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Author/Illustrator: Barbara Lehman

Genre: fiction- Wordless Picture Book

Teaser: This wordless picture book takes you on a trip on a train. Follow the illustrations in the book to see where the train can take you.

Teaching Idea: Use this wordless picture book to teach the importance of using the illustrations and graphics to help us understand a text. Give students a mini booklet with blank pages. As you show the illustrations for each page, have the students write their interpretation of the illustration in their booklet. Eventually, they will have a miniature version of the book, put into their own words.

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Author/Illustrator: Jerry Pinkey

Genre: fiction- Wordless Picture Book

Teaser: This wordless picture book is based off one of Aesop's most well-known stories. The unlikely pair of a mouse and a lion teach readers to be kind to everyone. The vivid and descriptive pictures tell the story of a tiny mouse rescuing the ferocious lion from a trap.

Teaching Idea: Use this wordless picture book to teach the importance of using the illustrations and graphics to help us understand a text. Give students a mini booklet with blank pages. As you show the illustrations for each page, have the students write their interpretation of the illustration in their booklet. Eventually, they will have a miniature version of the book, put into their own words.

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Author: Ruby Bridges

Genre: non-fiction

Approximate Text Level: 860 Lexile

Teaser: This autobiography tells the story of Ruby Bridges. At six years old, Ruby made history as she marched into the white public school in 1960. Ruby was surrounded by federal marshals, protecting her from an angry mob. This book tells Ruby's experience firsthand, and how she learned to read and add with the help of one teacher. This is an inspirational story about an inspiring young girl who changed our schools forever.

Teaching Idea: Use this nonfiction book as a mentor book to teach students how to refer to details and examples in the text when drawing inferences from the text. Ask students to read this book and use sticky notes to annotate for key events, dates, people, and important information. Then, have students identify facts from the book, their opinion about the book, the authors propose, and the text structure. Then have students summarize the main idea of the book and quote three supporting details.

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Author: Drew Daywalt

Illustrations: Oliver Jeffers

Genre: fiction

Approximate Text Level: AD 730 Lexile

Teaser: A young boy, Duncan,  just wants to color. But when he opens his box of crayons, he finds only letters, all saying the same thing: His crayons have had enough! They quit! Beige Crayon is tired of playing second fiddle to Brown Crayon. Black wants to be used for more than just outlining. Blue needs a break from coloring all those bodies of water. And Orange and Yellow are no longer speaking; each believes he is the true color of the sun.
What can Duncan possibly do to appease all of the crayons and get them back to doing what they do best?

Teaching Idea: Use this book to play the game, Making Matches. After reading the book, give students a stack of cards. On the cards will be the names of the crayons and text examples that describe each crayon. Have students match the evidence from the text to the correct character.
https://betterlesson.com/lesson/576985/makin-matches-character-trait-and-evidence-memory-game#

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Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day 

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Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day 

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Author: Judith Viorst

Illustrations: Ray Cruz

Genre: fiction

Approximate Text Level: AD850L

Teaser: This classic book tells the story of Alexander and his horrible day that continues to go bad. As soon as he wakes up, the day starts badly. Throughout the day, everything gets worse, and he cannot wait for the day to end.

Teaching Idea: Use this book as a read aloud, followed by a visual representation activity. After the read aloud, ask the students about a bad day they have had recently. Ask the students to write a paragraph about their own bad day. Then, have the students illustrate the scene of their bad day.

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Teaser: This iconic poster was used as wartime propaganda. The poster was to boost morale at the Westinghouse Electric Company in 1943. Since then the poster has become an icon for women and feminists.

Teaching Strategy: Introduce this poster by explaining that images and illustrations give as much meaning as words do. Show this poster to the students and start a discussion about it. Then, as a class have students fill out the "Analyze a Poster" worksheet. Use the worksheet to find the meaning of the poster, the purpose of the poster, and the intended audience.
https://www.archives.gov/files/education/lessons/worksheets/poster_analysis_worksheet.pdf

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Author: Jane Yolen

Illustrations: John Schoenherr

Publication Date: 1987

Genre: fiction

Approximate Text Level: Lexile-550

Teaser: Go along with a young girl and her father on their night walk through their farm, on a search for owls. The pair trudges through the cold snow with only the moon for light. Follow along on their search for Owls, and read the descriptive details to feel like you are with them on the walk.

Teaching Idea: Use Owl Moon as a guide text to teach about narrative writings. Give the students a personal narrative checklist and a stack of sticky notes. After reading each page out loud, pause and ask the student what narrative element was used. The students will use the sticky notes to mark what elements were used on each page.

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Author/Illustrator:  Marguerite de Angeli

Publication Date: 1995

Teaser: Yonnie is a young boy who gets nicknamed Wondernose because he cannot keep his nose out of anything. Yonnie is always getting in trouble. One weekend, his parents go away overnight and must be the man of the house. As he tries to keep himself out of trouble, a storm brings trouble that he must overcome.

Teaching Idea: Read the book as a class, and have the students work on an Open-Mind portrait throughout the story. The students will have a blank portrait worksheet to use key characteristics to draw on what they think Yonie looks like. They will also use details from the story to put describing words all over the portrait. The open mind portrait will be used to work on understanding the characteristics of main characters.

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Don't Call Me Special: A first look at disability. 

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Don't Call Me Special: A first look at disability. 

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Author: Pat Thomas

Illustrations: Lesley Harker

Publication Date: 2002

Genre: Informational non-fiction

Approximate Interest Level: 4-7 years old

Approximate Text Level: Lexile-650, adult-directed

Teaser: Sometimes meeting people with physical disabilities or adaptive equipment can be confusing for young children. Read this book to younger kids to share and learn about different disabilities and the assistance they may need. Follow the book and colorful illustrations to show how individuals with disabilities participate in everyday activities and live full and happy lives.

Teaching Idea: After reading the book as a class, have folded a sentence in half and write one side about something they are good at and one thing they have difficulty doing. After the students write and draw on their paper, as everyone to share what they wrote. Place all of the students' answers on a large chart labeled with "things I am good at" and "things I struggle at."  After everyone shares discuss as a class how everyone has similar and different rates. Also, discuss how this treats rleate to the book.

Other Teaching Ideas: http://museumofdisability.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/1.-LESSON-PLAN-Dont-Call-Me-Special.pdf

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Teaser: An eleven-year-old boy wrote a personal poem about his life with Autism. The poem uses details to explain how noise effects him and other kids with autism. This young boy wrote the poem to help his classmates understand what it is like living with autism.

Teaching Strategy: Use this poem as a way to practice and learn about writing poetry. Explain to the students that poetry can help express feelings. Read this poem aloud as a class, and have the students pair up to discuss what they learned in the poem. After reading the poem have students write their own poems to teach their classmates something about themselves.

Poem Link: https://www.autismspeaks.org/blog/2017/06/05/boys-writes-poem-help-classmates-understand-his-autism

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Teaser: Everyone can recognize the wheelchair symbol that is seen all over our world, but few really know the deeper meaning. The actual name for the symbol is the international symbol of access. This short video reviews the history of this symbol, what it really represents, and the current problems are causes. The video explains the symbol is creating widespread issues and is need of a complete redesign.

Teaching Strategy: Discuss with a class that symbols are apart of literacy, and every symbol represents a bigger idea. Show images of popular symbols and ask the class if they recognize what they mean. After showing this video, as the students to discuss what they think is wrong with the symbol. Have each student draw a new symbol that would better represent the international symbol of access.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=234&v=ppNYZq-hYTw

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Author: Cynthia Lord

Publication Date: 2006

Genre: Realistic Fiction (Narration)

Approximate Interest Level: 4rd-7th grade

Approximate Text Level: Lexile-670

Teaser: Everyone who has a sibling knows that little siblings can be embarrassing and difficult. In Rules, twelve-year-old Catherine finds it impossible to have a normal life with her younger brother David. David has autism, and Catharine tries to teach him all the rules to act normal and not embarrass her. Then, when Catherine makes new friends she learns there is no normal.

Teaching Idea: Have students read rules and focus on connotation. Explain to the students that the book uses many words that show emotion to hint at how the character is feeling. Before reading the book, give the students a list of "emotion words" used in the book and the page number. Teach about the connotation of words, the negative or positive meaning of a word. During reading, ask the students to use context clues to define the word and if it has a negative or positive connotation.

Other Teaching Ideas:https://www.scholastic.com/content/dam/teachers/lesson-plans/migrated-featured-files/rules-storia-teaching-guide.pdf

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Author: Cece Bell

Publication Date: 2014

Genre: Non-fiction (graphic novel)

Approximate Interest Level: 3rd-8th grade

Approximate Text Level: Lexile-420

Teaser: Have you ever felt like you were different than everyone else in your class? That is exactly how Cece, who is deaf, felt when she started school with a hearing aid. Cece felt depressed and alone with her disability and hearing aid...until she decides her hearing aid is like a superpower to help her hear everything. Read this funny and uplifting graphic novel to learn how Cece learns to accept her hearing aid, makes friends, and grows.

Teaching Idea: Read this book in an upper elementary class and focus on figurative language. This book is filled with figurative languages such as idioms, slang, colloquialisms, metaphors, and similes. After teaching and learning about types of figurative language, send the students on a figurative language scavenger hunt. Let the students work independently to find examples of figurative language throughout the text, using sticky notes to mark the pages.

Other Teaching Ideas: http://cbldf.org/2015/06/using-graphic-novels-in-education-el-deafo/

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Author: Sharon M. Draper

Publication Date: 2010

Genre: Fiction (Narration)

Approximate Interest Level: 4rd-7th grade

Approximate Text Level: Lexile-700L

Teaser: Melody is an eleven-year-old girl who is the smartest girl in her school...but no one knows it. Melody has cerebral palsy cannot talk, write, or walk so all of her teachers and doctors think she is incapable of learning. Melody is stuck in school learning preschool lessons...until she finds a way to communicate. Follow along Melody's journey of learning to communicate and speaking her mind.

Teaching Idea: Use this book for middle school students and have them read it as a class and independently. Before reading makes sure to discuss what Cerebral Palsy is.
After reading, students can use the book and a Venn diagram to work on comparing and contrasting the two teachers, Mrs. Shannon and Mrs. Billups. Then have students debate on which was the more effective teacher for Melody, using specific examples from the text.

Other Teaching Ideas: http://sharondraper.com/core/oomm.pdf

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Author: Deborah Kent and Kathryn A. Quinlan

Publication Date: 1997

Genre: Nonfiction biography

Approximate Interest Level: 6th-8th grade

Approximate Text Level: Lexile-1020

Teaser: Every person is unique, and physical and mental disabilities are just one thing that can make humans different. Learn about forty-eight incredible people who thrive despite having a mental or physical disability. This book contains a series of short biographies about the life and accomplishments of people with disabilities. The stories range from accomplishments in music, education, politics, science, medicine, sports and much more. Learn about people such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Frida Kahlo, Hellen Keller, Stephen Hawking, and many more incredible people.

Teaching Idea: This book can be used in upper elementary school grades or a middle school classroom to work on research and the biography genre. The book she is read as a class, going through each biography and talking about their accomplishments and disabilities. After reading the book, as each student to choose a person from the book to research. Provide a graphic organizer to help student's research the life and biography more in-depth for their assigned person. After research, use cereal boxes to illustrate and summarize the life of each person (like a Wheaties cereal box). Have students include photographs, information, facts, their accomplishments and about their disability.

Cereal Box Biography Report: https://sites.google.com/site/languageartsroom17/dunbar-third-grade/january/book-report-projects/biography-book-reports

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Author: Menena Cottin

Illustrations: Rosana Faria

Publication Date: 2008

Genre: Fiction

Approximate Interest Level: Kindergarten-Fourth grade

Approximate Text Level: 2nd grade Lexile-520

Teaser: Have you ever tried to imagine what it is like to be blind? Read The Black Book of Colors to experience what is like to only see through touch, taste, smell, and hearing. In this book, Thomas a boy who is blind explains the colors using sensory descriptions. The book has line drawings on black papers that you decipher by touch and has a braille translation on each page. Begin to imagine what it would be like to have no sight by reading this book.
Teaching Idea: Students will use this book to imagine what it is to be blind and begin using sensory details to describe experiences and events in writing. The teacher will read The Black Book of Colors out loud to the class, stopping to point out the sensory details in the book. Have the students count how many sensory details they hear throughout the book. After reading the story, have the students pick their favorite color and write a statement describing the color only using sensory details. Then, have the students write the sentence in white crayon on black paper. The students can then use glue to illustrate their statement so that it has a texture when it dries, just like the book.

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Author: Virginia Euwer Wolff

Illustrations: No illustrator

Publication Date: 1988

Genre:  Realistic Fiction (temporal order narrative)

Approximate Interest Level: 6-8th grade

Approximate Text Level: Lexile: 780 L

Teaser: We all know about the challenges and hardships students face throughout high school, but imagine the hardships a student with a learning disability would face. This novel gives you a look into Nick Swansen’s head and the life he lives. Follow Nick around high school as he faces the challenges of bullying, being ditched at prom, and even PTSD, all while learning to deal with a learning disability.

Teaching Idea: During and after reading this novel, have the class participate in discussions about the struggles and challenges Nick faces throughout the book. After reading, have each student brainstorm a list of personal challenges they face frequently. Then, have the students write an essay about their personal challenges, and documenting what a few days in their life looks like. Have the students use the writing style of Probably Still Nick Swansen to guide how their essay is written.

Teaching Idea: Students will use this text as well as a school text book to complete the reading across the disciplines activity. In groups, students will use the discipline analysis grid to compare the purpose of the texts, background knowledge needed, language, and structure used throughout the two texts. After completing the grid, hold a class discussion on how the personal identities of each author or narrator influences   the texts.

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Shared Moments-Painting by John Bramblitt

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Shared Moments-Painting by John Bramblitt

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Teaser: Can you imagine the difficulties you would face on a daily basis if you were blind? Now imagine painting beautiful and intricate paintings without being able to see. Take a look at this painting done by a painter who is blind, John Bramblitt.

Teaching Strategy: First, display the painting, Shared Moments, in front of the class. After allowing them to analyze it, tell the students that the painter is blind. Send the students to research online about the painter, John Bramblitt, and how he paints while blind. Have the students write a paragraph on this painter. Then, to simulate the difficulties this painter faces, blindfold the students and have them draw a picture without being able to see.

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Author: Shirley Day

Illustrations: Don Morris

Publication Date: 1995

Genre: Fiction (temoral order narrative)

Approximate Interest Level: Preschool-2

Approximate Text Level: Early Elementary

Teaser: Luna has to wear glasses because she has very poor eyesight, but she hates wearing her glasses…can you relate? One day she goes without her glasses and faces accidents and mishaps because she cannot see well. Read about Luna’s day without glasses and learn how she starts accepting her glasses!

Teaching Idea: Use this book with young students to help them understand why some of their peers, or themselves, wear glasses. Help create confidence for those wearing glasses, and keep other students from being judgmental about glasses. After reading the book give students straws, pipe cleaners, and tape to make homemade glasses. Then have the students wear their "glasses" for the rest of the day.  At the end of the day, ask each student to complete a journal entry about how they felt wearing the glasses.

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Author: Deborah M. Moss

Illustrations: Carol Shwartz

Publication Date: 1989

Genre: Fiction (responce narrative)

Approximate Interest Level: Preschool-2

Approximate Text Level: GLE: 2 grade

Teaser: Shelley the turtle was wiggly and jumpy inside, and that made him different from all the other turtles. He keeps getting in trouble for how he acts, but he just cannot help it! Things start getting better when the doctors explain to Shelley about ADHD, this book will help you make sense of ADHD in a child-friendly way!

Teaching Idea: Use this book in a special needs elementary classroom. This will help explain to the students, with ADHD or not, why they sometimes feel wiggly and jumpy inside. After reading the book with the class, talk about ways to calm down when they are feeling wiggly and jumpy. Then have each student make a homemade glitter calm down jar and discuss how to use them to calm down.

Calm Down Jar: https://preschoolinspirations.com/6-ways-to-make-a-calm-down-jar/

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Author: Caroline Janover

Illustrations: Rick Powell

Publication Date: 1997

Genre: Realistic Fiction (temporal order narrative)

Approximate Interest Level:
3-6 grade

Approximate Text Level:
GLE:  4-6 grade

Teaser: Have you ever met anyone who just cannot sit still, forgets everything, and speaks before thinking? That is how Zipper is, due to having ADHD, but he is struggling to keep friends and do well in school. Read this book to see what happens when Zipper befriends a retired jazz musician!

Teaching Idea: Throughout the story, have the students write down anything they notice something that Zipper has difficulty doing. Also, have the students write down anything that helped Zipper. At the end of the book, make a T-Chart of "Difficulties for Zipper" and "What Helped Zipper". Then, break the students into groups to discuss what activities and techniques help keep them focused or calm.

Teaching Idea: To focus on concept development, the students will participate in the "Four Square Concept Development" activity described in our textbook. They will practice this using the word "overcome" since Zipper overcomes his disability.

http://cromwellcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Zipper-the-Kid-with-ADHD-grade-51.pdf

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Author: Virginia Fleming

Illustrations: Floyd Cooper

Publication Date: 1993

Genre: Realistic Fiction (temporal order narrative)

Approximate Interest Level: K-2

Approximate Text Level:
GLE: 3.1 grade   Lexile: 380 L

Teaser: Christy, a young girl, is always annoyed and angered by her neighbor who has down syndrome. Join Christy and Eddy Lee down into the woods to see what Eddy Lee discovers, and what the friendship that blooms between Christy and Eddy Lee.

Teaching Idea: Use this text to teach acceptance among people with differences. Have the students write a letter to the book's character Christy about accepting and being nice to others who are different. Have the letter include why she hurt Eddy's feelings and why you shouldn't judge someone with a disability.

Teaching Idea: Students will use the character development in reading web gird while reading this book in small groups. The students will focus on Christy’s behaviors and character traits, and how they change throughout the book. The students will stop at designated points in the story to web Christy’s characteristics. After completing the book and web they will discuss as a class how each web about was similar or different as the story unfolds.

Other Ideas:
http://www.cpalms.org/Public/PreviewResourceUpload/Preview/74909

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Author: Laurie Lears

Illustrations: Karen Ritz

Publication Date: January 1998

Genre: Realistic Fiction (temporal order narrative)

Approximate Interest Level: K-2

Approximate Text Level:       GLE: 3.4 grade   Lexile: 430 L

Teaser: Imagine going on an everyday walk with your brother…now imagine going on an everyday walk with your brother who has autism, it an make things a lot harder. Follow Tara and Julie on their extra-ordinary walk with their brother, Ian, and see how different life with autism can be.

Teaching Idea: Take the class out on a walk around and outside of the school. Have the students write down sounds, sights, feelings, and smells that they notice that might bother someone with autism. Then, have the class share what they wrote down and why. Use this to teach the students why some peers with autism might be bothered by certain sights, sounds, smells, feelings and activities.