My Bag of Tricks

Matilda, is a book full of magic and adventure. It is perfect for peeking children's curiosity. The book also deals with some heavy home-life issues like many children face these days. I would use this as a possible literature circle book and also as a choice from the classroom library in the upper grades.

This book series is a classic piece of children's literature, in my opinion. These books are full of morals, character education, imagination in its purest form, and coming of age stories. These books teach children about life as it was during a simpler time, but are also highly relatable, especially to young girls. I love these books and will definitely have the full set in my classroom library for grades 3-6. I would also like to use them for literature circles in 5th and 6th grade.

This book is a great way to engage some readers who may be disinterested, but have big imaginations. This book allows for plenty of imagination and creativity and is a "chapter book." I would use it in my classroom library for grades 3-6 in the hopes that students would find it interesting and engaging. 

This book is inspiring for all ages. I would definitely do a simple read aloud with it in grades 5 and/or 6, depending on when the students would be "graduating" to middle school. It can also be used to spark a variety of writing prompts for any grade level. I recently taught a pre-writing lesson, using this book, in a first grade class.

I would love to use this book, not only in my classroom library for student's to read at will, but also as a read aloud to discuss with my class the importance of self-esteem, self-confidence, and how to prioritize the opinions of others. I would definitely use this book in a fifth grade class, because I think these are important character aspects for them to explore before going into middle school. However, I would even use it in classes k-6. 

I thought this book was so much fun to work with when we read it in class. Personally, I would love to use it when teaching nouns and use it specifically for a word sort activity. I would also keep it in my classroom library after we worked with it because it is just so fun! Grades 1-6. 

For me, this book is a MUST HAVE! I have to have this book in my classroom and in my life simply because it is my all time favorite! To me, this book just epitomizes childhood as well as the transition from childhood into adulthood. I do not have any specific ideas on how to use it in my classroom other than the following:

1. I WILL use it for a read aloud no matter what grade I am teaching (ages 0-100+), and

2. It WILL be in my classroom library!

In my classroom I would use this book to build confidence in my students who may be beginning readers (k-2) or struggling readers(3-6). This book, as well as many other Dr. Seuss books, helped me to become a confident and fluent reader simply because of the silliness and rhyming. I would most likely use this book in rhyming word lessons, but definitely have it in my classroom library for students to read by choice. Practice with these creative books makes for a very fun and effective reading experience. 

I would absolutely use almost all of Dr. Seuss' books in my classroom simply for the fact that they are fun and easy to read, and they tend to give kids confidence in their reading and help them to use their imaginations. I would use this book specifically to talk to younger children about the importance of having new experiences and about being polite.  I may also use it to discuss sequence of events and/or rhyme patterns. I would most likely use it in a whole group lesson with grades K-3 and then have it on the shelf for grades 4-6.