Miss. Contorno's Library

The Giving Tree is about a boy and a tree who have a very heartfelt relationship. The boy goes to the tree every day and plays on the tree. As the boy grows into a man, he continues to ask the tree for something new. He asked her for apples, her branches, and her trunk and the tree just kept on giving the boy what he asked for.

The students could write adjectives to describe each other and staple them to the class tree, students could make their own tree and write one adjective on each leaf to describe themselves, they could do activities about foreshadowing, predicting, or character traits.

Lexile: 530L

Pete is going back to school and he is so excited about his new shoes! He cannot contain his excitement for school and shoes so he goes all through the school singing about where he is and that he is rocking his school shoes. He goes to the lunchroom, library, playground, and other places around the school! 

A fun activity for new students would be to do a school tour after reading this book.

Students could also decorate their own pair of school shoes and write about the way they decorated them.

Level K F&P

Grace loves all things stories! She loves creating them and listening to them. When she gets the chance to try out for the role of Peter Pan in a play she does it even though kids in her class doubt her. The kids tell her that she cannot be Peter Pan because she is a girl, but Grace practices extra hard to show them she has what it takes to get the part. Grace's imagination and determination inspire the readers that anybody can do anything they set their mind to! 

An extension activity from this book could involve the students creating their own detailed story about anything they would want to do and the students could dress up and read their stories to the class. 

Level L F&P 

In this graphic novel, Cece goes through the challenges of losing her hearing after becoming sick. She is given a huge hearing aid to strap to her chest and wear over her clothes. As Cece goes to school, she encounters more challenges and soon becomes "El Deafo, Listener for All!" Becoming El Deafo gives her the confidence she needs to continue to overcome her difficulties with friends and school. She soon meets friends that accept her for who she is and embraces her differences.

A great activity for student to do after reading this book is coming up with a superhero name and power and writing a story about it. 

Grade Level: 5-10

Level X F&P