Book Number One: Be Nice to Spiders
Citation: Graham, M. B. (1967). Be nice to spiders. New York: Harper & Row.
Summary:
“Be Nice to Spiders” is a book about a spider named Helen who was dropped off at the zoo by her owner named Billy who could not take Helen to his new apartment. The zoo is overloaded with flies. All the flies are bothering the animals but Helen the spider is delighted. One by one, she spins a web in each of the animal’s cages. The book explains how she spins her webs and once the flies are caught, she eats them. The zoo became a beautiful, peaceful place because of Helen. But one day, the zookeeper ordered the other workers to clean all the spider webs off the cages because the mayor was coming to inspect the zoo. One of the workers spoke up to the keeper and mentioned that spiders are supposed to be useful. The keeper replied that the cages looked messy with the webs and they had to clean them. When the men were cleaning the Camel House the spotted Helen and they tried to swing at her with a broom but she crawled away and hid in a crack in the ceiling. The zookeeper was so happy with how clean the zoo was. Helen stayed there until she was so hungry she couldn’t no longer stand it. She spun her web in the camel house but did not dare go anywhere else. The camels and Helen were happy again. The rest of the zoo, however, was ridden with flies again. The zookeeper could not understand how the animals went from being clean and healthy to miserable. When they looked inside the Camel House, there were no flies. They found Helen inside the house and the zookeeper realized how useful spiders really could be. The zookeeper then made a rule that everyone at the zoo had to be nice to spiders. The zoo was named best zoo of the year and Billy saw this in the newspaper. He went to visit Helen at the zoo and she had babies. Helen and her babies stayed and kept the zoo animals happy and everyone at the zoo lived happily ever after.
Application:
This book lends itself to be a critical literacy book. This critical literacy lesson would be well suited for a third grade classroom. The teacher would base this lesson on point of view. First the teacher would have to have an in depth lesson on point of view and how a story might change if the point of view was different. After this the teacher would read the book and have the students go back to their desks and have them do a writing prompt. The first literacy standard that would be used would be CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.6, which states “distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.” The prompt for this standard would ask students to first explain the view of spiders based on the zookeeper’s first encounter with Helen and how it changed at the end of the story. Then the prompt would ask them to explain their feelings on spiders and whether or not their feelings match up to that of the zookeepers. The second standard that could be used is CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.1, which states “ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as a basis for the answers.” In this prompt the students would be asked to explain how the story would be different if it was told from Helen’s point of view. The directions would then state that the students would be required to give examples from the text to back up these statements. The teacher would assess both of these by their understanding of point of view as well as their textual evidence to back up their opinions.
Book Number Two: The Eensy Weensy Spider Freaks out! Big Time!
Citation: Cummings, T. (2010). The Eensy Weensy Spider freaks out! (Big time). New York: Random House.
Summary:
The story starts out with the classic rhyme of the Eensy Weensy Spider except, she does not climb up the spout again. The slide down in the rain had freaked the spider out too much. She vowed to never climb again. Her story was on the web and her friend Polly the lady bug came to visit. Then the book has a dialog between the too pals. Polly tries to get Eensy to climb something but Eensy says she is all washed up. Polly calls her a chicken and convinces Eensy to start small and work her way back up. First Eensy tries to climb a potted plant. Once she does that, Polly asks her to try a fire hydrant. But Eensy says its too high but polly once again convinces her to climb the fire hydrant and Eensy does. Eensy is so excited she keeps going and Polly can barely keep up. She climbs a dog, a mailbox a fence and a house (up a waterspout which Eensy does not even notice). Polly cannot fly any higher so Eensy tells her to head home. Eensy keeps climbing. She climbs a crane, a two star hotel, a radio tower and a rocket. The rocket launches into space and Eensy seems the best view any bug has every seen.
Application:
The story of Eensy would make a good third grade literacy writing lesson. The teacher would be reinforcing lessons on narratives and using dialog, feelings, and thoughts within their writing. The two standards being used would be CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3 “Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences,” and CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3b “Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations.” Students would be asked to write a narrative about a time they felt scared like Eensy was and they, like Eensy, were able to conquer their fears. They would have to have dialog like Eensy and Polly had within the story as well. They would also have to have sentences expressing their feelings and thoughts during the personal story. For students who are more creative or cannot think of a story like that they can either make one up or tell the story about a family member. This would be an at home assignment and would be looked at and graded based a rubric previously made up by the teacher.
Book (Website/Article) Number Three: “His Life’s a Circus”
Citation: Landau, A. (2013, April 13). His Life’s a Circus | TIME For Kids. Time For Kids. Retrieved September 21, 2013, from http://www.timeforkids.com/news/his-life%E2%80%99s-circus/35871
Summary:
This article is about Alexander Lacey who preforms in a circus with lions and tigers. He has been around circuses and big cats since he was two and a half. His family has been in circuses for a long time. Traveling with a circus has cultured Lacey. Lacey talks about caring for the big cats; he discusses how the personality of a cat is very important when making up a routine for each cat. Energetic cats do tricks while lazy cats cannot be pushed into doing so or it could be come dangerous.
Application:
A teacher could use this for a second grade writing literacy lesson. This article gives many creative avenues for writing instruction for teachers; one possibility involves the standard CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.1 “write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g. Because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.” The students would read the article together as a class having a few children read a paragraph of the article. After the children have read the article, they would write a page in their writing notebooks about whether or not they would like to work with big cats in a circus. Using the information Alexander Lacey gave in the piece, the students would have to explain why or why not. These entries would be collected when writing notebooks are collected and students would be graded based on their supporting arguments.
Citation: Graham, M. B. (1967). Be nice to spiders. New York: Harper & Row.
Summary:
“Be Nice to Spiders” is a book about a spider named Helen who was dropped off at the zoo by her owner named Billy who could not take Helen to his new apartment. The zoo is overloaded with flies. All the flies are bothering the animals but Helen the spider is delighted. One by one, she spins a web in each of the animal’s cages. The book explains how she spins her webs and once the flies are caught, she eats them. The zoo became a beautiful, peaceful place because of Helen. But one day, the zookeeper ordered the other workers to clean all the spider webs off the cages because the mayor was coming to inspect the zoo. One of the workers spoke up to the keeper and mentioned that spiders are supposed to be useful. The keeper replied that the cages looked messy with the webs and they had to clean them. When the men were cleaning the Camel House the spotted Helen and they tried to swing at her with a broom but she crawled away and hid in a crack in the ceiling. The zookeeper was so happy with how clean the zoo was. Helen stayed there until she was so hungry she couldn’t no longer stand it. She spun her web in the camel house but did not dare go anywhere else. The camels and Helen were happy again. The rest of the zoo, however, was ridden with flies again. The zookeeper could not understand how the animals went from being clean and healthy to miserable. When they looked inside the Camel House, there were no flies. They found Helen inside the house and the zookeeper realized how useful spiders really could be. The zookeeper then made a rule that everyone at the zoo had to be nice to spiders. The zoo was named best zoo of the year and Billy saw this in the newspaper. He went to visit Helen at the zoo and she had babies. Helen and her babies stayed and kept the zoo animals happy and everyone at the zoo lived happily ever after.
Application:
This book lends itself to be a critical literacy book. This critical literacy lesson would be well suited for a third grade classroom. The teacher would base this lesson on point of view. First the teacher would have to have an in depth lesson on point of view and how a story might change if the point of view was different. After this the teacher would read the book and have the students go back to their desks and have them do a writing prompt. The first literacy standard that would be used would be CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.6, which states “distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.” The prompt for this standard would ask students to first explain the view of spiders based on the zookeeper’s first encounter with Helen and how it changed at the end of the story. Then the prompt would ask them to explain their feelings on spiders and whether or not their feelings match up to that of the zookeepers. The second standard that could be used is CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.1, which states “ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as a basis for the answers.” In this prompt the students would be asked to explain how the story would be different if it was told from Helen’s point of view. The directions would then state that the students would be required to give examples from the text to back up these statements. The teacher would assess both of these by their understanding of point of view as well as their textual evidence to back up their opinions.
Book Number Two: The Eensy Weensy Spider Freaks out! Big Time!
Citation: Cummings, T. (2010). The Eensy Weensy Spider freaks out! (Big time). New York: Random House.
Summary:
The story starts out with the classic rhyme of the Eensy Weensy Spider except, she does not climb up the spout again. The slide down in the rain had freaked the spider out too much. She vowed to never climb again. Her story was on the web and her friend Polly the lady bug came to visit. Then the book has a dialog between the too pals. Polly tries to get Eensy to climb something but Eensy says she is all washed up. Polly calls her a chicken and convinces Eensy to start small and work her way back up. First Eensy tries to climb a potted plant. Once she does that, Polly asks her to try a fire hydrant. But Eensy says its too high but polly once again convinces her to climb the fire hydrant and Eensy does. Eensy is so excited she keeps going and Polly can barely keep up. She climbs a dog, a mailbox a fence and a house (up a waterspout which Eensy does not even notice). Polly cannot fly any higher so Eensy tells her to head home. Eensy keeps climbing. She climbs a crane, a two star hotel, a radio tower and a rocket. The rocket launches into space and Eensy seems the best view any bug has every seen.
Application:
The story of Eensy would make a good third grade literacy writing lesson. The teacher would be reinforcing lessons on narratives and using dialog, feelings, and thoughts within their writing. The two standards being used would be CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3 “Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences,” and CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3b “Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations.” Students would be asked to write a narrative about a time they felt scared like Eensy was and they, like Eensy, were able to conquer their fears. They would have to have dialog like Eensy and Polly had within the story as well. They would also have to have sentences expressing their feelings and thoughts during the personal story. For students who are more creative or cannot think of a story like that they can either make one up or tell the story about a family member. This would be an at home assignment and would be looked at and graded based a rubric previously made up by the teacher.
Book (Website/Article) Number Three: “His Life’s a Circus”
Citation: Landau, A. (2013, April 13). His Life’s a Circus | TIME For Kids. Time For Kids. Retrieved September 21, 2013, from http://www.timeforkids.com/news/his-life%E2%80%99s-circus/35871
Summary:
This article is about Alexander Lacey who preforms in a circus with lions and tigers. He has been around circuses and big cats since he was two and a half. His family has been in circuses for a long time. Traveling with a circus has cultured Lacey. Lacey talks about caring for the big cats; he discusses how the personality of a cat is very important when making up a routine for each cat. Energetic cats do tricks while lazy cats cannot be pushed into doing so or it could be come dangerous.
Application:
A teacher could use this for a second grade writing literacy lesson. This article gives many creative avenues for writing instruction for teachers; one possibility involves the standard CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.1 “write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g. Because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.” The students would read the article together as a class having a few children read a paragraph of the article. After the children have read the article, they would write a page in their writing notebooks about whether or not they would like to work with big cats in a circus. Using the information Alexander Lacey gave in the piece, the students would have to explain why or why not. These entries would be collected when writing notebooks are collected and students would be graded based on their supporting arguments.