Picture Books for Middle School / Junior High ©2004 Nancy Polette
web site : http://www.nancypolette.com email: [email protected] 636.272.4242
VOCABULARY
So Many Dynamos by Jon Agee. Farrar, 1993.
Palindrome
phrases.
Sit On A Potato Pan, Otis by Jon Agee. Farrar 2000.
More palindromes.
Elvis Lives by Jon Agee. Farrar, 2000.
Anagrams. See more at www .anagrams.net
Workshop by Andrew Clements. Clarion,
1999.
Personification of workshop tools
A Surfeit of Similes
by Norton Juster. Morrow, 1989
Activity: Complete these similes:
Empty picture
frames are like...
A toothache is like...
My purring cat is like...
Look
Out! Letters Alive. by Keith Polette. Pieces of Learning, 2000.
Great
for generating vocabulary.
Activity: Brainstorm words related to one letter.
Use
in a poem.
Woah Jealousy! by Woodleigh Hubbard Putnam, 2002
Personification of negative feelings.
Choose a positive feeling (love, courage,
etc) and personify it with this model:
1. I am (name the feeling)
2. Where do you
live?
3. I dress in
4. My job is to
5. My relatives are
6. I vacation
POETRY: The Mouse of Amherst by Elizabeth
Spires, Farrar, 1999.
The life of Emily Dickinson as seen through the eyes of a
small mouse.
A. Sing any Dickinson poem to either "Yankee Doodle" or "The
Yellow Rose of Texas."
B. Underline new words words in a poem Look them up! Now
does the poem make more sense? Use the underlined words in a paragraph to
describe the life of the poet.
C. Use poems as models for writing
Frequently the
woods are pink,
Frequently are brown.
Frequently the hills undress
Behind my
native town.
PARODIES: The Happy Hockey Family
by Lane Smith. Viking, 1996.
Take-off on Dick & Jane.
Activity: Create a
parody of a well-known tale using words for grades one and two.
Snow
White In New York by Fiona French
WAR: Cello of Mr. O by Jane Cutler. Dutton, 2000
Everyone
can make life better for those living in the shadow of war.
Write a recipe for a
city under seige.
Combine:
Large measure extreme shortages
Mix hunger and cold
Add bitter and heavy fighting
With 16 1arge Yugoslave army tanks
Decorate with
orange flash of mortars
Sprinkle with streets littered with bricks and broken
glass
Add Muslims, Serbs and Croats
Remove hope of escape
Place Bosnia under
siege for four years
Serve with grief and tears. (Darla K. Gr 6)
ALLEGORIES: Terrible Things by Eve Bunting.
HarperCollins, 1989.
An allegory on the Holocaust
Goose by
Molly Bang. Harper, 2001
ORIGINALITY: The Mysteries of
Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg. Houghton Mifflin 1992.
Visuals
and opening sentences that make excellent writing prompts
PROTEST
SONGS: From a Distance by Julie Gold. Dutton, 2000
See
also: biographies of Woodie Guthrie. "This Land Is Your Land"
Activity: Research
protest songs of the past 50 years.
Write a song about a situation in your
community that needs to be corrected.
ELABORATION/PUNS:
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo.
Adapted by Bruce
Coville.
www.awpi.com/Combs/Shaggy/120.html
Nose Drops by Larry Shles. Jalmar,1994. Visual and verbal
elaborations tell the tale of a nose lost from its face.
About Your Workshop Leader
Nancy has been a classroom teacher, Director of Media Services& Director
of Curriculum and spe- cia! Ed. Programs. She is a Professor. of Education at
Lindenwood University, author of 8 children's books and 100+ professional books
including Reading Guidance In A Media Age, Developing Methods of
Inquiry, School Librarian's Grab Bag.
For workshop information contact Nancy at 636-272- 4242 or visit her web site
at http://www.nancypolette.com