Miss Gambill's Future Bookshelf

I loved, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie". This book tells the story of a little mouse who likes to ask for more than he receives. If he is given something, he is always going to want more. This book is best fitted for grades K-2nd and has a lexile level of AD660L. I think doing a cause and effect chart with this book would be a great tool for the classroom. I also think you could teach students plot and order of events through what came first throughout the book. Great read overall!

This was a book I read in 5th grade and I really enjoyed it. Brian Robeson, the main character, is forced to learn to survive on his own. He gets trapped in the wilderness after he is in a plane crash and must learn to survive with one of the only things he has, a hatchet. This book is great for a suspenseful and engaging read. It would be best suited for 5th-8th grades and has a lexile level of 1020L. I think this would be a great book to introduce character types, such as internal and external and have students compare the main character Brian on an anchor chart or using the board in a class discussion. You could also cover foreshadowing by using this book as well. I remember when I read this book in 5th grade the entire class read it together and I enjoyed that. There are endless amounts of activities and lessons you could plan for your students!

This book was used in my CT's classroom this semester when the topic of the week was the weather. I love how this book covers real life weather through the use of food! The students loved using their imaginations to pretend it was actually snowing mashed potatoes. I also took notice that many of the kindergarten students realized the difference in that it would not actually rain food and they would say, "That's not supposed to happen!", but still laugh the whole time. The book is geared for grades 3rd-5th but can be used for guided reading at younger ages. The lexile level of this book is AD730L. This book is very lighthearted and a fun way to introduce these everyday elements to your students. I would use this for a story time and lead into an introduction on various types of weather. I could also have an activity where students write on a "meatball" the various forms of weather they noticed in the book. 

I have had this book read to me, read the book myself, and had it read again in college! It is such a great read at any age to remind us that we are all individually unique and special. The book tells of a little girl named Chrysanthemum, who is happy as can be until she begins getting picked on for her name. All it takes for Chrysanthemum to overcome this is her kind music teacher named Mrs. Twinkle. It is because of her that Chrysanthemum is able to realize her true quality and how special she really is. This book is a great option for carpet reading and could be used in K-2nd grades. The lexile level of this book is 460L. I would read the story to my students then have a discussion about how we are all unique in our own individual ways. I think it would be neat to have an activity where I give them a cutout flower and they write down character traits and qualities they each possess. I would let the students color them and share if they wanted to do so. I could also hang these on the wall in the classroom or in the hall for the other parents and students to see. 

The Kissing Hand is perfect for children first starting out in school. Separation from your parents is a huge deal at that age, and this book highlights the journey both children and parents must go on when it is the first day in a new environment. Chester the racoon is anxious over his first day of school like many other young children. His mom knows just what to do when she informs him about the kissing hand and Chester knows he truly is never alone. The lexile level of this book is 520L. I would use this in a kindergarten classroom preferably on the first day or week of school! I would do a carpet reading of the book and then have a discussion of some ways the students can feel better when feeling alone. Students could even write their parents a letter on how their first day of school went!

This is a series I grew up loving when I was a child! I remember having AR quizzes on these books when I was younger.They tell the story of the Baudelaire children who are orphaned after losing their parents in a fire. The novels describe the journey these children go through to protect their parents fortune and the mischief they become involved in. It is a great series to get children interested in reading with. The books would be good in 5th or 6th grade and the series as a whole has a lexile level of around 1010L for each book. For the classroom, I think it would be hard to cover the whole series, so you could create a book club for students to join and have these series as a fun after school book to read with friends. The books would also be good to use for summer reading. 

I remember my brother reading this book when he was in middle school but I never got to read it when I was younger. I finally got the chance to this year and I am so happy I did! This book describes a young orphaned boy on a journey to find his father and husband to his widowed mother. The book follows his quest and introduces us to the people he meets along the way, who become somewhat like family to him. This book would be great for 6-8th grades and the lexile level for this book is 950L. For an activity, I think it would be fun to look deeper into the characters by having students relate important quotes in the book to the character who said this. You could use sticky notes to write the quote and page number and discuss as a class which character the quote is said by or who it describes. 

I read this book when I was younger and enjoyed getting to read a book about true friendship. This book highlights two best friends and their journey together. It kept me closely engaged throughout the whole book because there is so many details in it. I think this book would be best fit for intermediate or middle school (4th-8th grade). The lexile level of this book is 810L. An activity I would use in the classroom would be creating a "bridge" of the plot. Students would write the setting, key details, and characters on this bridge that leads up to the climax of the book. This would be a good comprehension check and fun for the students to create too. They could color their bridges when they get finished.

This book is great for students in 1st or 2nd grade and to use as a demonstration of the power of pictures in books. On each page, there was barely any words, but the pictures spoke for the whole book. The journey David undergoes of getting into mischief like an everyday child would be very relatable to the children in the classroom. The Lexile level was BR. For a first reader's book, this would be perfect since there was only a few words per page. An activity I think would be fun with this book would be to have students illustrate their own picture of something David did they get in trouble for too at home to make the book relatable. Overall, great book to really show the power of illustrations!

Talk about a great book for discussing students with learning disabilities! I loved how Mr. Falker truly cared for Trisha. He noticed a problem in her writing and did not let it set her back. He worked with her to overcome dyslexia and not let it control her life. This book truly highlights that teachers can make a huge difference in their students lives. For students, this highlights that even if your own weaknesses there are ways to overcome! The teacher could have an activity in class where the students write one weakness they feel they have and one strength on a notecard and the teacher could keep this for her own record and work throughout the year to improve students weaknesses and shine a light on each student's strengths! There are endless possibilities with this book but I feel shining a light on learning disabilities and strengths and weaknesses would be perfect! I recommend this book for all teachers and students! This book is geared for grades 3rd-5th specifically and has a lexile level of AD650L. 

This book was such a cute book to show predictions in reading. Students have such a fun time guessing on what the moose is going to want next, and have suspense to see if you give him something, what he will be getting in return! I saw a group of students in class use this for cause and effect and it worked great! They used muffins as the cause and effect and there are many ways you could use create this using other elements in the story, but I really enjoyed this! I could also see it being used on working on foreshadowing and predictions to expand reading knowledge. The teacher could have a bag of items to represent what the moose gets each time he wants something and if a student guesses it right, she could pull it out of the bag! The lexile level for this book is AD590L and I feel this book would be good for students in first grade! It could be a book the teacher reads to their students in a suspenseful tone!

This book was such a fun book to read along with! This would be perfect to introduce your class to nouns and have a guided reading discussion! This would be a good book in 1st or 2nd grade to lead into a discussion about what nouns are and have examples of these nouns. The teacher could use a "noun town" activity with the children after reading similar to an idea I saw on Pinterest! You could have an anchor chart drawn of a town and have students label the nouns they want to add to their town, such as car, house, etc. This would be great for hands on and visual learners to create their own noun cutouts and have the town visually displayed in the classroom for everyone to see! Such a fun and great learning tool to use! The lexile level for this book was NP.

This book is so illustrative and exciting to read! The use of the sparkly fins on each page really grabs the attention of children when they see it. I think this story has a great message of sharing to make friends. The lexile level for this book is AD410L. I think this would be good for a 1st grade classroom. An activity that would be fun for the students would be creating their own "rainbow fish" to display in the classroom and having items listed on the fins that they would share with their friends! I could see a lot of possibilities with this book in the classroom and it is an enjoyable read!

I forgot how great this book was until I started reading it in English 310 again! This book is such a classic for people of all ages and truly displays the pure innocence of children. The importance of friendship is highlighted in the novel by Fern truly loving and caring for Wilbur and Charlottes kind deeds till her death for Wilbur. I think this would work great in a 4th grade classroom! The Lexile level of this book is 680L. A neat activity for students could be to have them make a web of information from the story using comparing and contrasting techniques, or they could even discuss characters with animal cutouts. Definitely a good read!

I had fun reading this book! It is such a cute and fun story that kids can enjoy with so many different descriptive words that they will love! This book would be specifically great for 1st grade and has a Lexile level of 420L. This would be good to use on a day when you discussed parts of a sentence such as adjectives in your classroom! The teacher could let the students create an "awesome adjectives" chart and have students come up and write/draw an example. So many endless possibilities with this book!

I truly enjoyed reading this book when I was younger and even now. I love how it relates to never giving up and always trying until you succeed. I remember having my parents read this book to me and getting so excited to see the little train trying his best and it motivated me to do the same! I would use this book in a first or 2nd grade classroom. The Lexile level is 680L. I could do a read-aloud and have children create their own "I think I can" trains to hang-up in the classroom. The teacher could ask students to think of what they are struggling in and write that on their trains. This would be great to reinforce confidence in students learning abilities!