Writing+Rubrics+and+Resources

Rubrics: draft of the potential 'guiding rubric' for the 4th grade fall narrative writing structures unit.

Resources: Here is a list of some picture books I have used/would like to use this year. The last letter is author's last name reference. I will add to this list and clean it up as you can see they aren't really in any order. These are just suggestions/ideas/things to consider. Feel free to add to this!

Lou Gehrig--Luckiest Man Alive (bio, hope, overcoming struggles) A

Sky Boys (history, depression, memories) H

The Wall (Veterans Day) B

Twilight Comes Twice (noticing things, detail, looking from a different view) F

He Came with the Couch (fun, circular ending, simplicity in character/fiction) S

Grandfather’s Journey (grandparents day, sacrifice)

The Other Side (prejudice, different view points, character/detail) W

Henry’s Freedom Box (struggle, great pics, overcoming anything)

Seven Blind Mice (morality, symbolism--must see the whole pic)

Where the Wild Things Are (imagination, detail, fantasy)

Snowflake Bentley (character study, pursuing your dreams/passion, detail)

Night Golf (inequality, character study)

The School was Not White (character study, relate to Ruby Bridges)

Baseball Saved Us (concentration camps, sports, character of the boy)

The King’s Chessboard (problem solving, wisdom, careful thinking)

Weighing the Elephant (math, problem solving, wisdom)

Math Curse (fun math, thinking of things differently)

Tough Cookie (simple character, humor, detail)

Previously (thinking about things in a new way)

Teammates (equality, history, teamwork)

Zoom! (telling a story from pictures, inferring)

Pictures from Vacation (summer vacation fun)

The Wretched Stone (perils of television) V

The Retired Kid (simple character, fiction, detail) Agee

Milo’s Hat Trick (simplicity of character, fiction, detail) Agee

Flotsam (pictures, inferring, confusing)

Black and White (multiple story lines, confusing)

Charlie Anderson (divorce, parallel story lines--like Wretched Stone)

The Dark Thirty (scary stories, like “The Sight” or the train one)

Redcoats and Petticoats (inferring strategy--see strategies book pg. 281)

Duel! (history, Hamilton/Burr) Fradin

Paperboy (history, job of main character, good detail, hardwork!)

Wilfred MacDonald Partidge (before assisted living trip)

Pink and Say (character, Civil War, emotional impact of ending)

Jim and the Beanstalk (great character, repetition of story, plants)

The Legend of Blue Jacket (history of Ohio)

Summer Wheels (moral dilemma--reread this one before teaching)

Counting on Frank (like Math Curse, problem solving, fun)

Mounds of Earth and Shell (before Mound Builders)

How Many Days to America? (immigration)

On Beyond a Million (during math big numbers)

The Greedy Triangle (before geometry/triangles)

How Tall is 1000? (beginning of the year math)

A Picture Book of Jesse Owens (biography, from Columbus)

John Glenn (bio, from Ohio)

The Picture book of T. Edison (another Ohio connection)

Wilma Unlimited (model for kid bios, facts/language) Krull

Bull’s Eye--Photobiography of Annie Oakley (bio, if just for pic and first few pages)

Sir Cumference and the Knights (if need math connection)

Roman Numerals I to MM (math)

How Big is a Foot? (measurement, kings foot, standard)

The Watertower (Tony recommend--author?)

Shortcut (friendship, moral diliema) Crews

The Mary Celeste (inferring, mysteries) Y

The Librarian who Measured the Earth (asking ?, Eurostanes)

Brave Irene/Shrek/Amos and Boris (character, wonder) Steig

Shadow Ball: The History of the Negro Leagues (stunning lead, reread this) Ward

June 29, 1999 (wordless, like Zoom) Wiesner, also Free Fall

Bullrun (short stories of C War) Fleishman

The Table Where Rich People Sit (infer what ‘rich’ is--reread) Baylor

Encounter (Columbus arrival from dif point of view) Yolen--MC

The Boston Tea Party (events, infer and ask?) Kroll

The Unbreakable Code (Navajo Code Talkers, WWII, great for?) Hunter

A. Lincoln and Me (teasing, pov, civil war/Linc bday) Borden

Mr. Lincoln’s Whiskers (true story, wonder) Winnick

Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary (great add to diary) van der Roll, Verhoeven

Faithful Elephants (WW II, zoos) Tsuchiya

The Great Migration (during late Ohio history) Lawrence

Richard Wright and the Library Card (determination) W. Miller

Eleanor (Roosevelt, disappointed adults, went on to success) by Cooney

The Tower of London (English history, gory? fun? both?) Fisher

Immigrant Kids (photos, good during Ohio unit) Freedman

Day of the Dead (on this day) Lasky

A Day’s Work (value of hard work) Bunting

One April Morning (OKC bombing April)

Dogs in Space (fun, interesting) Coffelt

Elephants (model non fiction writing) Grace

Survivors in the Shadows (hiding animals, great for synthesizing) Turbak

Mistakes that Worked (accidental discoveries, promotes investigations) Foltz Jones

Cracking the Wall: The Struggles of the LIttle Rock Nine Lucas

The Bat Boy and His Violin (father/son, civil rights, great pictures) Curtis

Gold: (check full title) Meltzer

Brain Surgery for Beginners....Parker

It’s Disgusting and We Ate It! Solheim

END OF LIST BY CHRIS--HE HAS ABOUT 75% OF THESE AND KNOWS WHERE MOST OF THE OTHERS CAN BE FOUND!