|Polacco: Author Study|
|Babushka Baba Yaga|
|Chicken Sunday|
|The Keeping Quilt|
|My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother|
|Pink and Say|
|Rechenka's Eggs|
|Thank You, Mr. Falker|
Patricia Polacco
The author's home page. Be sure to click on the link "For Teachers."
Patricia Polacco, Author Study
Suggestions for working with Thunder Cake, Babushka's Doll, Babushka Baba Yaga, Uncle Vova's Tree, and others.
Video Interviews with Patricia Polacco
Links to several short interviews with the author, biography, bibliography, and transcript. Access requires RealOne Player, available via link onsite if your computer doesn't already have it.
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Do You Have a Babushka?
This lesson will familiarize students with the author Patricia Polacco. Students will use appropriate resources to gather information about Polacco, categorize the information, and record it in a graphic organizer (concept map).
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Chicken Sunday
A list of 16 vocabulary words drawn from the book.
Pysanky: Not Just a Pretty Egg
This cross-curricular unit incorporates art and core subjects, including Chicken Sunday, into a study of pysanky.
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The Keeping Quilt
Summary, discussion questions, activities, and related titles.
Quilts of Many Colors
After reading The Keeping Quilt, students make their own classroom "quilt."
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My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother
Teaching resources include a video of the story being read aloud and follow-up activities, including discussion and research. The video runs 10:32 and resides at YouTube. The additional activities require Adobe Reader for access.
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Exploring Pink and Say
Six activities for before, during, and after reading.
Pink and Say
This lesson includes graphic organizers, vocabulary words, postreading writing activities, and related websites to assist student research.
Pink and Say Lesson Plan
Students will identify important words and phrases from the story that describe different aspects of the Civil War. They will also compile a list of important words and phrases about the Civil War, discuss with partners and the whole class the theme of the book and knowledge gained about the Civil War. Students will then create and illustrate a Civil War ABC book using information collected during unit of study.
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Rechenka's Eggs
Pre-reading and post-reading activities.
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Digging Deeper: Developing Comprehension Using Thank You, Mr. Falker
This teacher read-aloud and follow-up whole-group instruction provide a basis for improved higher-level reading comprehension. Teachers work with the whole class to model making predictions and personal connections, envisioning character change, and understanding the themes of the book. Response journals can also be used to further student connections to the characters and themes in the book.
Thank You, Mr. Falker
Teaching resources include a video of the story being read aloud and follow-up activities, including discussion, writing, and related titles. The video runs 16:38 and resides at YouTube. The additional activities require Adobe Reader for access.
Writer's Workshop MiniLesson
Focus on writing leads.
Why, Thank You!
Students hear examples of Idea and Voice. Class discusses the book's different writing traits and the theme ideas. Students write a thank you note to their hero, as an at-home activity.
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