Children's literature lesson

Throughout the years many books have caught my attention. In particular, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was my favorite. With the major themes including magic, mystery, good versus evil, and the problems that come with desires, J. K. Rowling creates a book that is hard to put down for children as well as young adults.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is about an eleven year old boy living in Great Britain, who was taken care of by his uncle after he was informed that both of his parents died in a car crash. Unaware of all his capabilities as well as the knowledge that he is a wizard, he repeatedly gets in trouble. Then one day, owls appear delivering Harry mail. Trying his best to keep Harry away from magic, his uncle attempted everything from closing off the mail entrance, to moving his family out of their house. It is then brought to Harry’s attention that he is a wizard and has been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Harry then is introduced to an entire other world; a world full of magic. He learns what really happened to his parents the night of the car crash. Harry is quick to learn that not every wizard is good, especially in the wizarding world. Through his adventure as a first year wizard, he makes friends and learns he is a natural at the game Quiditch. His friends and he are also curious about a sorcerer’s stone which allows someone to become immortal. Harry comes across challenges he has never had to dream about but with the aid of his friends he is able to protect the stone by wishing to find it without the thought of actually using it.
This book is one of my favorites because it incorporates many different ideas of fantasy. Nevertheless it is written in a way that the reader has a strong connection and is able to feel for Harry and his friends. Everyone can identify themselves as one of the main characters. In addition, the book is able to touch on numerous themes. In my classroom, one major theme which I would teach is the value of good versus evil. I would start off the class by making a chart and have all my students express to me what the good and evil character traits are. Then throughout the story, I would have them tell me what made the main characters good or bad based on the chart and add additional qualities if they were not listed. I will also have discussion time to elicit my students’ opinion on their favorite and least favorite parts. I would also have a question and answer time. I will read the first half of the chapter to the class and give my students time to finish it in pairs because some of the wording is a little more difficult. In My classroom, I will have a comfortable rug for reading, this way I will provide a very relaxing atmosphere and an enjoyable place to learn and read.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=harry+potter+and+the+sorcerer%27s+stone

Kristen's Favorite book (series)

The most memorable series of books that I recall listening to and learning from in elementary school were The Magic School Bus books by Joana Cole and Bruce Degen. I also remember getting really excited to watch the movies of The Magic School Bus. Most recently for a class I read The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane. I realized through reading it now, after I have grown up quite a bit, that there is an array of information in these books. Not only does the story itself give information, but there are little blurbs all over the pages that give information as well that are exciting to look at and, incidentally, give the student a bunch of facts. This one in particular is about Ms. Frizzle and her class going on a school field trip inside a hurricane. They learn about the parts of a hurricane as they go in each section of the hurricane. They also learn about the good and bad affects of hurricanes. The class (and the reader) learn how hurricanes are similar to and different from tornadoes as well. Not only does the class go to the hurricane they also go to their “real field trip destination” which is to the weather station. The kids end up repeating all they learned in the hurricane to the people who work there, which reviews and reinforces the facts that the reader learned previously. Throughout the book there are actual demonstrations to symbolize hurricanes, what cause them, what goes on in storm clouds, and several more activities the kids can do in the classroom or at home. This book has great pictures and facts all over the page to catch your eye. The crazy adventures in all the books keep students’ attention and teach them a ton of facts.

I want to use these books as a teaching material to read to the class during certain subjects we are working on that a specific Magic School Bus book pertains to. I also want to take some of the fun activities from it and experiment with them as a class. I also want to put several of these books in my classroom library to give the students a chance to learn about something they are interested in during free time or to borrow and take home. I think The Magic School Bus book series is a fun way to enforce reading skills for students, get them interested in literature, and to integrate subjects in the curriculum for any grade level.

http://www.amazon.com/Magic-School-Bus-Inside-Hurricane/dp/0613128591/ref=ed_oe_h

Jennifer Shearer

This was a book that my third grade teacher read to us. This book is very entertaining and inventive. I think it shows children that writing and reading can be inventive and crazy! This book is about a Big Friendly Giant (The BFG) and he gives children dreams at night. This young girl can't sleep one night and sees him and follows him. They become friends and she gets to experience his world which is full of funny says and words. I definitely see myself using this in my classroom. I think it can be used from first to third grades. The teacher that I did my field experience with used it in his first grade class. The students seemed to really love the book. It is a chapter book but it does have pictures in it so it does help when you are reading it to younger children. The book is full of imagination and it is that very reason that I love the book. I share this book with everyone any chance I get and I can't wait to share it in my classroom with my students. There are several fun projects or assignments you could do with this book. One thing that I think would be fun and entertaining is trying to get students to expand their vocabulary and teach them to use a dictionary by finding the definitions to long and "silly" sounding words like the ones similar to this book. I think it would also be fun to have them write their own story about a dream they had that the BFG blew into their room one night. There are many fun and inventive things you can do with this book. I would enjoy reading it again now as a college student because I enjoy it so much! It is a good read and most children that I have ever read it to and from what I can remember this was one of the most loved books by everyone who read it.


http://www.amazon.com/My-Roald-Dahl-BFG/dp/0141322624/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252864268&sr=8-1

Lauren Schraut's Children's Literature Book

One of my most fond memories of reading while in elementary school was The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. When I was in first grade, we read a number of his books since he was coming to visit our school. Because of this, I began to become very interested in his books.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is about a caterpillar that is born and begins to eat vast amounts of food. I believe this book drew my attention, because this caterpillar was eating all types of food and it was quite funny as a first grader to see this animal eating all of this food.
This story is a great one to incorporate into your classroom as a teacher because it can really integrate a variety of subject areas into this one book. This book incorporates eating, numbers, days of the week, and science. When teaching about healthy eating, you can discuss what the caterpillar ate that was and was not healthy. Also, as a teacher I could have the students make a food guide pyramid and list where all the foods the caterpillar ate came from. We could discuss as a class or in small groups if they were healthy choices and possibly why the caterpillar got a stomach ache.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar incorporates science as well. It speaks of the life cycle of a caterpillar which you could use simultaneously while teaching that in the classroom. You can have your students do an art project that follows the life cycle of the caterpillar.
With younger grades you could practice the days of the week as well as your numbers while reading this story.
A very fun way to incorporate this story into art would be to act out this as a play that the students can perform for other classrooms in their grade level or if they have buddies from another grade. They could each have a role and play all the different foods and such. Even as a teacher a twist could be made to the story, you could have the students research what caterpillars eat and they could act out the story in the same way, but with foods that caterpillars would really eat in the wild.
Click HERE to purchase this children's book.