Objective - Students will mix primary colors, recognize colors, and write a sentence using color words.

Summary - Students listen to the book Mouse Paint. Participate in a choral rereading. Discuss the changes when the colors mixed. Complete a sentence that describes an action in the book and uses color words.

Implementation - Read Mouse Paint. Students choose 2 primary colors (e. g., yellow & blue) to drop marbles in. Remove the marbles from paint with spoons and place on a circle paper cut to fit inside a circle tray. Roll the tray gently, mixing the colors. Complete a sentence  that says, My mouse jumped  (v) in red and blue (color words) and made purple (color combination).

Objective - Students will read The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco and illustrate one tradition found in the story. 

Summary - Students will read The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco in the class library or at their desk.  After they read the story, they will go to a center and take a 6 by 6 inch piece of white construction and illustrate one tradition celebrated by Patricia family that is found in the story.  After completed, the student (or teacher) should glue the quilt piece onto a large sheet of bulletin board paper.  It should be square or rectangular in shape and large enough to accommodate all of the class quilt pieces.

Implementation -I have used this lesson for both The Keeping Quit  and Sarah, Plain and Tall.  In both lessons, it was nice to see the wide varety of the students' interpretations from the story.  The quilt makes a nice conversation piece and display for the room.  Another use would be to make the quilt out of fabric with the help of parents, and use it for an auction item at a fundraiser.

3. The Giving Tree (Jeanne Sasser)

Objective - Students will think of gifts that can be given freely.  Students will gain respect for one another.

Summary - The teacher will share the story The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein with the class.  The students will contribute ideas of positive gifts that can be given to the class. Given an apple die-cut each student will write their "gift" on it to be placed on the class "giving tree." 

Implementation - This lesson was used with second grade classes in the library.  After reading the story, the students brainstormed gifts that are free.  Then, they wrote a gift they could share (kindness, love, respect, etc.) on an apple.  Then these were displayed in the library on our "giving tree" for second grade. 

Objective - Students will read The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst.  Students will write a response to the story.

Summary - The Gingerbread Girl may be read to the class or they may read independently.  After the story, the students will write what they would do to catch the Gingerbread Girl. 

Implementation - The story was read to third and fourth grade classes in the library.  Students were asssigned the activity of writing what they would do to catch the Gingerbread Girl.  Since they have to take this assignment back to the classroom, those students who responded to the assignment were given gingerbread cookies. 

Objective - Students will predict the changes that may affect schools in 100 years.

Summary - Read the story Three Names by Patricia MacLachlan to students.  Give students drawing paper.  They will fold it into thirds.  In the first column students will illustrate a scene about schools 100 years ago.  In the second column students will draw a scene from schools of today.  In the third column students will illustrate how the scene will change 100 years from now.  Students will also write a caption for each illustration.

Implementation - After the story was read, the students were given time to illustrate each era.  Students shared their pictures and read their captions of their interpretations and predictions of schools in the past, present, and future.

Objective - Students will match cause and effect relationships.  Students will identify statements as fact or opinion.

Summary - For the cause and effect relationships the teacher will read a cause and students will give the effect.  Or, the teacher will read an effect and the students will give the cause.  These statements directly relate to the story.  A list of causes and effects may be used from the Oct./Nov. 2005 issue of Bookbag or you may make up your own.      For the fact/opinion activity the teacher reads statements from the story and students decide if the statement is a fact or an opinion.  An activity for centers can be developed by writing a cause on a bat and an effect on a ball.  Students will match each bat to the correct ball.  For the fact/opinion activity pennant shapes can be made; one for fact, one for opinion.   Students respond to the statement by waving the correct pennant.

Implementation -  I read the story to 3rd and 4th grade students.  Since it is during their library time we did this as a group activity.  I did fact/opinion with my 3rd grade classes and cause/effect with 4th grade classes.  Students gave good responses and were able to take an AR test  successfully. 

4. Harald the Ruthless: The Saga of the Last Viking by Andrea Hopkins (Scott Mazur)

Objective - Students will create their own sequencing tapestry about The American Revolution.

Summary - Using the book, Harald the Ruthless: The Saga of the Last Viking, and select pictures of the The Bayeux Tapestry, students will create their own tapestry to show the sequence of events that occured during The American Revolution.  To begin, share the graphic novel Harald the Ruthless.  Second show select picture of the The Bayeux Tapestry.  Be sure t preview the pictures first.  Some of the art may be inappropriate for students.  Have students visit the center to create their own tapestry.  This activity can be used for other historical lessons.

Implementation - Students created their tapestries and shared them by posting them around the classroom.  A small group of students shared their "group" tapestry on the school news.

5. A picture book of Lewis and Clark by David A. Adler (Scott Mazur)

Objective - Students will use watercolors to create their own picture book (individually or as a class).

Summary – Using, A picture book of Lewis and Clark by David A. Adler as an example, create a biography picture book using watercolor paintings made by your students.  After reading the example book, research a historical figure.  Use the writing process to develop the dialogue of your book.  Separate the writing into sections for each page.  At a center in the classroom have students paint the pages of the picture book.  When all of the pictures are completed you can 1) write the dialogue on the pages and bind the book or 2) scan the pages into the computer and have students create a power point book that can be printed out or placed on your website.

Implementation – I started to try and do this activity as an individual project for each child but it started to become to cumbersome.  I modified it to allow each child to paint a page in the book.  Having 24 students, this really required my students to think hard about how they wanted to divide the pages