Original Summary: When Bear wakes up from his long sleep, he is overcome with hunger. That is when he remembers the one thing, he loves more than anything. Honey! Unfortunately, Bear cannot have honey right away. While waiting for honey, he starts to notice other parts of nature that are also waking up alongside him. Finally, he enjoys honey!

Rationale: Honey is by one of my favorite children’s book authors. I chose it because of its varied sentences, creative punctuation, and adjective use. This would be an excellent mentor text for teaching adjectives and specific details to my students. It can also be used to highlight the different ways an author uses punctuation to create voice.

Honors/Distinctions: Honey by David Ezra Stein won the Charlotte Zolotov Award in 2019. This award is given out annually to the author of the best picture book.

●      Power Craft Move: Internal Thinking

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Creating Characters’ Emotional Lives

●      Why authors do it: According to Shubitz, authors use a variety of details to show what is happening to characters throughout the story. Internal thinking is one way that a writer can use to show what a character is thinking (Shubitz, 2016, p. 82).

●      How to do this: Study two places in Honey! Where David Ezra Stein shows what the main character is thinking.

○      The author shows what the Bear is thinking on page 5 by saying, “He remembered honey.” This is included in the story to help the reader know that he had experience with honey in the past.

○      On page 10, the author wrote, “He tried to forget.” This sentence is included to show the reader again what the main character is thinking.

●      Invite: Invite students to include internal thinking in their own writing. This can be done by having students add speech bubbles around what a character may be feeling or thinking.

 

●      Power Craft Move: Punctuation to Create Voice

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Dashes

●      Why authors do it: Dashes can be used to create emphasis, interrupt, or change a character’s thought mid-sentence. Authors also use dashes to create longer or more dramatic pauses before the reader changes the page (Shubitz, 2016, p. 47).

●      How to do this: Study the following places where David Ezra Stein uses dashes.

○      On page 10, the author writes, “But the warm grass smelled as sweet as-“ The dash is used to create suspense. The reader must infer what the main character is referring to.

○      The author writes, “And the sap seemed as sticky as-“ on page 11. This dash is used to create suspense and allows the reader to infer what is being talked about.

●      Invite: Invite students to add dashes to their writing to create dramatic pauses and allow readers to ponder on a moment.

 

●      Power Craft Move: Repetition

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Repeated Words or Phrases

●      Why authors do it:  Writers will repeat words or phrases to emphasize something in their writing. Authors must be very purposeful when selecting which word or phrase to repeat; otherwise, their writing will become monotonous (Shubitz, 2016, p. 48).

●      How to do this: Study two places in Honey! where a word and or phrase.

○      On page 8, the author writes the word “Honey.”  This word is repeated multiple times throughout the story to create a rhythm within the text.

○      “Honey,” is again repeated on page 13. The author repeated this word to create an emphasis within his writing.

●      Invite: Students can be invited to select a word or phrase to repeat in their own writing. This will allow them to create emphasis in their writing.

 

●      Power Craft Move: Show, Don’t Tell

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Draw an Image in the Reader’s Mind

●      Why authors do it: Instead of telling readers what is happening in a story, authors will show readers by using precise language. This will help to create a picture or movie in the reader’s mind (Shubitz, 2016, p. 48).

●      How to do this: Study at least two places in Honey! that help the reader to visualize what is happening.

○      On pages 28 and 29, the author adds details in order to describe how the night and day felt to the main character. The author writes, “The nights cooled and the days grew crisp.” The adjectives cool and crisp are used to add details.

○      On page 21, the author writes, “He lay back and watched the fat clouds trundle by.” The author describes the clouds by calling them “fat” and saying they “trundle(d)” by. This helps to create a picture of a warm spring day in the reader’s mind.

●      Invite: Invite students to analyze a specific place in their own writing where they told instead of showed. They can rewrite that specific part by adding descriptive words to show instead of telling.

 

●      Power Craft Move: Specific Details

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Rule of Three

●      Why authors do it: By using a set of three, authors add a rhythmic quality to their writing. Writers can include three actions, three characters, a sequence of three things, etc. The rule of three helps to draw the reader’s attention to what the author is trying to emphasize (Shubitz, 2016, p. 78).

●      How to do this: Study at least two places in Honey! where David Ezra Stein uses the rule of three.

○      On page 6, the bear describes honey using three adjectives “warm, golden, sweet.” This set of three adjectives is used to add details to describe what the bear wants.

○      On page 7, the author again uses three adjectives to describe the honey by saying “spicy, aromatic, sparking.” The bear uses these adjectives to describe what he wants.

●      Invite: Invite students to add three of something into their writing. Students can look at something they previously wrote and add three adjectives, verbs, or nouns.

 

●      Power Craft Move: Varied Sentence Length

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Creating Rhythm

●      Why authors do it: Within writing, varied sentences will help to guide a reader along. An author uses short sentences and punctuation to make readers stop and think. Longer sentences are used to encourage swift reading (Shubitz, 2016, p. 51).

●      How to do this: Study at least two places in Honey! where Stein varied the length of sentences.

○      On page 3, the author writes, “It was his second year.” This is a simple sentence. It is very short and causes the reader to pause and think before moving on.

○      The author later writes on page 5, “As he dug and scraped for things to eat, he remembered honey.” This is a long compound sentence. It includes conjunction and a comma.

●      Invite: Invite students to vary the length of their sentences in their writing. Students should create longer sentences when they want the reader to move quickly and shorter sentences where they want readers to pause and think.

 

Original Summary: In How to Be an Elephant by Katherine Roy, the reader follows the journey of an infant elephant as she learns how to be an elephant. Throughout her journey, she knows how to keep up with the herd, project her voice, and how use her trunk. Her herd is there to help and protect her along her journey through life.

Rationale: How to Be an Elephant is a beautifully illustrated story highlighting the African Plains' wonders and dangers. Throughout the book, multiple text features and content-specific vocabulary are used. This book can be used as a mentor text in a unit on text features. This text highlights headings, captions, and diagrams.

Honors/Distinctions: How to Be an Elephant won Best Children’s and YA Books in 2017. It also made it on the booklist top 10 Sci-Tech Books for Youth in 2017. In the same year, it won the Horn Book Fanfare.

●      Power Craft Move: Content Specific Vocabulary

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Content-Specific Words

●      Why authors do it: Oftentimes, writers will use words that relate directly to their topic. These content-specific words are used to help readers gain a better understanding of the text (Shubitz, 2016, p. 152).

●      How to do this: Students can study two points in the text where the author uses specific words to enhance the reader’s understanding of the topic.

○      On page 18, the author uses the specific name "Loxodonta Africana." It then explains why elephants are named Loxodonta Africana due to the diamond-shaped pattern on their molars.

○      On page 14, the author introduces the word vibrissae and defines it as whiskers. This is done by defining the word and then introducing the specific vocabulary word. The author writes, "Thousands of whiskers, called vibrissae."

●      Invite: Students can be invited to include content-specific words in their writing. For example, students can be assigned to write about elephants and to include words specific to the species.

●      Power Craft Move: Lead/Ending

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Circular Ending

●      Why authors do it: Similar to how fiction writers will end a story by bringing it back to the beginning, non-fiction writers can do the same (Shubitz, 2016, p. 181).

●      How to do this: Students can study the beginning and end to see how to write a circular ending.

○      On page two, the book starts with a baby elephant being born. The author ends the beginning by stating, “But like her mother before her, she’ll have to learn . . . how to be an elephant.”

○      On page 38, the author ends the story by having a new elephant born. She writes, "But like his father before him, he'll have to learn . . . how to be an elephant."

●      Invite: Students can be invited to create an informational writing piece that features a circular ending. This can be done by assigning informational writing, modeling a circular ending, and having students write some.

 

●      Power Craft Move: Precise Words

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Vivid Verbs

●      Why authors do it: An author’s word selection is critical to any non-fiction text. Vivid verbs are one way that authors can use precise words (Shubitz, 2016, p. 165). 

●      How to do this: Study two different points in the text where the author uses vivid verbs to describe what is happening.

○      On page two, the author uses the verbs "flapping" and "whiffling" as two strong verbs. These vivid verbs allow the reader to picture how elephants' ears and trunks can move swiftly. 

○      On page 30, the author inserts the vivid verb “rumble.” This vivid verb is used to describe the elephants moving across the safari. 

●      Invite: Students can be invited to insert vivid verbs into their writing. Together, the class can brainstorm vivid verbs that they can use. Students can then select which words would fit into their writing best.

 

●      Power Craft Move: Punctuation to Create Voice

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Ellipsis Points

●      Why authors do it: Ellipses can be used for many reasons, such as: to control flow, to create a rhythm, or to close some sentences. In How to Be an Elephant, the author uses ellipses to cause the reader to pause and think before moving on to the following sentence (Shubitz, 2016, 189).

●      How to do this: Study two parts in the text where the author uses ellipses to create voice.

○      In the beginning of the book, the author starts with, “But like her mother before her, she’ll have to learn . . . how to be an elephant.” The ellipse in this section is used to cause the author to stop and think.

○      Similarly, the author writes, "But like his father before him, he'll have to learn . . . how to be an elephant." Again, the ellipse is meant to cause the reader to pause and think before turning the page.

●      Invite: Students can be invited to include ellipses when they want readers to pause and think. This will help students to create voice in their writing.

 

●      Power Craft Move: Repetition 

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Power of Three

●      Why authors do it: Authors use the power of three to emphasize their writing. By repeating three verbs, nouns, or a phrase the reader’s attention will be drawn to that section (Shubitz, 2016, p. 142).

●      How to do this: Students can study two sections in the text to see how the author uses the power of three.

○      On page 3, the author writes, “From walking and rumbling to drinking.” These are three verbs that the author uses in the same sentence.

○      On page 10, the author states, “Cooperating share resources, avoid danger, and care.” In this sentence, the author inserts three nouns in the sentence.

●      Invite: Students can be invited to include sentences that use the power of three. Students could also repeat the same word or phrase three times in their text.

●      Power Craft Move: Text Features

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Labeled Diagrams

●      Why authors do it: Authors include different text features to add information to their texts. Diagrams help readers to understand what particular objects are and how they relate to their story.

●      How to do this: Students can study two different diagrams using a mentor text.

○      Page 16 shows readers how elephants make noise using their vocal tracts. The diagram shows where different parts are in the elephant's vocal tract.

○      On page 21, the author shows mosquitos can attach to an elephant's skin. This can be seen on the diagram at the bottom of the page.

●      Invite: Invite students to create diagrams in their writing to give readers a better understanding of the topic. This can be done by looking at a student's previous work and seeing if a diagram would add any understanding to their writing.

Summary: Duncan receives several letters from his favorite crayons about why they are unhappy with the way he is using them. Duncan does not like that his crayons are upset and did not mean to do so, and must come up with a solution to make all of his crayons happy again. 

Rationale: I chose The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt because it does a great job of showcasing several of the power craft moves students should follow and use in their writing. I chose a text for a younger audience because it is a text that students can easily understand as they are trying out the craft moves being taught. Despite being a rather simplistic text, it does showcase structure, repetition, varied sentence lengths, a turning point, a lead/ending strategy, and punctuation to create voice. This text does a great job showing readers what an argumentative letter looks like and how it is structured. Students will be learning about how to write argumentative essays and letters in seventh grade as a part of their curriculum. Students need to be able to argue through their writing and do so effectively while maintaining quality writing.

Distinctions: Received 46 honors/distinctions/awards including the Golden Archer Award, Children’s and Teen Choice Book Award (2014) Finalist for Illustrator of the Year, and the Texas Bluebonnet Award (2015) Winner for General Fiction.  

Power Craft Move: Structure

Sub Craft: Writing Letters/ Emails

Why Authors Do This: Authors write for many purposes. Each purpose tends to have its unique structure and format. Letters can be great structures for argumentative writing. 

How to Do This: Reread pages 3, 7, and 10 (Dewalt, 2013). Have students try to identify who the letter is being written to, who it is from, what the argument is, the supporting details, the closer, and the signature for the three selected letters. Do the first one as a class, and then have students go into small groups for the other two. Have a class discussion to check for understanding.

Then, students will attempt to write their argumentative letters. Students need to have the letter addressed to someone, introduce themselves and their argument, and provide three supporting details, a closing sentence, and their signature. The topic should be something that the whole class can argue without conducting any research. 

Power Craft Move: Repetition

Subcraft: Rule of Three

Why Authors Do This: Authors tend to use the Rule of Three to draw the reader’s attention to the text and add to the rhythm of the text. Having three of something tends to be satisfying for many readers. 

How to Do This: Reread pages 4, 6, and 9 (Dewalt, 2013). Starting with page four, have students pull out any information that stood out to them. See if there is a trend with students gravitating toward the words “grapes”, “dragons”, and/or “wizards’ hats”. (Dewalt, 2013, p.4) Write down what the students say. Do the same thing with the other two pages. After going through all three of the selected pages, display the notes you took and revisit the pages. Ask students to compare the book to their notes. Do they see any patterns? Does anything repeat itself? Make sure the page of the book is displayed alongside the note page for this activity. 

Once students start to see a pattern, explain the Rule of Three, and have students compose their letters including the Rule of Three about their favorite animal. Make sure students understand that there is more than one way to include the Rule of Three in their writing. Their letters should include two different types of the Rule of Three. Pull outside examples if needed to help students understand the different ways to include the Rule of Three in their writing. 

Power Craft Move: Varied Sentence Lengths

Subcraft: Using Varied Sentence Lengths to Show Emotion

Why Authors Do This: When authors create emotions for their characters, they use the length of their sentences to help readers understand what emotion that character is feeling. 

How to Do This: reread page 3 and page 14 (Dewalt, 2013). Have students look at the pages while they are being read aloud. Then, discuss what kinds of emotions the red and peach crayon are feeling, and how they know that. See if any students pick up on the length of the sentences. If not, have students compare page 14 to page 9. Question students to see how they know that crayon is feeling that way. Compare the sentences and have students think about themselves when they are upset or happy. Do they talk less when they are mad? Or do they ramble on and on about why they are really upset? What about when they are happy or excited?

Now, have students write their letters. Students will create a character that is feeling a certain emotion. Make sure students choose an emotion that was not used in the book. Make sure students brainstorm about what that emotion looks like before they begin writing. Have students think about what that emotion might look like in a book. Would there be short sentences or long sentences? Or would the sentences be somewhere in between? Refer back to pages 3, 9, and 14 to remind students that their sentences should not be all the same length. 

Power Craft Move: Turning Point

Subcraft: Creating Suspense

Why Authors Do This: Authors use turning points as a means of pushing the story forward. Turning points showcase major changes in the story, or show a character having an epiphany. Turning points can also create some suspense which also drives the reader forward in the story, eager to read more.

Have the students look at page 15 (Dewalt, 2013). Read it aloud and ask students to tell you what is going on in the story up to this point. Although they already know the ending from reading it earlier, have students act as though they do not know the ending. Do they know how the story ends? Do they feel like they need to keep reading to find out what happens? What have we learned from this page? Have students think about the concept of suspense. Can they feel how the author is holding us in suspense until we decide to turn the page? Turning points and suspense can go hand-in-hand as a means of propelling the story and engaging the reader.

Now, have students think about a major event that occurred in their lives. Give students a couple of minutes to brainstorm. Once students have picked their topic, they are going to write a short story about that event and include a turning point. 

Power Craft Move: Lead/ Ending

Subcraft: Time or Setting Leads

What Authors Do This: Authors lead their stories with something about the time or setting to give the reader background information about when and/or where the story takes place.

Go back and read page 2 of the text (Dewalt, 2013). Ask your students what information about the story has been provided on this page. When is the story taking place? Where is the story taking place? Do we know who any of the characters are? If so, what are they doing? Make a list on the board of what your students noticed. Then, take their observations and see if students can sort their notes into categories (characters, setting, time, other). Discuss how the author has provided the readers with a lot of information in just a few words. Leads are sometimes longer than this but do not have to be. 

Now, have students use a setting lead to write about the first day of school. Make sure students are not just writing “it is the first day of school”. They need to show us this through their lead. Their leads can be more than one sentence and can refer back to the lead in the book as needed. 

Power Craft Move: Punctuation to Create Voice

Subcraft: Capitalization and Exclamation Points

Why Authors Do This: Authors use different types of punctuation to help portray different emotions in their stories. 

How to Do This: Have students go back to pages 3, 4, and 13 (Dewalt, 2013). Have students identify how the Crayons are feeling. How do they know this? What do they notice about the way the Crayons wrote their letters? Does punctuation affect the way we interpret someone’s writing? Make a list of what the students noticed. Try and focus on the way the Crayons wrote their letters. Go through each page separately. See if students notice any patterns in their observations.

Now, have students write a letter about their favorite color that includes capitalized words and exclamation points. They can use the letters to guide them as needed, but make sure that their letters are unique and authentic. 

Summary: Saving Animals from Oil Spills recalls the horrific events from Deepwater Horizon and how countless volunteers helped try and rescue the wildlife that was affected by the oil spills. 

Rationale: This book talks a lot about conservation and how we must give back to our Earth. Pearson uses a lot of diagrams, pictures, vocabulary, and descriptions to help teach readers about the importance of conservation and humans need to clean up after themselves. This book pulls from interviews that were conducted with volunteers and walked readers through Deepwater Horizon and how volunteers and conservationists raced against the clock to save the wildlife. This book can teach students about the power of quotes, organization, and vocabulary, and how effective they can be in their writing if used correctly. 

Distinctions/ Honors: Best Books- Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12, 2013, and Cybils Awards, 2011 Nominee. 

Power Craft Move: Content-Specific Vocabulary

Subcraft: Technical Language 

Why Authors Do This: Authors use technical language to not only enhance the credibility of their writing and knowledge of the topic but also to teach readers even more about the content they are reading.
How to Do This:  Look at the bolded words on pages 6 and 8 (Pearson, 2011). Ask students if they know what these words mean. If they do not, they can refer to the Glossary at the back of the book. Authors use technical language as a way of teaching readers more than just the content. Learning the technical language expands a reader’s vocabulary. Have students write a paper about their favorite hobbies. After they have written their papers, have students go back and look for any technical language they may have used. They should be thinking about their peers when they are doing this (i.e. baseball- sliding, home plate, swinging, etc.). Students should highlight those words and create definitions for those words so that their peers can reference them when they get stuck. 

Power Craft Move: Text Features

Subcraft: Captions

Why Authors Do This: Authors include captions near images or diagrams to provide context for what is going on in the image or diagram and how it pertains to what they are reading. 

How to Do This:  Display pages 4 and 7 (Pearson, 2011). If students were to look at page 4 and only page 4, they might be a little confused as to why they are looking at a brown pelican. When they look at the bottom of the page, they find a caption that says “birds covered with oil are called “oiled birds.” Some of the birds that Kayla saw, like this pelican, were covered in so much oil that they could not move” (Pearson, 2011, p. 4). After reading the caption, readers can now understand why the pelican looks different. 

To help students with captions, display an image for the whole class to see. This can be any image the teacher chooses. Then, have students come up with some sort of caption for that image. Teachers could turn the assignment into a contest to see who comes up with the best caption, or it can just be an assignment. The teacher could repeat this activity with a couple of different pictures if they would like to. 

Power Craft Moves: Quotes

Subcraft: Quotes from Interviews

Why Authors Do This: Authors include quotes from interviews to help show credibility. Interview quotes can also strengthen an argument or persuasive piece of writing. 

How to Do This: Look at page 5 (Pearson, 2011). Reread this page aloud and display it for the class to see. Highlight the quote from Kayla’s interview. Now read the page without the quote in it. Have the students take a vote. Did they find the first time to be more credible (with quote) or the second time more credible (without quote)? How about page 7 (Pearson, 2011)? Repeat the activity on page 7. Were the results the same? Quotes can not only add to our credibility, but they can also strengthen our emotional appeal. Reading quotes from other people can help trigger emotions, resulting in a stronger call to action or argument. 

Ask students to interview a family member about 9/11. Students should use their interview answers to appeal to their readers as they write a paper on 9/11. Their papers could be on the disaster and how long it took to clean away all of the debris. 

Power Craft Move: Back Matter

Subcraft: Glossaries

Why Authors Do This: Authors provide glossaries to help readers understand what they are reading. It also provides them with additional information. 

How to Do This: Have students look through the glossary of this book. What do they notice? What kind of information is included on this page? How is it helpful for readers? Brainstorm and discuss as a class. Have students go back in their writing notebooks to their writings about their favorite hobbies. Have students create their own glossary page that includes the highlighted technical vocabulary words and any additional information they feel necessary. They should use the glossary from the Saving Animals from Oil Spills as a model. 

Power Craft Move: Punctuation to Create Voice

Subcraft: Dashes

Why Authors Do This: Authors use dashes to make readers pause momentarily before continuing to read. 

How to Do This: Authors use dashes as a way to draw attention to something and require readers to take a moment to focus on whatever it is the author desires the reader to focus on. Look at page 4 (Pearson, 2011). Pearson uses a dash right before the word pelicans. Pearson does this because he wants readers to pay attention to this word. Later on in the reading, we find that pelicans are one of the main focuses of the book as a whole. Pearson uses the dash not only as a means of drawing our attention momentarily, but also to tell us what the book is going to be about. 

Take a look at page 5 (Pearson, 2011). There is a dash in Kayla’s quote about safety. In this case, it not only signifies a pause for us as the reader but also signifies the pause Kayla took while making the statement. She wanted to emphasize her reasoning for being there and for why they were capturing the pelicans. 

Have students practice this skill by looking back through the text for other examples of dashes and ask students to explain why they used the dash where they did. 

Then, have students go back to their 9/11 writing. As they continue working on that assignment, have them consider adding dashes to their writing. Students need to understand that dashes should be strategically placed, and can often be very beneficial. Students should also revisit their interviews and look back over the answers they received. Are there moments that deserve a moment? Would a dash work here? These are all questions the students should be considering as they continue writing. 

Power Craft Move: Topics and Subtopics

Subcraft: Headings

Why Authors Do This: Authors use headings as a way of organizing their writing. 

How to Do This:  Have students skim back through the book. While they are looking back through it, they should pull out any headings that they see. What are the headings doing? How do they help me as a reader? How do they help me as a writer? Have students ponder these questions and possibly even answer them in their writer's notebooks. 

As students begin to write a research paper on the topic of their choosing, have students create a word cloud around their topic. Using the word cloud, students should brainstorm different subtopics or ideas that relate to their topic. Have students refer back to this when they begin writing. As they go along in their writing process, students should add headings into their writing to help them organize their writing, and to help readers organize the information that they are learning. Planning out their possible headings can help them stay organized as they continue on through their writing process. 

Counting On Kathrine… is about a woman named Kathrine Johnson who loved to count. She counted everything she could except for the stars of the course, there were just too many. She was so smart that she skipped three whole grades and went to high school. Although during that time period and where she lived, she couldn’t go to high school, so they moved. She became an elementary school teacher although, she wanted so much more for her life like conducting research. One day NASA announced they were hiring, and Kathrine was beyond excited. Although the position was filled so quickly, she had to wait another year to be hired and a computer. She would help calculate all the problems the men did not want to do. She was so good at her job and asking questions that she got promoted to project mercury. Kathrine was so accurate with her calculations that even John Glenn refused to go into space until Kathrine double-checked the calculations. So, she did, and he went into space and returned home safely. She once again got promoted but this time to Project Apollo. Three days after Apollo 13 launched there was an explosion and Kathrine Johnson had to do the calculation to ensure the astronauts made it home safely. She was the reason they made it home safely. 

 

I first read this book about six months ago and fell in love with it. I Knew some background about the story before reading it, but you do not need to have any background. It gives you enough background when reading it plus it is easily digestible to younger students. The students I read it to loved the story and were deeply invested, they ask so many questions after I was finished. I am shocked that this book does not have as many awards and honors as it does. The illustrations really help you to understand the story even better. I will absolutely be using this in my classroom in the future to talk about the time period, NASA, literary devices, and elements. 

 

-       Cybils Awards, 2018, Nominee

-       Giverny Book Award, 2019, Winner, Best Children's Science Picture Book

-       Louisiana Young Reader’s Choice Award, 2021, Honor

-       Tower Award, 2020, Nominee

●      Power Craft Move: Back Matter 

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft):  Provides more information 

●      Why authors do it:  The author uses the back matter to provide more details about the story to the audience. 

●      How to do this: 

○      Ask students if they know what back matter is at the end of a book and what the purpose of it is. 

■      Reread pages 33-34, it quickly goes through Kathrine Johnson's story but in more detail. It provides more information like dates, places, and quantities. The information is provided to help the reader understand the story better. It can either be read before or after the story.  The back matter is important to fill in any questions you still have about the story. 

○      Invite students to try and find a book that has its back matter and what further information they gather from it. 

 

●      Power Craft Move: Lead/ Ending

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Developing Setting- Creating a Sense of Era 

●      Why authors do it: When the author uses this technique it helps the reader immerse themselves into that period. 

●      How to do this:

○      Ask the student what they know about that time period and if they do not know much then inform them. 

■      Reread pages 7-10, These few sentences show the time period very well. Even though African Americans had rights there were still places that did not allow them to go to high school or school in general. As a result, they had to pick up their lives and move so they could go to school. Kathrine's father was not going to let this stop them, the school was too important to Kathrine and her father knew it.

○      Invite students to think about the time period they are in now verse what it was like back then. 

 

●      Power Craft Move: Punctuation to Create Voice

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Dashes

●      Why authors do it: The dashes are used to interrupt and add more detail or emphasize a thought.

●      How to do this:

○      See what students know about dashes, if they know something then have them write a sentence using it. If they do not, they continue and see if they can do it after. 

■      Reread Page 4, the dash interjects to add more clarification. It shows that Kathrine wants to learn, it doesn’t matter what about, she just wants to know everything. 

■      Reread page 13, the dash adds more detail, saying they hire African American women but only as mathematicians and nothing else. It tells you what position they were getting hired in. 

○      Invite students to use a dash in one of their pieces if they know how to use it. if they did not then have them write a sample sentence now. 

 

●      Power Craft Move: Quotes and Sources

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Adds Emotional Appeal to the Reader

●      Why authors do it: The author adds emotional appeal to help the reader to connect to the story. 

●      How to do this:

○      Ask students if they know how to quote and what a quote is used for. 

■      Reread page 9, Kathrine’s father says, “Count on me.” It emotionally appeals to the reader because you can feel the level of trust. The father is saying I got your back Kathrine Don’t worry. Which is so heartfelt, and he comes through on that promise. 

■      Reread page 20, Kathrine says to John Glenn, “you can count on me.”  You can feel the honesty and trust between the two. She wants everyone to know she can do her job and do it correctly. She is not going to mess up. Those words hold a lot of weight. 

○      Invite your students to think of a quote that holds a lot of weight and emotion to them and explain it. 

 

●      Power Craft Move: Repetition

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Rule of Three 

●      Why authors do it: The writer does this technique to emphasize and/ or show the importance of what is being repeated. 

●      How to do this:

○      Ask students to guess what the rule of three is. 

■      Reread pages 1-2, Kathrine is expressing just how much she loves to count. She counts steps, dishes, and spoons. It emphasizes to the reader right away that she loves counting no matter what it is. 

■      On several pages, Kathrine says “you can count on me.” It shows the importance of this statement to Kathrine and the people around her. She can do her job very well and she wants everyone to be assured of that. 

○      Invite students to add a rule of three to their writing. It can be new or old but has to be original. 

 

●      Power Craft Move: Text Features

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Visuals 

●      Why authors do it: The visuals the author has in the book give the reader a better understanding of the story. 

●      How to do this:

○      Ask students to find visuals in a non-fiction text. 

■      Reread pages 17-18, this gives you a visual representation of what the author is talking about. It shows what it would look like with both a ball and a rocket. It can help give students the connections they need to understand the story. 

■      Reread page 25, it gives you a visual reference of the spaceship going around the moon's orbit to come back to the earth. Students may not be able to understand this without a visual. 

○      Invite students to create a visual that goes along with one of their stories. 

The Good Egg is a heartwarming story about an egg that is nothing but good. He is a part of a dozen other eggs in a carton. He helps everyone he can until one day he cracked. He saw the doctor and knew something had to change. So, he left the carton… he took time for himself and everything he wanted to do. Once he took time for himself, he felt more like himself. Now he is not only good to everyone else he's good to himself. He decided it was time to go home and so he did. He even joined in on the fun now, he no longer felt like he had to be perfect. They are a complete dozen again. 

The Good Egg is a fairly new book so it has not won very many awards, but I suspect it will soon. It is one of my favorite books. This book is a great social-emotional book to share with students of all ages about taking time for yourself and doing some things that make you happy. The best theme is you do not need to be perfect all the time. It is something that the majority of students can relate to. It also has a lot of power craft moves as well. The biggest one is personification, pretty much the whole book is made out of it. It puts a humorous twist on serious topics. I would use this in my curriculum to teach social-emotional learning and personification mainly. I could also teach the other examples of power craft moves. 

-       Children’s and Teen Choice Book Award, 2020, Winner K-2

-       Cybils Awards, 2019, Nominee, Fiction Picture Book

-       Goodreads Choice Award, 2019, Nominee, Picture Book

-       Kate Greenaway Medal, 2021, Short List, Children’s Book 

●      Power Craft Move: Internal thinking 

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Creating Characters’ Emotional Lives

●      Why authors do it: The author does this so the reader can connect to the character and their feelings. 

●      How to do this: 

○      Have the students think about what they say internally and if they don’t then have them think of something someone might say internally. 

■      Reread page 8, the main character is listing all the things that the bad eggs are doing including “they broke their stuff…” then internally he says, “on purpose” and we know this because it is in italics. It shows that he really does not understand the other eggs. 

■      Reread page 14, He is cracking due to all the stress and uses the word “literally” he says that internally and we know this because it’s put in italics again. 

○      Invite students to add internal thoughts to one of their stories. Have some students share the results. 

●      Power Craft Move: Lead/ Ending 

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Personification 

●      Why authors do it: Personification gives a humorous tone to a realistic and serious topic. 

●      How to do this:

○      Discuss with the students what they think personification is then they can see if they are correct in the end. 

■      Reread page 1, the egg rescues a cat. Clearly, the egg is already being personified through words and illustrations. A cat getting rescued could really happen but not by an egg. 

■      Reread page 26, the good egg tells us he tries not to worry so much anymore which is only something living things can do. It also gives more examples of being good not only to the other eggs but to himself. 

○      Invite the students to create a new piece using personification. Depending on the grade you can increase the level of difficulty with using abstract objects. 

 

●      Power Craft Move: Punctuation to Create Voice 

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft):  Ellipsis Points

●      Why authors do it: The author uses ellipsis to give the audience time to think before revealing the next part of the story. 

●      How to do this: 

○      As a class discusses why an author would use ellipses, what does it mean? 

■      Reread page 3, the author uses ellipses to show all the things that the egg does. He says “like… … I’ll carry your groceries.” It shows that the egg had to think about all the good things he does. 

■      Reread page 8, there is a pause between his outside and internal thoughts. He can’t believe they are breaking their own stuff. 

○      Invite the students to write a couple of sentences using ellipses then have students share to check for accuracy. 

 

●      Power Craft Move: Specific Details 

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Rule of 3

●      Why authors do it: The author uses the rule of 3 to get a point across to the audience. 

●      How to do this:

○      Ask the students if they know what the rule of three is if they do not explain it to them. Then have the students come up with some different examples and list them on the board. 

■      Reread page 3, the author lists the things the egg is good at like water, carry, and change. It has more than there but is at least three. The author is trying to get the point across that the egg is good at many things. 

■      Reread pages 7-8, again the author list at least three things that the other eggs are not good at doing. They do not eat well, throw tantrums, and cry. The author is pointing out that the other eggs are not good eggs. 

○      Invite students to add a rule of three to a piece they are working on. It should have at least three things but can be more. 

 

●      Power Craft Move: Structure 

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Heart of the Story

●      Why authors do it: The author uses the heart of the story to get a point across to the audience, it is the theme of the story. 

●      How to do this:

○      Ask your students if they know what the theme, message, or heart of the story is. 

■      There are several themes in this story but the heart of it is you do not have to be perfect. Throughout the story, the good egg is trying to stay good while everyone around him is being bad. Once the good egg relaxes and has fun then he is happy. He is able to enjoy his family and his life. He realizes he can still be good while having fun. 

○      Invite students to find the message, theme, or heart in one of their stories. If you have time have them do multiple stories whether it’s theirs or partners. 

 

●      Power Craft Move: Turning Point 

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Pivot Point 

●      Why authors do it: The writer uses a pivot point to show the audience an important part of the story.

●      How to do this:

○      Ask students what they think the pivot point is and have them write it on a piece of paper. 

■      Reread page 27, although there are no words this is the pivot point. The egg realizes that he does not like being alone any longer. So, he goes back to his family. The book easily could have gone on with him wanting to stay by himself, so he doesn’t crack again. Although he actually loves and is excited to see his family again. His whole life changes because he learns that he can still be a good egg and have fun at the same time. 

○      Invite your students to see if they got the pivot point correct or if they had a different idea. Then have them identify the pivot point in one of their stories. 

●      Power Craft Move: Back Matter

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Fact Page 

●      Why authors do it: Authors use this craft to add information to the book. This information goes along with what the book is about but does not fit into the story. 

●      How to do this: 

○      Ask students to think about what the book was about. Read page 31.

■      Explain that the author put extra information in the back of the book because it was related to what the book was about. 

○      Invite students to read each of the steps to create crayons. Ask students to create their own fact card about crayons.  

 

●      Power Craft Move: Repetition 

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Repetition of Words, Phrases, and Actions

●      Why authors do it: Authors use this craft to create a mood for the reader. This craft is used to emphasize a detail. 

●      How to do this:

○      Reread page 2.

■      Ask students what word is being repeated on this page. Explain that the color black is being used to describe all of the boring objects that the man is seeing at work. 

○      Reread page 9.

■      Point out the words “you drew” repeated on the page. Explain that the author is trying to emphasize the different things that you draw with. 

○      Invite students to write a few sentences repeating the same word or phrase three times. Explain that the word being repeated should be an important word in the sentence(s). 

 

●      Power Craft Move: Teaching Tone

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Clear Explanations

●      Why authors do it: Authors use this craft to explain how something is done or made. 

●      How to do this:

○      Reread page 18.

■      Explain that the author is giving clear instructions to create a crayon. Each of the ingredients are listed and directions on what to do are listed.

○      Reread page 11.

■      The author gives details as to wear Edwin created the crayons. Students can learn where crayons were made. 

 

●      Power Craft Move: Precise Words

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Vivid Verbs

●      Why authors do it: Authors use this craft to create a sentence that is about a specific verb. These sentences can change depending on the verb. The verbs explain exactly what is happening. 

●      How to do this:

○      Reread page 13. 

■      Point out the word “mixing”. This sentence is dependent on that one word. Mixing is what is happening to create the colors, the word is repeated twice to emphasize. 

○      Reread page 16.

■      Point out the word “blended”. The author uses this word to explain what is happening. 

○      Invite students to write a sentence using a vivid verb to explain an event. Students can use a few different vivid verbs to emphasize. 

 

●      Power Craft Move: Punctuation to Create Voice

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Exclamation 

●      Why authors do it: Authors use exclamation points to show excitement about specific words or phrases. 

●      How to do this:

○      Reread page 30.

■      Point out the many different colors written with exclamation points. Ask students why they think the author did this. Explain that the many exclamation points emphasize specific words.

○      Reread page 24. 

■      Point out “children did!”. Explain that these two words have an exclamation point at the end to show the excitement felt when children liked the crayons. 

○      Invite students to write down a few sentences about an event. Ask students to write one sentence that requires an exclamation point. 

 

●      Power Craft Move: Text Features

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Types of Print

●      Why authors do it: Authors use this craft by changing the font size, color, and font to create emphasis on specific words. 

●      How to do this:

○      Reread page 28.

■      Point out the bolded words. Ask students why they think the author uses bolded words. Explain that making the words bold provides emphasis on them. 

○      Reread page 23.

■      Point out the bolded words. Ask students what they all have in common. Explain that those color words are in bold to make them stand out so you know which colors were in the first box. 

○      Invite students to write a sentence. Ask students to underline one or two words that are important to their sentence. Ask students to trace those word(s) with a colored pen or pencil. 

●      Power Craft Move: Ending 

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Final Action

●      Why authors do it: Writes make an ending that appeals to readers, that leaves them satisfied. These endings bring a relieved feeling to characters because they have reached a goal. 

●      How to do this: 

○      Reread pages 36-37. 

■      Review the illustrations, focusing on the young girl’s face. Ask students “what emotion is she showing”. Focus on the happiness that she is feeling now that she can play the drums. 

■      Notice the words “ready to play” and “girls should always be allowed to play drums”. Point out that the young girl finally got what she wanted. Ask students if they think the young girl is satisfied that she can now play the drums freely. 

○      Invite students to create their own ending to a story that would leave reader’s satisfied. Point out that the girl in the story wanted something throughout the entire story and then at the end she felt relieved and satisfied because she got what she wanted. 

 

●      Power Craft Move: Repetition 

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Power of Three

●      Why authors do it: Writes use repeated phrases to draw attention to what is happening. The power of three is using the same phrase three times to emphasize the meaning. 

●      How to do this:

○      Reread pages 33-34. 

■      Point out the use of power of three. The author says “ more and more and more” on page 33. Ask students why they think this is done. 

■      On page 34 the authors repeats “and she practiced” three times. Explain that this is done to emphasize how much she was practicing. 

○      Invite students to open one of their story books and find a page that would benefit from using the power of three. Ask students to write down their own power of three sentence on a dry erase board. 

 

●      Power Craft Move: Show, Don’t Tell 

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Draw an Image in the Reader’s Mind

●      Why authors do it: Writers use this move to create a scene in their reader’s head. The scene created allows writers to envision what is happening rather than just reading. These scenes are created through vivid words. 

●      How to do this:

○      Reread page 24. 

■      Ask students which words create an image in their mind. Ask students to voice what they are imagining when reading this page. Point out “fly as the rippled rapped and pounded”. 

○      Reread page 22.

■      Point out the words used to create an image. Ask students to voice the images they are seeing in their own words. Point out “big, round, silvery, moon-bright”. 

○      Invite students to write a page to a story including descriptive words to draw in their reader’s attention, creating an image. 

 

●      Power Craft Move: Specific Details 

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Character Details

●      Why authors do it: Authors use this craft to make characters in their story feel more life like. Authors write about what a character is doing, so that readers can try to relate to the story. 

●      How to do this:

○      Reread page 4.

■      Point out the details the author uses to describe the girl drumming. Have students bang stick to create the boom booming of the drum on a flat surface. 

○      Reread page 8. 

■      Point out that the girl is dreaming of something she wants. Ask students if they have ever thought about something they really, really want. 

○      Invite students to write about something they have done that they think someone else has done. This could be swimming, riding a bike, going for ice cream, sledding, blowing out candles, etc. 

 

●      Power Craft Move: Turning Point 

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Pivot Point

●      Why authors do it: Writers use this craft to draw attention to what is happening to the main character. This craft emphasizes a specific moment in their character’s life. 

●      How to do this:

○      Reread page 32.

■      Ask students “why did the decision that the girl’s father made, change what may happen”. Explain that the girl may now be allowed to play the drums. 

○      Invite students to think of a new way for the girl to be able to play the drums, instead of her father offering her lessons. Have students write their own turning point for the girl on a piece of paper. 

 

●      Power Craft Move: Varied Sentence Length 

●      Name the Craft (sub-craft): Creating Rhythm and Emphasis in Writing

●      Why authors do it: Writers use different sentence length to draw attention to what is happening in the story. This move guides the reader throughout the story. 

●      How to do this:

○      Reread page 32.

■      Explain that there is a specific important about“until finally” on this page, the father is finally changing his mind. After pages and pages of the girl playing in secret, finally he changes his mind. 

○      Reread page 30.

■      Explain to students the emphasis on the word “alone”. The author put this word on its own line so that the reader understands the importance of the girl being alone. 

○      Invite students to create their own page of a book with different sentence lengths. Encourage students to select one or two important words in their passage to leave alone on one line to create emphasis.