Ring-O

1. Ring-O Made for My 3rd Grade Students Miss Vanessa Vertin

2. There’s No Place Like Space!: All about Our Solar System Told in the Cat's signature classic style of verse, readers are invited to hop in the space craft along with Thing One and Thing Two to "dance on the moon and play games in the sky." Join along as they stop at each planet and learn at least one fact along the way, too. After visiting each planet, the Cat reveals a few constellations: Orion, Taurus, Leo, Ursa Major—and using your imagination you can see how they came to be named. Then it is on to the closest star, the sun, followed by their final stop at the moon. After studying the mysteries of the universe the Cat presents two earthlings a gift of a telescope, perfect for budding astronomers. One point of conversation in this revised edition may be the omission of Pluto, recently removed from the roster of planets.

3. There’s No Place like Space!: all about Our Solar System by Tish Rabe, Dr. Seuss, and Aristides Ruiz Activity: • Read the book aloud to the students. • Have the students draw the moon in its different phases. • Have the students write a brief summary over each planet, sun, and the moon. Science: 3.3.4 Observe and describe that the moon looks a little different every day, but looks the same again about every four weeks Language Arts: 3.5.7 Write responses to literature that: demonstrate an understanding of what is read. support statements with evidence from the text. Gardner: Visual-spatial (drawing), Verbal-linguistic (writing)

4. The Lion and the Mouse In award-winning artist Jerry Pinkney's wordless adaptation of one of Aesop's most beloved fables, an unlikely pair learn that no act of kindness is ever wasted. After a ferocious lion spares a cowering mouse that he'd planned to eat, the mouse later comes to his rescue, freeing him from a poacher's trap. With vivid depictions of the landscape of the African Serengeti and expressively-drawn characters, Pinkney makes this a truly special retelling, and his stunning pictures speak volumes.

5. The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney Activity: • Go page by page through the book with the class. • Discuss what the author’s message or theme was. • Discuss what the name of the book could be. • Have the students work in groups as authors. • The group will write how they think the story would play out. Science: 3.1.5 Demonstrate the ability to work cooperatively while respecting the ideas of others and communicating one’s own conclusions about findings Language Arts: 3.3.4 Determine the theme or author’s message in fiction and nonfiction text Gardner: Visual-spatial (must read the book through pictures), Interpersonal (working with a group), Naturalist (African animals)

6. Make Way for Ducklings When Mr. and Mrs. Mallard need a proper home to raise a family, they scour all of Boston's prominent spots. However, from Beacon Hill to the State House to Louisburg Square, nothing seems quite right -- until they find a small island in the Charles River that is perfect. After settling in, they take a trip to the park, where they meet a very nice policemen who feds them peanuts. Soon, Mrs. Mallard has laid her eggs. After keeping them warm and safe, she watches the ducklings hatch, healthy and happy. She teaches them to swim, dive, and walk in a neat line, one behind the other. When she takes her brood out for their first walk into the city streets, cars screech to a halt, and Mrs. Mallard quacks her way across. Luckily, her policeman friend calls for help, and the officers direct traffic to "make way" for the duckling clan.

7. Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey Activity: • Read the book aloud to the students. • Have the students identify the problem and solution that takes place in the story. • Have the students measure how tall the mother duck and one of the ducklings are on the cover. • Round to the nearest half-inch. Math: 3.5.1 Measure line segments to the nearest half-inch Language Arts: 3.3.8 Identify the problem and solutions in a story. Gardner: Naturalist (understand the first moments of a ducklings life), Visual-spatial (pictures), Logical-mathematical (measuring)

8. Caps for Sale A cap peddler wakes from a nap to find all his caps are gone-a bunch of naughty monkeys have taken them up a tree. Angrily shaking his finger at the monkeys, the peddler demands his caps back, but the monkeys only shake their fingers and say "Tsz, tsz, tsz." No matter what the peddler does, the monkeys only imitate him. Finally, the peddler is so enraged he throws his cap on the ground-and all the monkeys follow suit!

9. Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina Activity: • Read the book aloud to the students. • Have the students count how many hats are on each page. • How many of each color? • Have the students discuss the difference between cause and effect in the story. Math: 3.2.8 Use mental arithmetic to add and subtract with numbers less than 100 Language Arts: 3.2.8 Distinguish between cause and effect and between fact and opinion in informational text. Gardner: Logical-mathematical (counting hats), Visual-spatial (pictures)

10. Blueberries for Sal Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk go the blueberries into the pail of a little girl named Sal who--try as she might--just can't seem to pick as fast as she eats. Robert McCloskey's classic is a magical tale of the irrepressible curiosity--not to mention appetite--of youth. Sal and her mother set off in search of blueberries for the winter at the same time as a mother bear and her cub. A quiet comedy of errors ensues when the young ones wander off and absentmindedly trail the wrong mothers.

11. Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey Activity: • Read the book aloud to the students. • Have the students determine what characters are alike. • Why? • Discuss how the offspring are like their parents. • How are they different? Science: 3.4.3. Observe that and describe how offspring are very much, but not exactly, like their parents and like one another. Language Arts: Determine what characters are like by what they say or do and by how the author or illustrator portrays them. Gardner: Naturalist (learning about hibernation and offspring), Visual-spatial (pictures)

12. Frog and Toad Are Friends The inseparable Frog and Toad are introduced to readers through five wonderfully silly adventures. Like an innocent Laurel and Hardy, the two amphibians show the true meaning of friendship - Toad tells stories to Frog when Frog is sick, Frog helps search for Toad's lost button, and Frog writes a letter to Toad because he never receives any mail. These marvelous tales touch both the heart and the funny bone.

13. Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel Activity: • Read the book aloud to the students. • Have students organize a chronological (in the order that they happened) timeline of the events that Frog and Toad did throughout the story. • Ask the students if they have had similar situations with friends so other classmates can relate to the story better. • In groups of five, have the students create a dance that Frog and Toad would do together. Science: 3.5.5 Explain that one way to make sense of something is to think of how it relates to something more familiar Language Arts: 3.7.5 Organization and Delivery of Oral Communication. Organize ideas chronologically (in the order that they happened) or around major points of information. Gardner: Visual-spatial (pictures), Bodily-kinesthetic (dancing)

14. Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type "Cows that type? Impossible!" That's what Farmer Brown thinks when he first hears the "click, clack" from the barn, but then he reads the note the cows write him. All they want is electric blankets for the cold barn. When he refuses, they go on strike. What's worse for the farmer is that the strike spreads to the cold hens as well. Duck finally negotiates a compromise. Unfortunately for Farmer Brown, the ducks have learned from all this, leaving us with a smile at the ending. Thick, brushed black lines define the characters and farm environment, while washes of color help emphasize gestures and evoke emotions, as when the red door symbolizes the farmer's rage. Great slapstick also suggests thoughts on animal rights.

15. Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin, Betsy Lewin Activity: • Read the book aloud to the students. • Have students retell the story to a family member by: • paraphrasing and explaining the story. • creating a poster, illustration, or object that would aid in telling the story. Science: 3.2.5 Construct something used for performing a task out of paper, cardboard, wood, plastic, metal, or existing objects Language Arts: 3.1.7 Comprehension: Retell, paraphrase, and explain what a speaker has said. Gardner: Naturalist (learning about farms), Interpersonal (presenting), Visual-spatial (pictures)

16. David Goes to School Oh no! The hero of Shannon's award-winning book, No, David! is at it again, and this time he's in school. Does David's teacher ever have her hands full! We follow David through his school day--as he runs in the hallways, chews gum in class, forgets to come in from recess, and does many other things that only David could or would. Children will find a kindred spirit in David, the boy with a monster talent for getting into trouble, in this good-natured, read-aloud hardcover book. The wonderfully wacky illustrations are drawn from a young child's visual point of view, too.

17. David Goes to School by David Shannon Activity: • Read the book aloud to the students. • Have the students find and document the title of the story, where the book was published, the author and illustrator, what company published the book, and what year the book was published. • Have the students self reflect and list rules that they personally need to work on (at school or at home). • Have the students go through the book and find at least three of each of the following objects in the pictures: cube, sphere, prism, pyramid, cone, and cylinder. Math: 3.4.3. Identify, describe, and classify: cube, sphere, prism, pyramid, cone, cylinder Language Arts: 3.2.1 Structural Features of Informational and Technical Materials: Use titles, tables of contents, chapter headings, a glossary, or an index to locate information in text Gardner: Visual-spatial (pictures), Logical-mathematical (shapes), Intrapersonal (self reflection)

18. Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Color Colors are personified in free verse as they dance through the seasons of the year. "Red sings from treetops" in the spring, and "squirms on the road after rain." Green is shy, however, peeking from buds. Yellow "shouts with light!" and greets purple. Blue, white, and pink all make an appearance. In summer, "white clinks in drinks," yellow "melts everything," green "is queen." Each of the other colors has a page to bring alive their summer roles. In the fall, "green is tired…" brown rises, orange ripens, as the other colors change as well. Winter brings new descriptions, all on target, of the colors, with white the outstanding player. Zagarenski chooses a strange, mysteriously crowned human and small white dog to march us through the pages and seasons.

19. Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors by Joyce Sidman, Pamela Zagarenski Activity: • Read the book aloud to the students. • Have students identify the main idea(s) in the story. • Have the students list the various weather patterns they have noticed where they live during each season. • Have the students draw a picture that reminds them of their favorite season. Science: 3.3.5 Give examples of how change such as weather patterns, is a continual process occurring on Earth. Language Arts: 3.2.5 Distinguish the main idea and supporting details in expository (informational) text Gardner: Naturalist (understand changes from season to season), Visual-spatial (drawing)

20. When You Reach Me By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it’s safe to go, like the local grocery store, and they know whom to avoid, like the crazy guy on the corner. But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a new kid for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda’s mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then Miranda finds a mysterious note scrawled on a tiny slip of paper: I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own. I must ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter. The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows all about her, including things that have not even happened yet. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death.

21. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead Activity: • Read the book aloud to the students. • Have students identify the speaker or narrator in the book. • Have the students think back to the first letter that said • Act like you are Miranda and write a letter back. • Have the students find the area of one of the town blocks on the map that is located on the cover of the book. “I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own. I must ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter.” Math: 3.5.4 Estimate or find the area of shapes by covering them with squares. Language Arts: 3.3.6 Identify the speaker or narrator in a selection Gardner: Visual-spatial (pictures), Verbal-linguistic (write letter), Logical-mathematical (finding the area)

22. All the World A series of rhymed couplets in hand-lettered text flow across the wide double pages as we follow a young family through a day of discovering that "All the world is wide and deep." They dig in the sandy shore, choose a tree to plant at a farmers' market, sightsee, and are caught in a thunderstorm. They dry off and have dinner in a restaurant, then return home as the sun sets. Family members gather for a musical get-together and mutual enjoyment. The message of pleasure in the world around us is clearly stated: "All the world is everything. Everything is you and me. Hope and peace and love and trust “All the world is all of us." This strong, contented, happy, hopeful message is delivered both visually and verbally.

23. All the World by Liz Garton Scanolon, Marla Frazee Activity: • Read the book aloud to the students. • As a class have students identify the rhyming words. • List words that could replace the rhyming words the class identified. • Have students list a right angle, an angle greater than 180*, and an angle less than 180* that appear on each page. Math: 3.4.2 Identify right angles in shapes and objects and decide whether other angles are greater or less than a right angle Language Arts: 3.7.4 Identify the musical elements of literary language, such as rhymes, repeated sounds, and instances of onomatopoeia (naming something by using a sound associated with it, such as hiss or buzz). Gardner: Musical-rhythmic (rhyming words), Logical-mathematical (angles), Visual-spatial (pictures)

24. Bubble Trouble Oh what trouble from little Mabel's bubble! Just reading the rollicking verses aloud is trouble enough, with all the alliteration of bubble bibble-boobling and a host of internal rhymes and word play. That blown bubble picks up the baby, who likes the wibble-wobble as it wafts him away. Mabel follows after him, as does frantic Mother and a succession of other local characters. The baby in the bubble drifts by the shops and then up in the air past the chapel steeple. As the chasers pile one on another in their attempt to reach the baby, rascally Abel climbs the steeple and shoots a pebble through the bubble. Luckily the crowd catches the baby in a safety net quilt, for a happy ending to the zany adventure.

25. Bubble Trouble by Margaret Mahy, Polly Dunbar Activity: • Read the book aloud to the students. • Have the students locate important information from the story. • Make sure to include problems and solutions that occurred. • Have the students list events that took place in the story that are certain, likely, unlikely, or impossible to happen. • Have students list the rhyming words throughout the story. Math: 3.1.14 Identify whether everyday events are certain, likely, unlikely, or impossible Language Arts: 3.2.6 Locate appropriate and significant information from the text, including problems and solutions Gardner: Musical-rhythmic (rhyming), Visual-spatial (pictures)