The Great Fuzz Frenzy

The Great Fuzz Frenzy

by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

Summary:

This is a fun book about a tennis ball that is dropped down a prairie dog hole.  The consequence is that the prairie dogs fight over the fuzz from the tennis ball.  They learn a great lesson about how to treat others and work together.

Mini-Lesson: Theme

This is a wonderful book to discuss theme to lessons with students.  The book is pretty meaty, so take breaks throughout the book to summarize and have student brainstorm what the prairie dogs are learning.  At the conclusion of the read aloud, have students brainstorm the various lessons they can learn from reading the book.  Examples include: 

• You can accomplish more through teamwork.
• Good friends share things.
• Treat others kindly.

Mini-Lesson: Problem and Solution

This is a more complicated book to use when teaching problem and solution.  There are several problems in the book and several solutions.  Make a t-chart for problem and solution.  Add problems and solutions to the chart as they arise in the book.  

Mini-Lesson: Prediction

This book is also fun for makign predictions.  The end of the book leaves the reader wondering what will happen when something else is dropped down the prairie dog hole.  Have students brainstorm what they thing might happen and give reasons from the text that was read to support thier thinking.

The Pumpkin Blanket

The Pumpkin Blanket

by Ann Turney Zagwin

Summary: Clee shares her beloved blanket with pumpkins that are at risk of the coming frost.

Mini-Lesson: Inferring and Predicting

This is a wonderful story to use for making predictions. Clee’s blanket looks like a garden and students can infer a connection between the blanket and the garden. Students can also predict that Clee is going to end up sharing the pieces of her blanket with all of the pumpkins – the number of pumpkins and the number of patches on her blanket at the same. There is also great opportunity to infer the feelings of the main character as she shares her blanket.

Mini-Lesson: Expanding Vocabulary

Students are enthralled with the author’s use of interesting words. This is a great book to collect adjectives to expand vocabulary.

Making Cents

Making Cents
Written by Elizabeth Keeler Robinson
Illustrated by Bob McMahon

Making Cents is a non-fiction book that teaches young children about United States Money The children in the book teach readers about the values of money while earning money to build a club house. Along the way, readers learn many interesting facts about coins and bills.

Mini-Lesson: Text Features

Each coin and bill featured in this book is introduced with a heading, naming each item. Boxes within the text also include information. When reading the book, first take a picture walk with students, asking them to observe any special features of the books Then introduce students to the use of headings when reading a non-fiction book. Students can use headings to access their prior knowledge about the topic before reading on. Headings can also be transformed into questions to provide a purpose for reading the section. Both of these strategies can be modelled as the book is read. Additionally, the book can be used to demonstrate the use of illustrations or images, captions, and labels when reading non-fiction. The text boxes include more information about each amount of money and provide children with comparisons between the amount of money and what can be bought with that amount. Model how to read the main body of text and then read the text boxes and labels.

Mini-Lesson: Making and Revising Predictions Using Picture Clues

This book also provides a great opportunity to teach students how to use picture clues to foster predictions. The author does not reveal why the characters in the book want to earn money until the end of the book, but does provide hints when showing what the children are uying with their money. Each page is an opportunity to stop and revise predictions as more materials are purchased, illustrating how pictures can provide information to make, confirm, and revise predictions.