Audrey Nord

EDU 320 A
Text Set: Road Trip through the USA
4/15/16

Annotated Bibliography
Family Reunion
1. Quattlebaum, M. (2004). Family reunion.
Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
2. Grade Level: 2nd to 6th
Age: 7-12 years
Content Area: Social studies
Genre: Poetry
3. This book is full of poems that focus on the deeper themes of family. The poems touch
not only on the happiness that can come from family, but also on some very mature
themes. For example, how an absent father can affect his son or how each family is made
up of generations of others who came before. I would tie this book into the text set,
because often when you are traveling it is too see and interact with family. Therefore, I
would utilize these poems in a 5th grade Social Studies lesson on the family unit. I would
break the book up into sections of 2-4 poems and read one of these sections a day, until
the book was completed. Every day I would begin by asking the students what had
happened in the story previously, then I would read the selected poems for that day. After
each of the poems I would pause to discuss it. I would vary the type of discussion after
each poem. For example, I may read the pome Grandpas Maple Tree and then model
active reading by sharing what I picked up from the poem. However, for the next poem I
would ask the students what they thought as I read it, and therefor lead a class discussion.
Finally, for poems such as Hanks Dad or Antique Rocker I would use them to lead into a
lesson or discussion on the differences that each familys structure may have and how
each family is made up of past generations.
4. Jodie, a ten-year-old girl, goes on a weeklong summer vacation and reunion with her
family to her grandparents house. On the long car drive there Jodie is wondering what
they will do for a whole week, since her extended family seem practically like strangers
to her. The week is full of good home cooking, watermelon seeds, swimming, talking,
laughter, and discoveries about her family. After the drive home Jodie writes a letter to
her grandmother asking if they can plan another vacation next summer.
5. After the whole book was finished I would ask my students to choose their favorite poem
or a part of the story that stood out to them the most. They would then complete a Sketchto-Stretch activity on that favorite poem or memorial section. In order to encourage
higher level thinking skills, I would also ask the students to compare and contrast that
piece of the story with their own experiences and their own family. They would then
record these connections or differences in the writing section of the graphic organizer.

Name:

Audrey Nord

Poem Title:

Going Back

Family Reunion Stretch to Sketch

Draw a picture or symbol that represents the text read. Remember not to worry about artistic
quality, just sketch your reaction.

Have you had a similar or a different experience in your own family? How does this remind you
of your family and how does it not? Explain:
This is about when Jodie had to go home. I think that she must have
been very sad to say good-bye to her Grandparents and the rest of her
family. When my family goes to visit my Aunts and Uncles in the summer it
is so much fun that I am always sad when it has to end. And I dream about
seeing them again just like Jodie does in the poem.

The Mighty Big Book of Travel Games

1. McGuire, L., Anastasio, D., Yoe, C., & Braybrooks, A. (2002). The mighty big book of
travel games. New York, NY: Penguin Young Readers Group.
2. Grade Level: 1st to 7th
Age: 6-12 years
Content Area: Spelling and Geography
Genres: Comics, Childrens activities
3. As a book full of fun word puzzles and many other activities to challenge the brain, there
are many ways this book could be incorporated as a supplementary material into any
lesson or any content area. I would use this book for a 3rd grade class as a chance for the
students to practice their knowledge of the states and also their skills in alphabetical
ordering. I would incorporate the activity pages titled State the Facts into a lesson on the
characteristics and shapes of the various states of the USA. After going through several of
the states with the students I would then present them with the activity, in which they
must order the city names correctly in order to see the states shape. I would demonstrate
with a completed one which I had previously done, before allowing them to complete a
similar activity individually or in pairs. After finding the states shape we would figure
out which state it was and its proper name as a class. Then the lesson would continue on
with more such activities scattered throughout.
4. The Mighty Big Book of Travel Games, is an activity book full of fun word challenges,
math word problems, crossword puzzles, writing prompts, decoding puzzles and many
other activities to warm up the brain. The activities and challenges have comical
illustrations to go along with them and a wide variety of themes.
5. After using the State the Facts activity from the book in my 3rd grade Geography lesson, I
would bring in a class collaborative activity to close the lesson with. The activity would
be to put together an unlabeled map of the whole United States. Each state would be a
piece of the puzzle. The pieces themselves would be set to a large scale of about 10
inches in size. The class would work together to first identify each state and then place it
in the correct location in relation to the other states.

On An American Day Volume 1: Story Voyages through History

1. Arato, R. (2011). On an American day volume 1: story voyages through history.

Toronto, ON: Owlkids Books Inc.
2. Grade Level: 3rd to 7th
Age: 8-12 years
Content Area: History and Social studies
Genre: Historical fiction
3. I would utilize this book in a 3rd grade classroom History lesson. Since it is full of stories
about young boys and girls and their experiences living in the early history of America, I
think that my students would be able to easily relate to the characters. The students would
also be able to consider and imagine themselves in the place of the stories characters.
There are different stories in the book, so which one I would use in correlation with the
History lesson would depend on what we were learning that day. It would also correlate
to which state we would be traveling through that week for our class learning road trip.
For example, I would read the story A Gold Nugget for Adam in a lesson about the
California gold rush. Whereas I would read The Last Rail in a lesson talking about the
transcontinental railroad. Before reading a story in class I would let my students know
what story we would be reading that week, so that if they wanted to they could go and try
to read it ahead of time for themselves. Then while I would be reading the story aloud to
the class, I would pause at places and call for a student volunteer to continue reading
aloud the story. This would still allow student participation in the story, but without the
pressure of having to read on the spot if they did not feel confident, especially since the
text is of a higher reading level.
4. On an American Day has ten different historical fiction stories in it. Each one is about a
young boy or girl who gets to live at an important time in our nations history and
experience many foundational events. The stories are set in and include events from 1750
to 1899. There is a story about Patrick, an Irish immigrant, experiencing the development
of religious freedom in Philadelphia. There is also Little Fox, a Native American girl,
who helps the soldiers at Valley Forge. Next is Emma, a blind little girl, who attends the
first ever school for the blind. Adam Parnum is a boy helping his father look for gold in
the California gold rush. Samuel, a drummer boy for the Union Army, is caught in the
middle of the Battle of Bull Run. A young girl named Cora sees the end of slavery and
experiences it for herself. And several more stories besides.
5. As a follow up activity the students would be split up into pairs and then presented with a
question relating how they would act or feel about being in the specific historical
situation instead of the main character. For example, if the story had been about Adam
and the gold rush, then the questions might be something like, Would you want to get up
and move if there was a chance for you and your family to become rich? Would you
camp for weeks and weeks just on the chance of having a more comfortable life
eventually? One of these questions would be made into a Think, Pair, Share strategy that
each pair of students would complete. As they did the activity the students would be
engaging in discussion about the story and the characters, while also considering what
they would do if they had been in that part of history.

Name:

Audrey Nord

Story Title:

The Last Rail

Questions

What do I
think? (List 3
thoughts)

What do you think

Chans final
decision was?
If you were in
Chans place,
would you stay in a
strange country
where you might
be hated because
of your difference
or would you go
home where life
was always hard
and your family
very poor?

I think that
Chan
decided to
stay in
America, so
he could
have the
change for a
better future.
Also, if he
stayed then
he could help
his family
more than if
he went
home.
I would have
stayed even
people might
not like me,
because it
would be
better for me
and my
family if I
did. Besides,
the people
might like
me after all.

What does
my partner
think?
(List 3 thoughts)
Chan
decided to
go home,
because he
had to listen
to his
brother.
He liked it in
America, but
he had to go
home to his
family
because it
was his duty.
I would want
to go home,
because I
would be too
nervous that
people would
not like me.

What will we
share?
(List 2 thoughts)

Even if you
are scared
you should
give people a
chance,
because
maybe they
will like you
and be nice to
you even if
you are
different from
them.
You should
think about
your family
and consider
them too
before you
make an
important
choice.

Taste of Home Recipes across America

1. Cassidy, C., & Briggs, J. (Eds). (2013). Taste of home recipes across America.
Greendale, WI: Reiman Media Group, Inc.
2. Grade Level: 2nd to 6th
Age: 7 years and up
Content Area: Science and Math
Genre: Cookbook
3. A cookbook is a great resource to use when exploring and investigating the rich cultural
heritage all across America. It is also handy for choosing which local meals to try when
stopping for a meal as you travel in the USA. However, a cookbook is also full of
measurements, procedures, and mathematics. Thus, I would use this book in a 4th grade
Science lesson which included working with amounts, measurements, and following
experiment procedures. In the process the students would also be practicing their skills
with division and fractions. I would use this cookbook in a follow up to a previous lesson
on scientific procedure and the importance of recording an experiments procedure. The
classroom would be set up into learning stations. At one learning station there would be
copies of a few of the recipes, but there would be words missing in the directions and
amounts missing for the ingredients. The students would have to try and fill in the holes
of a recipe. If possible this station would have an I-pad at it that the students could
actually mix up their recipe on to see how it would turn out with the mixed up amounts.
Another station would have measuring cups and other tools for the students to work with
and compare amounts between the tools. Another station would involve doubling,
tripling, or quadrupling a recipe in word problems. There would be other stations as well.
Each station would be rotated every 10 or 15 minutes. During the whole workshop the
cookbook itself would be in the middle of the room for students to take turns looking
through if they wanted to.
4. A cookbook full of 735 recipes from all across the United States of America. The recipes
are categorized into five sections depending upon the geographical locations of the states.
These categories are: Northeast, South, Midwest, Southwest, and West. Further, each
section has main dishes, sides, and desserts that are traditional to each set of states.

5. The follow up activity to the lesson would be to divide the class up into two groups, each
of which would then be tasked with preparing a simple side dish to share with the whole
class. Each group would be presented with the option of two recipes, which would be
preselected by myself to insure they would be simple and able to be made within the
classroom. As the two teams assemble the recipes the students would be gaining hands on
experiences and seeing the real world application of their knowledge about measurements
and directions.

National Geographic Kids Ultimate U.S. Road Trip Atlas

1. Boyer, C. (2012). National Geographic kids ultimate U.S. road trip atlas.
Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Childrens Books.
2. Grade Level: 2rd to 6th
Age: 8-12 years
Content Area: Geography
Genres: Travel, Maps
3. As an atlas this text is full of maps and therefore I would utilize it in a 2nd grade
Geography lesson. The text is also filled with facts about each state and the kinds of
geographical terrain represented in each one. As we are going through and learning about
each state on our class road trip the students would be tasked with researching one
particular state of their choice. They could team up with another classmate or two or they
could choose to work alone, however each student would have to become a mini-expert
on their chosen state. This atlas would be one resource the students could use to learn
about their state. There would be other books, such as travel guides and the like, available
for the students to use as well. After each student, or each group of students, had done
research on their state they would give a short 2-4 minutes presentation to the class. This
presentation would be given at the end of the semester or the unit, so that the students
would have ample time to research and gain knowledge about their state.
4. The National Geographic Kids Ultimate U.S. Road Trip Atlas contains maps for each of
the states, Washington, D.C., and a map of the whole United States. The book also has
facts about each state, images of the geographical terrain and landmarks of each state,
lists of roadside attractions, and a supply of games that involve the books maps.

5. A follow up activity would be to make state themed collages that would represent facts
about each state, but also what the state means to the student after he or she has studied it
in such depth. The students would be given large cutouts (at least 15 in diameter) of
their chosen state which they are researching. Then they would use magazines, pictures,
and other supplied resources to cut out images and make their individual collages. The

students would be able to then use the collages in their class presentations if they chose to
do so.

San Francisco: A Book of Numbers (Hello, World)

1. Evanson, A. (2015). San Francisco: a book of numbers (hello, world).
New York, NY: Penguin Young Readers Group.
2. Grade Level: Pre-K
Age: 3 months-2 years
Content Area: Math
Genre: Board book
3. This book is perfect to be used in a Pre-K or a Kindergarten classroom as a way to
introduce and practice counting. Before reading the story aloud, the book would be
placed on a small table where the children could see it, pick it up, read it themselves, and
explore its contents. Then at story time I would read the book aloud to the children. On
each page I would model counting the objects, then we would all count the objects
together. After the number six I would start asking them what number would come next,
so that they could gain confidence with the counting and also start making predictions
about the numbers.
4. This text is a board book full of colorful pictures of San Franciscos culture and
landmarks. With each site the book counts objects that appear in the images, such as one
cable car, two Chinese dragons, three ponies on the merry-go-round, and so on.
5. For a follow up activity the children would try to create their own number story. They
would draw pictures of their favorite place and list the numbers of things they find in that
place. These little pictures could be given colored paper covers and stapled or tied
together, so that it would be their very own official book.

The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Car Trip

1. Berenstian, S., & Berenstian, J. (2006). The Berenstain Bears and too much car trip.
New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
2. Grade Level: Pre-K to 2nd
Age: 3-7 years
Content Area: Reading and Social Studies
Genre: Picture book
3. To introduce this book I would begin by asking my students about car trips. Have you
ever gone on a car trip? What kind of a car trip was it? Were you driving to one place,
like a relatives house or an amusement park? Or were you driving to stop at many places
and many famous landmarks? After warming up the discussion I would bring out the
book and show my students the cover and I would read the summery of the book. Then
Id ask my students prediction questions. What do you think will happen in the story?
Who are the characters? What kind of car trip will it be? Before starting to read aloud I
would highlight the authors and the layout features of the text, then I would begin the
story. At certain parts of the story I would pause to ask the students what they thought so
far and what would happen next. I would also be sure to highlight each Bear Country
landmark that is similar to a landmark in real life in America. After the story was finished
we would have a closing classroom discussion about the Bear familys trip and our own
experiences on trips. I would then take the list of actual landmarks in America and
transition into our Social Studies lesson about the real history behind those famous
landmarks.
4. Brother and Sister Bear are not pleased with the plans that Mama and Papa have made for
their vacation this year. Mama and Papa are going to take the cubs on a car trip all around
Bear Country, but the cubs just think it is going to be one very long and very boring car
ride. However, even though Sister and Brother are determined to be bored, they cannot
help but get interested and excited as their first stop comes up. Each great landmark they
stop at touches and excited the cubs in a special way, so that by the end of the vacation
they want to go on another one.
5. As a follow up activity to the story I would introduce and model making a Story Pyramid.
I would write the eight parts or steps of a Story Pyramid up on the board, so that my

students could easily look up and see which step comes next. Then as a class we would
brainstorm and construct our Story Pyramid for The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Car
Trip. The students would record the steps to making one and the one we made together in
their writing journals. In this way they would be able to easily reference how to make one
and what one looks like for future stories.

The Berenstain Bears and Too Much

Car Trip

Story Pyramid

Cubs
Determined
excited
roadsoldiers
trip
ReenactorsCountry
in a battle;
graves
Long long boring drive
Mount
Grizzmore
up ahead,
three
Arrive
at Honeymoon
Falls
- great
heroeswow!
A Road trip different than expected, lets