STAAR test Fun

Yeah, I know...my title seems like an oxymoron. But, I do what I can to make it fun...this time, for the teachers.
I wanted to do something special to for my teacher friends to ease the STAAR stress. Also, monitoring our little beans for 4 straight hours can be grueling. So, after searching online and on the great Pinterest. I decided to copycat and tweak a teacher survival it as seen here. Rather than a beginning of the year teacher's survival kit, I decided to call it the STAARVIVAL KIT!

I added little stickies with dumb notes on them, to maybe make them smile while they are pacing...bored to tears...

Anyway...just thought I'd share my STAAR fun...see? No oxymoron.

Module 15: Draw Me a Star

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Summary

This is a story of creation. It begins with an artist drawing a star and that star which moves on and asks to draw a sun and on to humans and even more of a modern scene. This could be considered a story of creation. 

APA Reference

Carle, E. (1992). Draw me a star. New York, NY: Penguin Putnam Books. 

My Impressions

I thought the pictures and stories were beautiful in Draw Me a Star. Though some may be taken back by the nudity of the humans in the middle. This is probably the main concern for it to be on the censored or challenged book list. 

Professional Review

In this large, brightly illustrated picture book, an artist draws a star, which asks him to draw a sun, which asks him to draw a tree, which asks him to draw a man and a woman . . . and so on. There are biblical overtones, with the man and woman next to the tree looking like Adam and Eve before the Fall, but within a few pages the house is built, the tulips are up, and the scene becomes modern, from houseplants to clothes. Soon, the night asks the artist to draw a moon, and the moon requests a star, bringing the text full circle. Then there’s a switch. A drawing lesson demonstrates how to make an eight-pointed star. Next, the artist’s star carries him, floating Chagall-like, across the dark, star-spangled sky. On the last page, Carle addresses a letter to his “Friends” describing how his grandmother showed him how to draw a star while reciting a nonsense rhyme, and how his trip on a shooting star inspired this book. The illustrations, in Carle’s signature style, are collages of painted, torn, and cut papers. A free-spirited, original offering. (Reviewed Sept. 15, 1992)— Carolyn Phelan
Phelan, C. (1992). Booklist. 


Library Uses
Draw Me a Star could be used to show children how fingerpainting in the illustrations can be done even by a grown up illustrator.

Module 14: For Laughing Our Louder

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Summary

A book of poems that are silly and fun for all ages. Animals play as the main character in most of the poems. 

APA Reference

Prelutsky, J. & Priceman, M. (1995). For laughing out louder. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

My Impressions

I read this book to my 3rd graders as well. They love poems. It has made up words and made up ideas that are sure to "tickle your funny bone" as the cover of the book states. 

Professional Review

Prelutsky and Priceman repeat the successful combination of For Laughing Out Loud (1991) with nonsense verse from many poets and bright, slapstick illustrations. Much is visceral, literally (“I’m very grateful to my skin / For keeping all my insides in” ), with lots about smells, foods, and all kinds of bodily distortions and dislocations. Some verses fade out, with forced rhyme and blah repetition; but there’s plenty of silliness in wordplay and situation to show kids that language can be fun. Lilian Moore’s “I Left My Head” is wonderfully surreal; there’s the same deadpan tone in X. J. Kennedy’s “The Vacuum Cleaner’s Swallowed Will.” The poets in this anthology relish the sounds of words (“Down in Patagonia / A walrus caught pneumonia / From playing its trombonia / While swimming all alonia.” “ ). Everyone will have a favorite to read aloud. (Reviewed January 1 & 15, 1996)— Hazel Rochman

Rochman, H. (1996). Booklist.

Library Uses

This is a great introduction to poems and how they can relate to stories with rhyme. 

Module 13: Tales from Outer Suburbia

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Summary

Tales in Outer Suburbia is just that. It is one book with many short imaginative tales. The beginning is a tale of a water buffalo in the middle of an empty lot, he doesn't talk. He only points passers by in the correct direction if they ask. Another tale is of a foreign exchange student (who is not human). He comes and is inquisitive about the small things in the country. Each tale contains an element that is out of the ordinary but riveting. 

APA Reference

Tan, S. (2008). Tales fom outer suburbia. New York, NY: Arthur A. Levine Books. 

My Impressions

Shaun Tan definitely has a different approach, or better yet an imaginative mind. His books are always original. It always leaves the mind to wonder, did something like this really happen somewhere? You really have to follow along every page to think deep about what the story is about. I generally enjoy Shaun Tan's illustrations above his writing.

Professional Review

After teaching the graphic format a thing or two about its own potential for elegance with The Arrival (2007), Tan follows up with this array of 15 extraordinary illustrated tales. But here is an achievement in diametric opposition to his silent masterpiece, as Tan combines spare words and weirdly dazzling images—in styles ranging from painting to doodles to collage—to create a unity that holds complexities of emotion seldom found in even the most mature works. The story of a water buffalo who sits in a vacant lot mysteriously pointing children “in the right direction” is whimsical but also ominous. The centerpiece, “Grandpa’s Story,” recalling a ceremonial marriage journey and the unnameable perils faced therein, captures a tone of aching melancholy and longing, but also, ultimately, a sense of deep, deep happiness. And the eerie “Stick Figures” is both a poignant and rather disturbing narrative that plays out in the washed-out daylight of suburban streets where curious, tortured creatures wait at the ends of pathways and behind bus stops. The thoughtful and engaged reader will take from these stories an experience as deep and profound as with anything he or she has ever read.
— Jesse Karp

Karp, J. (2008). Booklist.

Library Uses

Students can write a tale from their neighborhood and add an out of this world fictional character. 

Module 12: Starry Messenger

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Book Summary
Starry Messenger is told in a story format of Galileo Galilei's life as a philosopher. It begins with Galileo as a boy and his great intellect. He went to great schools and had big ideas about the earth and it's placement in the universe. Galileo went on to create what is now called a telescope to look at the stars. This is where he discovered the earth was not the center of the universe. Every page includes actual documentation from Galileo's journals and book, The Starry Messenger. The book details Galileo's trial against The Church, which disagreed with his philosophy. It is said that it was years later that The Church went back and claimed Galileo was right all along.




                     
APA Reference


Sis, P. (1996). The Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.


My Impressions


In my opinion, Starry messenger could be considered part biography and part autobiography. Though, it is classified as biography for juvenile literature, much of the book contains actual words from Galileo. I definitely believe this book is on a higher elementary reading level as far as Galileo's words. Some of my 3rd graders struggled with it because most of the text was in cursive script. The main storyline was easily read by my 3rd graders since it was in plain text. But, I believe for the reader to truly get the gist of the story they should read both texts (cursive and print). The storyline is very basic as far as the plain text, and probably wouldn't make for an extremely interesting story if it weren't for the illustrations. I found myself looking for Galileo in each illustration. Overall, I learned something new and enjoyed the book. I plan to keep it in my classroom a bit longer to see some of my other students thoughts.


Professional Review
Sis celebrates the life, ideas, and genius of Galileo in a picture book that achieves a brilliance of its own. Relating events in Galileo’s life, the book offers a sense of the world in which he lived and makes readers understand why his work was dangerous to the church and ultimately to himself. Large, beautiful drawings reflect the ideas, events, books, maps, world view, and symbolism of the times. These intricate ink drawings, idiosyncratic in concept and beautifully tinted with delicate watercolor washes, are complemented by smaller drawings and prints that illustrate a side-text of significant dates, time lines, quotations, comments, and explanations. These are printed in cursive and sometimes in serpentine or circular shapes that force the reader to turn the book around to make out the words. Without a doubt, this unusual picture book will attract an audience of adults who appreciate the art of Sis as well as the legacy of Galileo. The questions of whether children will be drawn to the book and what they will take away are more problematic, since the text and illustrations will be more rewarding for a reader who already has some knowledge of Galileo and the period. Still, those drawn to the book will find that it works on many levels, offering not just facts but intuitive visions of another world. An original. (Reviewed October 15, 1996)— Carolyn Phelan

Phelan, C. (1996). Booklist. 

Library Uses


It is most likely that this book will be used with students researching an invented, scientist, or mathematician. Though, it can be used for research in the field of the beginnings of science and our knowledge of the Earth's place and involvement in the universe.
























                       

Module 11: Living Color

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Summary

Steve Jenkins takes the colors red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, and pink to organize animals by their color. Each animal comes includes a picture and what makes that animal special. 

APA Reference

Jenkins, S. (2007). Living color. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company. 

My Impressions

I particularly enjoy the colorful illustrations and the fact that they are not photographs but actual paintings of animals. I believe children will enjoy the facts about the animals. I personally can not pull my 3rd graders away from non-fiction/informational books.  Something about the thrilling and out of the ordinary facts about animals and insects. 

Professional Review

It’s difficult to imagine a science topic better suited to picture-book form than this one, which offers a pageant of the most stunning, vividly hued creatures on the planet. For children somewhat older than Jenkins’ usual readership, this book opens by explaining that bright coloration goes beyond mere decoration: “If an animal is very colorful, it is likely that its brilliant skin, scales or feathers somehow help it stay alive.” Arranged by color, subsequent spreads feature a rainbow of animals rendered in Jenkins’ celebrated cut-paper style. Each picture is accompanied by a paragraph of nicely distilled information, most effective when it specifically links color to survival tactics such as camouflage, mating, or the repulsion of predators. An accessible afterword explaining more about coloration is followed by a pictorial appendix that includes approximate sizes for the book’s 66 creatures (the preceding depictions are not to scale, allowing Jenkins to lavish full attention on even the fingernail-size pygmy seahorse). From the pink fairy armadillo to the purple deep-sea dragonfish, readers will be fascinated by the panoply of critters that often seem the stuff of fairy lore, and educators will applaud the clever concept of presenting survival adaptations as a biological fashion show.
— Jennifer Mattson

Mattson, J. (2007). Booklist. 

Library Uses

Students can research the fact about the animals and com are it to other books that have the same animal or insect. 

Module 10: The Hallelujah Flight

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Summary

Banning and Allen are two men trying to fly their small plane from the west coast to the east coast. Though many think they are out of there minds, they are determined to do it. They make it across but only with the help of others along the way. Anyone who helps them with food, gas, or repairs can take part in the hallelujah flight by signing their name on the wing of the plane. 

APA Reference

Bildner, P. & Holyfield, J. (2010). The hallelujah flight. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

My Impressions

The Hallelujah Flight shows many aspects of the hard times in the 1930's. Banning and Allen go through trials along the flight, some trials being as bad as prejudice, where they are asked to leave the town. But, their spirits along the way are always bright and thankful, shouting words such as hallelujah! 

Professional Review

In 1932, James Banning was the first African American to complete a transcontinental flight. Told from the viewpoint of his young copilot and mechanic, Thomas Allen, this dramatic picture book relates of their historic journey, in which they flew in a small plane from Los Angeles to New York in 21 days. Unframed, double-page paintings show the pair close-up in the cramped cockpit as they fly over the Grand Canyon and head into storms, the propeller whirring, while the ground passes not too far below. Some locals help, showing “the kindness of family and friends,” but the dramatic pictures also reveal the prejudice the pilots encountered when they are refused use of washrooms and restaurants. Finally, they reach New York and receive a hero’s welcome in Harlem. Along with the drama of the pioneer flight, kids will also enjoy the irreverent fun of the Flying Hoboes in their “flying jalopy.” The story of the pilots’ bonding is as memorable as the breakthrough flight. An introductory author’s note offers cultural and historical context.

— Hazel Rochman
Rochman, H. (2010). Booklist.


Library Uses
Students can study the history of those that have traveled monumental distances across, the U.S., the world, and even into space.