Books to Celebrate Ramadan

This year, in the United States, Ramadan begins on the evening of Sunday, May 5 and ends the evening of Tuesday, June 4.

Some books that teach and depict Ramadan, for elementary school students, include:

Lailah's Lunchbox which tells the story of a young girl from Abu Dhabi who is fasting for the first time and has recently moved to the United States.

Under the Ramadan Moon a beautifully illustrated book that describes a family celebrating during Ramadan.

Hena Khan writes the favorite character of Curious George into a board book for younger children, where George celebrates with his friend Kareem. It's Ramadan Curious George

Another popular author for younger children, Karen Katz, wrote a board book titled My First Ramadan which introduces toddlers to the holiday.

Scholastic members might like this lower level non fiction book with colorful photos from around the world. Ramadan

Wordless Books

One unit that I like to do each year with my ELL students, is to work with wordless picture books.  Sometimes we sit in a small group in a read aloud format and talk through the book together, with me doing most of the talking.  At other times we each think of a line to the story as we page through the book.  Some books are available on Kindle, through local library sites, or on YouTube, so that they can be projected and charted or written the board. 

Later, I have students write their own versions of the story, and if they have time they can redraw the illustrations and make a book.

Wordless books are so great for integrating a number of lessons, from using strong adjectives, to story telling, writing stories, increasing vocabulary, etc.

Here are some of our favorites:

David Wiesner has a number of wordless books, most all with fantasy elements. 

Tuesday is a very popular choice among the kids, but Flotsam, and Sector 7 are also fun and beautifully illustrated. 

A children's librarian would have a better idea of what is locally available, but another new book that is lovely is Here I Am.  Which illustrates the arrival of an immigrant child in a large city and his experience as he becomes more familiar with his surroundings.

 A very cool book is Journey, by Aaron Becker.  This dreamy story transports the main character through a fantasy adventure. 

Pancakes for Breakfast, by Tomie DePaola, walks through the process of a grandmotherly type lady making pancakes one winter morning, beginning with collecting eggs at dawn.  It embodies the humor typical of Tomie DePaola, with friendly animals. 

Other titles include:  The Wave by Suzy Lee, Unspoken by Henry Cole (a story of the Underground Railroad), The Flower Book by Mark Ludy, and The Girl and the Bicycle by Mark Prett.

Thankful Mayflower boats

We read a few Thanksgiving books and then created small Mayflower boats out of cardboard, the sails listed what children were thankful for.

Materials:
brown cardboard strips (from box), stapler, brown construction paper, black and brown markers, Dixie cups, Popsicle sticks, Elmer's glue, white paper, pencils, scissors

Steps:
1.  Build a cardboard frame out of a strip of cardboard, you could also use milk cartons
2.  Cover the frame in glue
3.  Wrap the frame in construction paper (making sure there was a bottom for the Dixie cup)
4.  Draw "wooden" boards and windows on our ships
5.  Turn the Dixie cup upside down and cut a slit in the top
6.  Insert the Popsicle stick mast
7.  Write our thankful items on the white paper and cut it out
8.  Attach it to the mast


Extension(s):  the children can also create Pilgrims to ride the ship,  write about the activity from a historical event perspective, as a "how to" paper, or a fiction story from a Pilgrim's perspective

 

Biography TImelines

A quick and easy way to separate main idea and details, while reading biographies and learning about the genre, is to create a timeline of a person's life.  This also solidifies the idea of chronological order, has children return to text to seek out information, and gives them the opportunity to learn about an influential person. 

Here are a few examples of timelines of Walt Disney's life, based on one particular biography, but we did additional research using other sources also.

Younger children or children with limited English can simply draw big events and perhaps label them, while older children can additionally write about the person's life, highlighting their accomplishments.

Phones

These are pieces of PVC elbow pipe, available at big hardware stores, such as Home Depot and Lowes.  I use them for primarily three things: reading fluency, hearing letter sounds, and revising writing.

The sound through the pipe accentuates what they hear and they are more cognizant of how they are pronouncing.   It really helps some children hear the vowel sounds that they are making.

The kids love using them and are excited to reread a book or poem while they "listen" to themselves read.  They only have to read at a very low volume to hear themselves, so several children reading at the same time is not a problem.

When we are revising writing, I have the students read their writing quietly to themselves (usually sitting at an area like a writing center) and then go back and read it a second time using a blue pen to make changes.  Sometimes they are reading for flow, sometimes with a purpose, such as adding strong verbs or similes and metaphors.

The piping is inexpensive and can be decorated with puffy paint, stickers, or names written in Sharpie (it wipes off with rubbing alcohol at the end of the year).  It's a fun tool to have in the classroom.

Sight Word Path

When teaching and/or reviewing sight words, sometimes we use a sight word path (this also works well in the hallway).  I write the sight words on index cards and place them on the floor, the kids walk the path reading the sight words aloud (it's great to laminate them first for reuse).  If you have a group of kids, you can have one child go until they misread a word and then stop and the next child starts and so on.  
The can also walk the path with a clipboard and record certain words (like all the words beginning with 'c,' etc).  There are many variations, including integrating laying them out and collecting them into the reading of them, hopping, pointing with a yard stick, or taping them down for extended use.

Tall Tales

After reading several tall tales aloud and different versions of the same tales, my students wrote their own tall tales.  We edited and revised them and typed them.  The students created the main character and pasted the exaggerated tales on their bodies. 

Sand Tray Letters

One tactile way of developing letter-sound correspondance skills is by using sand trays to trace letters.  I usually use this in one-on-one situations or small groups.  I hold up a card (Fundations or Orton-Gillingham cards are ideal), but any letter card works and say the name of the letter and then the sound while they repeat the sound and trace the letter.  For younger children we work on one a few letters at a time until they have built a knowledge bank and than add additional letters.

Eventually we move into using the cards to create cvc words that they trace in the sand.  A gentle shake of the tray with erase/reset the sand for the next letter, and eventually it is a quick process.  The kids love the tactile input and some kids truly excel when learning is "hands-on."

Clouds

We read a few cloud books and followed up with painting clouds.  This activity can be used for younger children with creating clouds and developing fine motor skills, or with older children studying weather and cloud types.  It's also a great way to paint snow or snowmen!


 

The cloud book we started with was Little Cloud by Eric Carle.  We read the book out loud a few times and then created our own clouds on blue construction paper.  To create our cloud mixture, I mixed equal parts liquid glue (such as Elmer's) and shaving cream.  It forms a sticky, fluffy substance (great for developing oral language and discussion) that can be painted/sponged/finger painting/foam brushed onto paper.  It will dry almost as puffy paint, in a textured, raised bubble, depending on how much is applied.  The children then wrote a story about a cloud.

Various clouds by kindergarteners.

This activity is also perfect for the Cloud Book, by Tomie De Paola and creating each type of cloud.

Violet the Pilot

Violet the Pilot by Steve Breen is a wonderful book for teaching about children being different because of their interests, while encouraging the idea of girls achieving feats in male dominated areas.  It's a fun story of a creative heroine who builds her own flying machines from junkyard scraps.

After we read, the students created their own blueprint designs of an airplane or flying machine that they would create with common household objects or discarded items. These were based on the blueprints on the end pages of the book.  They labeled the diagrams and then went on to write a story about an adventure in their flying machine.

Materials:  a copy (or multiple copies) of Violet the Pilot, white colored pencils, dark blue paper or construction paper

Sand Letters

Some reading programs use tactile or sensory experiences for students to learn letters or letter sounds.  Montessori schools for example, use sandpaper letters as students develop literacy skills.  The Orton-Gillingham reading intervention program also uses sensory experiences, such as students tracing letters in sand or rice.

Materials:  index cards or oak tag (if using oak tag- scissors or a paper cutter), pencils,  liquid glue such as Elmer's glue, colored sand from a craft store, measuring spoons/small scoop, a container to hold the sand
- you may want newspaper or paper on the table & probably a dust pan and brush for afterwards!

 Process:

This activity can be made with the students and used in a variety of ways.

 1.)  On  an index card or pre-cut piece of oak tag and write the letters in pencil.

2.)  Students go over the letter in glue (either by squeezing the glue bottle or going over it with a Q-tip and glue). 







3.)  Students take a scoop of sand and sprinkle it over the letters.  Shake off the excess sand and leave it to dry for a couple of hours.

Uses:

I often just make the vowels with the students to take home, but have a set of the whole alphabet.

•  in reading groups
•  students say the letter name and sound and trace over them with their fingers
•  the students can hold up a letter when they hear the letter sound in a word
• creating a short vowel word
• doing a crayon rubbing over the top of the letter

Gingerbread Houses

Building gingerbread houses with the students is a seasonal activity that also develops oral language, reading and writing, and integrates Common Core Standards of science and technology.  Before we built the houses, we read some books about gingerbread houses (Jan Brett's The Gingerbread Baby) and a few different versions of the Gingerbread Boy.



We have also been writing and reading directions about building a gingerbread house.  For older students, they read a passage from ReadWorks.com and answered questions.  With the younger students, we wrote out on chart paper directions for putting together a gingerbread house.  Later children wrote about constructing their gingerbread houses in an informational piece and wrote a fiction

Materials for house construction:

Non-edible:  paper plates, muffin tin liners (for holding various decorating candies), small cups (Dixie cups work well for icing), popsicle sticks or knives for spreading icing, a bowl for mixing, hand mixer, if you are feeling adventurous- sandwich bags to use to "pipe" the icing


Optional:  a disposable table cloth, paper towels, small (rinsed and emptied) milk or juice cartons to build around

Food items:  egg whites (Egg Beaters are a good bet, they are pasteurized and no need to separate eggs), confectioner's sugar, cream of tartar, and graham crackers.  For decorating- the lighter the candy, the more likely it is to stick- sprinkles, Nerds, M & Ms, chocolate chips, more traditionally- gum drops and candy canes, but they are both heavy!

There are a variety of recipes for Royal icing, the white icing that hardens when it dries, here is one that I used:

• 3 cups confectioners' sugar  
•  2 egg whites, beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar 

        Royal icing can be colored with food coloring
        - makes 4 cups
 (*if kids eat the icing, the eggs should be pasteurized)

Process: 
1.) Set up and out all of the materials 
     Each child receives:  a paper plate, a milk carton, a small cup for icing, a popsicle stick or   disposable knife, 6 graham cracker pieces
 
2.) Make the royal icing according to recipe

3.)  Children build the houses around the milk carton

4.)  After 5-10 minutes of drying time (they can read or color after washing their hands) start decorating
 

This was mad with gluten-free graham crackers, so proportions are different.

This is a super messy (but fun) activity-  be prepared!  

Ghost Word Work Cups

An easy, low prep activity for welded sounds, blends, etc. 

Materials:  cups (plastic or small coffee cups work well), permanent markers, scissors
                  - adjust cup size to the development age/fine motor skills of child

Steps:  Pre-cut rectangular windows on each cup.

          1.  Give each child a permanent marker and have them write a blend or welded sound next to
              the rectangle.

          2.  Stack the cups.

          3.  In the window, have the child write the rest of the word.

          4.  Rotate one cup and in the next space, write the another word part.

          5.  Continue to rotate until words have been written in each space.

         6.  Draw eyes at the top of the cup and a mouth around the word rectangle.

         7.  Have the students read the words.

You can create a group of ghosts that review several sounds or have all children write the same words.

Character Summaries

To look at characters in a book, this activity can be tweaked for various levels and analysis of characters (events, character traits, appearances, etc).

Take a large piece of paper and fold each side in so that it meets in the middle.  Choose two characters from the story (the protagonist and antagonist are easy to work with).  On the inside, choose a scene, or the students can choose a scene, in which the two characters interact.

The example below is from fourth graders who read the Roald Dahl book The Twits.  They each drew Mr. and Mrs. Twit on the opposing cover flaps.  On the interior they choose one or two jokes that the Twits played on one another, illustrated, and described them in writing.

Sequencing

Two literacy extension activities the we have done recently are sequencing, during and after reading books.  With older students, I give them Post It notes or index cards to keep track of major events in books.  With younger students, I keep track of the events (though we discuss them as a group), on chart paper or a sequencing map.  When we are finished reading, the students retell the events orally and in writing, and illustrate the sequence.

Examples of students' work from their respective reading groups:

A series of pictures from a second grader showing the Saguaro Cactus life cycle,
as shown in A Cactus Hotel.

After reading Abe Lincoln's Hat, a fourth grader took three major events
from the beginning, middle, and end of the story, described them
and drew illustrations.

Puppets

Puppets are such a great way for students to practice language and literacy.  I have been working with students in various grades and making puppets lately.  One of my second grade groups read a few plays and wrote their own, another group is performing a version of Cinderella that they read, and my fourth graders just finished Greek myth plays (from Scholastic printables).

This time, I gave them paper plates, popsicle sticks, and paper.  I drew a form for the younger kids and they used it to create their puppets.  The older kids wanted the freedom to make there own.  Here are a few:

Greek Mythology

After adopting the Common Core State Standards, the fourth grade curriculum changed to include aspects of Greek mythology (mostly entomology).  One lesson I used when teaching Greek and Roman myths is below.

After a series of read alouds, from mythology books available at local libraries, each of the students chose a god or goddess to research.  They then created a large scale drawing (I have seen this lesson done on butcher paper with life size figures) of their god/goddess.  They are given a graphic organizer and each limb and part of the body houses a different teaching point.  Obviously you can tailor this the ability and needs of your class.

Hints:  many resources need to be read or previewed.  Mythology can be gruesome and is not always age appropriate for fourth graders.
Some good and readily available titles were: A Child's Introduction to Greek Mythology The True Stories of the Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, Monsters, and Other Mythical Creatures, and D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths.

Organizer on chart paper

Whole class teacher model

Student work

Organizer for Research

Title:  The name of your god or goddess: 

Head:  Adjectives describing your god or goddess (at least 6).

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Torso:   Choose one myth that your god or goddess is in.  Summarize the myth below:

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

1 Arm:  Write about your god or goddess' personality: 

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

1 Arm:  Write about what your god or goddesses created: 

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Feet:  Draw symbols of your god or goddess. 

Easter Egg Bunnies

I found this activity in Family Circle magazine.  It's quick and easy and inexpensive.

Completed bunny.

Materials needed: 

• plastic Easter eggs (the larger ones are easier to use & make sure they have holes on top and bottom)
• pipe cleaners
• a Sharpie or permanent marker
• pom poms or cotton balls for a tail
• a hot glue gun and glue stick
• (goodies for inside if you are so inclined)

Steps for making the bunny:
         
Open the egg and feed the pipe cleaner through and back through the same hole to create an ear.
Pull it back through and do the same with the other half of the pipe cleaner.
Do the same for the feet.  (You can also cut the pipe cleaner in half for the feet).
Draw a face on the front with the Sharpie.
 Glue the pom-pom on the back, with the hot glue gun, for the tail.

Some books related to this activity: 

The Bunny Who Found Easter- Charlotte Zolotow
The Easter Egg- Jan Brett
The Story of the Easter Bunny- Katerine Tegen