Casey at the Bat

Bing, C. (2000). Casey at the bat. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.

Amazing! I love love love this!  I spent a little more time than I wanted in finding my poetry selection for this week.  I was sitting in the children's section of the library, near the beanbags (which I used my better judgment and didn't sit down on them) with a huge stack of poetry books.  Most of them were collections of poetry which I was surprised at how many curriculum connections I was making just browsing but none of them really caught my attention.  I checked out 5 poetry books.  On my Thanksgiving break I started reading a few.  When I came to this one, I knew I had found the one! I had heard of this poem but had never read it myself.  I am a huge sports fan (and I still love to play softball and basketball).  I was also intrigued by the illustrations!  This book is a Caldecott Honor book.  This famous poem written by Ernest Lawrence Thayer was published on June 3, 1888 in the San Fransisco Examiner, Christopher Bing, the illustrator published Thayer's poem in 2000. 

The poem is written in the voice of a narrative poem, telling the story of Casey, the all-star baseball great who the fans are cheering for to bring his "Mudville nine" to victory with a game winning hit. The poem is written in the form of a Ballad, each 4 line stanza is displayed on the two-page spread. Each 4 line stanza follows the "aabb" rhyme scheme, for example:

"There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place;  a

There was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile on Casey's face.  a

And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,  b

No stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Casey at the bat."  b

Throughout the poem, Thayer builds up the excitement towards Casey's at-bat, the reader thinks Casey might win the game for his team but unfortunately he watches strike one, strike two and then a swing and a miss! Casey struck out and his team lost the game! The vocabulary in this poem lead me to think it is a picture book for older students, maybe 5th-8th grade, and even at the higher grade levels, some of the language can be a bit confusing and might need some guidance from the teacher.  This might a good opportunity for students to use post-it notes for unknown vocabulary.

Who doesn't love baseball!?  This is a great chance for young boys and girls to get excited about poetry - probably doesn't seem "cool" at this age but there are so many choices of poems that refer to sports that the young men especially can relate to, using sports poetry would even be a great motivation for a coach to share with the players!  Why did Casey act the way he did?  Was he over confident?  Has there been a time when you were in Casey's shoes?

The illustrations by Christopher Bing is what really pulls you in.  The pictures look like the were pulled straight out of an 1800's newspaper! Even "cooler" are the ads and side articles, there is even one that references the Negro League. There can be many American History connections made with this poem. The illustrations are black and white drawings created with pen, ink, and brush. A great read for anyone, especially the sports fans!

Coyote Places the Stars

Peck, H. (1993). Coyote places the stars. New York, NY: Bradbury Press.

This traditional (and also multicultural) story is a retelling of a legend told by the Wasco Indian tribe about how the coyote arranged the stars in the sky.  The folk story is retold and illustrated by Harriet Peck Taylor.  I chose this book first because it is about a Native American legend, I have enjoyed stories of Native Americans since the time I brought home the library book, Knots on a Counting Rope in second grade.  My dad told me that my great grandmother was Cherokee, which made me interested in books about Native Americans! It's also fun to include these around Thanksgiving when discussing Pilgrims and Native Americans! I found this book from the RIF Multicultural Booklist 2011-2012.

The story begins with the coyote and the bear, the coyote tells the bear that he can can climb to the heavens.  He begins by shooting an arrow through the moon and shooting more arrows to attach to each other creating a ladder! He climbs the ladder and makes it to the heavens!  Coyote gets another clever idea that he can rearrange the stars! He starts shooting the stars with his arrows moving the stars across the sky, he decided to make animal pictures for the world to see! Throughout the story, Peck uses onomatopoeia or sound words to show a certain sound.  For example, arrows go "Whi-rr" and "Whizz" through the sky, and the coyote howls "Oweowowoooah".  The author also gives the animals the ability to talk, a human characteristic which is an example of personification.

The illustrations in this book really made me interested! In the back of the book, Peck explains that the pictures were created by the artist painting with dyes on fabric in between wax-resist outlines which is called the batik method.  Fun Idea! -You could recreate this type of art in your classroom using gel glue in place of the wax-resist, wash the gel glue away and you have the outlines just like in a real example of batik art!

Monster

Meyers, W. (1999). Monster. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers.

"Monster!" That is what 16 year old Steve Harmon is called by the prosecuting attorney in his case, but is he really a monster, or is it a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people? This young adult multicultural novel is one that will leave a lasting effect on teens! Walter Dean Meyers created this drama/crime fiction full of personal conflicts many teens face today, with examples of peer pressure, gang affiliation, crime, right from wrong, and so many other topics that students can relate to and learn valuable lessons from.  I found this book on the list suggested by Dr. Gibson, it sounded interesting, something that could really be connected to real life.  The novel has won many awards: Coretta Scott King Author Award, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, Kentucky Bluegrass Award, and ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (good to know for middle/high school teachers). 

Steve Harmon is a 16 year old African American inner city teen who gets involved with a group of other young men who plan to rob a drugstore.  It goes terribly wrong when the robbery turns into a murder, Steve didn't do the killing but he was on look-out!  The story is told mostly by Steve's viewpoint in the form of a screenplay and journal entries he has written.  At the beginning of the story, Steve tells us that prison is about being alone all the time, even though you aren't alone and of being scared all the time, in telling the reader this, he is foreshadowing the horrific events ands and emotional state that he is about to embark on.  The rising action is when Steve is first in jail and begins writing, he has actually written his journal entries while on trial for murder! What will the verdict be?!  The climax, is when Steve is found not-guilty which means he can go back to a normal life instead of his current life he had in prison.  Big Questions: Will he be able to return to a normal life?  Will he be the same boy? This is a good time to discuss consequences of peer pressure which seems to be a theme in this novel.  At the end, Steve is struggling with himself, is he a good person? Or is he a monster?

This novel would be good to try the text to self connections strategy using post-it notes.  It's an easy way to incorporate prior/background knowledge by having the students think about times in their life when they had to face peer pressure, when they had to make choices, or a time they made a poor choice and had a consequence.  The book seems mostly appropriate for middle grade and high school age students due to the content.

Pish Posh

Potter, E. (2006). Pish posh. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

I chose this young adult fantasy novel from a list of suggestions by Dr. Gibson in the syllabus.  Since I'm less familiar with young adult novels, I went to the library, located a stack of Dr. Gibson's suggestions and started eliminating until my final selection came down to Pish Posh by Ellen Potter.  Though this novel is fantasy it is somewhat believable, which is the type of reading I prefer.  I would also consider this story a mystery novel, and mystery and crime is what I love - CSI, Cold Case, Law and Order, NCIS - now those are some of my favorite TV shows!

In this novel, the story told in third person is about Clara Frankofile, a rich snobby 11 year old girl.  Her parents own a fancy New York City restaurant.  She does not act like a child, she shows little emotions like a normal 11 year old and in fact does not actually get along with other children her age, and she finds them stupid and immature.  She wears the same black dress and black sunglasses every day, not exactly the same dress, since she has 157 of them but that is all she has ever worn since she was an infant. Every night she sits in her parents' restaurant, called Pish Posh where people are fighting to get in and watches their guests, she gets to decide who the "nobodies" are, who she lets know they are no longer welcome in the restaurant. One day she lets Dr. Piff who knew her as a young girl that he is a “nobody” and is no longer welcome.  She pays very close attention to what goes on in the restaurant and has noticed he has let his shoes go, and ordered tapioca pudding making him a “nobody”.  He reminds her of her younger days and tells her that she is missing an obvious peculiar and mysterious thing happening under her nose.  She is uneasy about what she has learned and is on a mission to find out what could possibly be going on.  The suspense keeps the reader from putting the book down! What could it be?  She gets the help of a 12 year old jewel thief named Annabelle to start a mission to solve a 200 year old mystery.  As the girls work together in their journey they both change, Clara becomes more childlike and feels guilt about the way she once treated people and Annabelle realizes she doesn't like being a thief, she just likes danger.  Throughout the novel there are flashbacks of Clara’s younger days which helps her remember her old self in order to change.  The story is an exciting mystery but it’s more than just a mystery, it teaches a lesson of character. 

The Lexile level of this chapter book is 910 which falls between 5th grade to 8th.  The story is probably most suitable for interest levels ages 8-11.  As the girls are 11 and 12, older students will probably be uninterested.  I would also suggest this as in independent reading assignment for reader's choice rather than a book for the entire class.  Though it’s an exciting story I don't think boys would be very motivated to read it since the main characters are females and by the looks of the front cover.  If middle grades students are anything like my younger students boys don't particularly like stories that have female main characters but girls don't seem to have a preference, I find this interesting but it seems to be true from my experience.  Using writing prompts would be a good assignment to follow up with reading this book.  I remember in intermediate grades and middle school I loved choosing my own chapter book and choosing from a list of assignments/projects to do and share with my classmates, the freedom seemed to motivate me as it does for my students.  A neat project would be to write a complete journal/diary (in first person obviously) from Clara or Annabelle's perspective about the events and their feelings, and how they have changed as a person throughout the book. 

Rap A Tap Tap

Dillon, D, & Dillion, L. (2002). Rap a tap tap. New York, NY: Macmillan/McGraw-Hill.

I picked this book because I have seen it in many classrooms but I have never had the chance to experience the book myself.  A few weeks ago I noticed it as a big book in one of the first grade classrooms.  The teacher hadn't used it yet this school year so I thought I would borrow it and get a good feel of the book so that when it comes time to use the book I could have some of my own ideas to bring to the table when planning activities.  I love big books but unfortunately I don't own a single one, as a special education teacher I have limited space in my resource room and in the past with such a short time I spend in the resource room I just don't get around to using them, but this will be changing! Rap a Tap Tap is written and illustrated by married couple Leo and Diane Dillon.  The picture book earned the Corretta Scott King Award.  

The story is set around the 1930's in New York City.  The main character Mr. Bojangles is a tap dancer who entertains all different types of people as he dances through the streets of New York City.  Mr. Bojangles is African-American and from the illustrations you can see people of all different skin colors. He dances for rich people, poor people, and even children.  The book makes it clear that Mr. Bojangles dances to make people smile, to entertain! (Entertain is an example of a new vocabulary word to use!)


The illustrations are fascinating! They are a style very unique to some more traditional picture books.  There are no lines used to create the pictures, people and surroundings are created through Leo and Diane's use of shape.  The Dillons painted simple shapes on each page to create the pictures.  There are no outlined facial expressions, just open mouth smiles on all of the peoples' faces.  The Dillons used a lighter shade to create a shadow effect around Mr. Bojangles' body in each picture to depict him dancing.  

There are endless ways to connect this story to the curriculum.  For Social Studies the teacher could cover African-American culture, discuss the different societies within a city (rich people in fancy clothes, poor people living in the "skids").  You could also connect this to Arts and Humanities - music, dance.  

What sticks out most to me is the use of rhyme and repetition in the text.  Every other page/sentence ends with rhyming words, the teacher could explain how the words rhyme and how to read with rhyming words.  An extremely important learning target we use on a day to day basis is: "I can make my reading sound like talk".  Every other page/sentence rhymes which gives the teacher an easy way to model examples of making reading sound like talk.  In between each rhyming sentence/page, the following page reads, "Rap a tap tap - think of that!".  This sentence is repeated on every other page so using the big book, the teacher could encourage the students to read along while following the words on the page. 

Julius, The Baby of the World

Henkes, K. (1990). Julius the baby of the world. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

This is my third reflection of a Kevin Henkes picture book.  After I reflected on Owen, Dr. Gibson suggested Julius, The Baby of the World, and I also noticed it listed on the link for "Books to teach literary devices" under persuasion from our course homepage.  I had never heard of this book so I borrowed it from my school library.  What a SWEET and HILARIOUS story!  This book is an ALA Notable Children's Book. 

In the story, Lilly, the eccentric little girl is blessed with a baby brother who she is extremely jealous of.  She hates that he gets so much attention and that his parents love him so much and think everything he does is perfect.  Lilly just can't understand why her parents and all of the other adults in the family just love him so much.  She goes out of her way to do terrible things to him like scare him, tell him the numbers and letters out of order, tells him insults, and tries to make him disappear! Throughout the entire story Lilly's parents are complementing his little black eyes, pink little nose, and sweet soft fur and his ability to babble, scream, blow bubbles.  The main idea of this story is the fact that Lilly now has a little brother and he isn't going anywhere which her parents remind her of several times. Finally at the end of the story at a family gathering a cousin of Lilly's starts bad mouthing Julius just the way she had been doing the entire story.  Instead of agreeing with the cousin she gets angry and sticks up for her baby brother Julius telling her cousin all the wonderful things he can do and how cute he is, the same compliments her parents had been giving him the entire story that Lilly had never agreed with.  From then on she adored Julius, protected him, and played with him, she finally changed her mind and believes that he really is "the baby of the world".

Like all of the other Henkes stories I have read so far this story teaches a valuable lesson to children who will be getting and already have younger siblings.  Students who may have some of the same feelings Lilly first had about having a baby in the family can see Lilly change her mind on her feelings for baby Julius. 

As this book was listed under persuasion on the list of books to teach literary devices the teacher could have a discussion with students about the power of persuasion and what it means to persuade.  Big questions to ask during the discussion prior to reading could include: "Have you ever been persuaded?", Have you ever persuaded someone?"  During reading the teacher could ask, "Do you think Lilly's parents will persuade her to change her opinion of Julius?"  The students could make predictions about this question before reading on to find out what happens.  

During lunch one day with my fellow teachers last week I was raving about Henkes stories and the first grade teacher that I collaborate with chimed in as well, turns out she is a big fan too!  As a first grade team we have decided to spend a full week to complete an Author Study of Kevin Henkes with our first graders in two weeks! We have selected lots of his books (and not just the ones with the cute mice that I'm partial to) that we will be sharing over the week with our students and using to teach story elements.  We will be able to compare and contrast the characters, settings, and plots of each story we share.  We will also teach about Kevin Henkes himself.  I can't wait to share the Kevin Henkes books I love and read a few that I haven't read yet that I'm sure to love as well!

Chester's Way

Henkes, K. (1988). Chester's way. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

I have already read and posted about Kevin Henkes' Owen, where I mention how much I LOVE Henkes' cute little characters like Lilly and Chrysanthemum. I asked one of the first grade teachers at my school in which I collaborate with if she had any other Kevin Henkes books because I know there are tons and I have only read a few, and I enjoy each one more than the last! She shared with me Chester's Way which is an ALA Notable Children’s book. 


The story is about a mouse, Chester and his best friend Wilson, who is just like Chester.  Chester and Wilson are very particular about the way they do things and I guess you could also call them cautious.  They do everything together.  Then, a girl named Lilly moves into the neighborhood, and she is full of character! She wears disguises, talks backwards, carries a squirt gun, and is a little more dangerous than Chester and Wilson.  They think she is very odd and they avoid her.  One day Chester and Wilson get picked on by older boys when Lilly jumps out to rescue them, she scares the older boys off with her scary disguise and shoots them with her water gun!  The boys are thankful and impressed with her rescue mission so they decide to spend some time with her.  

She introduces them to her crazy antics and they teach her to be more cautious.  The boys realize they are actually very similar despite some obvious personality differences.  From that point on they become a group of three friends who do everything together, crazy activities to safe activities.

With this picture book a teacher could teach about moral "character" by using the characters in this story.  The book provides a lesson in accepting people’s differences and making new friends.  The last Henkes book that I read, Owen also presented a life lesson about growing up through its cute and entertaining story.  While reading Chester's Way, the teacher could help the students compare and contrast the character traits of Chester, Wilson, and Lilly perhaps creating a Venn diagram or other visual representation. Questions to lead this discussion could include: 
How are Chester and Wilson like Lilly?
How are Chester and Wilson different from Lilly?
What are certain traits of the boys, of Lilly? 
What are some traits that all of the characters share?

Henkes' illustrations are as cute as ever again in this picture book.  His pictures have bright cheery colors and Henkes uses multiple pictures on each page to show the different actions of the characters. During and after reading, students could also compare the physical characteristics of the characters giving the teacher an opportunity to explain how all students look different and dress different. 

While reading this story, a teacher could also point out and discuss the use of dialogue which exists between the characters in this story and show students how to use dialogue with correct punctuation in their own writing. 

I would recommend this Henkes picture book to any teacher who teaches pre-school to third grade. 

And don’t forget the Author’s website for resources, I think I may try Chester and Wilson’s Better than Ever Peanut Butter Cookies recipe!!

http://www.kevinhenkes.com/