Portfolio Artifact for Education 580

Nicole Zuge
Education 580 Literacy Text Sets
July 2013
For my Literacy Text Sets I chose two topics that I feel will be very useful for my classroom.
With so much emphasis being placed on reading and math to try to meet the Common Core State
Standards requirements, the time allowed for Science and Social Studies is slowly being
squeezed out of my curriculum. More and more Im realizing that if I am going to teach Science
and Social Studies content its going to have to be in combination with Language Arts. The
topic for the first text set I have chosen is a Social Studies topic of Families. Specifically I am
focusing on Diversity of Families.

Families and Family Diversity

1. Title: The Saturday Boy
ISBN: 978-0-670-7855
Author: David Fleming
Illustrator: n/a
Genre: Coming of Age Fiction
Level: M
This story is about an 11 year old boy named Derek whose father is an Army Pilot
stationed in Afghanistan. He is an only child and lives alone with his mother while his
father is away. He is having a difficult time dealing with his father being gone and his
behavior in school is being negatively affected. He and his father try to stay connected
and maintain a relationship by writing letters back and forth. I think this is a good book
choice for this Family Diversity text set because it gives an insight into the life of a
family faced with the complexities of being both a single parent household as well as a
military family.

2. Title: A Raisin in the Sun

ISBN: 978-0679755333
Author: Lorraine Hansberry
Illustrator: n/a
Genre: Family Life, Play
Level: M
This story takes place in Chicago in
the 1950s. The book is written as
a play telling the story of an African American family dealing with the realities of racism
and poverty. After years of working in domestic jobs and sharing a tiny urban home, the
Young family receives a large amount of money from the life insurance payment when
the father passes away. The family members all have great dreams of how to use the
money to make better lives for themselves but are unable to agree on how to use the
money to make their dreams come true. This is an especially good book for me to have
in a text set on the topic of Families and Family Diversity because it will provide
exposure to racial and socioeconomic diversity into schools like mine that have very
limited racial and socioeconomic diversity present.

3. Title: Beezus and Ramona

ISBN: 978-0-380-70917-2
Author: Beverly Cleary
Illustrator: Jacqueline Rogers
Genre: Family Life
Level: I
Beezus and Ramona are sisters encountering all of the normal sibling issues. Although
they do have fun times together the main focus of the story is of the older sister Beezus
trying to deal with the annoying antics of her little sister Ramona. I think this is a great
story for use in an early elementary classroom because so many of the children in class
will be able to relate to the main character as many of them have younger siblings. They
will make a connection to the feelings of Beezus as she is trying to have patience for her
younger sister. The book is organized into chapters that do have a continuous flow, but
each chapter can also stand alone as a short story. This can make it a good candidate to
use as a read-aloud and also as a manageable beginning chapter book that can be read at a
slower pace. It is a good book for this Families and Family Diversity text set because it
addresses sibling issues in families.

4. Title: Hello in There! A Bid Sisters Book of Waiting

ISBN: 978-1-4197-0371-3
Author: Jo Witek
Illustrator: Christine Roussey
Genre: Picture Book
Level: P

This is a picture book telling the story of a little girl excitedly awaiting the arrival of her
new baby brother or sister. It is a positive story showing her and her parents shared joy
as they watch the mothers belly grow and dream of the new family member inside. I feel
it is a good addition to this text set on Families and Family Diversity because it shows the
process of a family growing and bonding. Also I think many primary elementary age
students will be able to relate to and make connections with the main character as they
are at the age where many of them may be awaiting new siblings as well.

5. Title: Waiting for May

ISBN: 978-0142408537
Author: Janet Morgan Stoeke
Genre: Picture Book, Realistic Fiction
Level: P
This is a picture book telling the story of one familys journey to adopt a baby girl from
China. The narrator is the future big brother and current biological son of the family. He
is waiting through all of the stages of the international adoption journey and gets
impatient at times, not understanding why it is taking so long for them to be able to go to
China to get his baby sister. When they finally do get to travel to pick her up, the story is
very realistic with the boy having a hard time with the long travel and adjusting to a new
sibling. The story is based on the authors own experience of adopting her daughter from
China. I think this story is a great addition to this Families and Family Diversity text set
because it shows a non-traditional way of building a family. It will work very well in the
primary classroom as a tool to expose children to different ways to build a family in
addition to the biological way in which most of the students families have been built.

6. My Adopted Child, Theres No One Like You

ISBN: 978-0800718893
Author: Dr. Kevin Leman and Kevin Leman II
Illustrator: Keven Leman II
Genre: Picture Book
Level: P

The story My Adopted Child Theres No One Like You has 2 Family focuses for this
book cluster. First, it is a well told story of a family build by adoption. The story line is a
mother brown bear telling her panda bear son the story of his adoption. Second it is a
story of a family consisting of family members of different races with the mother and
father bear being brown bears and the son being a panda bear. The story line addresses
this factor in a way that is positive and understandable to children. I think this book is a
great addition to this Families and Family Diversity text set because it shows a good
example of a racially diverse family, using bears as the main characters to make it
understandable and appealing to primary age children.

7. Title: Five Creatures

ISBN: 978-1439584750
Author: Emily Jenkens
Illustrator: Tomek Bogacki
Genre: Picture Book
Level: P

This book is narrated by a young girl who is an only child. Throughout the story she
describes the similarities and differences between all of the creatures living in their home
who make up their family. She describes and compares the traits between herself, her
mother, her father and their 2 cats. I think this is an important book to include in a set of
Families and Family Diversity books because it highlights a small family with one child.
Many of the family books written for a primary level focus on larger families with
siblings so this book is unique in that respect. Also, in talking about each of the family
members similarities and differences, it highlights the fact that each family member has
their own preferences, likes and dislikes. The message given is one of respecting
differences and that people who are different from each other can be a happy, loving
family embracing and respecting each others differences.

8. Title: The Relatives Came

ISBN: 978-0689717383
Author: Cynthia Rylant
Illustrator: Stephen Gammell
Genre: Picture Book
Level: P

As a contrast to the last book focusing on a small one child family, this book tells the
story of a huge family! The Relatives Came documents a summer road trip taken by a
very large family in Virginia to visit their family in Georgia. When they reach their
destination and the 2 large families combine for a several week long stay, the story
highlights the joy they all experiencing in spending time together. I think this story will
be a good addition to a Families and Family Diversity text set because there are so many
different types of family members and activities shown. All of the family members enjoy
each others company, helping each other with chores and projects. It is a good example
of family members helping each other enjoying having a large family and all it has to
offer.

9. Title: Hold My Hand, Five Stories of Love and Family

ISBN: 978-0786805181
Author: Charlotte Zolotow
Illustrator: Carol Thompson
Genre: Poetry, Fiction
Level: P, I
This book is a collection of a combination of family themed stories and poems. The
family topics in each of the stores range from dealing with a pesky little brother,
dealing with a know it all big brother and a girl going on a special late night walk
with her father to listen to night sounds. The poem in the book is about a little boy
and grandpa playing outside in a snowstorm and is filled with descriptive words of
what the storm and snow feels like and looks like. I feel this is a good addition to
the Families and Family Diversity text set because of the poetry it contains. This
adds another type of text to the collection and can be a great introduction or
example of using poetry format to give information and tell about an experience.

10. Title: Family Work and Fun

ISBN: 0-7608-0551-2
Author: Peter and Sheryl Sloan
Illustrator: Peter and Sheryl Sloan
Genre: Easy Reader
Level: P
This book is an easy reader with one 4-5 word sentence per page. Each page shows
a family doing something together as a family. The sentences are repetitive with
each sentence beginning with the same two words My family I think this book is
a great addition to the Families and Family Diversity text set because it can be an
independently read book by the youngest primary age students. A book of this level
will help the reader to build concepts of print in reading, word exposure and selfconfidence in being an independent reader.

11. Title: My Family

ISBN: 1-55624-203-4
Author: Jillian Cutting
Illustrator: Jan Van Der Voo
Genre: Easy Reader
Level: P
This book is an easy reader with one 3-4 word sentence per page. Each page
introduces a family member with each sentence starting with the words, This is
my This book is also a great easy reader to have in the Families and Family
Diversity text set because it introduces family vocabulary words and can be
independently read by the very young primary readers. This easy level reader will
help the reader to build concepts of print in reading, word exposure and selfconfidence in being an independent reader.

The second text set I am focusing on is a Science topic of Seasons.

Seasons
1. Title: The Four Seasons
ISBN: 0-916119-28-9
Author: Roxanne Lancek Williams
Illustrator: Adjoa Burrowes
Genre: Easy Reader
Level: P

This book is an easy reader with one 2-3 word sentence per page. Each page names a
season and then lists something that can be seen outside during that season. This book
can be read by beginning primary age readers. I think it is a great book for this text set
on Seasons because it introduces the vocabulary of the names of the four seasons. On the
pages that list something that can be seen during that season, there are clear picture clues
to help the reader in decoding the word. It is a great book for building confidence and
enforcing concepts of print for the youngest readers.

2. Title: Our in the Weather

ISBN: 1-4189-0378-7
Author: Jenny Giles
Illustrator: Kristine Dresen
Genre: Easy Reader
Level: P
This book describes the different types of weather that can be experienced during each of
the four seasons. Each page has 2 sentences describing the weather and showing what
the children are doing in the different types of weather. The text has a repetitive pattern.
I think this is a great book for a text set about Seasons because it explains the different
types of weather that can be experienced during each season. It is also a good book for
comprehension discussions because it doesnt say what the kids are doing in the text, but
shows it in the illustrations. This can lead to good conversations about using the
illustrations to help build meaning.

3. Title: Its Fall

ISBN: 0-439-69035-8
Author: Jimmy Pickering
Illustrator: Jimmy Pickering
Genre: Picture Book
Level: P

This book focuses on the season of Fall. It shows a young girl and her dog doing and
experiences all types of typical fall activities like jumping in leaf piles, carving pumpkins
and picking apples. This book could be very useful in the primary classroom because it is
a rhyming book and can be used to reinforce rhyming skills as well. I think this book
would fit very well into a text set on Seasons because it introduces some typical activities
that people may do during the fall season and students can make connections to this text
if their families do some of these same activities.

4. Title: A Little Bit of Winter

ISBN: 0-439-14783-2
Author: Paul Stewart
Illustrator: Chris Riddel
Genre: Picture Book
Level: P

This book tells the story of two friends Rabbit and Hedgehog. It is time for Hedgehog to
hibernate and the story told is of how much Rabbit misses him while he is hibernating
and tries to save a little bit of winter for him to experience when he wakes up. It is a
story that leads itself to good opportunities for inferencing to gain and build
understanding and meaning. It is a great book for a text set on Seasons because it teaches
about what hibernating. This is a concept that can help to teach what happens in winter
in some climates and why.
5. Title: The Planets in our Solar System

ISBN: 0-440-84613-7
Author: Franklyn M. Branley
Illustrator: Don Madden
Genre: Non Fiction
Level: I
This book is a science non-fiction book
describing the
planets in our solar system and their relationship to each other. It tells in child
appropriate text how the earth moves around the sun. I think this book would be a great
book to use in a text set about Seasons because it can be used to teach the students the
background knowledge needed to understand how the earths relationship to the sun
causes the different seasons. The illustrations and diagrams are very clear and well
explained.

6. Title: Epitaph for a Peach: Four Seasons on My Family Farm

ISBN: 0062510258
Author: David M. Masumoto
Genre: Non Fiction
Level: M

This book is a series of essays written by a peach farmer in California. The essays detail
four seasons on the farm and what the farmer needs to go through to produce his crops of
peaches and grapes. I think this is a very good book to go in a Seasons text set because it
outlines the importance of the changes of the seasons and the weather that comes along
with each season in relation to its importance to the production of the farmers crops.

7. Title: From Seed to Pumpkin

ISBN: 0-439-82605-5
Author: Wendy Pfeffer
Illustrator: James Graham Hale
Genre: Informational
Level: P
This informational non-fiction book teaches about the life cycle of a pumpkin. The
stages of the life cycle are described along with the changes of the season, naming each
season and what stage of the life cycle the pumpkin is in during each of the seasons
including the seeds being kept and waiting through winter for the next spring to begin the
cycle all over again. This is a great story for a text set on Seasons because it helps to
reinforce the vocabulary of the names of the seasons as well as the order of the seasons
by relating it to the stages in the life cycle of a pumpkin plant.

8. Title: The Seasons of Arnolds Apple Tree

ISBN: 0-15-271245-3
Author: Gail Gibbons
Illustrator: Gail Gibbons
Genre: Fiction
Level: P
This story tells of a year in the life of a young boy and his apple tree. The story is clearly
divided into four sections with one section for each season. The names of the seasons are
clearly labeled for each section and the weather during each of the four seasons in shown
in the respective sections. This is a good book for a text set about Seasons because it
reinforces the names, order of, and weather typical of each of the seasons.
9. Title: I am a Leaf
ISBN: 0-590-64120-4
Author: Jean Marzollo
Illustrator: Judith Maffatt
Genre: Informational
Level: P
This is a very detailed informational book about the life cycle stages that a leaf goes
through in the four seasons of a year. In easy to understand terms the author explains
how the leaf uses the long sunlight of summer to make chlorophyll as food for the tree
and why the leaf loses its green color in the fall with the cold and shortened sun light. I
think this book is great for a text set about Seasons because it clearly explains the effects
that the weather of each season has on the leaf including how it rests under the snow in
the winter, breaking down and turning into soil. In the area we live in most children are
familiar with the changes in leaves throughout the seasons, so this can be a good text-toself connection for the children to make.
10. A Sand County Almanac
ISBN: 0345345053
Author: Aldo Leopold
Genre: Environmental Non Fiction
Level: M
This book is a collection of essays written by author Aldo Leopold. The first section of
the book is divided into 12 essays, one for each month of the year. The essays are
focused on the authors observations of the changes occurring with the wild plants and
animals he is observing on his Wisconsin farm. I think this is a great book for at text set
on Seasons for two reasons. First, the author is sharing his observations about the effects
of the weather the different seasons have on the environment around him. Second, it is a
regional book based here in Wisconsin so the students will be more likely to make a
connection to and understand the things that the author is describing in his essays.