New Book News
November/December 2003
Excerpt
Book
The Hard Times Jar by Ethel Footman Smothers
Pictures by John Holyfield
Farrar, 2003 32p. (K-4)
A young girl wants a book more than anything can't believe that her classroom has a whole library.
Idea
Readers can identify the most important book they have every read, and indicate how that book impacted their life. They write the titles of their life-changing books on strips of paper. Put these book titles into a glass jar. Randomly select a title, and ask the reader to tell others why they book was so special. Read aloud some of the shorter books and discuss why the book is significant.
Another option is to put a picture of a jar on a bulletin board, and tack the book title names "inside" the jar. Label the bulletin board The Good Times Jar, and encourage others to read these books that have made a difference for someone.
Idea
Readers can put titles of books in which characters overcame hard times into an Overcoming Hard Times Jar. Encourage readers to identify something that the character(s) did in these books that can be a help to anyone experiencing hard times.
Strategies for the following books are also included in the November/December issue
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- America the Beautiful
- illus. by Wendell Minor. (all ages)
- The Animal Hedge
- by Paul Fleischman. (gr. 2-8)
- The Daring Nellie Bly
- by Bonnie Christensen. (gr. 2-6)
- Granny Torelli Makes Soup
- by Sharon Creech. (gr. 4-8)
- The Hard Times Jar
- by Ethel Footman Smothers. (gr. K-4)
- Inkheart
- by Cornelia Funke. (gr. 5-8)
- It's a Miracle
- by Stephanie Spinner. (gr. 2+)
- A Kenya Christmas
- by Tony Johnston. (gr. K-3)
- M Is for Majestic
- by David Domeniconi. (all ages)
- Mary Smith
- by A. U'Ren. (gr. 1-5)
- (One) #1
- by Vladimir Radunsky. (gr. K-3)
- The Perfect Thanksgiving
- by Eileen Spinelli. (gr. K-3)
- The Queen's Progress
- by Celeste Davidson Mannis. (gr. 4-8)
- Rosy Cole's Worst Ever, Best Yet Tour of New York City
- by Sheila Greenwald. (gr. 1-3)
- Shakespeare's Spy
- by Gary Blackwood. (gr. 5-8)
- Smart About the Fifty States
- by Jon Buller & Susan Schade, Maryann Cocca-Leffler, Joan Holub, True Kelley, and Dana Regan. (gr. 3-6)
- State-by-State Atlas
- by Justine Ciovacco, Kathleen A. Feeley, and Dristen Behrens. (gr. 3-6)
- The Stone Lamp by Karen Hesse. (gr. 2-5)
- Storied City by Leonard S. Marcus. (all ages)
- Thanksgiving at the Tappletons' by Eileen Spinelli. (gr. K-3)
- Thanksgiving Is Here! by Diane Goode. (gr. K-3)
- The True Story of Christmas by Anne Fine. (gr. 4-6)
- Yesterday I Had the Blues by Jeron Ashford Frame. (gr. K-3)
To search for a specific title, see the Title Index
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