create a picture or poster of what their bedroom would turn into if they were wild things.  The reading level for Where The Wild Things Are is the middle of Grade 1 to the end of Grade 2 with a Direct Reading Assessment Level of 16. 

A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon is about a girl named Camilla Cream who loves lima beans, but pretends not to like them to fit in with her classmates at school.  On the first of school, Camilla comes down with a bad case of the stripes and changes into everything the people around her tell her to change into.  Camilla's situation becomes so bad until an old lady gives Camilla lima beans to eat.  When Camilla eats the beans, she is cured, and when she returns to school she accepts who she is as a person and eats lima beans without caring what others think about her.  A Bad Case of Stripes gives the perfect opportunity for teachers to help students embrace the thinks they like and accept who they are as a person.  An activity that could be done in the classroom is having the students make a drawing of themselves with the stripes, but draw the things that make them unique and that they like.  The reading level of A Bad Case of Stripes is 610L (2nd Grade) according to the Lexile leveling system.   

Thank you, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco is a great story about a young girl named Trisha who struggles to read all throughout elementary school.  The book describes the frustration of not being able to keep up with other students and being bullied in the process.  Trisha makes it all the way to the fifth grade where her teacher, Mr. Falker, realizes that Trisha is dyslexic and needs extra help with reading.  The book ends with Trisha being able to read and growing up to be a children's book author (the author of this book).  Thank you, Mr. Falker could be used as a way to introduce students to dyslexia and the struggles some of their fellow classmates have.  It would also be a great bullying prevention and/or self-confidence book for students.  After reading this book, students could write about a time they have ever felt bullied or have ever been insecure and what the student did or will do to overcome his or her struggle. The reading level of this book is the middle of grade 1 to the end of grade 2 with a 24 level according to the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA).