Eve Bunting

December-January

Eve Bunting is my hero who has a gift for writing about serious subjects in a way that makes the topics accessible to children. She has so many award-winning titles that cover a plethora of topics from immigration, to exploring the US, to celebrating differences, to families supporting one another. Her books focus on deeper topics that not only teach about important lessons, but also lend themselves as strong mentor texts for teaching descriptive language, sentence fluency, and literary elements. When it comes to teaching/reinforcing inferring, you can’t go wrong with any of the below titles! I included many of her popular picture books below, but not all of them with ideas for comprehension skills and writing lessons. Some titles below are from "Interactive Read-Alouds" by Linda Hoyt.

Historical Fiction

~ Train to Somewhere- Heart-wrenching tale of Plain girl trying to reunite with her mother, takes place during the 1850s-1920s when trains carried orphans to new homes on the Great Plains, infer character traits/feelings and theme

~ Dreaming of America- Inspiring story of the first woman immigrant, inferring character traits and theme, author’s craft with descriptive language, great mentor text for teaching descriptive language, power of three, and personification

~ So Far from the Sea- Poignant story of a family’s visit to Manzanar, where 1000’s of Americans of Japanese heritage were interred during WWII, and the memories stirred by the experience, infer meaning of title, characters feelings and beliefs, literary elements of point of view (Used in “Interactive Read-Alouds” by Linda Hoyt)

~ Gleam and Glow- Universal story that testifies to life rising from ashes and where humanity shines through, infer character traits and feelings, theme, and metaphor (of title to characters), compare and contrast (Used in “Interactive Read-Alouds” by Linda Hoyt)

~ Dandelions- Memorable book of westward expansion and how characters overcome struggles, make connections, infer how title is metaphor to people, character struggles, and character feelings change, author’s craft for descriptive setting, mentor text for “wise thought” ending (Used in “Interactive Read-Alouds” by Linda Hoyt)

~ Smoky Night- Extraordinarily powerful story of an inner city riot (LA riots), text-to-world connections, infer characters feelings change and theme, draw and support conclusions, excellent author’s message of empathy (Used in “Interactive Read-Alouds” by Linda Hoyt)

~ Cheyenne Again- Insight into Native American boarding schools of past and experiences that actually happened, great for questioning, inferring cause and effect, metaphor, and character lesson, and has a strong climax, tone, and mood for structural elements (Used in “Interactive Read-Alouds” by Linda Hoyt)

Realistic Fiction

~ One Green Apple- Gently story about being new and different with lovely message of acceptance, good for inferring theme, character feelings change, and metaphor

~ Sunshine Home- Heartwarming “slice of life” caring for loved ones in a nursing home, great for text connections and inferring theme of empathy and characters feelings change

~ A Picnic in October- Wonderful story that conveys emotions of immigrants as they came to America, great for inferring symbolism and character feelings change, mentor text for vivid verbs and awesome adjectives

~ The Blue and the Gray- Account of unnamed Civil War battle framed with present day story of two young boys, one black and one white, good for inferring character relationships

~ “Someday a Tree”- Moving story of community with powerful environmental message, text connections, power of actions, inferring theme, author’s craft (strong descriptive language, simile, personification), mentor text for teaching sentence fluency, power of three, varied sentence length, and tie-up loop ending

~ The Wall- Poignant tale that illustrates impact of war families whose lives have been changed by a loved one and of little boy’s feelings of loss for grandfather he never knew, great read for Veteran’s Day, inferring theme and characters feelings, excellent mentor text for descriptive language, simile, and metaphor

~ The Wednesday Surprise- Heartwarming, inspiring story, great for inferring about characters, making predicting, and asking questions

~ Rudi’s Pond- Beautifully touching story about friendship and loss, based on a true story, inferring theme and character traits/feelings

~ Fly Away Home- Touching story of homeless father and son and the strong bond between them surviving in an airport, infer theme, character traits, metaphor between bird in airport and boy, visualize setting

~ “A Day’s Work”- Moving story that conveys moral message, Inferring character traits and theme

~ The Memory String- A very touching story of a young girl’s struggle to accept her new stepmother after losing her mother, infer character feelings change, metaphor of memory string to young girl’s struggle, beautiful mentor text for descriptive language and “wise thought” ending

Fantasy

~ Terrible Things- An allegory of the Holocaust, Courage is a hard characteristic, especially when the “enemy” is stronger, relevant to young lives with the threat of peer pressure and bullying and although it can be hard to be courageous, the possible results of not acting/standing up could be devastating, great for questioning, inferring theme, with older students who learn about the Holocaust can learn about allegory (metaphor between animal characters and people who suffered during this time in history

Chris Van Allsburg

October-November

Chris Van Allsburg is one of my favorite authors when planning an interactive read aloud. His imaginative style and intriguing plots mesmerize his readers. I find that students naturally question and infer when listening to his stories because of the sense of wonder he weaves into his writing. The list below includes ideas of comprehension skills that can be taught with his books, and many are lessons from "Interactive Read-Alouds" by Linda Hoyt. My favorites are starred!

*** Two Bad Ants- Activating and Applying Prior Knowledge (Linda Hoyt's "Interactive Read-Alouds"), Problem/Solution Text Structure, Inferring, Setting

*** Sweetest Fig- Monitoring Comprehension, Questioning, Inferring, Summarizing, Irony

*** The Widow's Broom- Monitoring Comprehension, Questioning, Inferring, Summarizing

~ The Mysteries of Harris Burdick- Interpreting (Linda Hoyt's "Interactive Read-Alouds"), Inferring, Questioning

~ The Garden of Abdul Gasazi- Making Predictions

*** The Stranger- Monitoring Comprehension, Questioning, Inferring, Summarizing, Distinguishing Features of Fiction

~ Jumanji- Problem/ Solution Text Structure

~ The Polar Express- Visualizing, Distinguishing Features of Fiction, Fantasy

~ The Wreck of the Zephyr- Flashback (Linda Hoyt's "Interactive Read-Alouds")

~ The Z Was Zapped- Alliteration (Linda Hoyt's "Interactive Read-Alouds")

~ Ben's Dream- Power of Illustrations (Using pictures to question, infer, interpret)