Tried it Tuesday: Readworks Novel Units

Since I am all about finding outlets for new ideas and trying new ways of doing things,  I love this linky party.  I am very excited to link up to Holly's Tried it Tuesday.


I think this is such a fabulous idea for a linky party. I actually discovered Holly's blog and Jivey's blog through other people who linked up to this linky last week. I am already in love with both of their blogs!

Have you tried Readworks.org?  Next to Read Write Think, it is my favorite free education resource on the web.  There are lots of great passages!  Did you know they also have novel units?  I am extremely excited about these.  I had decided that we would be starting a round of book clubs or literature circles using mysteries.  I had my students rank their order of preference for Chasing Vermeer, The Westing Game, and From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

I already had a novel unit with questions and activities for From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, but I needed chapter questions for Chasing Vermeer and The Westing Game.  I happened to be on Readworks.org last week looking at passages and saw they had novel units for both of the two books I needed. Score!

Actually, the novel units are fantastic.  They include chapter questions, vocabulary activities, and a unit assessment.  On top of that the units include full lessons, so that if you taught the book as a whole group or read aloud full lessons are already ready for you to use as a resource. The novel units are considered for 5th and 6th grade, but there are some great titles I would use for grades 4-6.

Tomorrow I am going to hand them a calendar with due dates of when the groups will meet and what chapters need to be read by those dates.  They will then plan out how much they read each day to have the reading/assignments done by due dates. I am going to be having my students make a detective notebook to include info on setting, characters, and clues on the mystery.  This will give some consistency among the three books.  We will also make Wanted Posters for a character they think is suspicious/guilty mid-way through the book. For Mixed Up Files, I will probably have them make a missing child sign instead of a Wanted Poster.  We will also do all three types of writing during the 4 weeks they read the mysteries. They will write an informational writing based on a topic inspired by the book, they will write a persuasive of who might be guilty or what the solution to the mystery might be, and the narrative at the end will be to write their own mystery story.

I will use the chapter questions and unit assessment from Readworks and my other novel unit as quizzes for the material. Have you used Readworks?  If not, check it out.  You won't be disappointed.

Literary Nonfiction on Space and a Mystery and some freebies

Thrilled with Science Thursday: 

This is a few hours belated because I fell asleep at 8pm and woke up at 1am.  (I think my favorite time of day and night is 12am to 3am after a nap.  I always feel my most inspired after a nap.  As a kid, this was when I would clean my room on the weekends.  I love night time.).

The text I would like to share with you is Messages from Mars by Loreen Leedy and Andrew Schuerger. I found this book at the library.  It is a super cute book that takes place in the year 2106 with a crew that is going to Mars.  Your students can learn about Space and the planets from a crew in the future reflecting back on what it would have been like to live a hundred years in the past - now.  This is what I would consider literary nonfiction. The AR level is 4.3.  I think you could use it even with a 1st or 2nd grade class though.  This would be a great story to infer what it would be like to live 100 years in the future or even think about 100 years in the past.  This is a great addition to any space unit.  What about even making a class time capsule as a fun extension activity?

Fiction and Freebie Friday

I did not get to participate in Fiction Friday last week, so I have been looking forward to this all week. I love using mysteries with students.  They are engaging stories that offer lots of room for analysis and inferencing. 

One of my very first posts I reviewed the books Chasing Vermeer and The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett.  Both are great mysteries with interesting characters, but fairly simple stories to follow.  You could read these with a grade 3 class and above. 

My absolute favorite children's mystery is The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.  The AR level is 5.3.
 

It's a murder mystery (where you find out no one actually died), but there are around 13 characters and lots of plot lines to keep straight.  This is the best book for inferencing, character traits, and probably every reading skill under the sun.  With all the characters, it is a complicated read.  I would recommend it for probably grades 5-7.  My favorite activity for this is to have the students make detective journals.  They have a page for each character, where they illustrate a picture of the character and record clues about why that character might be the murderer.  End the unit by playing Clue.  We also usually make Wanted Posters somewhere mid-unit where they predict who the murderer is and why.

Here is my freebie for you.  I love using note-taking with my students.  I created a four box method of note-taking to use with Fiction.  The first 3 boxes are for Before, During, and After Reading and the fourth box is for visualizing.  In the first box, we make a prediction before reading.  In the second box,  students record questions, connections, thoughts - whatever skill you are focusing on.  In the third box, they would write a summary, answer a question, or record an opinion depending on our skill focus.  The fourth box students drew what they visualized while they were reading.  The first few times I introduce it I give the students the ready-made handout.  Once they get the hang of it, they drew the boxes in their journals.  For students who need accomodations you can keep the handout.  It really is a very easy and effective method for practicing multiple reading skills on a daily basis.  Use it for whole group, small groups, and independent reading.  It gives you a consistent way to teach students to monitor their comprehension, but also allows for flexibility.  Sometimes we even used the same form for a couple days if time was limited.

My note-taking organizer for nonfiction was my own spin off of the Cornell method.  They wrote main ideas on the right, vocabulary and questions on the left, and a summary at the bottom.  You could use this with Science, History, or even Reading.  Same thing after awhile students can draw it themselves.

I also usually either drew a big one on an anchor chart or a small one that I displayed with the document camera.

Happy Friday!  Going back to bed now. 

Book Reviews: The Wright 3 and Chasing Vermeer

My favorite librarian asked me to review some books for her. I love young adult fiction and have always enjoyed helping students find a great new book, author, or series. The challenge is finding the right book for that kid’s interests, reading level, and maturity. One of the books she asked me to review was The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett. Well, this is a sequel to Chasing Vermeer so of course I had to read Chasing Vermeer first. Let me just say I LOVED both books. They are engaging mysteries with interesting characters and they incorporate art in an interesting way.

Chasing Vermeer
The two main characters, Petra and Calder, are in sixth grade and they have an eccentric teacher, Ms. Hussey. An art fan turned thief steals a painting because he feels the world needs to know that some of the supposed paintings by Johannes Vermeer are fake and some are real. The fan thief declares that he won’t return the painting until the truth is revealed. Ms. Hussey’s class dives into the mystery by learning all about art, Vermeer, and his paintings. As a former teacher, I love the way Ms. Hussey conducts her classroom: with energy, excitement, and no restrictions. She has the ideal project based learning/inquiry method learning environment. They go on field trips to art museums and through the neighborhood on a whim. I want to live in her world with that much freedom for creativity and investigation. J As a reader, I enjoyed watching Petra and Calder get to know each other and themselves as they try to solve the mystery of the missing painting. (This book would actually probably pair well to be read with Patricia Polacco’s The Junkyard Wonders. Comparing the two learning environments would be a great activity for students).

The Wright 3

The Wright 3 takes place at the end of the school year. This time there are three main characters: Petra, Calder, and Tommy. They live in Chicago near the University of Chicago. Frank Lloyd Wright’s “The Robie House,” a great piece of American architecture, is threatened. The university owns it and the house needs more repairs then the university can afford. The university plans to tear the house apart and sell it in pieces to museums. Ms. Hussey’s class feels tearing apart a great piece of architecture is murder of something priceless. They ban together to try and save the house. In the process, Petra, Calder, and Tommy form the “Wright 3” to join together each of their unique strengths to try and solve mysteries and save great architecture. Each of the three characters has a unique personality with a distinct gift that they offer to the team.  (This book would make a great character study to look at personality traits and personal gifts/strengths. I think it also could lead to some great community building activities.)

Both of these books are engaging and include great characterization. These stories would appeal to students or adults that enjoy a just good all around story, art, mysteries, or great characters. The books are mysteries without being too scary. I would recommend them for 3^rd through 6^th grade. The vocabulary in is not very difficult and the books are probably about 200 pages with medium sized print. While reading Chasing Vermeer, I made a lot of text-to-text connections to From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  From the Mixed Up Files is another great “art mystery” and a Newberry award winner, but the vocabulary is definitely more difficult. I look forward to creating some activities to go with these books, but for now I am recommending them if you are looking for a great book suggestion for a student or a fun read aloud. The books are also illustrated by Brett Helquist who illustrated the Lemony Snickett books.