Mrs. Pinson's Library

The plot of Stellaluna consists of a baby bat being knocked away from her mother by an attacking owl where she lands in a nest occupied by birds. She has to try and act like a bird as not to confuse her adoptive siblings. One day she gets separated by her bird family and she is discovered by another bat. This leads to her being reunited with her mother! This is a great book to read to students to celebrate differences and similarities in us all. An extension activity could be for students to create a Venn diagram and describe the ways in which Stellaluna and the birds were alike and the ways in which they were different. 

Lexile level: 550L

Goodnight Moon is a classic story about a little rabbit saying goodnight to all of his belongings. The book has wonderful illustrations as well as rhyming. This story is a great book to include when teaching about rhyming words. It is ideal for young readers. As an extension activity, students could have visual cards and match each one to the card that rhymes with it. 

Lexile level: 360L

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is an enjoyable book that students love! Students stay engaged as they read about the hungry caterpillar eating through large amounts of food. The book consists of the days of the week as well as quantities. Not only could teachers use this book when teaching a science lesson on the life cycle of a caterpillar, it would be great for sequencing activities and counting. 

Lexile level: 460L

Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes is an ideal text to read to students on the first day of school. It's Pete the Cat's first day of school, but he is fully confident to conquer the day in his special shoes. He encounters all of the different places in the school in his awesome shoes. After reading this text, teachers could take their students on a tour of their new school so they can become familiar with all of the new places. They can have a checklist as they go throughout the school and mark off each location when they see it. 

Lexile level: 430L

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is such fun book for young readers to be exposed to the letters of the alphabet. The students stay engaged as they see if all of the letters will fit at the top of the coconut tree. One fun extension activity could be to make a large tree and display it on the white board or bulletin board with the title "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Look Who's In Our Room" and allow students to come and spell their names with pre-cut letters. 

Lexile level: 530L

Coming to America: The Story of Immigration is a wonderful book to help students learn about immigration. The text tells the story of various immigrant groups coming to America and the challenges that they faced. The text also celebrates their cultural contributions to our country. As an extension activity, students could be put in small groups where each group researches one of the cultural groups mentioned in the text in depth and then presents their findings to the class. 

Guided Reading level: O

Duck! Rabbit! is a fun book for young readers that uses visual illusions to debate whether the images are a duck or a rabbit. Students have so much fun having conversations about which image they see! An extension activity could be to create a T chart with rabbit on one side and duck on the other side and have students list the reasons why the author sees what he does. 

Guided Reading level: J

The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush is an inspiring text about the main character Little Gopher pursuing his destiny. Although he is smaller than all the other boys and can never keep up, he perseveres and uses his artistic gift to paint pictures that his people would remember forever. This would be a great book to integrate when teaching a unit on Native Americans or when discussing culture. An extension activity could be to create an anchor chart with key characteristics of legends so students have a better understanding of them. It would also be fun to create a list of descriptive words and give students Indian names. 

Guided Reading level: O

September 12th: We Knew Everything Would Be All Right is such powerful book written and illustrated by first graders. We are reminded that even after the horrific events that took place on September 11, 2001 the world still continued the next day. This would be an outstanding book to use in the classroom when speaking about the events that took place on September 11th. It would be a great book to introduce the message of hope. Students could write about things that bring them hope or what makes them proud to be an American. It would also be a great book to introduce the word patriotism and how the students in the text displayed love for their country. 

Guided Reading level: H

The Snowy Day is a fun book that most students can relate to in some way. The main character wakes up to a snowy day where a full day of adventure awaits him. The book lets readers see his adventure unfold. This book is amazing, because it supports the importance of allowing children to wonder and imagine. It would be great to read around Christmas or the winter where students can connect their personal experiences of snow or a fun adventure they took part in. An extension activity could consist of students writing about these experiences or using their imaginations to write about a snowy adventure. A sequencing activity could also take place that represents Peter's day. 

Guided Reading level: J

Chrysanthemum is one of my favorite childhood books! The main character Chrysanthemum loves her name until she starts kindergarten and is surrounded by peers with short names. However, after a music teacher tells the class that she wants to name her baby Chrysanthemum her spirits are lifted again and she once again loves her name. This is a great book to use in the classroom to encourage students to celebrate diversity. A fun extension activity would be to get each student to make an acrostic poem using their name and using positive adjectives to describe themselves for each of the letters represented. 

Guided Reading level: M

Hey, Al is an engaging book about a janitor and a dog who live together but always seem to argue. A large bird offers to take them to an island for a new life, but they soon realize life is not always greener on the other side. As an extension to this book, I would get students to write about a time when they experienced something not being as good as it seemed. Character traits could also be analyzed after reading this book. 

Guided Reading level: N

A Bad Case of Stripes is a wonderful book to read to students to encourage them to not feel like they need to be like others but instead inspire them to celebrate their differences. The main character Camilla Cream loves lima beans, but she will not eat them because her classmates hate them. She worries about what they think and right when she wants to fit in she becomes covered in stripes! Instead of fitting in, she is forced to stand out. This would be a great text for teachers to read to encourage students to be themselves. A cause and effect activity would be a great extension activity. A graphic organizer could be made with either a cause or effect listed and then students would complete the one missing. 

Lexile level: 610L

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is such a fun book that students love! The plot consists of a boy giving a mouse a cookie which then begins a series of events in which the mouse continuously needs something else. This is a great text to challenge young readers to recall the sequence of events from the story. Teachers could have picture cards representing the different scenes from the book, and the students could work together to place them in order.

Lexile level: 410L  

Amazing Grace is an excellent book to demonstrate diversity. The main character Grace loves stories and longs to play the lead in Peter Pan. However, her classmates point out that Peter Pan is a boy and that he was not black. With hard work and support from her family, she pushes aside all of those negative comments and achieves her dream role. Not only would this book lead to some amazing whole group discussions, teachers could too give students a writing extension to write about a personal experience when they achieved a goal or overcame an obstacle when everyone else did not think they could. 

Lexile level: 680L

First Day Jitters is one of my personal favorite books for the first day of school. The main character Sarah Jane Hartwell is dreading her first day of school and does not want to get out of her bed. When she arrives to school, the principal welcomes her and takes her to her classroom as he introduces her to the class as Mrs. Sarah Jane Hartwell, the teacher. I love this plot twist, because it makes students feel more confident about their first day and makes them feel like they are not alone. One activity that could be incorporated in the classroom is to have an anchor chart with the prompt "My First Day Jitters" and students can put their feelings on the chart. The teacher can also have 'jitter juice' to give to students. 

Lexile level: 520L