Young Scholars

Oops! So often that means, “Uh oh!” That is not the case in here—young readers will be thrilled with the creative ways Barney
Saltzberg turns smears, stains, and tears into beautiful pieces of art!

Some of the activities in this unit are a "finish my doodle" art project, blow painting, and folded paper art.

The Chapter Book Editions have lesson plans for one week, but the book is intended to be read over a longer period.

All Wilbur, a runt pig, wants is friendship and companionship. A young girl, named Fern, saves Wilbur and asks her uncle to raise him on his farm for her. That’s where Charlotte, a barn spider, comes along. A tale of friendship unfolds in this 1953 Newbery Medal award winner.

Some of the activities in this unit are mapping the spider's life cycle, making handprint pigs, and painting watercolor spider webs.

Princess Lenore has eaten too many raspberry tarts and now feels ill, and the King will stop at nothing to make her feel better! When Princess Lenore asks for the moon, the King enlists the help of his wise men—the Lord High Chamberlain, the Royal Wizard, and the Royal Mathematician—to get the moon, but they all claim it is impossible. Will the Court Jester be able to help?

This book was awarded the Caldecott Medal for Slobodkin's emotive illustrations in 1945.

Some of the activities in this Book a Week unit are making a jester hat, painting a moon in the branches, and baking raspberry tarts.

Sylvia loves to write rhyming poetry. She attaches one poem to a birch tree, wanting to make the world more beautiful. When she returns to the tree, she realizes a poem has been written back to her. Believing it is from the tree, and excited to feel understood and appreciated, Sylvia writes another poem to the tree. She is shocked when she discovers who the real author of the poems is.

Some of the activities in this Book-A-Week unit are making kindness rocks, learning about how leaves breathe with a science experiment and making discovery bottles.

Tikki Tikki Tembo is set long ago in China, where firstborn sons were given great, long names. As a sign of respect, those full names were expected to be used anytime when speaking about that person. This causes trouble for Chang whose older brother who has fallen into a well. This retelling of an ancient Chinese folktale is a classic! Tikki Tikki Tembo went on to win several awards (such as the American Library Association Notable Book and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award) and was listed as one of the best 50 children’s books by the New York Times.

Some of the activities in this unit are painting cherry blossom trees, building a dragon, and making Chinese lanterns.

Children are collectors! They collect rocks, shells, leaves, etc. But Jerome, he collects words. Through Jerome’s love of words, young readers will celebrate the power and magic of language as it helps them think, learn, and wonder. This picture book was a New York Times Bestseller and named an Outstanding Literary Work for Children by the NAACP.

Some of the activities in this unit are word building, sorting and organizing, and writing a kind note.