Mrs. Stuckey's Classroom

This book is great for emergent readers in a kindergarten class.  There are many repetitive sight words for a reader to practice.  The story also could help teach about being yourself but also being respectful of friends.  In this story, Nina meets a new student named Nina who starts to copy everything she does!  This drives Nina crazy!  In the end, they become great friends with their own personalities! 

Monster Party is such a fun book!  It would go perfectly with a kindergarten lesson on rhyming words. I would read this after the students had already been introduced and had a little experience with rhyming words.  There are a lot of activities that could go along with this book, too.  Students could create their own rhyming monster and decorate it with words that rhyme.  You could also use this as a writing prompt and have the students write a story about monsters and have them include rhyming words,

Franklin's Secret Club would be a wonderful story to teach students the importance of not leaving people out of activities and including each other. This would be good to use in a kindergarten through 3rd grade class.  This book could be used to teach about friendship.  It could also be used if anyone in the class is being left out of things.  It would be a good way not to single anyone out but to still get the message across.  This could also be used as a writing prompt where the class could write about a time they were left out of something and how it made them feel.

This book would be good for kindergarten and 1st grade.  This book would be a great way to teach about bullying.  In the story, the main character is bullied by the new girl in town. Astrid is constantly mean and hateful!  One day, Astrid has an accident on her bike and needs help.  Instead of being mean like Astrid was, the main character helps Astrid up and decides that maybe Astrid just needs a friend.  This could also help introduce a writing prompt about a time a student was bullied or how they might could help a friend they know is being bullied. 

This book would be great for 2nd grade.  It is a Cajun version of the original Little Red Riding Hood.  I would use this to show the class that there are several versions of the classics.  I would have them write their own version of the Little Red Riding  Hood.  They would share them with their classmates.  I think this would be a good thing to put in their writing portfolios.  There is a glossary in the beginning of the book that has words that might not be familiar.  This is very helpful!  I would introduce them before I read the story. 

This book would be an amazing book to teach about diversity!  You could use it with any grade!  This book includes the question, "Can you find me?"  in sixteen different languages.  Each page tells about the area that the language is from.  Some languages included are English, Cree, and Arabic.  Also, at the beginning of the book ,it says to look for a different color, shape, or design on each page.  This is to emphasize the differences of each language and the people that speak it!

This book is split into 2 parts.  Each part has Rosie and her friend Bailey, who has been blind since the two of them were babies.  Now, they are teenagers.  In the first part of the story, it goes into the time period when it was discovered Bailey is blind.  Rosie tells her point of view in how she hates the changes that have to be made, such as going to a different school than Bailey.  The first part of the story is great for teaching about diversity and also teaching that just because someone is blind, does not mean that they depend on everyone else to live.  In the second part of the book, Rosie realizes that she has a crush on Bailey when a new, flirty girl has moved to the neighborhood.  She does not like the attention that Bailey is getting.  In the end, Bailey has the same feelings for Rosie.  This part of the story teaches about jealously and being a good person. I would use this book in the 4th to 5th grade.  I did a guided reading lesson plan with this book myself involving synonyms.  There are so many things that could be done with this book in the Language Arts aspect of it.  

I think this would be a good book to read in the first and second grade.  It shows a young  kid who may be going through some of the same things they are.  For example, Alexander's best friend tell him he is no longer his best friend, but his THIRD best friend.  This is something that happens often in elementary school.  I think this book would bring a little humor to the classroom while still showing the students that not every day is going to be perfect.  This could also be a good opportunity for a writing prompt about the worst day they have ever had.  

This book would be great to teach kindergarten and first grade that being different is not a bad thing!  Everyone is unique and the things that make them unique are what make them special!  The dinosaur in this story is so tall that it makes him uncomfortable.  However, in the end he is able to save a construction worker from high up in the sky.  No one else would have been able to do that!  I really think this book would build confidence!

This book is wonderful for new kindergartners who may be scared during their first days of school.  In this story, a little tiny mouse tries to find the courage to face a huge lion!  The lion ends up being just as scared of the tiny mouse as the mouse is of him.  It teaches that no matter how small you are, you can have a lion inside!

In Danny and the Dinosaur:Too Tall , Danny's dinosaur confesses that being so tall and different makes him sad.  The dinosaur explains all the things that are more difficult to him because he is so tall.  Danny then takes him into the city and shows him the advantages of being tall.  In the end, the dinosaur ends up saving a city worker's life because he saved him from way up in the sky!  This would be such a great book to use in kindergarten.  Not only does it have several kindergarten sight words in it, but it teaches about diversity and uniqueness.  I would use this to show that being different is not a bad thing and that everyone has something that makes them different from everyone else. 

This book does so much for the imagination!  I think it is great for kindergarten through 1st grade.  I would definitely use it at the beginning of a lesson where I intended to have a writing prompt about an adventure that a child has been on or for them to make one up. In this book,Father Bear's dad has just come home from a trip and Little Bear and his friends make up adventures of their own!

This is such a great book for new Kindergartners who may not have much experience with sharing their stuff with other children.  Llama, llama, Time to Share shows that when you do share your things, you can end up making new friends and having them to play with.  This could be used up to first grade.  I would use it if a situation came up where my class or a couple individuals were having trouble sharing or I might read it on one of the first days of class. 

This is a wonderful book for K-2nd grade!  The book My Teacher is about a student trying to figure out why her teacher, who could have retired years ago, continues to stay at their school teaching.  Throughout the book, she thinks of all the reasons she might still be there.  This book would be great for Black History Month.  There are mentions of Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, and the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem.  It would also be good to teach about donating to the needy.  There is a can drive in the classroom and it explains how you never know what a classmate is going through in their personal life.  This book would be a great first day book to read to because it explains why teachers do what they do!

In Two Eggs, Please, the setting is a diner.  Each page is a different animal ordering a plate of eggs but cooked differently than each other.  Every time someone orders their egg a different way, a thought bubble pops up that says "different".  In the end, the cook is cracking the eggs.  When he prepares them he says "different".   When he cracks the egg to pour into the pan he says "the same".  This is a wonderful story about how ,while we may be different on the outside, we are all the same on the inside.  This would be a wonderful "ice breaker" book.  It would be great for kindergarten to second grade.

A great activity would be to have each child draw a picture of something about them that makes them different, like their hair color or their skin color.  Then, they could do an activity where they find things with classmates they have in common to share with the class.

In My Lucky Day, the story takes an unexpected turn when Mr. Pig knocks on Mr. Wolf's door.  It seems that surely the pig is going to be dinner for Mr. Wolf.  However, he tricks the wolf into giving him a bath, a meal, and a massage!  I think this story would be a wonderful story to read and have the class predict what will happen next in the story.  A good activity would be to have the class draw a picture of what they think will happen next and then reveal the ending after they share their pictures!

I think this book would be great for kindergarten and first graders.