The Korean Cinderella (Traditional)

This book, published by Shirley Climo, is a version of the classic fairy tale Cinderella. In this story however, Cinderella is named Pear Blossom, and she lives in Korea. This story weaves in similar themes found in the traditional Cinderella with cultural tales. Pear Blossom is born to an older man and his wife, each year the child grew and the pear tree that was planted in her honor bloomed until one winter, when no buds were found on the tree and the young girl was left without a mother. Pear Blossom's father went to the village matchmaker and seeked out a wife to help tend to Pear Blossom. The new step mother was just like the traditional Cinderella's step mother, she was wicked and callous and treated Pear Blossom very poorly, making her do all the house chores. One day Pear Blossom was ragged and run down doing her chores and she encountered several magical creatures who helped her speed up her chores, she had help from a frog, sparrows, and a magical Ox. With their help they were able to send Pear Blossom to the village festival. On her way to the festival Pear Blossom stopped to shake out a stone in her show when she was pushed off the road by the Magistrate's men on their way to the festival too. She hid behind a willow tree next to the river and as she hid her sandal slipped into the water. Pear blossom ran away in fear towards the festival, where she forgot about her missing shoe. When the magistrate arrived to the festival he announced that he was looking for a girl with one shoe, her wicked step sister told her she was in trouble and was quick to announce that it was Pear Blossom's shoe. The magistrate announced that she must be his husband, and they lived...happily ever after.

I would use this book in the classroom to help show children the connections that other cultures have within our society. This version of Cinderella has many commonalities to our familiar version but also incorportates many cultural customs specific to Korea. I would use this book to help students organize comparison/contrast situations. You could create a Venn diagram comparing the two Cinderellas, this would familiarize students with graphic organizers as well as what constitutes as a similarity and a difference.

Rules (Realistic Fiction)

This book was very thought provoking. I think that Cynthia Lord does a fantastic job of putting the reader into the mind-set of a 12 year old girl struggling to make sense of her world. The book begins with the main character, Catherine, and her autistic brother, David. Catherine shows her frustration and exhaustion with babysitting her brother on the first three pages. This sets a tone for the book and gives the reader an immediate idea of what the theme of the novel is going to be. Catherine is in the middle of discovering herself but all the while she has to also figure out how to balance her life with her brother David and her life without her brother. Lord does a very good job of having each character reflect a different way of dealing with someone who has severe autism. Catherine is embarrassed, her mother is tolerant, her father is spread very thin, and Kristi, the next door neighbor, is immature. Through out the book the reader goes through the life of child with a sibling with a severe disability. Lord is able to really open the readers eyes and allow them to experience the pain of dealing with people who are intolerant. By the end of the book, Catherine realizes that it doesn't matter what other people think, and just because people are different doesn't mean they shouldn't be treated the same way.

I would use this book in the classroom if I was teaching an upper level group of 5th or sixth graders. This book handles complicated themes and issues that a 3rd or 4th grader might find hard to comprehend and appreciate. One way to ask students to reflect on their reading is to prompt them to think of a time when they themselves felt embarrassed or felt similar to Catherine. It could be a time from a simple as wearing mis-matched socks to a time where you experienced interaction with someone with a disability. This book is also a good resource to create classroom discussion and extend the literature. Children can mark the books like the image below and point out places in the text that they find interesting or thought provoking.

Cendrillon: A Cajun Cinderella (Traditional Literature)

Cendrillion, by Sheila Hebert Collins, is a variation on the classic fairy tale Cinderella. This version takes place in New Orleans. Cendrillon grows up in a nice house in New Orleans with out a mother, She is spoiled by her father in her mother's absence, and yet she still wishes for a mother. One day her Father finds a woman to marry, who has two daughters of her own. Cendrillon's Father passed away and her beautiful home was to much for the Stepmother and  the girls were forced to move to a much smaller shack. Her new stepmother gives Cendrillon all the chores to do around the house and was given the attic for her room and was only given rags to wear. Cendrillon befriends the animals in the woods by her new house since she has no one else to talk to. One day, the girls recieved invitations in the mail for a Mardi Gras Ball. Cendrillon is told she can go, but only after all of her chores are completed. She worked and worked but still she cannot go. Once her step sisters left Cendrillion was disrupted from her sorrow by the animals from the woods who had made her a beautiful dress. She raced to the carriage and was and was picked apart by her stepsisters and left on the road. Cendrillion was then met by her fairy god mother who granted her the wish of going to the ball, but only until midnight. Cendrillon went to the ball and met the Prince, but as the clock struck midnight she had to leave the prince and race home, even though she dropped  her shoe as she ran. The next day the prince;s court members searched all over for the owner of the shoe until he got to Cendrillon's house. Her stepsisters tried to claim the shoe was her but they knew that the sisters were lying. Cendrillion tried on the shoe and was brought back to the Prince when the courtmembers discovered that it was hers! The prince and Cendrillion were married and lived in a huge mansion once again.

As you can tell, this story is very similar to the traditional Cinderella with the exception of the setting and there are some varations between the exchange with the fairy godmother. In the classroom you could use this text to show students how different works among many cultures can be similar. Also, this text can be used to challenge students to come up with their own versions of a traditional fairytale, and write a narrative about them.

Dolphins (Non-Fiction)

https://docs.google.com/a/ncsu.edu/present/edit?id=0ARUUWWOX28TpZGNuYjZjNjNfMGN0OHM1ODRo&hl=en

This is a link to a powerpoint about the book Dolphins, By Seymour Simon. This powerpoint incorporates elements of technology and can be a useful tool in the classroom. Students could use powerpoints to make sense of their ideas and facts that they learn while reading any texts, but especially for non-fiction books.

House Mouse Senate Mouse ( Non-Fiction)

House Mouse Senate Mouse by Peter and Cheryl Barnes is a book that explains the process of passing a bill in congress.  This is a good tool to use in the classroom because it explains the process of signing a bill. The book outlines the roles that the Senate and House play in the legislative process along with the President’s role in the process as well. The book outlines how a bill is proposed, discussed, and voted on in a way that children would understand and could easily grasp.  This book incorporates some elements of fiction that only help develop a plot line (the story uses mice as characters instead of actually congressional representatives) but the legislative process that is outlined is accurate.

I think that this would be a really good book to use in the classroom parallel to social studies lessons on U.S. Government. The story provides detailed illustrations along with readable text that would help students to relate to the legislative process. This book is also written using elements of rhyme, which could lead to better retention by students. You could extend the lesson by having students propose their own bill and write how the process would play out in congress.

The Rainbow and You (Non Fiction)

Rainbow and You is a non-fiction book by E.C. Krupp. This Book discusses many aspects of rainbows including how they are formed, what we are actually looking at when we see a rainbow, and even how rainbows are interpreted in different cultures. A rainbow has many components and most of discussed in this book. When reading this book students learn how Isaac Newton explained a rainbow by using a prism that helps to bend light and create color. The colors found in a rainbow can be remembered through the acronym Roy G Biv. Roy G Biv is the narrator of the story and is used to help students create a visual memory of the colors found in the rainbow. Also mentioned in this books are some “rainbow rules” including that a rainbow must always be opposite the sun, the lower the light the higher the rainbow, fewer rainbows are found in the winter because raindrops tend to freeze.

This book is a great opportunity to tie literature to different subjects. This book discusses the different types of meanings that rainbows have all over the world. A way to connect this to literature would be to have students research a specific culture and how they interpret rainbows and the write up a paper that explains each culture's interpretation of meaning. Another subject you could cross tie using this book would be science. You could challenge students to observe a rainbow and practice writing scientific observations and recording what they witness. Lastly, a final way to incorporate this book into the classroom would be for ask a student write about an experience where they have witnessed a rainbow, Where were you? What did it look like? What did the sky look like? How did you find this rainbow? etc.

Charlotte's Web (Choice)

Charlotte's web is a classic book written in 1952 based on the life of a young pig named Wilbur. Wilbur was born the runt of his litter and was saved by Fern, the daughter of the farmer who owned him. Once Wilbur had grown to be a few months old Fern had to sell him to her uncle's Farm. Wilbur learns the life of a farm pig for a few happy months until he hears whispers of his death by some of the animals. Alone at the farm, Wilbur finds a friend in Charlotte, the spider who lives in the corner of the door frame in the barn.  Charlotte is determined to save Wilbur from being the main course of Christmas dinner. Charlotte comes up with a brilliant plan to save Wilbur and begins to weave words into her well-crafted web. Charlotte draws enough attention Wilbur to get him a trip to the County Fair. Wilbur looks to Charlotte as a mentor and a mother-figure, she provides him comfort and soothes his mind. Once at the fair Wilbur receives a reward from the County Fair for the attention he has gained from Charlotte's words weaved in his head. Wilbur is challenged by the concept of Charlotte's life coming to an end after she laid her eggs and is determined to take care of Charlotte's children in the wake of her passing. Charlotte provides Wilbur with advice, trust, and most of all friendship and Wilbur is left to carry on these lessons Charlotte has taught him after she is gone.

I would use this book in the classroom in many ways. Charlotte’s Web has many themes that could be applied into a language arts curriculum.  A way to introduce vocabulary into the classroom using this book as a resource would be to have each student pick a word that they would want Charlotte to spin into her web that reflects a specific characteristic of themselves.