Bill and Pete to the Rescue

Author: Tomie DePaola

Illustrator: Tomie DePaola

Genre: Modern Fantasy

DePaola Tomie. Bill and Pete to the Rescue. (2008). Paw Prints.

Annotation
Bill the crocodile, and Pete the plover set out to rescue Bill's cousin who has been captured with other endangered animals and taken from Egypt to an animal farm near New Orleans. This book shows children if that if they work together they can achieve whatever they want.

ELA Content Standards
Reading- Grade 2
7.) Explain how specific images contribute clarity to a text

How it Connects: As children read the story they can talk about all of the different images they see. They can discuss the different animals in the text and the setting.

Key ideas and details- Grade 2
3.) Describe how character's in the story respond to major events and challenges

How it Connects: Children can talk about the major events and all the details that contribute to it.

Tier 3 Vocabulary
 geography, history, repeat

Classroom Usage
Independent Reading: Write about family, make a family tree

Small Groups: Discuss times they missed a family member, take turns reading the book, talk about places they would like to travel

Centers: Art projects, write about all the different animals they saw in the book, write about their pets, or if they could have any pet in the world what would it be.

Differentiation
This children's book teaches children to stand up for what they think is right. This could help a lot of children gain confidence. The book could also be helpful when teaching students about  different cultures around the world.

What Do You Do with an Idea?

Author: Kobi Yamada

Illustrator: Mae Besom

Genre: Picture Book

Yamada, Kobi, and Mae Besom. What Do You Do with an Idea? Seattle, WA: Compendium, 2014.
           Print.

Annotation

In the story there is a big idea and the child helps bring it into the world. As the child's confidence grows, so does the idea itself. One day the idea grows big enough and the child shares it with the world. The story is for anyone who has ever had an idea big or small that they would like to share with the world. The book shows the reader that it is okay to have an idea and share it despite what others think.

ELA Content Standards
Fluency- Grade 1
4.) Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension

How it Connects: While reading the story to your class, you can have the children repeat certain words, or have the children take turns reading to the class.

Writing- Grade 1
8.) With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question

How it Connects: Students can write about times that they have had an idea they wanted to share, and whether they shared it or not. This content standard also gives students the chance to express if they have ever been timid to share something because they were worried about what others would think.

Tier 3 Vocabulary
 fragile, attention, encouraged, ability

Classroom Usage
Independent Reading: They could come up times when they had an idea and write about it, work on their reading comprehension, write down thoughts they had about the book.

Small Groups: Take turns reading the book, and share their ideas and thoughts about the story with their groups.

Centers: Split up into four centers
1.) Write about ideas they have had
2.) Draw what some of their ideas look like
3.) Talk about the plot of the book
4.) Discuss why people may be hesitant to share ideas

The children's book teaches the reader to have confidence in themselves and their ideas. The story meets the needs of a variety of students by letting the reader know that anyone, no matter who or what the idea is, can share it with the world and not worry about what others think.

Differentiation

The teacher could tell the students a story about a time they had an idea but were timid to share. The teacher can then tell the students about the benefits of sharing his/her idea. This will show the students that everyone comes up with ideas no matter how old they are, and no one should be afraid to express themselves.