New Children’s Books Presented by Shelly Bitner & Kelly Link Wilson/Washington School-Wide Improvement Day March 1

1. New Children’s Books Presented by Shelly Bitner & Kelly Link Wilson/Washington School-Wide Improvement Day March 1, 2007

2. A Book is a Work of ART Can you think of a book that is… Astounding, Astonishing, Attractive Remarkable, Readable, Reputable Timeless, Tantalizing, Top-notch * Post an adjective of the week (one the students don’t know). Challenge them to think of a book which could be described with that adjective.

3. Top 10 Masterpieces • Charlie Cook’s Favorite Book • Black Duck • Chowder • Written Anything Good Lately? • the fruit bowl project • The Legend of Spud Murphy • Fancy Nancy • Porch Lies • Runny Babbit • Wild About Books

4. Charlie Cook’s Favorite Book by Julia Donaldson ~Displays the art of a favorite book~ * Encourage your students to choose their next book based on the title of their last book. Example: The Miraculous Journey of EdwardTulane by Kate DiCamillo leads to Eats, Shoots, & Leaves by Lynne Truss. Everyone has a favorite book, as one title leads to another.

5. Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstein ~ Focuses on phonemic awareness and conversation skills ~ Plunge headlong into this phonemic flip-flop world of funny poems. "So if you say, 'Let's bead a rook/That's billy as can se,'/You're talkin' Runny Babbit talk,/Just like mim and he." *After reading, have students write their own very “pilly soems.”

6. Chowder by Peter Brown ~Demonstrates the art of character~ *Use first lines to encourage kids to read books. Ask students to write alternative first lines. Read three possible first lines for a book and ask students to predict the correct one. “Chowder has always been different.”

7. The Legend of Spud Murphy by Eoin Colfer ~Conveys the the art of characterization~ * Ask your students the following: What is the voice owner’s gender? What color hair does the voice owner have? What is the voice owner’s job? What is the age of the voice owner? Spending lots of time at the library is not the kind of experience William and his brother expected.

8. Written Anything Good Lately? by Susan Allen & Jane Lindaman ~Illustrates the art of writing~ * Ask your students to identify even more writing possibilities for each letter. This book takes a look at 26 different types of writing, one for each letter of the alphabet.

9. Fancy N ancy by Jane O’Connor ~Builds the the art of vocabulary~ * Ask your students to fill in the blank. The plain word is book. The fancy word is… and so on with other examples. Nancy loves being fancy, and she wants her family to be the same.

10. the fruit bowl project by Sarah Durkee ~Establishes the art of voice~ * Your students complete the same assignment and compare/contrast with those in the novel. Write about school, sixth grade, a reading test, a dropped pencil, an angry girl, lunch, & milk out of the nose!

11. Porch Lies by Patricia C. McKissak ~Conveys the art of plot~ * Your students write three things about themselves or about their books, one being false & two being true. Classmates guess which one is the “porch lie.” After dinner, people gather on the porch to hear tales of slicksters, tricksters, & wily characters.

12. Black Duck by Janet Taylor Lisle ~Reveals the art of historical fiction~ * Ask your students to respond: How can you be honest when everyone is being dishonest? History & mystery collide in a gripping saga of rum-running on the Rhode Island coast during the 1920’s.

13. Wild About Books by Judy Sierra ~Communicates the the art of reading~ * Ask your students to think of words that begin with the letters of W-I-L-D that might describe a character or book they have read lately. When the librarian brings books to the zoo, the animals go wild… about reading!