Which Way to Witch School

Title: Which Way to Witch School 

Author: Scott Santoro started writing in his school for the schools new paper. Not only did he write articles for the school paper but he also had a cartoon stripe too. Besides writing Scott has work for Disney and Dreamworks as a storyboard writer. In 1999 his first book was published. 

Genre: Poetry/ Fiction 

Grades: 1-3

Subject Area: Holiday 

Summary: This story is about a school where witches go. Throughout this story there are many lessons to be learned for young witches, sometimes witches have to learn their lessons the hard way. Some lesson the witches learn included how to make a potion and how to fly on a broom. 

Pre Reading Activity: Explain what on homophone is. This is a word that has different meanings. An example is which and witch. Explain that these are the same words but the mean different things. Have students make there own list of different homophones. Then have the students count how many they came up with after five minutes. Create a class list of all the different homophones the students came up with.  

Post Reading Activity: Have students write their own story about Halloween using homophones.  They should try and use as many homophones as possible while the story still makes sense. They should at least include ten different homophones. They will complete a graphic organizer , a rough draft, and a finial copy. The final copies will be hung around the room. The final copies should also included a picture that relates to their story. 

Once I Was...

Title: Once I Was...

Author: Niki Clark Leopold is both an author and an editor. She is most well known for her book K is for Kitten and Once I Was. Both books she wrote and was the editor for. She lives in Maryland were she works on her poetry and writing. 

Genre: Poetry 

Grades: K-3

Subject Area: ELA

Summary: This book expresses the changes a child makes as they grow up. The girl in this story realizes when she was little there were things she could not do but not that she has grown up she can do things. The author tells the story through a poem. It is a way child can understand the effects growing up has a you. This book is a fun way to learn about growing up. 

Pre Reading Activity: We will talk about rhyming words. As a class we will talk about what it means if two words rhyme. Then we will talk about words that rhyme with each other. We will talk about how cat, hat, bat, mat, and sat rhyme. Then I will have a worksheet for the class to do about rhyming words. (http://www.kidslearningstation.com/phonics/rhyming-worksheets.asp) 

Post Reading Activity: Now you are going to be writing your own Once I Was poem or depending on the age draw a picture of something that you could not do or were scarred to do. Draw a picture of something they do now. If the students are writing the poem they should try and get the words to rhyme. The poem should be six to ten line long depending on the age and ability of the students. The first line should read Once I was (then say what they were)... Then the second would say now I am (then say what they are)...  

The Eyes of Gray Wolf

Title: The Eyes of Gray Wolf

Author: Jonathan London was born in New York in 1947. This once poet became a children's writer. In 1989 he started writing children's books. Throughout his career he was written over fifty children's books. He is most commonly known for his Froggy books.  

Genre: Nonfiction/ Poetry 

Grades: K-4

Subject Area: Nature/ Science 

Summary: Throughout this story you follow the endangered gray wolf. The author writes in a poetic style which allows the read to live a day in the life of this animal. Throughout the story the reader learns more about these amazing animals and what they can do to help these animals from becoming extinct.    

Pre Reading Activity: Introduce what the word endangered mean. Endangered animals are a population of animals that are at risk of becoming extinct because there are not a lot of them. Then discuss as a class what animals are on the endangered species list. Ex. Jaguar, Red Wolf, Giant Panda, Tiger, Snow Leopard, Blue Whale, and Sand Cat. 

Post Reading Activity: Have the kids look up on the computer an endangered specie and color a picture of it accurately. If children are too young to draw it print out a few different pictures of the animal. Then have them color it. For older children they will have to look up background information on the animals. They should include where the animal lives, what they eat, and why they are endangered. Plus any other important fact about the animal.