Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors

Red Sings from the Treetops
Written by: Joyce Sidman
Illustrated by: Pamela Zagarenski
Published by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2009
Grades: PK-2
Genre: Picture Book, Poetry
Caldecott Honor Book

Synopsis: This book travels through each season and describes the colors that you see throughout it. It starts with spring and ends full circle with spring again with the color red. In this book, it associates spring with red and the red cardinals that appear singing and the buds of the leaves too. It talks about the green that covers the earth on the trees and in the grass. It talks about birds being born and how spring is also the new beginning to things. It then leads into summer and talks about yellow and the sun and how it melts everything it touches. It then goes into fall where it talks about green being tired and how brown rises and takes over. It ends in winter when you breathe blue and white traces all over everything. It ends with red and the inclination that spring will be here again with the cardinals singing. This completes the cycle of the seasons.

Theme/Skill: Seasons, Colors, Figurative Language, Poetry, Descriptive Language, Word Recognition

About the Author: Joyce Sidman

Joyce Sidman was born in Connecticut and has three sisters.  Education was an important aspect to her parents and herself as she was growing up.  She began writing in grade school by writing things down that came in her head to help her understand the world.  She discovered her love for poetry in high school from the inspiration of one of her teachers.  She loves using images and metaphors in her poetry to explain her thoughts and feelings.  She has written almost one hundred books, but currently has eleven children’s books that have been published.  Among these are Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature, Dark Emperor, The World According to Dog, and Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors.  The latter book received the Caldecott Honor in 2010.  She currently lives in Minnesota with her husband and two sons. 

Source used: http://www.joycesidman.com/biography.html

About the Illustrator:  Pamela Zagarenski

Pamela Zagarenski  graduated from the University of Connecticut with a BFA in Graphic Design.  She is well known as a published illustrator of thirteen children’s books.  Among these books are What Day Is It?/ Que Dia Es?, This Is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness, Mites to Mastodons: A Book of Animal Poems, Small and Large, and Red sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors.   Pamela is also known for her paintings that are on display in the Whyevernot Gallery in Mystic.  She currently lives in Stonington, Connecticut. 

Source used:  http://www.atthegallery.com/artists/zagarenski.html

Pre-reading Activities: Activating Prior Knowledge:  Break the students up into four gropus.  In their groups, give students a piece of chart paper, markers, colored pencils, and crayons.  Each group will receive a season as their topic: fall, winter, spring, or summer.  Tell students that their job in the group is to come up with a scene that represents the season their group was given.  When they are done, they need to present it to the rest of the class and explain why they chose the colors they did. 

Post-Reading Activities:  Following reading the book, students will again take their season that they had in the pre-reading activity.  Each student will create their own poem about the season they had first.  They can use the same picture from their chart to help write their poem or create another picture that they will use to describe their poem.  In their poem they must include at least two colors.  These colors must use the same strategy as in the book and have them highlighted in their color.  The poems must be at least 5-7 lines.  Students will have time to start these in class.  If they do not finish in the class time they will take them home to finish and bring them back the next day.  Students will then share them with a partner and have them edit their poem or give them ideas on how to fix them.  After this is done, they will then write a final draft and place it on the final paper with their picture.  They will share it with the class and then each poem will be used to create a class season poem book to put in the reading area. 
  

Reflection:  I think this book allows children to learn about the seasons both visually and auditorally. It not only allows children to learn their seasons but also their colors. While following along it writes the name of the color in that color. The pages make the color it speaks about pop out and allows children to pick out the different things the story is talking about. I think this book is especially good for visual learners who need pictures in front of them to be able to understand what the teacher is talking about. The rhythm of the book makes a nice read and easy for children to follow along. The book is lengthier than others but using intonation and questions throughout the story should keep students engaged throughout the entire story.

Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Written by: Randall Jarrell
Published by: Collins Publisher 1987
Illustrated by: Nancy Ekholm
Grades 1-3
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction
Awards: Caldecott Honor Book

Synopsis: This fantasy book tells the story of Snow-White, the most fairest of them all.  After escaping her wicked step-mother, the Queen, she lived with the seven dwarfs in their tiny house.  She was tricked three times by the Queen who was trying to kill her.  The last time with an apple that put her in a deep sleep.  The prince came along and saved Snow-White and they lived happily ever after. 

Theme/Skill:  It talks about family, strangers, friendship, royalty, work, and revenge.  It can focus on the skills of sequencing, main idea and details, cause and effect. 


About the Author: Randall Jarrell

Randall was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1914. He attended Vanderbilt University and received both his bachelor’s and master’s degree from there.Jarrell met and married Mackie Langham, a colleague, at the University of Texas.His first poem written was published in 1942 entitled Blood for a Stranger.After enlisting in the Army Air Corps that same year during World War II, he soon left and served as a technical sergeant teaching celestial navigation in the army. With a lot of inspiration from the army, he published a book in 1945 entitled, Little Friend, Little Friend.After the war he went to New York, where he was an acting literary editor of The Nation. He also taught at Sarah Lawrence and later Woman’s Collage also now known as UNC-Greensboro. Randall died in 1965. He is known as renown poet, critic, and author.

Source used: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/9

Pre-Reading Activities:  Bring in apples for all the children to eat.  Ask questions such as:  Why would you eat this apple that I gave you? Would you eat this apple if a person that you didn’t know gave it to you?  Explain to the class about strangers, who they are, and rules to abide by if they are approached by a stranger. 

Post-Reading Activities: Following reading the book, ask questions such as: How was Snow-White’s step-mother like a stranger in the book? What should you have done if you were Snow-White and were approached by a strange old lady? Then as a class they will come up with a contract of what they are to do if they are in the presence of a stranger. The teacher will read over the contract and then one at a time each child will come up and sign their names. This can then be hung up in the classroom for all to see.

Reflection: I love the story of Snow-White. However, this version of Snow-White does not make it child friendly with the numerous amount of wording on each page. If a child was reading this on their own they would have to be very fluent and have a wide ranged vocabulary. The picture book is very lengthy and I think many kids would become disinterested in the story if it was read all at one time. I think to read it effectively would be during snack time and a few pages a day to keep the kids wanting more. I also think that this version may be outdated to use in the classroom, and that the movie would serve a better purpose that would probably get the kids more engaged.   

Martin's Big Words

Martin's Big Words

Written by: Doreen Rappaport

Illustrated by: Bryan Collier
Published by: Hyperion Books for Children 2001

Grades: 2-6
Genre: Historical, Picture Book
Awards: Caldecott Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Award

Synopsis: This book is a biography of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  It uses brief sentence strucutre and phrases Dr. King said to highlight key points in Dr. King's life.   In the beginning of the story, Martin reads a “White Only” sign in his hometown which sets the stage of the struggles he will endure throughout it and the perseverence he uses to overcome it.  In the book, Martin grows up and becomes a preacher.  He studied Gandhi’s writings and put his ideas into practice at the Montgomery Bus Boycott.  He did other civil rights demonstrations and gave speeches across the nation that many people came to listen to. The events help children understand why Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is such a big influence and heroic figure of his time.

Theme/Skill: It talks about themes of rights, freedom, equality, love, justice, and moral decisions of right and wrong. 

About the Author: Doreen Rappaport

Doreen was born and raised in New York City.  Doreen went to Brandeis University and majored in music.  After she graduated she taught music and reading for seven years in New Rochelle, New York in junior high schools.  In 1965, she taught at a freedom school in McComb, Mississippi.  While she was there, she met many African American who were deprived of rights that she took for granted.  As a result of this, she decided to set out and write about unknown heroes that have fought for their rights.  She wanted to write about this lost history that she did not know of.  Doreen loves to travel, cook, garden, visit schools, and talk to children.  She now resides in New York City and Copake Falls, New York with her husband.

Source used: http://www.doreenrappaport.com

Pre-Reading Activities:  Play a recording and hand out a copy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I have a Dream” speech for the class.  While listening, students can highlight key words of phrases on their sheets that they believe are important that Dr. King stated.  A student will be chosen to be a scribe to chart the key words and phrases students have come up with.  Other words or phrases not mentioned in the speech that promote diversity and equality can also be written down. 

Post-Reading Activities:  After reading, the class will discuss the reading by answering questions in their journals.  Such questions would include: What did Martin notice as a little boy that made him want to help people? How would you feel if you couldn’t do something because of one of your unique characteristics?  Then coming back as a whole class we will discuss what they learned.  Then individually students will use the phrases and words written down in the pre-reading activity to help write their own “I have a Dream” speech.  They will be submitted and then a few winners could be selected to read this at an assembly for Martin Luther King, Jr. or during black history month.

Reflection: I like how this book sends such a strong message, but uses such a simple structure and wording that children will understand. It doesn't use too many difficult words or scenes that young children would not understand that his rights were being denied and that life was not equal for all people. I also like how pictures coincide with the words. For example, it says on one page, "Everywhere in Martin's hometown he saw signs, WHITE ONLY." Accompanying this line was a picture of Martin standing with his mother next to two water fountains that read "White Only." Having the pictures coincide with the wording helps lower readers understand the book better and the concepts they are trying to get across. In the book, I think it was important that the author incorporated some of Dr. King's words throughout the book. This allows children to get a feel of who Dr. King was and also allows teachers to use the book in a variety of ways. 

For more ideas visit: http://www.biff.bm/files/12/files/martins_big_words.pdf

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever

 

A Couple of Boys Have The Best Week Ever

Written and Illustrated By: Marla Frazee
Published by: Harcourt Children's Books 2008

Grades: K-2

Genre: Fiction, Picture Books

2009 Caldecott Medal Honor Book

Synopsis: This story is about two boys, James and Eamon, who go to stay at Eamon’s grandparent’s house while they go to Nature Camp for a week.His grandparents are very excited to have them go to Nature Camp and believe they will learn tons from it.However, it seems as though their free time eating, playing video games, and staying inside is much more fun and interesting than Nature Camp.Bill, Eamon’s Grandpa, really wanted to take him to the penguin exhibit but the boys rather stay home to watch television or sleep.It is not until the least expect it that they see the importance of nature and the fascinating things about it.They go out to the deck where they make a model of Antarctica with rocks and mussel shells representing icebergs and penguins.They surprise his grandparents and show throughout the story what it is like to be a little kid.

Theme/Skill: Vacation, Friendship, Imagination, Grandparents, Beaches, Science

About the Author and Illustrator: Marla Frazee
 

Marla Frazee graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.  She also teaches children’s book illustration at the college for over 20 years.  She is both an author and illustrator of many books.  She has written and illustrated books including, Roller Coaster, Walk On!, Santa Claus the World’s Number One Toy Expert, and The Boss Baby.  She is also the author-illustrator of A Couple of Boys have the Best Week Ever which received many awards including, the Caldecott Honor in 2009 and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor.  She is also the illustrator of books including All the World, which received the Caldecott Honor Award in 2010, and The Seven Silly Eaters.  She currently lives with her husband, three sons, a dog and a cat in Pasadena, California.

Source used:  http://www.marlafrazee.com/

Pre-Reading Activities:  Write this prompt on the board:  I want you to think back to a favorite time when you had the best week ever.  What made this week so special?  What did you do?  Who did you do it with?  Where did you go?  Draw a picture to go with your best week ever and write key words down that describe it.  Then after 10 minutes you will discuss with your partner your best week ever.  If given enough time have a few students share their best week ever. 

Post-Reading Activities:

Individually complete the graphic organizer which includes the story elements of characters, setting, problem, solution, etc. which is attached below after finishing reading the book. When complete children will discuss with a partner what they wrote down for each one. Then we will come together as a class and fill out an enlarged graphic organizer on the board. We will discuss the entire book and decide why children put answers they did using clues from the book. 

Then have children write and draw a picture of what activity they think made it the best week ever for James and Eamon. They can write 1-2 sentences and draw a picture above it.

Graphic Organizer

Additional Ideas

Reflection: I think that this book relates to many children and can help bring up discussion easily in class.  I think that it will make children more comfortable sharing stories in the classroom if they were shy before.  Many kids can relate to doing activiteis like James and Eamon do in the book.  Since this story is based on the authors son, it shows that many kids go through similar experiences.  The illustrations are very subtle and do not overpower the book or the words but rather allow readers to follow along with the different parts of the story.  I think that this book will be great for learning story elements for young children and for them understanding that books have characters, setting, and plot.