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Christmas Book 2 – The Night before Christmas (with lesson plans)

The Night Before Christmas
by Clement C. Moore, Illustrated by Mary Engelbreit

The full text of the familiar poem is illustrated in Engelbreit's crisply decorated style. A large trim size (11" x 11") allows each highly embellished spread to hold a plethora of detail. Engelbreit's visions of sugarplums translate to a busy-bright patchwork of checks, plaids, paisleys and chintzes in this oversize volume. From the opening stanza's view of the non-stirring mouse's hole (a cracked teacup is his bed, a potholder his doormat, and a paintbrush is his broom) and throughout the verses, the artist adds lots of elves and ornamentation. The cast of rambunctious elves accompany an exceptionally jolly St. Nick as he leaves assorted old-fashioned candies and toys inside a home decorated in a spectrum of Engelbreit's trademark patterns and prints. Santa is not pictured as "dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot"; he's wearing a checked coat with fur trim and what appear to be leather bowling shoes. He does twinkle a lot, though. Kids -and adult fans of the artist -will enjoy poring over the copious details.

Activities:

Make a mini-book of the poem

Christmas Compare and Contrast- "The Mouse Before Christmas" vs. "The Night Before Christmas."

"Night Before Christmas"- "Students will learn about story writing, authors purpose, and the history of some of our Christmas traditions."

Visions of Christmas

Thought Audio

This big, multidisciplinary lesson called "Night Before Christmas" is on Writing and Much More

Literacy Development Activities

Reading activity

"Twas the Night Before Christmas": Retelling through thinking maps

Christmas Stockings

Lesson suggestions

Word sheets and Fill the blank

Similes and Metaphors

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Looking at language and literature with Kaleidoscope

Bring award-winning novels to life with this interactive middle school language arts curriculum. Kaleidoscope presents a movie theatre interface for learning about language and literature. Students visit the box office and start with the activity in Movie Theatre 1. Then they complete all six activities in order. In the activities, students study the characters and create a movie poster to promote the book.
http://bit.ly/fKr5om

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15 Essential Back to School Podcasts

With another long hot American summer coming to a close, many students are scrambling to get back into “learning mode” before school starts. One of the simplest ways to ease that transition is with podcasts. Whether your passion is American History or Algebra, there’s probably an educational podcast out there for you.
While these programs probably won’t mirror your lesson plan, they will explore topics covered in class. Below is a sampling of some of the exceptional podcasts that both teach and entertain. Best of all – they’re free. Read on for your “2010 Downloading Curriculum.”

Here is the list => http://bit.ly/cp8bZ2

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Fiction Activities for Stone soup

Activities for Stone Soup

    Make Your Own Stone Soup

     Stone Soup: A Puppet Show
     Simple props and script for Stone Soup.

     Stone Soup Activities

    Making Stone Soup
     A lesson plan for grade 2 mathematics, English language arts, and computer technology skills.

     Stone Soup
     
     Ideas for teaching Stone Soup.

     Students will create a recipe and a shopping list.

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Fantastic Mr Fox – fiction activities, the trailer, the book


Fantastic Mr. Fox

~ Roald  Dahl

Illustrated by  Quentin Blake



Format: Paperback 96 pages



ISBN-13: 978-0142410349

Released:   August 16 2007

Publisher: Puffin

Ages: 9-12

Themes: animals

Price: $7.50





In the tradition of The Adventures of Peter Rabbit, this is a "garden tale" of farmer versus vermin, or vice versa. The farmers in this case are a vaguely criminal team of three stooges: "Boggis and Bunce and Bean / One fat, one short, one lean. / These horrible crooks / So different in looks / Were nonetheless equally mean." Whatever their prowess as poultry farmers, within these pages their sole objective is the extermination of our hero--the noble, the clever, the Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Our loyalties are defined from the start; after all, how could you cheer for a man named Bunce who eats his doughnuts stuffed with mashed goose livers? As one might expect, the farmers in this story come out smelling like ... well, what farmers occasionally do smell like.

This early Roald Dahl adventure is great for reading aloud to three- to seven-year-olds, who will be delighted to hear that Mr. Fox keeps his family one step ahead of the obsessed farmers.

When they try to dig him out, he digs faster; when they lay siege to his den, he tunnels to where the farmers least expect him--their own larders! In the end, Mr. Fox not only survives, but also helps the whole community of burrowing creatures live happily ever after. With his usual flourish, Dahl evokes a magical animal world that, as children, we always knew existed, had we only known where or how to look for it.

Play the Whackbat game

Watch the movie trailer

Fiction Activities
Vocabulary List for Fantastic Mr. Fox

Lesson Plans for Fantastic Mr.Fox

Fantastic Mr. Fox A matching game to reinforce characters in
this popular Roald Dahl novel. http://www.quia.com/custom/2198main.html

Reading Quiz  http://www.puiching.edu.hk/~pc-ckc/fox.htm

Novel Study  http://www.tlt.ab.ca/projects/Div1/Grade3/fantasticfox/foxy.html

Vocabulary PowerPoint   FantasticMr. Fox

EThemes  http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00000553.shtml

Rainbow Journey Two  http://www.e-magine.education.tas.gov.au/n-touch/surftherainbow/projecttwo/fox.htm

Lesson Plans http://www.mce.k12tn.net/reading48/lesson_plans_for_fantastic_mr.htm

Vocabulary Exercises Activity1 http://www.shorncliss.qld.edu.au/000884.asp
&  Activity 2 http://www.shorncliss.qld.edu.au/000885.asp

Fantastic Mr. Fox NovelStudy  http://www.tlt.ab.ca/projects/Div1/Grade3/fantasticfox/foxy.html

Novel Study http://www.lgsd.k12.nf.ca/imc/PrimaryNovels.asp

Buy the book - amazon
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Brilliant, hugely ambitious, and life changing – The Book Thief

The Book Thief 

by Marcus Zusak


  • Format:  560 pages
  • Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers;
  • Published:  March 14, 2006
  • ISBN-13: 978-0375831003

Reading level: Young Adult

 Zusak has created a work that deserves the attention of sophisticated teen and adult readers. Death himself narrates the World War II-era story of Liesel Meminger from the time she is taken, at age nine, to live in Molching, Germany, with a foster family in a working-class neighborhood of tough kids, acid-tongued mothers, and loving fathers who earn their living by the work of their hands. The child arrives having just stolen her first book–although she has not yet learned how to read–and her foster father uses it,The Gravediggers Handbook, to lull her to sleep when shes roused by regular nightmares about her younger brothers death. Across the ensuing years of the late 1930s and into the 1940s, Liesel collects more stolen books as well as a peculiar set of friends: the boy Rudy, the Jewish refugee Max, the mayors reclusive wife (who has a whole library from which she allows Liesel to steal), and especially her foster parents. Zusak not only creates a mesmerizing and original story but also writes with poetic syntax, causing readers to deliberate over phrases and lines, even as the action impels them forward. Death is not a sentimental storyteller, but he does attend to an array of satisfying details, giving Liesels story all the nuances of chance, folly, and fulfilled expectation that it deserves. An extraordinary narrative.–Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA 
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Markus Zusak talks about the writing of The Book Thief

Pre Reading Activities

Book Club discussion notes

Reading Group Guide - discussion questions

Marcus Zusak talks about writing The Book Thief



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Hilarious Floridian adventure – Hoot – Lesson plans, activities, trailer and more

Hoot

by Carl Hiaasen

This author has turned to children's books, and applied a wonderful quirky humour.  The story has new kids, bullies, alligators, eco-warriors, pancakes, and pint-sized owls .... a hilarious Floridian adventure!

Go to http://www.pivotalkids.com/hoot.htm to read about the book, and find links to these

  • The trailer for the movie
  • Hoot Study Guide
  • Vocabulary pre-test
  • Hoot Book Reviews
  • Hoot Quizzes
  • Book Report Alternative: A Character's Letter to the Editor
  • Hoot Teacher's Booklet
  • Lesson Plan
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Australian Children's Television Foundation's Learning Centre – resource for educators.

Television, film and multimedia have an important role in learning across curriculum areas and topics.
The ACTF has quality Australian resources to support educators in primary to tertiary and community roles.
There are free lesson ideas, learning resources and classroom activity sheets to help your students learn. "
ACTF’s Learning Centre

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With the movie coming soon – time to catch up with Percy Jackson (and use some lesson plans)

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

by Rick Riordan

The escapades of the Greek gods and heroes get a fresh spin in the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, about a contemporary 12-year-old New Yorker who learns he's a demigod.

more synopsis ... also provides links to:

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is scheduled to release on February 12, 2010 in the United States.

Read an extract

Hear the first part of the book, as read by the author.

  • Video interview with Rick in North Carolina

  • Video interview with Rick in Cincinnati

For Teachers ...

  • The Lightning Thief: A Teacher’s Guide.

A complete Lightning Thief unit

  • The Lightning Thief: A Reader’s Guide.

  • Rationale. A curriculum rationale, based on NCTE models, for those teachers considering Percy Jackson for classroom use.

  • Literature Circle Questions

  • Biographical Information on Rick Riordan.

  • A Readers Theater from Lightning Thief.

  • Percy Party event guide.

  • Project ideas.