Rumpelstiltskin

Rumpelstiltskin
Retold by: Paul O Zelinsky
Traditional

When a miller tells the king his daughter can spin straw into gold, the king takes the daughter and locks her in a tower for 3 nights so she can spin straw into cold or she will be executed. When the daughter loses all hope, a dwarf like man, Rumpelstiltskin comes to save the day. He spins straw into gold the first night for her in return for her necklace, the second night in return for her ring, and the third night in return for her first born child. The king was so impressed that he married the miller's daughter and they have a child. When Rumpelstiltskin comes back to claim his price, the queen does not want to give up her child so they make a bet. If the queen can figure out his name in 3 days, she can keep the baby. She had begun to lose hope after failing the first two days, but her messenger sees the dwarf singing in the woods a song that reveals his name. The messenger tells the queen and she guesses it right so she can keep her baby.

This can be used in a lesson about traditional fairy tales and folktales. The students can look through the book and find the common elements of fairy tales. It can also be used for some vocabulary words because there are some tricky words that will be good to look up and learn.

Freedom of the Menu

Freedom of the Menu

By Elizabeth Kennedy
Free Choice

This is a historical fiction story about the Greensboro, North Carolina sit-ins in 1960 from the point of view of an African American girl. It tells the story of the four young black men that were being refused service from Woolworths because of segregation.

This would be a great book to help talk about segregation and the different ways people protested to end segregation. This would be another great book to use with point of view. We see the young African American girl's point of view, but we could ask the students what they think the White man who owned the store's point of view was, etc.

The Headless Mummy

The Headless Mummy
By: David Keane
Free Choice

Joe Sherlock is in the fourth grade and he solves mysteries for $10 a day. His newest mystery is the disappearance of a 4000 year old head from a mummy that disappeared from the local museum. He has to solve the mystery before Mr. Klopper loses his job.

This is a great book to use when studying context clues. Throughout the book there are subtle hints that lead up to the final conclusion of the mystery. You can see if the students can figure it out before the ending and if they can't, they can go back through the book and write down the clues that they missed which would have helped them solve the mystery.

Wanna Buy an Alien?

Wanna Buy an Alien?
By: Even Bunting
Science Fiction

It's Ben's eleventh birthday. Ben gets a birthday present from his friend Jason to ride to the planet Cham with an alien named Iku. In the package it has a letter dated two days later, a picture of Ben with the alien, hot rocks from the planet, and a recording of Ben talking to the alien. He soon learns that the alien is actually a bad alien and Ben's dog saves them from the mean alien.

This could lead into a creative writing activity about a time the student traveled to another planet and their experiences. It could also lead into a discussion about time machines and the student could write a creative story about an experience in a time machine.

The Little Prince

The Little Prince

By: Richard Howard

Science Fiction

A pilot crashes his plane into the Sahara Desert where he meets the Little Prince, who is a visitor from another planet. He is from a planet called B612 which has three volcanoes and a rose along with a few other objects. The Little Prince has been traveling to many different asteroids and planets because he needs advice on how to care for his rose. The pilot then helps teach the Little Prince about love, friendship, responsibility, and beauty.

This is a great book to use with talking about the different perspectives or points of views. You can have the students think what a child's point of view at certain points in the story and how they would differ from an adult's point of view.

Snow In Jerusalem

Snow In Jerusalem

By: Deborah da Costa
Multicultural

Avi and Hamudi are two young boys who both live in Jerusalem. Avi lives in a Jewish community and Hamudi lives in a Muslim community. They are both unknowingly feeding a white stray cat. One day Avi follows the cat and finds that Hamudi is feeding her as well. They start to argue about ownership over the cat but then she runs away. As snow starts to fall in Jerusalem, they find her and she has four kittens, who they argue over too. Then the boys decide "She does not want us to fight.... She wants peace." This is an underlying message about the two religions fighting in Jerusalem. They decide to share the kittens and each boy takes two home.

This would be a great book to use when talking about differences and could lead into a discussion about the fighting in Jerusalem between the Jews and Palestinians. It could also lead into a discussion about accepting differences and that even though you may have a different religion, you could be more similar than you think.

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

By: Judy Blume
Free Choice

In this book, Margaret is an 11 year old pre-teen girl who is anxious about growing up. She just wants to fit in but worrying about puberty starts to get to her. Then she moves to New Jersey and starts hanging out with a new friend who then makes her start questioning her religion. She now has to pick a religion and she doesn't know what else to do but talk to God.

This is a great book to use with fifth grade girls because it deals with a lot of body issues and growing up and "becoming a women." It would be a great book to use during the few weeks that they are starting to learn about the process of growing up in health class. It also has to deal with the difficulties of having a different religion than most of your friends. Being accepted is very important for pre-teen girls, so it is important to teach students to accept their peer's differences.