Reading & Literature

Hoot By CARL HIAASEN.

Unfortunately, Roy’s first acquaintance in Florida is Dana Matherson, a well-known bully. Then again, if Dana hadn’t been sinking his thumbs into Roy’s temples and mashing his face against the school-bus window, Roy might never have spotted the running boy. And the running boy is intriguing: he was running away from the school bus, carried no books, and–here’s the odd part–wore no shoes. Sensing a mystery, Roy sets himself on the boy’s trail. The chase introduces him to potty-trained alligators, a fake-fart champion, some burrowing owls, a renegade eco-avenger, and several extremely poisonous snakes with unnaturally sparkling tails. Roy has most definitely arrived in Carl Hiaasen’s Florida.

Paperback | Published by Yearling Dec 27, 2005 | 320 Pages | 5-3/16 x 7-5/8 | Middle Grade (10 and up)

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Billy isn't one to back down from a bet. But this one is gross! If he eats fifteen worms in fifteen days, Alan will pay him fifty dollars. Billy takes the bet and tries worms smothered in ketchup, drowned in mustard, even breaded and fried. Worm by worm, Billy gets closer to victory, and to buying the minibike he's always wanted. But Alan won't let him win that easily... Learn More

Billy must eat 15 worms in 15 days to win $50. Will he be able to do it? Readers will learn all about eating worms in this disgustingly entertaining story! How to Eat Fried Worms: An Instructional Guide for Literature features rigorous, cross-curricular lessons and activities that work in conjunction with the text to teach students how to comprehend complex literature and help them understand the significance of the story. This resource is packed with tools to teach students how to analyze story elements in multiple ways, practice close reading and text-based vocabulary, determine meaning through text-dependent questions, and more. Grades 3-5 From Teacher Created Materials See also #1027. Learn More

The Story of a Great Painter and the Slave He Helped Become a Great Artist Elizabeth Borton de Trevino.

When the great Velázquez was painting his masterpieces at the Spanish court in the seventeenth century, his colors were expertly mixed and his canvases carefully prepared by his slave, Juan de Pareja. In a vibrant novel which depicts both the beauty and the cruelty of the time and place, Elizabeth Borton de Treviño tells the story of Juan, who was born a slave and died an accomplished and respected artist.

Upon the death of his indulgent mistress in Seville, Juan de Pareja was uprooted from the only home he had known and placed in the charge of a vicious gypsy muleteer to be sent north to his mistress's nephew and heir, Diego Velázquez, who recognized at once the intelligence and gentle breeding which were to make Juan his indispensable assistant and companion—and his lifelong friend.

Through Juan's eyes the reader sees Velázquez's delightful family, his working habits and the character of the man, his relations with the shy yet devoted King Philip IV and with his fellow painters, Rubens and Murillo, the climate and customs of Spanish court life. When Velázquez discovers that he and Juan share a love for the art which is his very life, the painter proves his friendship in the most incredible fashion, for in those days it was forbidden by law for slaves to learn or practice the arts. Through the hardships of voyages to Italy, through the illnesses of Velázquez, Juan de Pareja loyally serves until the death of the painter in 1660.

I, Juan de Pareja is the winner of the 1966 Newbery Medal.

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What if you sailed on the Mayflower?

A different time...a different place...

What if you were there?

If you sailed on the Mayflower

--What could you take with you?

--How would you keep clean?

--What would you do when you first got to shore?

Get ready to go back in time to 1620 to discover what it was like to sail the Mayflower!

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A collection of six of Shakespeare’s best-loved plays, beautifully presented in a clothbound gift edition. Includes Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest as well as a short biography of the bard himself, all beautifully retold and illustrated for children growing in reading confidence. Features story summaries, character lists and internet links to websites where children can listen to extracts from the plays and find out more about William Shakespeare.Series: Clothbound story collections 416 pages Ages 7+ Learn More

Meet The COBBLE STREET COUSINS Lily, who wants to be a poet Tess, who wants to be a Broadway star Rosie, who wants a little cottage with flowers by the door. Right now, though, the cousins are sharing an attic bedroom in their Aunt Lucy?s light blue house on Cobble Street, and happily making plans for the summer. A cookie company seems the perfect way to make a little money, but it turns out to be much more -- an opportunity to meet some very special neighbors! Ages 7-10. 64 pages. Learn More

At the end of the 13th century, the oppressed Scots rebelled against England under the leadership of William Wallace and Robert Bruce. This gripping tale of courage, loyalty, and ingenuity takes readers into heroic company with a fictional protagonist, young Archie Forbes, who fights alongside the legendary heroes. Unabridged republication of the edition originally published by Blackie & Son, London, 1894. Learn More

Shirley Temple Wong sails from China to America with a heart full of dreams. Her new home is Brooklyn, New York. America is indeed a land full of wonders, but Shirley doesn't know any English, so it's hard to make friends. Then a miracle: baseball happens. It is 1947, and Jackie Robinson, star of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is everyone's hero. Jackie Robinson is proving that a black man, the grandson of a slave, can make a difference in America and for Shirley as well, on the ball field and off, America becomes the land of opportunity. Learn More

Journey with Shirley Temple Wong as she sails from China to New York and discovers how America can be a place where dreams come true. In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson: An Instructional Guide for Literature provides unique, standards-based lessons to help students analyze story elements in multiple ways, engage in close reading and text-based vocabulary practice, determine meaning through text-dependent questions, and more. Through these fun but rigorous activities, students will develop key critical literacy skills and learn how to comprehend rich, complex literature.

Grades 3-5

From Teacher Created Materials

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A Newbery Honor Award Winner

By Lois Lenski, Illustrated by Lois Lenski

In this classic frontier adventure, Lois Lenski reconstructs the real-life story of Mary Jemison, who was captured in a raid as young girl and raised among the Seneca Indians.

Meticulously researched and illustrated with many detailed drawings, this Newbery Honor novel is an unforgettable tale.

Twelve-year-old Mary Jemison took for granted her peaceful days on her family's farm in eastern Pennsylvania. But on a spring day in 1758, something happened that changed her life forever.

When a band of warriors invades the Jemisons' house and takes the family captive, Mary is separated from her parents and siblings. She travels with the Indians to southern Ohio and later to a Seneca village on the Genesee River in what is now western New York.

Mary's new life is not easy. She misses her family terribly and is unaccustomed to Seneca ways. But even after her several unsuccessful attempts to run away, the Indians are kind to Mary and teach her many things about the earth, its plants, and its creatures. She develops deep bonds with the animals and even her captors. When Mary is finally given the chance to return to the world she had inhabited, she struggles with her newfound feelings.

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Evaluate literacy needs using 22 assessments--oral reading, phonics, onset and rime, phoneme segmentation, letter and word recognition, comprehension, spelling, and more.

Dr. Fry developed both the Fry Readability Graph and a list of "Instant Words," the words that readers need to be able to comprehend instantly because they are so commonly used.

Kindergarten - 8th Grades

96 pages

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Follow the story of a young girl stranded for years on an island off the California coast. Island of the Blue Dolphins: An Instructional Guide for Literature features rigorous and engaging lessons and activities to aid in students' comprehension and analysis. These appealing and challenging cross-curricular lessons and activities were written to support the Common Core State Standards and incorporate research-based literacy skills to help students become thorough readers. Each lesson and activity work in conjunction with the text to teach students how to analyze and comprehend story elements in multiple ways, practice close reading and text-based vocabulary, determine meaning through text-dependent questions, and much more. Add rigor to your students' explorations of rich, complex literature with this essential resource! Grades 4-8 Learn More

Published in 1819 and set at the close of the 12th century, this classic historical romance unfolds in a kingdom torn asunder by the hatred between Saxons and Normans. Its dispossessed heroes, Ivanhoe and Richard the Lion-Hearted, face an uphill battle against firmly entrenched adversaries. The success of their fight rests upon the support of an unlikely crew of outsiders, including a Jew accused of sorcery, a swineherd slave, a jester, and the legendary Robin Hood. Unabridged republication of the Dryburgh Edition as published by Adam and Charles Black, London, 1893. Learn More

Part of the Childhood of Famous Americans fictionalized biography series. Learn all about the childhood of Jackie Robinson, and how he became all-star in American history as well as baseball! Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson was the first African American to play Major League Baseball in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when the Brooklyn Dodgers started him at first base on April 15, 1947, ending racial segregation and contributing significantly to the Civil Rights Movement. He went on to have an amazing baseball career. Over ten seasons, he played in six World Series, was selected for six consecutive All-Star Games, was the recipient of the inaugural MLB Rookie of the Year Award, and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949. In 1962, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. And in 1997, Major League Baseball “universally” retired his uniform number, 42, across all major league teams, making him the first pro athlete in any sport to be so honored.In this narrative biography, you’ll discover what he was like as a kid, and how his experiences made him into the athlete and activist he later became! 192 pages. Grades 3-7 Learn More

Jane Eyre is orphaned, bullied and humiliated as a child, but her spirit is never broken. After leaving her harsh boarding school, she finds work as a governess and finally discovers the love that she has always longed for, with the dark Mr Rochester. But Rochester has a monstrous secret, concealed in the attic of Thornfield Hall . 116 pages. Ages 6-9 Learn More

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Part of The Childhood of Famous Americans series, one of the most popular series ever published for young Americans, these classics have been praised alike by parents, teachers, and librarians. With these lively, inspiring fictionalized biographies - easily read by children of age eight and up - today's youngster is swept right into history. Learn More

Part of the Childhood of Famous Americans fictionalized biography series. One of the most popular series ever published for young Americans, these classics have been praised alike by parents, teachers, and librarians. With these lively, inspiring, fictionalized biographies - easily read by children 8 and up - today's youngster is swept right into history. Paperback. ages 8-12. 192 pages. Learn More

Johnny Tremain,winner of the 1944 Newbery Medal, is one of the finest historical novels ever written for children. As compelling today as it was seventy years ago, to read this riveting novel is to live through the defining events leading up to the American Revolutionary War. Fourteen-year-old Johnny Tremain, an apprentice silversmith with a bright future ahead of him, injures his hand in a tragic accident, forcing him to look for other work. In his new job as a horse-boy, riding for the patriotic newspaper,The Boston Observer, and as a messenger for the Sons of Liberty, he encounters John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and Dr. Joseph Warren. Soon Johnny is involved in the pivotal events shaping the American Revolution from the Boston Tea Party to the first shots fired at Lexington. Learn More

Faith's Pa says there's no room on a wagon train for Josefina, a chicken who's too tough to eat and too old to lay eggs. But Faith loves her pet. Can Josefina show Pa that she still has a few surprises left in her? 64 pages. Ages 4-8 Learn More

ABOUT JOURNEY

Journey is eleven the summer his mother leaves him and his sister, Cat, with their grandparents. He is sad and angry, and spends the summer looking for the clues that will explain why she left.

Journey searches photographs for answers. He hunts family resemblances in Grandma’s albums. Looking for happier times, he tries to put together the torn pieces of the pictures his mother shredded before her departure. And he also searches the photographs his grandfather takes as the older man attempts to provide Journey with a past. In the process, the boy learns to look and finds that, for him, the camera is a means of finding things his naked eye has missed–things like inevitability of his mother’s departure and the love that still binds his family. 

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Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is a tragedy based on the historical events surrounding the death of Caesar, exploring the motivations of the men who orchestrated it and surrounded him in public and political life.

The Student Guide includes Reading Notes, Vocabulary, Comprehension Questions, Socratic Discussion Questions, and Essay Prompts.

Grades 9-12

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Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is a tragedy based on the historical events surrounding the death of Caesar, exploring the motivations of the men who orchestrated it and surrounded him in public and political life. The Teacher Guide includes the inset student guide with answers, guides for Socratic Discussion Questions, and Quizzes and Quiz Keys. Learn More