Chasing Vermeer, by Blue Balliett

"This book begins, like a set of pentominoes, with separate pieces. Eventually they will all come together. Don't be fooled by ideas that seem, at first, to fit easily. Don't be fooled by ideas that don't seem to fit at all. Pentominoes, like people, can surprise you" (Balliett, 2004, p.2).

Summary

When a book of unexplainable occurrences brings Petra and Calder together, strange things start to happen: Seemingly unrelated events connect, and eccentric old woman seeks their company, and an invaluable Vermeer painting disappears. Before they know it, the two find themselves at the center of an international art scandal, where no one -- neighbors, parents, teachers -- is spared from suspicion. Can Petra and Calder decipher a crime that has left even the FBI baffled?

Let's Explore

Learn more about the author- Blue Balliett, the illustrator-Brett Helquist, or play online games and activities at: http://www.scholastic.com/blueballiett/

• BONUS- What word is misspelled in the slideshow? Be the first to report to me and win a prize!

The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson

“I don’t understand why a smart girl like you goes around booby-trapping herself. You could have stayed here indefinitely, you know. They’re both crazy about you.” (Paterson, 1978, p. 121).

Summary
The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Patterson, tells the story of a lonely foster child, who covers the pain of moving from home to home with a cruel exterior. Gilly makes every effort to shut out those who try to befriend her. She is a tough kid; one who bullies others and terrorizes teachers. Being shuffled from home to home has made Gilly a cynical, resentful, eleven year old girl who is determined to reunite with her biological mother. Gilly is certain that once her mother learns of her plight with the foster care system, she will rescue her immediately and live a life of love and luxury.

Will Gilly’s feelings stay intact when she is finally given the opportunity to live the life she has been hoping and dreaming about? Or will she realize that family is really about those who are there for you and never give up on you, even when the times are rough?

Character Development & its Impact on Readers
Because Gilly is such a strong-minded, feisty character with a tremendous amount of anger, readers will be impacted as they watch her transform from a resentful young girl, to one who accepts and appreciates the path she has been given. Gilly’s transformation gives readers hope; with love and stability, anything can happen. Many of these transformations occur because of her foster mother, Maime Trotter. Students would benefit from selecting specific novel passages that reflect this transformation.
In addition, students would be impacted by the deep moral that unfolds as the story comes to an end. Students will be left with the understanding for the importance of giving all beings a chance, regardless of their looks, interests, behaviors, or socioeconomic status. What really matters is what is inside.

Let's Explore
Learn more about our award winning author, Katherine Paterson. Check out her website:
http://www.terabithia.com/

The Giver, by Louis Lowry

"Jonas has not been assigned,” she informed the crowd, and [Jonas’s] heart sank. Then she went on. “Jonas has been selected” (Lowry, 1993, p. 60).

Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls

"I knelt down and gathered them in my arms. I buried my face between their wiggling bodies and cried. The stationmaster, sensing something more than just two dogs and a boy, waited in silence" (Rawls, 1961, p. 37).

Summary

Billy, Old Dan and Little Ann, a boy and his two dogs. A loving threesome, they ranged the dark hills and river bottoms of Cherokee country. Old Dan had the brawn. Little Ann had the brains -- and Billy had the will to train them to be the finest hunting team in the valley. Glory and victory were coming to them, but sadness waited too. And close by was the strange and wonderful power that's only found where the red fern grows.

Let's Explore

Billy is adamant about getting himself hound dogs. What kind of dog interests you most? Click here to find out more: http://animal.discovery.com/breedselector/dogselectorindex.do

Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson

"Thousands dead. I saw Grandfather's empty eyes. No food. I saw Mother order me to leave her. No hope. I passed people weeping in doorways and did not stop. I heard the death cars rattling in the street and did not look up" (Anderson, 2000, p. 160).

Click on the video above for a summary of the novel, Fever 1793.

CURRICULUM TIES:

1. Types of sentences: simple, compound, complex
2. Dialect
3. Imagery
4. Life for colonists in the young republic
5. Character development

LET'S EXPLORE

Google Lit Trips is an interactive way to travel with our characters through their various adventures and journeys. Check out Fever 1793's Lit Trip to get a feel for the location and setting of our novel. We will be utilizing this site as we engage in this heart breaking, yet highly engaging novel.

A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park

"Scholars read the great words of the world. But you and I must learn to read the world itself" (Park, 2001, p. 7).

Click on the video above for a summary of the novel, A Single Shard.

CURRICULUM TIES

1. Development of character relationships
2. Apprenticeships vs. modern educational systems
3. Geography of Central Asia and its neighbors
4. Celedon pottery and its evolution over time (this will tie in to our Missoula Art Museum 5th grade Art Experience)
5. Traditional Korean customs

LET'S EXPLORE

Check out Linda Sue Park's personal blog to learn more about this award winning author and see actual examples of celedon pottery.

The Birchbark House, by Louise Erdrich

"Raising a block of wood high, she brought it down on his head with all her strength. He crumpled to the ground. Omakayas sobbed as she dragged his blankets to him and covered him. He was too heavy to drag near the fire. For a long time she kneeled next to him, praying for him to live. She loved him, her DeyDey" (Erdrich, 1999, p. 152).

SUMMARY

For as long as Omakayas can remember, she and her family have lived on the land her people call the Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker. Although the white people encroach more on their land everyday, Omakayas and her family continue to live life as they always have. But the satisfying rhythms of their lives are shattered when a visitor comes to their lodge one winter night, bringing with him an invisible enemy that will change things forever.

CURRICULUM TIES

1. Higher level cognitive discussions
2. Mission schools- purpose and influence on Native Americans
3. Small pox and other epidemics
4. Ojibwa culture in the 1800s
5. Seasonal preparation and survival of Native Americans

LET'S EXPLORE

Louise Erdrich does a fantastic job at incorporating Ojibwa terms throughout The Birchbark House. Although pronouncing a different language can be challenging and embarrassing at times, the main idea is to expose ourselves to their dialect so we can better understand the Ojibwa culture. Explore the following link to hear actual pronunciations of several Ojibwa words.

The Winter People, by Joseph Bruchac

"I tried to run. My legs were unwilling. They collapsed beneath me as if they were broken sticks. I did not want to sleep, but my eyes closed" (Bruchac, 2002, p. 48).

SUMMARY

Saxso is fourteen when the British soldiers attack his village. It is the year 1759, and war is raging in the northeast between the British and French, with the Abenaki people- Saxso's people- by their side. Without enough warriors to defend their homes, Saxso's village is burned to the ground. Many people are killed, and some including Saxso's mother and sisters, are taken hostage. Now it's up to Saxso, on his own, to track the raiders and bring his family back home...before it's too late.

CURRICULUM TIES

1. Abenaki adaptations to the French culture
2. Abenaki cultural beliefs and creation stories
3. Appreciating Native Americans as dynamic agents of change
4. Imagery
5. Indian Education for All's Essential Understanding #6

LET'S EXPLORE

As you read The Winter People, you will notice Joseph Bruchac shares many traditional Abenaki stories that teach a lesson. Read an Abenaki legend and interpret the lesson it teaches. Be prepared to share the legend with us before we read the novel as a class.

Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbit

"Mae Tuck didn't need a mirror, though she had one propped up on the washstand. She knew very well what she would see in it; her reflection had long since ceased to interest her. For Mae Tuck, and her husband, and Miles and Jesse, too, had all looked exactly the same for eighty-seven years" (Babbit, 1975, p. 18).

SUMMARY

Would you choose to live forever if given the opportunity? Tuck Everlasting is the story of a young girl, Winnie Foster, and her chance encounter with the immortal Tuck family. Despite an unexpected kidnapping and a shocking murder, Winnie grows to love the Tuck family and holds the mystery of their secret in her hands. Will Winnie choose to drink the water herself and live a life of immortality, or will she follow Angus Tuck's advice and not fall off the wheel of life?

CURRICULUM TIES

1. Figurative language: personification, metaphor, simile, alliteration
2. Inferencing
3. Cause and effect
4. Author's tone and mood
5. Foreshadowing

SHARE YOUR IDEAS

Consumption of the magic spring water in Tuck Everlasting makes one live forever. What would you want your magic spring water to do? Leave a comment on this post and share with the rest of your classmates. You cannot post an idea somebody else has, so read up and have fun!