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Diary of a Worm: Written by Doreen Cronin and Illustrated by Harry Bliss

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Diary of a Worm: Written by Doreen Cronin and Illustrated by Harry Bliss

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This text demonstrates short, distinct journal entries that take place over a period of several months. It shows how longer entries paint more of a picture, while shorter entries/sentences can pack a more emotional/comedic punch. The book also organizes the entries by date, so there is a clear sequence of events.

Activities:

-Student can begin to keep their own journal where they keep track of important events in their daily lives.

-Students can do an activity where they map out the beginning, middle, and end to the worm's story.

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Roller Coaster: Written and Illustrated by Marla Frazee

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Roller Coaster: Written and Illustrated by Marla Frazee

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This book has a clear organization in that it doesn't try to do too much. It focuses on one event (the ride) rather than describing an entire amusement park. It has a step-by-step method of organization in that it starts by describing the characters experiences waiting for the ride, moves to their experience riding the ride, and then describes their feelings afterwards.

Activities:

-Students could write about an exciting day/experience using a step-by-step organizational style.

-Almost all of my students love roller coasters, so they could write a story that focuses in on one ride they went on. (An alternative assignment could be given if a student has never been on a roller coaster.)

-Students could write about their day using a sequential organization method. Once all of the events are written in the ascending order, we could then go in and add things like voice and word choice.

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Word Collector: Written and Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

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Word Collector: Written and Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

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This book does a great job of introducing lots of new words using a fun context. It also helps to foster a love of complex, expressive vocabulary.

Activities:

-Students could go on a word walk around the school and collect words they see. We could then create a word wall with some of the vocabulary we collected.

-Students could write a short story using some of the vocabulary from the book.

-Students could choose a new vocabulary word they wish to explore and create a word web surrounding it. (Draw a picture representing it, list it's part of speech, definition, root word/prefixes/suffixes etc.)

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What Do You Do with an Idea?: Written by Kobi Yamada Illustrated by Mae Besom

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What Do You Do with an Idea?: Written by Kobi Yamada Illustrated by Mae Besom

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This book helps teach kids that all ideas are special and have the potential to be amazing if you spend meaningful time with them. It also makes a point to show how ideas might not be perfect right away, and that the finished project may look different from what you originally envisioned.

Activities:

-Give students a writing assignment with no parameters. This will allow them to think creatively without any barriers.

-Create an idea wall where students can pitch various writing prompts.

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OOPS POUNCE QUICK RUN! An Alphabet Caper: Written and Illustrated by Mike Twohy

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OOPS POUNCE QUICK RUN! An Alphabet Caper: Written and Illustrated by Mike Twohy

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This book is written in alphabetic words and phrases. It is a good way to show students that authors sometimes write in patterns as a way to organize their writing.

Activities:

-We could create a chart as a class that lists/explains all of the different patterns an author could use to organize a story (counting, days of the week, see-saw structure, circular structure etc.)

-Students could write their own story using this alphabetic style of writing.

-Students could write a poem describing themselves using words that start with the letters in their names.

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The Keeper of Wild Words: Written by Brooke Smith, Illustrated by Madeline Kloepper

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The Keeper of Wild Words: Written by Brooke Smith, Illustrated by Madeline Kloepper

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This book shows two-character walking through nature and exploring all of the unique words that exist there. Particularly impactful words are featured in larger and/or special print to help make them stand out to the reader. This book helps kids think about all of the amazing words they can use to describe their surroundings.

Activities:

-We can go on a brief nature walk and take note of what we see. We can then come together as a class and talk about how we can vividly describe what we saw.

-Students could write a vivid description of their favorite flower. They could also draw a picture of it to accompany it.

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The Day the Crayons Quit: Written by Drew Daywalt, Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers 

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The Day the Crayons Quit: Written by Drew Daywalt, Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers 

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This book does a great job of showcasing each crayons unique voice. Students will be able to see how each crayon has different opinions and outlooks depending on the experiences and circumstances.

Activities:

-Students could pick an inanimate object in the room and write a letter voicing what they think their complaint would be.

-Students could write a response to one of the crayons letters.

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What the Moon Saw: Written by Laura Resau 

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What the Moon Saw: Written by Laura Resau 

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This is a beautiful story about discovering your own cultural identity. It is full of rich, complex language that will provide an excellent example for my kids on how to create images in the minds of the reader.

Activities:

-Students will be asked to partner up and describe an image to their partner. The student who is being described to will attempt to draw the image that is being described using as many details as possible.

-Students could write their own story about a special experience they had with their own families.

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The Important Book: Written by Margaret Wise Brown, Illustrated by Leonard Weisgard 

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The Important Book: Written by Margaret Wise Brown, Illustrated by Leonard Weisgard 

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This book follows a set structure where every page begins with "the important things about ___ is ___". This gives kids a clear model for properly organized sentences.

Activities:

-We can use this book as a jumping off point for a writing activity in which I use sentence stems to help guide kids through the process of creating fully formed sentences. (This would be seen as a beginners activity, which we would branch off of at a later date)

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This book uses a repetitive pattern as a method of organization. It's a fun book that will help me demonstrate to my students that you can organize your writing by connecting it through the use of a common word or phrase.

Activities:

-Students could write an inverse of this book (Yes, David) and write out things that David should be doing instead of what he chooses to do in the story.

-Students could practice creating their own piece of writing using a similar repetitive organizational structure.

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Ada Twist, Scientist: Written by Andrea Beaty, Illustrated by David Roberts 

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Ada Twist, Scientist: Written by Andrea Beaty, Illustrated by David Roberts 

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This is a great book that helps to foster a love of science. It's presentation is beautiful and creative. It shows both proper paragraph structure as well as ways you can have text interact with the pictures. It also demonstrates to kids how you can properly implement charts and side bubbles naturally into a story.

Activities:

-Students could create a chart listing out the traits of a good scientist as demonstrated in the book.

-Students could write a brief research paper over a topic of their choosing. They will be asked to implement some sort of chart/side heading with attached picture /graph into their paper. We will go over things like proper spacing, appropriate use of capitalization, and indentation before we begin.

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This book helps to demonstrate to kids that even if they don't believe that they are great writers/drawlers they can still find ways to demonstrate their creative thinking. It also shows how ideas can develop through work and meaningful thought. It's a great story to read if you feel like your students are feeling down about their abilities.

Activities:

-Students could practice mapping out a story by drawing pictures rather than writing.

-Have students try and convey a message through unconventional methods (for example, they could draw squiggles in a way that is meant to convey a certain emotion).

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Poetree: Written by Shauna LaVoy Reynolds, illustrated by Shahrzad Maydani

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Poetree: Written by Shauna LaVoy Reynolds, illustrated by Shahrzad Maydani

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This book showcases a back-and-forth poem exchange between a girl and a birch tree. Its full of lyrical poetry that appeals to kid's auditory senses and helps them see that sentence fluency should sound pleasing to the ear.

Activities:

-This book is a celebration of nature, so we could explore various poems about nature.

-Students could write their own nature-based poem.

-Students could pick one of the poems written by either the girl or the tree and write a poetic response to it.

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This book uses beautiful lyrical text to spread messages about kindness and self-acceptance. It is not only a great introduction to poetry, but it also demonstrates to kids how authors can change up the length/style of a sentence to convey different meanings/emotions.

Activities:

- Students could draw a picture of a heart and then put different words of phrases that describe their heart inside of their drawing. (For example, my heart is kind, my heart is strong, my heart loves baseball etc.)

-Students could complete a piece of writing where they will be tasked with changing up the lengths of their sentences to create various impacts. (For example, a short sentence for a distinct, impactful statement and a longer sentence to help create imagery.)

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This book is a beautiful story about the life of Yuri Morales who immigrated from Mexico to the United States. She is telling her own story, and it helps to show kids that they can do the same.

Activities:

-Students can write a personal narrative about their life up to this point as a whole, or a special experience they've had.

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The Magic and Mystery of Trees: Written by Jen Green, Illustrated Claire McElfatrick  

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The Magic and Mystery of Trees: Written by Jen Green, Illustrated Claire McElfatrick  

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This is a non-fiction text that includes lots of text features such as bolded words, headings, sub-headings, a table of contents, and a glossary. This is a great text to teach kids how to thoughtfully present these features in their own informationally writings.

Activities:

-Students could create a table of contents for their writing journals.

-Students could create a glossary for a piece of informational writing that we have written.

-Students could choose a research topic and create different headings for the different aspects of that topic they are going to touch on.