One iPad. 28 Students. Here's How to Make it Work

I was fortunate enough to work as a school library media specialist at a school where there were 60 iPads that teachers could checkout individually or in sets of 6 or even in a classroom set of 30.  While more and more schools are acquiring iPads for classroom use there are still many more schools who simply don't have the funds to purchase these magical devices.  So what is a teacher to do if there is only one iPad in the classroom? Is it worth it?

I know, some of you are saying, one iPad would be nice! Right now we have zero... Hang in there. Consider other sources such as PTA and educational grants. Some teachers even use their own personal iPads in the classroom (gasp!). Once you have an iPad in hand, evaluate the apps carefully. Explore educational apps on the iPad (many are free) and take time to play with them.  Consider how user friendly the app is and its educational value for your curriculum and your particular students. Here are a few tips to get you started:

VGA adapter

1. Whole group activities: Connect the iPad to your digital overhead projector or ActivBoard with a VGA adapter. These cost about $30. This converts your tiny screen into a large screen. Now everyone can easily see the iPad screen.

• Use navigation applications such as Google Earth and other maps apps to locate places as they apply to your curriculum. Estimate miles from your school to a specific destination and check it with the app using the "Get directions" feature. These apps are also great for building background knowledge for the setting of a story or understanding where specific historical events took place. 
•  Don't have a whiteboard? There is an app for that! Apps such as Whiteboard and Show Me can serve as a white board that the teacher or students can write on just as you would a traditional dry erase board. Try several different ones out (most are free) before you decide which one to use in the classroom. They all have a unique feel and you will likely find one that you like more than others. Several of these apps have a recording feature that will record your writing or drawing and your voice and play it back for you. 
• Skype! Use the Skype app (also free) or Face Time (free from iPad to iPad or iPhone) to connect with another class in another state or part of the world or host your own virtual author visit by Skyping an author. You can read more about using Skype in the Classroom and see a video of how I've used it with 2nd graders.

2. Small group / Centers:  Set up the iPad as a center activity or Learning Station. Communicate high expectations for appropriate use and care of the iPad and take away the privilege if it is abused. You will likely find that your students enjoy using the iPad enough to meet or exceed your expectations.

• Read an e-book together as a class to demonstrate first, then set it up for use as a small group activity or even as an incentive for individuals to reward good behavior. Many e-books are free and run off of various free apps including the Kindle app (my favorite). The highlight and margin notes features work great for taking and sharing notes as you read. Sometimes the most reluctant readers will be the first to volunteer to read an e-book simply because they are attracted to the technology. There are even wonderful e-books for beginning readers. Check out the app I Like Books, which has 37 nonfiction colorful easy readers your kindergartners and first graders will love.
• Set up the iPad as a small group activity for researching the solar system using NASA's excellent educational apps as a starting place. 
• Use the camera and video camera on the iPad to document events in your classroom. Set up a classroom blog (there are apps for that!) and assign students to be responsible for updating the blog each week. Be sure to share the blog link with parents and even other classrooms so they can see all the great learning going on in your classroom. 
• Set up the iPad as a center activity for literature response, creative writing, or to share information learned from a research project. Use creative apps that allow students to create a story while recording their own voice. Students will be actively engaged in the writing task just by having a new purpose and new tools with which to write. Suggested apps: Puppet Pals HD, Sock Puppets, Show Me, and Toontastic.
  

3. Classroom Management: Incorporate the iPad into your classroom management tool box for smoother transitions and increased student interest.

• Use a timer app to display a countdown clock on the big screen. Most timer apps are free and you can choose from several fun sounds instead of a buzzer. When students can see exactly how much time they have left for a task, they are more likely to better manage their own time. 
• Use the iPad as an incentive for good behavior by rewarding students with time to use the iPad as individuals or in pairs. Select specific educational apps for students to explore and create a folder for them on the iPad so students will be certain of their perimeters for exploration time.
• Explore apps made especially for classroom management to assist with record keeping, grading, anecdotal notes and class calendar. Use clock and calendar apps to set reminders about when small groups leave the classroom for pull-outs such as speech or tutoring or for grade level events such as assemblies. 

Chances are your students know a bit more about iPads than their teachers. Include them in the discussion. Ask them to share educational apps that they find and use at home. Ask them how we could use the iPad to support learning in the classroom. You might be surprised at their resourcefulness! 

Wings by Christopher Myers

Students who have ever been made fun of or who have stood up for what is right will quickly connect with the characters in Christopher Myer's thought provoking picture book, Wings.  Based on the Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus, Wings is the story of a boy named Ikarus who is made fun of because he is different. Despite the snickers and snide remarks of his peers, Ikarus stays true to himself and uses his beautiful wings as they were intended: to fly. The narrator of the story, a young girl at Ikarus's school, is also made fun of because she is so quiet. She can't help but notice how Ikarus's wings droop and sag when others make fun of him. Regretfully, she doesn't say anything. As the bullying continues, she eventually finds the courage and her own voice to stand up for what is right. She boldly tells Ikarus what he needed to hear, "Your wings are beautiful." This is a story about bullying and second chances and standing up for what is right when others are being treated poorly.

Literature Connections: Wings is the perfect read aloud to spark meaningful conversations about bullying, being yourself, and standing up for others. This would also work well paired with the Greek myth Icarus and Daedalus. After reading both stories, compare and contrast the character traits of Icarus / Ikarus in each story. Discuss the authors' purpose for each story as well as why the author may have chosen to name the character Ikarus in Wings. What else could the wings in Myer's story represent? Check out the educator's guide, extension activities and vocabulary scaffold for Wings provided by RIF (Reading is Fundamental) here. 

Recommended Ages: Pre-K through 6th grade

The Power of Story During an Election

As an educator, election season is one of my favorite times of the year because of the opportunities for authentic learning experiences it provides. What better time to teach our students the power of exercising our right to vote than election  day? And what better way to teach this than through the power of story? 

Consider hosting a mock election with storybook characters as candidates. (See book list below for ideas.) Encourage students to consider what character traits they feel are most important in a candidate. Brainstorm each candidate's character traits as evidenced in the stories. Engage students in the planning of the voting event by making voting boxes, ballots, forming campaign teams for favored storybook characters, advertising election day details and counting the votes. *School librarians: Use this opportunity to host a school-wide mock election with storybook characters as candidates. Post or announce election updates throughout the day (or week) as each class votes.

Check out some of the election-themed children's books in the list below. These thoughtfully written children's books are the perfect conversation starters for discussing the importance of elections and the power of exercising the right to vote.

I Need My Own Country by Rick Walton is perfect as a read aloud for K-2 students as well as students in grades 3-6. Frustrated by her little brother, a young girl decides to form her own country, make her own currency and her own flag. She soon realizes the importance of citizenship in her country and the need for rules and laws. 

The Class Election from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler will pull the young chapter book reader in with familiar humorous characters from the Black Lagoon. Readers will explore the importance of candidates standing up for what they believe in as characters in this story must choose the offices for which they will run.

Duck for President by Doreen Cronin is an enjoyable read aloud that is sure to spark meaningful discussion among students young and old. Duck is tired of the way Farmer Brown is running the farm so he decides to do something about it by running for office. (See video featuring this book at top of blog post.)

Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio is a suitable read aloud for students in grades K-6. Grace, determined that there should be a female presidents, decides to run for president at her school's election. Grace for President would be a great introduction for an upper elementary lesson on the electoral system.

Keeper of Books?

This is what a 21st century school library looks like. Check it out! 

When asked what I do, my reply is usually, "I'm a school media specialist." Then I wait. I know it's coming. Assumptions: "Oh, you're a librarian. You check out books." That's about the time I bite my tongue, smile, take a deep breath and try to explain what it is that we media specialists really do and why it is, in fact, the best job in the school.

The role of the media specialist in the 21st century has changed drastically in just the past 10 years. Hey, it's changed drastically in just the past 2 years! As technology continues to change at lightening speeds, the role of media specialist evolves and changes continually too. Long gone are the days as the keeper of the books. Much of the role of a media specialist today revolves around technology and staying current on all the latest, ever changing resources that are becoming increasingly available to the entire learning community. The 21st century media specialist has the unique role of bringing the vast array of resources (both print and digital) to teachers and students while equipping them with the training and skills needed to be effective and responsible users and sharers of information. Even with all the changes in school library media, one thing remains constant: the challenge and joy of fostering in students (and adults!) a genuine love of reading. The wise school library media specialist meets students where they are by using digital media, Web 2.0, and other new technologies to spark student interest in the old fashioned art of reading a book. 

Last spring I had the opportunity to observe Andy Plemmons, Media Specialist Extraordinare, at Barrow Elementary School in Athens, GA. Mr. Plemmons blends information literacy, new technologies and a love for reading into his media lessons in a way that sparks students' interest and makes learning fun. You can almost feel the excitement these students have about learning in Mr. Plemmon's monthly media center report. Check it out!

Dictation App Makes Learning Fun

Recently the English as a Second or Other Language (ESOL) teacher and I collaborated on a lesson that incorporated the use of iPads to help her students practice their English skills in a new way.

For individual practice, we used Dragon Dictation , an app that makes use of voice recognition to help you see your text after speaking it. Students were able to speak a phrase or sentence then watch as the app wrote the words on the iPad screen.

 At first we weren't sure how quickly the 1st and 2nd grade students would take to this activity but five minutes into it, we were pleasantly surprised. We heard lots of giggles when the app interpreted words differently than expected at times. Students quickly figured out that in order for the app to get it right they had to speak as clearly as possible and slow down, a task that would require intentional and careful pronunciation of words.

Overall we found the simple design of the app to be user friendly. While the voice recognition does have it's limitations, after seeing the extra attention and energy it brought to the ESOL lesson, I began to think of other uses for a dictation app in the classroom:

• Students who are still learning to write and spell could use a dictation app like Dragon Dictation to dictate short stories. It would help them get their ideas down before getting bogged down in the mechanics of writing.
• Students with special needs that find writing challenging could dictate stories or sentences using the app
• Students could take turns dictating a sentence one at a time to build a story together.
• Students could practice letter writing by dictating a letter then emailing it to their teacher or parent (the app has the option to send dictated text as text message or email).
• Students could practice reading fluency and reading with expression with the dictation app then go back into the text on the screen to edit for punctuation marks as needed.

Student Book Selection Committee

Upon arrival at my new job as media specialist with a less than desirable media collection, I set out this past fall seeking and applying for grants that would help us purchase much needed library books. Midyear I was notified that we won two separate grants for our school-wide reading program called Just READ. With money to spend I asked teachers to nominate a few students to help select new library books for our school. In a matter of hours our student book selection committee was in place. I had previously arranged for a book vendor to bring book samples for the students to preview. They eagerly began previewing and sorting the books into three piles: Yes, No and Maybe. Our experts took their task very seriously in selecting titles they were interested in as well as titles they thought the other students at our school would want to read. In the end we were able to purchase 100% of the titles in the Yes pile and many of the titles in the Maybe pile. When the books came in our student book selection committee became walking advertisements for the new books. Excitement really is contagious!

Summer Reading

We all know the importance of encouraging students to read over the summer. Numerous studies show that students who read regularly over the summer continue to improve their reading skills and are better prepared for learning new skills when they return to school. Summer reading nourishes the brain, giving students the benefits of an increased vocabulary and a broader background knowledge which helps them form connections with new knowledge.

Recently I was part of a discussion with several other media specialists about the best ways to promote summer reading. We discussed a variety of programs, promotions and reading lists. Our experience has taught us that the greatest factor in getting kids to read over the summer is choice. When students choose what they read based on their own personal interests and curiosities, they are more likely to open a book over the summer, enjoy it and stick with it.

Below are some tips for promoting summer reading:

• Help students connect with the public library by forming a partnership between your school and your local public library. Encourage parents to take their children to the the public library where students may register for their own library card. Invite students to come to the media center to show you their library card and have their picture made. (See picture of "Ticket to Adventure" bulletin board below.)
• Don't reinvent the wheel. Several bookstores and public libraries already have summer reading incentives in place. Many of these offer students a free book when they complete a reading log. Share these promotions with your school and encourage students to participate.
• Provide book talks on a variety  of books or feature short video book trailers on your morning news show for several weeks before the last day of school. Be sure to include a variety of genres to appeal to a broad audience.
• Encourage staff to share their own excitement about summer reading. Take pictures of staff members holding a book they plan to read this summer for a special pre-summer bulletin board. (See picture below.)
• Keep it simple and remember: enthusiasm is contagious!

Pictures of students showing off their public library cards

Summer Reading: What are YOU reading this summer?

Top Ten Tips for Creating Classroom Websites

Recently I spent quite a bit of time researching classroom and media center web pages from various surrounding county schools in hopes of improving my own media center web page. I wanted to find out how I could make the most use of our online presence to promote the media center and all it has to offer. As an outsider who is unfamiliar with these particular schools, I was able to test the sites' user friendliness and see if the over all layout made sense to the average user. It didn't take long before I began to notice trends among the most outstanding websites. I used this experience to make my Top Ten Tips for Creating Classroom Websites:

1. Consider your reason for having a classroom website. What information do you want to share and why? Write this down. It is your overall goal for the website and will help shape how you proceed from here.
2. Consider who will be your target audience / users for the classroom website. Parents? Students? The community? All of the above? Keep this in mind as you create and maintain your website.
3. Keep it simple! You don't need to be a web designer to make your site look good. I recommend using a website creator such as Weebly.com that is user friendly and guides you through the process. The great thing about Weebly is that it is free, easy to use and set up to help you succeed in creating a sharp looking website. 
4. Consider how you want to break up the information on your website. Use tabs and pages within the website to organize your information in a way that will make sense to your audience / users. Take a look at other class webpages for ideas that work well.
5. Images speak louder than words. Take pictures of your classroom, school events and students at work and add them to your website where appropriate. Weebly allows you to add slide shows, videos and photo galleries in a matter of minutes.
6. Leave the 1990's clip art and flashing, animated backgrounds in the 1990's. You wouldn't want your viewer's to get a headache just looking at the website. 
7. Cut the clutter. Ask coworkers, family and friends to take a look at your site before you publish it. Ask for honest feedback on what you should keep and what should be cut. Remember clean and simple is much more eye-appealing and user friendly than busy and cluttered. 
8. Set aside a regular time to update and maintain your website with current information.
9. Use it! This is your space to showcase what students are learning in the classroom. Also, think about the information that you are frequently having to copy for students or parents. Can that info be incorporated into your website for easy access?  
10. Get your student's involved! Once you feel comfortable with the overall management of your website, involve your students in certain features of your website by having them write book reviews, class blog entries, news stories, or serve as class photographers for the week.

Teacher Resources for Earth Day... or Any Day

Science Netlinks: True Green Kids: 100 Things You Can do to Save the Planet is a 3 day lesson for grades 3-5 based on the picture book with the same title by Kim McCay and Jenny Bonnin.

ReadWriteThink: Protecting Our Precious Planet: Sharing the Message of Earth Day  This lesson is geared towards grades K-2 but can be adapted for older students. Students create an environmental message and display it by decorating borrowed brown paper bags from local grocery stores. The bags are then returned to the store for bagging use at the registers. This is a simple yet meaningful way students can share their environmental messages with the local community.

Create Public Service Announcements:  Pair students up in groups of two to search for and collect digital images about recycling, water pollution, air pollution, natural resources or other topics related to Earth Day. Using Animoto.com* have each pair create a 30 second video public service announcement about caring for our environment. (Grades 4 and up).
*Animoto is a user-friendly free web-based tool for creating 30 second videos super fast. Just select photos from their gallery or upload your own, add some text, select or upload your music and Animoto will do the rest. 

Thinkfinity offers several great links to other lesson plans and resources centered around Earth Day. Be sure to check them out!

Earth Day Picture Books

Good planets are hard to find... so let's not blow it! April 22 is Earth Day. Oops! Correction: Every day is Earth Day! In celebration of Earth Day, here are some titles you won't want to miss that highlight our amazing planet and tell how we can better take care of it. Check it out!

A Kid's Guide to Global Warming
by Glenn Murphy

Oil Spill! by Melvin Berger

One Well: The Story of Water on Earth
by Rochelle Strauss

Oil Spill! Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico
by Elaine Landau

Earth Day Birthday
by Patti Schnetzler

Growing Up Green
by Jeanne Sturm

Earth: Feeling the Heat
by Brenda Guiberson

Nonfiction Picture Books: Earthquakes and Tsunamis

It's hard to miss the many news media reports about the extreme devastation surrounding the March 11th earthquake and tsunami in Japan. As newscasts continue to report 24/7 on the disaster, teachers are seeking resources for connecting current events with the science curriculum and making the most of teachable moments. Thinkfinity.org has an excellent collection of resource links for teachers about earthquakes and tsunamis as well as multiple lessons on the topic. You can check out Thinkfinity's resources on Earthquakes and Tsunamis here. Below are some excellent children's books about earthquakes and tsunamis that will help answer questions about what causes these natural disasters in an age appropriate way. I have included a picture book, Elephants of the Tsunami by Jana Laiz, which is based on a true story. This particular text would be a great read aloud for younger children to spark discussion about the recent earthquake in Japan. After learning of the devastation in Japan, students (and teachers) will likely want to know how they can help in relief efforts. Time Newsfeed lists several ways we can help.

Earthquakes by Editors of Time for Kids
(2006)  Grades K-2

Earthquakes by Seymour Simon
(2006) Grades 4-6

Earthquakes by Franklyn Branley
(2005) Grades K-3

Tsunami: The True Story of an
 April Fool's Day Disaster
by Gail Langer Larwoski and John MacDonald
(2006) Grades 4-7

Elephants of the Tsunami by Jana Laiz
(2007) Grades K-2
*Based on a true story.

All Kinds of Friends, Even Green! by Ellen B. Senisi

Moses' class has been talking about friendship. When his teacher asks the class to pick a friend to write about, Moses thinks about his many friends including his classmates, his parents, his teacher and even green his friends, Zaki and Hashi, the pet iguanas that live next door. Moses spins the wheels of his wheel chair as the wheels in his head keep spinning with ideas about which friend he will write about. In the end, Moses decides to write about Zaki, the iguana with no back toes. He says, "I think that's what I really like about Zaki. She figures out how to get where she wants to be in different ways than Hashi does. She's like me. I like Zaki and I think she likes me back."

Ellen Senisi's colorful photographs show children from a variety of cultures with diverse needs in an familiar environment every child can relate to: the classroom. Her story leads us through Moses' thought process as he tries to decide what to write about. Ellen Senisi is known for her beautifully photographed children's books and stock photography that celebrate diversity, children with special needs and inclusion.  

Literature Connections: This would be a great book to share as a read aloud for a discussion starter about friendship, diversity and special needs. It would also be an excellent choice to use for a mini lesson about the writing process and selecting a topic using the example of Moses' thought process as he decides what to write about. 

Recommended Age: PreK through elementary

Culminating Experiences: Tips on creating videos with your students

Considering a culminating experience in which your students can demonstrate what they have learned? How about involving your students in creating, directing and producing their own educational video or slide show? Sound overwhelming? It doesn't have to be. You can make your video using iMovie, Windows Movie Maker or other movie software such as Pinnacle Studio, as I used for the Habitat video above.

     If the task is still daunting, or you, like most teachers, are short on time, opt for my favorite: the quick, user friendly Animoto movie and slideshow creator. Just upload your video and still images, add in some text and let Animoto do the rest. Animoto will email you the completed movie in a matter of minutes.The best part is, educator accounts are free and teachers are given a special code for students to use. 

     You can see an example of how I used Animoto to create a book trailer on a previous post. This entire book trailer video took me less than 20 minutes to complete. And speaking of book trailers, consider having students create their own book trailers as a visual for a book report. The beauty of the video project is that it requires students to collaborate with each other as they apply what they have learned.  It can be used across all content areas with students of all ages. Here are a few tips to get you started:

• Write down your curriculum goals for this project (to keep everyone on task) and collaborate!  
• Use a combination of still images and short video segments. You can use your own images or select from available images on the web. Just be sure to check for copyrights on any images that aren't your own. Look for a creative commons license for free-use images.
• Involve the students in planning the video. Ask questions like: What do we want our viewers to learn from our video? What are the most important parts and how can we capture that on film?
• Assign students roles including videographers, photographers, keyboard operators, actors and narrators.
• Keep the final product short -- less than one minute to five minutes max.
• Have fun! Invite parents to an afternoon matinée viewing of the student created movies showcasing what they have learned. Don't forget the popcorn!

Read Across America

 Last week several elementary school media specialists and I met for a monthly informal professional gathering. We were each asked to share at least one thing that is working well in our media programs. We talked about data bases that work best with lessons for teaching our youngest researchers early research skills. We shared about collaborating with teachers, scheduling issues and how to go about managing clerical duties given that some schools will be loosing media clerks due to budget cuts. Of course you can't put a bunch of elementary media specialists together the first week of March and not hear enthusiastic stories of red and white striped hats, Cat in the Hat costumes, green eggs and ham for breakfast, guest readers, reading celebrations and activities such as making foot marks (instead of book marks) after reading Seuss's The Foot Book. I love Read Across America! And yes, there is a Cat in the Hat costume hanging in my closet.

Goal! by Mina Javaherbin

No one likes to be bullied, including Ajani and his football (soccer) buddies in South Africa. Mina Javaherbin's story is one in which children all across the globe can relate. Ajani and his friends live in poverty. Their homes are shanties. Their street is unsafe. They have little time to play between school and daily chores. But when they do find time to play, they find escape and hope in a simple game of football. They know the bullies will come again and try to take their ball. But for today they have outsmarted the bullies. Today there will be kicking, running, scoring and laughter.
     This 2010 large picture book is a winner not only for it's high interest level, but for the gentle yet realistic way of handling difficult issues like poverty and bullying  for young readers. A.G. Ford's illustrations are full of color and energy while also showing a range of emotions throughout the story.
     Literature Connections: K-5, Language Arts, Guidance, Geography, Social Studies, Physical Educaiton: Goal! would make a great discussion starter for poverty and global citizenship as well as character traits and life skills such as perseverance, overcoming obstacles and dealing with bullies.This book would be an excellent choice for a language arts mini lesson on conflict and resolution. The author's notes at the end of the book would make a great physical education tie-in about the history of football/ soccer.

Cool Tools for the Classroom: Voki

Voki is a free web tool that allows the user to create avatars. You can customize how your avatar looks, the background, what they say and how they say it. You can see my example on the sidebar to the right. With easy to use elements created especially for educators, Voki can be used in the classroom to grab students' attention for a new unit or to spark student creativity for sharing what they've learned. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Have students create vokis to highlight some of their research findings about animals, famous Americans, places around the world, or events in history. 
• Voki can be used to present the math word problem of the week in a way that is sure to grab students' attention. 
• Use voki in foreign language class to showcase new conversational skills. Check out Voki for Education to get started. 
• Voki can be used for book promotions or to share a joke or fun announcement in your homeroom class or next staff meeting. 

Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles

Title: Freedom Summer
Author: Deborah Wiles
Illustrator: Jarome Laqarrique
Publisher / Date: Simon & Schuster / 2005
Genre: Historical fiction; picture book
Themes: Civil Rights, friendship, discrimination, segregation, history
Summary:  Joe and his friend, John Henry enjoy spending the summer together as buddies. These good friends are alike in a lot of ways and enjoy many of the same things, like playing marbles and swimming. Set in 1964 in Mississippi, Joe and John Henry experience first hand the effects of discrimination. The boys decide to go swimming at the pool only to discover that John Henry is not allowed because of the color of his skin.  They become hopeful once the Civil Rights Act is passed but quickly learn that the new law will not bring on instant change.
Curriculum Connections: Grades 2-5: Social Studies, Civil Rights
Personal Note: I attended a recent author visit by Deborah Wiles in which she explained that this story is a work of fiction but it is based on events from her own life. This is a moving story appropriately written for children about this historic time in our nation's history. 

Math Curse by Jon Scieszka

Title: Math Curse
Author: Jon Scieszka
Publisher / Date: Viking Juvenile / 1st Edition: 1995 
If you're looking for a great read aloud with a math focus, this is it! Math Curse opens with the main character's teacher commenting, "You know, almost everything in life can be considered a math problem." The student then is "cursed" with discovering the truth in this statement as she goes about her day. As the student encounters math problems in everyday situations she shares her "curse" in humorous ways while tackling addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and other problem solving skills. Teachers will love this book for the authentic math problems that are presented and the humorous approach to dealing with math anxiety. Jon Scieszka's humor and creative story telling along with catchy illustrations by Lane Smith hold students' interest.
Themes: Math, Humor, Math Anxiety
Curriculum Connections:  Grade 1 and up: Math!!! This book is full of interesting word problems

Naming Liberty by Jane Yolen

Title: Naming Liberty
Author: Jane Yolen
Illustrator: Jim Burke
Publisher / Date: Philomel / 2008
Genre: Historical Fiction, Picture Book
Themes: History, Freedom, Immigrants, Social Studies
Summary: Yolen weaves parallel stories in this beautifully illustrated picture book. While telling the true story of how the Statue of Liberty was built, she also tells the story of a young Jewish girl from Ukraine and how her family came to America. As they journey to the new land of freedom, she ponders what her American name will sound like. She is welcomed to America first by the Statue of Liberty and decides to share her name: Liberty, or Libby, for short. 
Curriculum Connections: Upper Elementary: Social Studies (coming to America, religious freedom, significance of the gift of the Statue of Liberty and how and why it was made) 
Notes: The parallel story format of this book may be confusing to younger readers, but provides a fantastic historical picture for upper elementary students.

Skippyjon Jones Lost in Spice by Judy Schachner

Title: Skippyjon Jones Lost in Spice
Author / Illustrator: Judy Schachner
Publisher / Date: Penguin Group / 2009
Genre: Fiction, picture book
Themes: Space, animals, humor, Spanish
Summary: Skippyjon Jones is a quirky cat with big ears who thinks he is a dog. Skippy also thinks Mars is covered with spicy red pepper. As he sets off to prove that the planet is red because of the spices, he encounters one humorous adventure after another. The play on words and mixture of English and Spanish add to the humor.
Curriculum Connection: Grades K-2 Science: Read this book aloud as an interest builder for a unit on space; leisure reading
Notes: Visit Skippyjon Jones online at http://skippyjonjones.com/