@kgarzon on Litsy

kgarzon

Light at the Bottom of the World | London Shah

Found two great books at BnN that I can't wait to start reading!

DrSpalding Proud of you for continuing to post in Litsy!💙📚 4y

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kgarzon

Locomotive: with audio recording | Brian Floca

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Author/Illustrator: Brian Floca

This NF picture book is an exceptional illustrated story that follows a family heading West on the brand new transcontinental railroad, describing every step of the journey in an informative and expressively fun way. It'd be good to use for an IR, as there is a lot happening on the pages so the student should be able to decipher the text and analyze the award-winning illustrations at their leisure.

kgarzon Caldecott, Silbert Honor, Orbis Pictus Honor

https://www.rif.org/sites/default/files/Support_Materials/Locomotive-Curriculum-... This resource suggests a great way to use the book to actively see how words, illustrations, and maps work together to provide ample background knowledge in the front endpapers and general information throughout the book. 4y

kgarzon EL Strategy 23: Structure advance organizers consisting for new terminology that learners will encounter in the new lesson vocabulary to be reviewed.

UDL Principle 3.1: Activate or supply background knowledge; 1.3 Offer alternatives for visual information (using the front endpapers to get a better grasp on the history of the locomotive/transcontinental railroad). 4y

kradebaugh I love your review. This looks like a very interesting book. This looks like one I would like to add to my library. 4y

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AleciaM This looks like a great book. Website for the teacher resources is really good, 4y

haleyklein This looks like a great book! Thank you for the share and insight on how to use this in a classroom! 4y

DrSpalding Reading is fundamental is an excellent site and you obviously selected a wonderful award winning book. This is high-quality nonfiction. 4y

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kgarzon

Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut | Derrick Barnes

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(Author: Derrick Barnes; Illustrator: Gordon C. James)

This RF would be an engaging RA where you can captivate students with the vivid descriptions of the pure wonder and excitement the main character experiences as he gets a fresh cut, while showcasing award-winning artwork. It really highlights the increased self-esteem and confidence boost that comes from being able to present your best self.

kgarzon Newbery Honor, Caldecott Honor, Coretta Scott King Author/Illustrator Honor, Ezra Jack Keats Writer Award/Illustrator Honor.

http://www.carolhurst.com/titles/crown.html
This link includes activities about celebrating diversity and culture, as well as an interactive writing activity about self-confidence. 4y

kgarzon EL Strategy 23: Structure advance organizers consisting for new terminology that learners will encounter in the new lesson vocabulary to be reviewed. (There‘s a lot of modern phrases and slang that may confuse some EL students).

UDL Principle 7.2: Optimize relevance, value, and authenticity. 4y

haleyklein I‘ve never heard of this before so thank you for sharing! Also thanks for the link!! 4y

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CPettersen The artwork for this book looks really pretty and makes me feel want to read it! Definitely adding this to my stack 4y

YvetteE The cover alone makes me want to read the story! We need more books about celebrating our differences. 4y

DrSpalding Many of your peers have used this website. I truly like the idea of connecting this book with writing and self-confidence. Excellent job highlighting English learner and universal design principles. 4y

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kgarzon

Baseball Saved Us | Ken Mochizuki

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(Author: Ken Mochizuki; Illustrator: Dom Lee)

This HF is about a Japanese-American boy who, together with the others in his internment camp, decided to build a baseball diamond and form a league in an attempt to gain dignity and self-respect. This would be great for a PR, especially between pairs of students taking turns to read paragraphs and discuss the text to ensure understanding.

kgarzon https://www.rif.org/sites/default/files/Support_Materials/Baseball-Saved-Us-Teac... This serves as a great resource for how to connect this story to a social studies topic.

EL Strategy 6: Continually monitor students‘ comprehension (by having students work in pairs)

UDL Principle 3.1: Activate or supply background knowledge (by providing information relevant to this event in history prior to reading). 4y

haleyklein This seems like a really cool and powerful read, I can‘t wait to give this a try! Thanks for sharing! 4y

DrSpalding I noted this on your log, that I thought this was a true story however you are correct. It is historical fiction. 4y

4 likes3 comments

kgarzon

Let the Children March | Monica Clark-Robinson

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(Author: Monica Clark-Robinson; Illustrator: Frank Morrison)

This HF covers the Birmingham Children‘s Crusade of 1963, following the story of how thousands of black children and teens volunteered to march for their civil rights in place of their parents, persevering past the fear, hate, and violence that they faced to build a better future.

Coretta Scott King Honor

kgarzon This book would serve well as a RA or RT, as there are ample roles for students to play and put themselves in the shoes of these children who made history. https://socialjusticebooks.org/booklists/civil-rights-teaching/classroom/ This site has a great selection of similar titles that can reinforce a lesson on civil rights in addition to this book. 4y

kgarzon UDL Principle 2.5: Illustrate through multiple media (utilize videos and other resources to teach about the issue)

EL Strategy 42: Have students use timelines to arrange and sequence important facts and information (The book has a detailed display on the inside covers about important dates) 4y

DrSpalding Your award-winning book selections are stellar! What an amazing resource you have included. Your ideas are spot on and I hope you enact them in your future classroom. 4y

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kgarzon

The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship: A Russian Tale | Arthur Ransome, Uri Shulevitz

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(retold by: Arthur Ransome; illustrator: Uri Shulevitz

This TL retells a humorous Russian tale of a peasant who manages to win the hand of the Czar‘s daughter after overcoming ridiculous challenges with the help of an old wise man and seven unusual companions. It would be great as a DR, with plenty of roles for students to fill as they act out the story and replicate the tasks the Fool had to complete. Also an AS!

Caldecott Award

kgarzon https://www.rif.org/sites/default/files/Support_Materials/Shulevitz-Reading-Guid... This is a guide for a study on Uri Shulevitz, who has illustrated many books and even written some. It suggests how to seek connections between his books and how to utilize this book for a lesson on analyzing aspects of fairy tales. 4y

kgarzon UDL Principle 8.3: Foster collaboration and community.

EL Strategy 17: Provide contextual support through audio visuals, models, demonstrations, realia, body language and facial expressions (acting out the text) 4y

DrSpalding This is a fun and different piece of traditional literature. 4y

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kgarzon

How I Learned Geography | Uri Shulevitz

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(Author/Illust: Uri Shulevitz)

This MF is about how a young boy uses the power of his imagination to cope with his hunger and misery as he explores new and exotic places all around the world. The images are based on the author‘s own childhood memories of living in poverty as a refugee during World War II. This would be great as a RA so you could showcase all of the detailed art depicting different scenery as well.

Caldecott Honor

kgarzon https://www.rif.org/sites/default/files/Support_Materials/HowILearnedGeography-A... This teacher‘s guide is a great resource for connecting the story to geography, maps, and real places in other countries, as well a lesson in characterization.

EL Strategy 8: Use direct instruction: Modeling, explaining, scaffolding, name the strategy and show how to use it.

UDL Principle 3.3: Guide information processing and visualization. 4y

DrSpalding You now have two of his books! This could be an author study in the making! I like how you are thinking about social studies content and the use of high-quality children‘s literature. 4y

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kgarzon

Greystone Secrets #1: The Strangers | Margaret Peterson Haddix

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(Author: Margaret Peterson Haddix)

This SF would be a great LC novel for students to read. It switches between multiple POVs which allows for multiple character analyses, has an ongoing mystery that students can try to unravel alongside the main characters, and demonstrates the strong bond between family members.

kgarzon https://haddixbooks.com/book/the-strangers/ The author has a discussion guide which includes questions about structure and narrative POVs, character strengths, foreshadowing, etc. It even has fun activities about deciphering codes and planning a protest. 4y

kgarzon UDL Principle 9.1: Promote expectations and beliefs that optimize motivation (assigning specific roles in LCs)

EL Strategy 48: Use group assignments, portfolios, learning journals and non-print options as alternative assessment. 4y

DrSpalding You could include your author study as a resource as well but as you know, the best resources come from the author themselves and publisher. I am adding this to my stack. I want to read this book. 4y

4 likes3 comments

kgarzon

Freedom Summer | Deborah Wiles

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(author: Deborah Wiles; illustrator: Jerome Lagarrigue)

This RF is a touching story of how friendship defies racism as two boys, one black and one white, attempt to go somewhere together once the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is passed, only to see firsthand that a law can't fully change people‘s hearts. This can be used as a RA, pausing at appropriate parts to have students predict what will happen when the two boys get to the pool.

kgarzon Coretta Scott King Award and Ezra Jack Keats Book Award 4y

kgarzon https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/teaching-content/guide-teaching... This link has a lot of similar titles and discussion questions for learning more about the civil rights movement.

EL Strategy 29: Offer a variety of reference materials at the students‘ instructional level for independent use.

UDL Principle 6.3: Facilitate managing information and resources. 4y

DrSpalding Again, excellent choice and a high-quality resource in scholastic. 4y

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kgarzon

Princess Academy | Shannon Hale

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(author: Shannon Hale)

This MF follows a young mountain girl, Miri, who must attend a makeshift academy to prepare herself to become a suitable princess candidate, pitting herself against the other competitive, eligible girls and facing her own conflicting feelings about being chosen. It would work as an IR or LC, with detailed world-building and plenty of characterization to focus on.

Newbery Honor

kgarzon https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/teaching-content/princess-acade... This discussion guide has a great selection of questions for students to think in depth about.

EL Strategy 7: Show students how to use graphic organizers like semantic mapping and imaging (to optimize comprehension of text).

UDL Principle 9.3: Develop self-assessment and reflection (for independent reading). 4y

DrSpalding Many primary students would immediately be engaged due to the main characters being princesses! Good choice. 4y

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kgarzon

Found | Margaret Peterson Haddix

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(author: Margaret Peterson Haddix)

This SF will grab students‘ interest with a big mystery and a compelling storyline with twists and cliffhangers. It would work great as a LC or even a RA to be read occasionally, with lots to discuss. After finishing the book, students can work in groups to find out more about specific historical names that were mentioned, and contemplate their choices if they were in the main characters‘ shoes.

kgarzon Sunshine State 2009-10 http://www.haddixbooks.com/pdf/haddix_series_guide_missing.pdf This author‘s resource describes the aforementioned questions and activities in more depth!

EL Strategy 50: For content comprehension use a variety of comprehension activities (KWL would work great for midway through reading, and at the end since more books come after it)
UDL Principle 2.1 Clarify vocabulary and symbols (as you read to ensure comprehension) 4y

DrSpalding Such an excellent series! It is hard to believe that it has been around for 10 years already. Excellent alignment. 4y

5 likes2 comments

kgarzon

Greystone Secrets #1: The Strangers | Margaret Peterson Haddix

pick

Picked up this book last night and couldn't put it down. I can't wait for the second book in 2020! Emma was my favorite POV ❤️

3 likes

kgarzon

The Nian Monster | Andrea Wang

(Author: Andrea Wang, illus: Alina Chau) CMC
Xingling is ready to celebrate the Lunar New Year, but trouble arises when the legendary Nian Monster appears to devour her and all of Shanghai. She will need to use her quick thinking and creativity to outwit the Nian Monster and save her city in time for the festivities. This TL is perfect for RT, having multiple students play the narrators and the two major roles of the Nian Monster and Xingling.

kgarzon PB Award Honor Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association. This book is a great way to introduce another culture into the classroom and demonstrate how every country around the world celebrates the New Year. http://andreaywang.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Teachers-Guide-for-The-Nian-Mo... This and the book's AN detail Chinese decorations and clarify the traditions listed throughout the book. Students can use props for RT. 4y

kgarzon UDL Principle 2.1 (Clarify vocabulary and symbols) may be important due to the content-heavy vocabulary and imagery.
EL Strategy 24 (Incorporate the culture and the language of second language learners in your curriculum) is present in the Chinese terms expressed throughout the book (with translations in the author‘s note) and the traditions surrounding the Lunar New Year that the book is centered around 4y

kgarzon #UCFLAE3414F19 I forgot to add the tag! 4y

DrSpalding I believe you are the only student to identify an Asian/pacific American librarians association award winning book. Good for you! Readers theater is a quality strategy to enhance fluency. 4y

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kgarzon

Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku | Eugene Yelchin, Lee Wardlaw

#UCFLAE3414F19 CMC
(Author: Lee Wardlaw; Illustrator: Eugene Yelchin)
This P story is a memorable tale of a wary cat being adopted and adjusting to his new home and owner, all told in haiku format. Students will be able to follow Won-ton‘s adventures and hear his thoughts as he experiences his new life.

kgarzon This would work great as a RA so that the teacher can emphasize the syllables as they read each line. This book can lead into a creative writing session where students can tell their own story of their pet (or an imaginary pet) through a couple stanzas of haiku, as this teacher‘s guide suggests: http://www.leewardlaw.com/PDF/wontonteacherguide.pdf 4y

kgarzon UDL Principle 3.1 (Activate or supply background knowledge) can be shown by connecting the story to having pets, and UDL Principle 5.2 (Use multiple tools for construction and composition) is shown by using poetry as a new medium of expression.
EL Strategy 17 (Provide contextual support through audio visuals, models, etc.) can be used by breaking down words on the whiteboard and marking the distinction of syllables. 4y

DrSpalding This looks like a wonderful book for poetry specifically the poetic form of haiku. Read aloud, yes! And universal design principle 3.1 is perfect… Many children will be able to relate. 4y

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kgarzon

The Watcher: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps | Jeanette Winter

#UCFLAE3414F19 CMC
(Author/Illus: Jeanette Winter)
This B is a marvelous PB about Dr. Jane Goodall, the woman who lived with the chimpanzees and opened the door to understanding many aspects of them and the animal world that we never would‘ve known otherwise, as well as fighting to protect them. It is an inspiring story of a woman who always watched and observed the animals around her from a young age and worked hard to make her dream come true.

kgarzon This book can work for IR, for a unit study on significant women in science. Students can choose a person to research and use this PB as an intro to or resource for learning about them. This book also has direct quotes from Jane Goodall‘s autobiographies. https://thehomeschoolresourceroom.com/2017/02/13/diy-jane-goodall-and-chimpanzee... This has more books about her and online resources. 4y

kgarzon UDL Principle 6.3 (Facilitate managing information and resources) is demonstrated with how students will have to sort through the information they gather from their research.
EL Strategy 42 (Have students use timelines to arrange and sequence important facts and information) may be prominent for their research on significant events in an important person‘s life. 4y

DrSpalding I agree with using this book as an independent read as students research this amazing woman! 4y

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kgarzon

The Little Match Girl | Hans Christian Andersen

#UCFLAE3414F19 CMC
(Author: Hans Christian Andersen; Adapted and Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney)
This TL Christmas classic is a sad, beautiful story about a young, poor Danish girl who must brave through the cold December weather to sell her matchsticks before she can go home. As night falls and she is forced to light her matchsticks one by one to stay warm, she is drawn in by visions that combat her loneliness and throw her into her memories.

kgarzon This book can be used as an AS due to the prominence of the author regarding fairy tales. Students can identify the elements of a fairy tale that this book may share with some of his other stories and contrast its themes against them as well. https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plans/hans-christian-andersens-fairy-tales 4y

kgarzon UDL Principle 7.1 (Optimize individual choice and autonomy) can be demonstrated by allowing students to choose any author that they wish to perform an AS on rather than assigning them an author.
EL Strategy 28 (Provide biographies of significant men and women from different countries) can be used for prominent authors from outside of the U.S. and EL Strategy 2 (Promote cooperation) can be used by allowing students to work in pairs or small groups. 4y

DrSpalding This is a classic! Nice idea to perform an author study on Andersen. 4y

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kgarzon

Jumanji | Chris Van Allsburg

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(author/illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg)
Two siblings find an abandoned boardgame one day. After starting, they quickly realize the game isn‘t normal when lions and monkeys and all sorts of jungle dangers begin appearing in their house. This MF makes it feel as if the reader is caught in the action alongside the two siblings as they rush through the dangers, trying to win the game so everything can return back to normal. Caldecott

kgarzon This PB would be great for SR since there are many opportunities to analyze the text in real-time with students. http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/thepolarexpress/tg/jumanji.shtml
This guide details a writing assignment where students can observe the descriptive language and strong verbs that the author used, discerning how it makes the story more engaging vs “boring” verbs. They can incorporate strong verbs into their own writing. 4y

kgarzon UDL Principle 3.3 (Guide information processing, visualization, and manipulation) is demonstrated with how the teacher guides students in visualizing the strong verbs in action. EL strategy 12 (teach to two objectives, language and content) can be used due to the nature of SR: students and the teacher can revisit this same book multiple times to address a different lesson, alternating between focusing on the language or the content of the story. 4y

DrSpalding The second movie is coming out which will cause more children to be familiar with the book. Savvy teachers should be sharing his work and possibly performing an author study. I like the idea of shared reading and I love the idea of using more engaging verbs in their writing. 4y

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kgarzon

Gregor the Overlander | Suzanne Collins

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(author: Suzanne Collins)
This SF book throws students right into a new world as 11yo Gregor and his baby sister Boots fall through a laundry room grate into the dark depths of the Underland, meeting all sorts of strange creatures and even humans. As the first in a series of five, this book serves as a great introduction to how creative SF can be as it entices students with quests and prophecies and plenty of world-building.

kgarzon This book could work well for IR. Because setting is a big component of the fantasy genre, students could map out the fantasy world of the Underland or analyze the creatures that live there, perhaps even brainstorming their own worlds and inhabitants. This guide suggests similar geography and science applications: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/teaching-content/gregor-overlan... 5y

kgarzon UDL principle 3.1 (Activate or supply background knowledge) can be demonstrated with identifying common characteristics of the creatures that live in the Underland and predicting future ones based on prior knowledge. EL 4 (Link lesson topic to students‘ prior knowledge) can be applied by connecting themes in this text to other texts/media, such as Alice in Wonderland. 5y

KevinKantola That books seems pretty interesting not gonna lie 😮 5y

DrSpalding My nephews fell in love with reading because of this book 4y

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kgarzon

Owl Moon | Jane Yolen

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(author:Jane Yolen; illustrator:John Schoenherr)
This RF showcases an adventurous father-daughter trip through the quiet winter night as the daughter finally gets to go owling for the first time. This is perfect for RA since the teacher can engage students with sound effects and proper delivery of the daughter‘s quiet but loud feelings during the long, cold trek in the woods, while showcasing the beautiful (Caldecott) illustrations.

kgarzon Even with all the pictures, there is a great amount of imagery present in the text. This can serve as a great activity for the students, where they can pick and choose their favorite lines to recreate in either a two-dimensional image or a small diorama, as this link details: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/teaching-content/owl-moon-teach... 5y

kgarzon UDL principle 8.3 (Foster collaboration and community) can be demonstrated through using pairs or small groups with the activity mentioned above. EL 43 (Have students underline or highlight key words or important facts in written in written assignments) can be used to help guide students in finding examples of descriptors and imagery in the text so that they can better visualize the story. 5y

KevinKantola That book seems super cute! 😍 5y

DrSpalding This book is considered more historical fiction than realistic. Creating the diorama is a fun arts integration activity. 4y

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kgarzon

Parrots Over Puerto Rico | Susan L. Roth, Cindy Trumbore

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(authors: Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore; illustrator: Susan L. Roth)
This NF picture book is great for elementary students to see a distinct example of the huge negative impact human exploration and development can have on habitats and the animals that live there, as well as the many ways that scientists have worked hard to save struggling populations of endangered species.

2014 Robert F. Silbert Informational Book Medal

kgarzon As an informational text, the reading level is a bit higher so it'd be a good match for PR. This lets strong readers be paired with those struggling with content-specific vocabulary and aid in their comprehension. This educator guide includes some strategies such as having them retell the plot of the book using the pictures and text both orally and in writing: https://www.rif.org/literacy-central/material/parrots-over-puerto-rico-teachers-... 5y

kgarzon UDL principle 5.3 (Build fluencies with graduated levels of support) is demonstrated with how accessible materials can be used to support the text, and how peers can support each other. EL 23 (Structure advance organizers consisting for new terminology that learners will encounter in the new lesson vocabulary to be reviewed) will be beneficial for the students who will encounter a lot of specific vocabulary in the text. 5y

cassandram What a great book that shares really important information. I would love to read this book too! 5y

DrSpalding I was present at the conference when this book won the 2014 award! It is beautiful and has many opportunities to teach children not only language arts information about the plot but also to incorporate social studies regarding geography. Good choice. 4y

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kgarzon

Escaping the Giant Wave | Peg Kehret

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(Author: Peg Kehret) This RF is an attention-grabbing book, depicting a vacation to the Pacific coast gone wrong when 13yo Kyle and his little sister must survive through an earthquake and the consequences of it, including an incoming tsunami. Students can build understanding with the text through strong discussions, new vocabulary, text-connections, etc.

Sunshine State Young Reader‘s Award (FL)

kgarzon This would work exceptionally well as an LC since it is a multi-chaptered book with a lot of text-to-world connections, covering multiple natural disasters, sibling relationships, and bullying. The author even produced her own discussion questions that would engage everyone: http://www.pegkehret.com/oldwordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/giantwave.doc 5y

kgarzon UDL principle 8.3 (Foster collaboration and community) can be demonstrated through the contributing roles in the LCs and 6.3 (Facilitate managing information and resources) by accessing alternate resources to supplement the book. EL 5 (teach technical vocabulary supporting key concepts) will benefit students by providing better context for the subject of the book they are reading. 5y

DrSpalding This looks like an awesome book. I agree with this being an opportunity for literature circles and teaching vocabulary. Nice alignment. 4y

4 likes3 comments

kgarzon

Last Stop on Market Street | Matt de la Pe�a

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(author: Matt de la Peña; illustrator: Christian Robinson) This RF is excellent for young grades since it explores important themes as a boy named CJ and his grandmother travel on their weekly bus ride to the soup kitchen where they volunteer. Although they initially have differing attitudes and values, CJ gradually begins to see how beautiful the world is around him.

'16 Newbery, Coretta Scott King Illus. Honor, Caldecott Honor

kgarzon This would work best as a RA, so that students can use the pictures to build a stronger connection with the text and help visualize CJ‘s thoughts and emotions more clearly. The activities section of the following link describes how students can utilize a two-column chart to record observations of CJ‘s feelings over the course of the story: http://www.carolhurst.com/titles/laststoponmarket.html 5y

kgarzon UDL principle 3.2 (highlight patterns, critical features, big ideas, and relationships) will be demonstrated through the analysis of the themes and the progression of CJ‘s relationship with those around him, and EL 7 (show how to use graphic organizers) will be through the aforementioned chart. 5y

DrSpalding If you haven‘t seen the video of the author reading this book to children on the bus, look for it! Excellent job on all of your posts. I hope you will continue to use Litsy when you add books to your classroom library. 4y

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kgarzon

Joined September 2019