The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by: Mordicai Gerstein (historical fiction)

The author displays Phillipe Petit's successful quest to walk between the Twin Towers on a tight rope. The author portrays the facts of his preparation to walk between the towers in a lot of detail, using his amazing pictures and words. The artistry displayed in this book allows the reader to imagine what it would have looked like to see Phillipe Petit walk across the towers. At the end of the book the author gives tribute to the Twin towers.

I would read this book in remembrance of September 11. After reading this book I would discuss to the class what happened on that day. I would bring other picture books to class with me that discussed this history of the twin towers. I would let the children read these books in groups, and then present what they learned about the Towers' history to the class.

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by: Mildred D. Taylor (Multicultural)

The Logan family is an African American family living in a town where racial injustices are high. They try hard to keep their land, but fear it being taken away due to the money they owe to the bank. The Logan children are made fun of by white children, and are harassed when they go into their local grocery store. Their black community fears their lives when a few white boys burn three African American men, and a lynch mob starts to parade the town. With racial tensions high, the Logan family must stick together to endure it.

This would be a wonderful multicultural read aloud to "talk back" to. There are a lot of specific "WOW" instances that happen in the book. In order to allow the students to analyze and absorb all of these instances, I would stop at a specific event, and have the students "talk back" to the character that the event is happening to. Then I would have the students share their thoughts and feelings, and what they would say to that character.

Where the Wild Things Are by: Maurice Sendak (fantasy)

The author depicts a little boy named Max, who lets his imagination run wild after putting on a wolf suit. In Max's room, a forest grew, and then an ocean, where he sailed all day and night for almost a year. Then He met the wild things, a bunch of beasts. He tamed them, and became the king of the wild things. Then he smelled his dinner all the way across the ocean, sailed back, and ate

I think this story is an awesome book to read to students to explain detail in their writing, especially when writing fantasy novels. Just like Max lets his imagination run wild, students should let their imaginations run wild when writing. I would tell the students to develop a character, and describe internal (hair color, what they look like, are they human, etc.) and external (special powers, their attitudes, imaginations, etc.) characteristics of their character, making these characteristics as imaginative as possible.

Colin Powell by: Catherine Reef (nonfiction)

Catherine Reef writes an extensive biography of Colin Powell. She exhibits his accomplishments, ranging from him entering the military, to him moving his way up to become a lead figure in national security and military implementation. The pictures taken in this biography are photographs taken of Colin Powell during the specified times talked about the book. The detailed biography along with the vivid pictures does a wonderful job of capturing Colin Powell's life as an important military figure.

I would use this book as an introduction to a project. I think that reading biographies is an important thing that I never did when I was in elementary school. I would read part of this book and explain to the students that they were going to pick an individual to write a biography on. This would be a good project to assign because the students would have to use other biographies to learn and write about their specific person.

The Glorious Flight by: Alice and Martin Provensen (historical fiction)

This Caldecott Medal winner displays vivid pictures of a man that is determined to build a working airplane (or a bird as they call it in the book). Louis Blenot, with the support of his family, starts to design and fly airplanes, after seeing one fly over his town. He is injured several times while attempting to fly airplanes, but never gives up. In 1909, he accepts the challenge of lying across the English Chanel, and on July 25 makes the journey. After a 37 minute trip, he is successful in making the journey. He becomes the first man to make the trip.

I would use this book in my classroom to teach the students about the history of airplanes. I would also use this book to introduce the story of the Wright Brothers (N.C history). I could also take a few books on the topic of the history of flying and airplanes, and use a book pass so the students could learn background information on the topic.

First Day Jitters by: Julie Danneburg (realistic fiction)

Throughout the whole story, the author portrays a girl named Sarah Hartwell, being scared of her first day of school. She's scared to get out of bed, and doesn't want to go to a school where she doesn't know anyone. Soon enough, Mr. Hartwell drags her out of bed and forces her to go to school. Once Sarah gets to school the principal shows her around. At the end of the book, the reader discovers that Sarah is in fact a teacher nervous about her first day of school.

I would read this book to students on my first day, as a teacher. I love this book because I think that students can relate to the nervousness of a first year teacher. I would then have a classroom discussion about instances where the students were nervous about their first days of school.

Tuck Everlasting by: Natalie Babbitt (fantasy)

There is something different about the Tuck family -- they are everlasting. After drinking out of a fountain that gives the Tuck family immortality, their story can never end. When Jesse falls in love with a girl named Winnie, the Tucks introduce her into their world. However, they teach Winnie to not fear death, and the consequences to being immortal. Winnie must choose between drinking out of the fountain to obtain mortality, or live a normal life.

I would use this book for literature circles. I would assign this book as a reading (probably 5th grade), and then break the students up into groups. I would then assign guidelines to each of the literature groups. I would give them the "Think Mark" sheet, where they would have to discuss the character traits of each of the characters, and give specific examples in the book where this character trait is revealed. On this sheet, they would also have to analyze specific passages in the book, and relate this passages to their own experiences or other instances similar to that one in the novel.