10 Essential Early Literacy Videos

What Are We Learning Today?: Setting Goals to Improve Student Learning

Interactive Writing in Kindergarten: Sharing the Pen to Promote Engagement

Interactive Writing

Literacy Centers: Promoting Literacy Independence in Kindergarten

Sand Table and Flannel Board: Contexts for Retelling Stories

The Drama Center: Building Oral Language and More (The Little Red

Hen Makes a Pizza)

Favorite Read Alouds in Kindergarten: Strategies for Fiction and Nonfiction Books

Interactive Word Wall: Spelling High Frequency Words in First and Second Grade 

Reading and Writing Stories: "Say Something" about Comprehension Strategies

Daily Five: Fostering Literacy Independence in Second Grade   

Video: Previewing Informational Text with Grade 2 Guided Reading Group

I was a guest for a school system in New York and I was working with second graders as their teachers watched. In this video, I introduce students to the idea of previewing text and text features (table of contents, photo) .  The texts are leveled at 16 and include fiction and informational texts.  The idea of choice is important and I wanted to demonstrate that providing students with managed choice  (teacher selects a range of texts and students preview texts and select one to read) enhances reading. This video was filmed in November. This is the students first encounter with informational text.

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Sensational Second Grade Books

Mirror & Window Books
Dole, Mayra L. 2004. Birthday in the Barrio. Illustrated by Tonel. San Francisco: Children’s Book Press.
Frame, Jeron Ashford. 2003. Yesterday I Had the Blues. Illustrated by R. Gregory Chrisite. Berkeley, CA: Tricycle.
Greenfield, Eloise. 1996. Night on Neighborhood Street. Illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist. New York: Puffin.
Greenfiled, Eloise. 2011. Brothers and Sisters: Family Poems. Illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist NY: Harper Collins.
Hallworth,  Grace. 2011. Down by the River: Afro-Caribbean Rhymes, Games, and Songs for Children. Illustrated by Caroline Binch. NY: Frances Lincoln Children's Books.
Herrera, Juan Felipe. 2004. Featherless/ Desplumado. Illustrated by Ernesto Cuevas, Jr. San Francisco: Children's Book Press
Jam, Teddy. 1997. The Fishing Summer. Illustrated by Ange Zhang. Toronto: Groundwod Books.

Khan, Rukhsana. 2010. Big Red Lollipop. Illustrated by Sophie Blackall. NY: Viking.
Kirk, Connie Ann. 2004. Sky Dancers. Illustrated by Christy Hale. New York: Lee & Low.
Lacamara, Laura. 2010. Floating on Mama's Song/Flotando en la cancion de mama. Illustrated by Yuyi Morales. NY: Katherine Tegen Books.
Pilkey, Dav. 1999. The Paperboy. New York: Orchard.

Thompson, Colin. 2008. The Big Little Book of Happy Sadness. La Jolla, CA: Kane/Miller Book Publishers.

Text Sets

1. Celia Cruz
Brown, Monica. 2004. My Name Is Celia:! The Life of Celia Cruz/Me llamo Celia: La vida de Celia Cruz. Illustrated by Rafael López.! Flagstaff, AZ: Luna Rising.
Chambers, Veronica. 2005. Celia Cruz: Queen of Salsa. Illustrated by Julie Maren. New York: Dial.
Da Colo, Ivar. 2005. Azucar. NY: Lectorum Publications.
Sciurba, Katie. 2007. Oye, Celia! A Song for Celia Cruz. Illustrated by Edel Rodriguez. NY: Henry Holt.


2. Homelessness
Bunting, Eve. 1993. Fly Away Home. Illustrated by Ronald Himler. NY: Sandpiper.
Disalvo-Ryan, Dyanne. 1997. Uncle Wilie and Soup Kitchen. NY: HarperCollins.
Gunning, Monica. 2004. A Shelter in Our Car. Illustrated by Elaine Pedlar. San Francisco: Children's Book Press.
Hazen, Barbara Shook.  1983. Tight Times. Illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. NY: Puffin Books.
McGovern, Ann. 1999. The Lady in the Box. Illustrated by Marni Backer. NY: Turtle Books.
Smothers, Ethel Footman. 2003. The Hard-Times Jar. Illustrated by John Holyfield. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Rosen, Michael. 1992. Home: A Collaboration of Thirty Authors and Illustrators of Children's Books to Aid the Homeless. NY: HarperCollins.

3. Songs, Rhyme and Stories
Bernier-Grand, Carmen T. 2006. Shake It, Morena! And Other Folktales from Puerto Rico. Illustrated by Lulu Delacre. Minneapolis. MN: Millbrook Press.
Bouchard, David. 2003. The Song Within My Heart. Illustrated by Allen Sapp. Vancouver: Raincoast books.
Bryan, Ashley. 2007. Let it Shine Three Favorite Spirituals. NY: Atheneum.
Canpoy, Isabel & Alma Flor Ada. 2006. Tales Our Abuelitas Told: A Hispanic Folktale Collection. Illustrated by Felipe Dávalos, Viví Escrivá, Susan Guevara, and Leyla Torres. NY: Simon & Schuster.
Griego, Margot; Bucks, Betsy L.; Gilbert, Sharon S. and Laurel H. Kimball. 1988. Tortillitas para Mama and Other Nursery Rhymes. Illustrated by Barbara Cooney. NY: Henry Holt.

Hallworth, Grace. 2011. Down by the River: Afro-Caribbean Rhymes, Games and Songs for Children. Illustrated by Caroline Binch. NY: Frances Lincoln Children's Books.

------------------. 2003. Sing Me a Song! Song and Dance Stories from the Caribbean. Illustrated by John Clementson. NY: Frances Lincoln Children's Books.

Hinojosa, Tish. 2004. Cada Niño / Every Child: A Bilingual Songbook for Kids (English and Spanish Edition). Illustrated by Lucia Angela Perez. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press.

Orozco, Jose-Luis. 1999. De Colores and Other Latin American Folk Songs for Children. Illustrated by Elisa Kleven. NY: Puffin.
Thomas, Joyce Carol. 2000. Hush Songs. Illustrated by Brenda Joysmith. NY: Hyperion.
Zemach, Margot. 2001. Some from the Moon, Some from the Sun: Poems and Songs for Everyone. NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

4. Local & Global Matters
Cohn, Diana. 2002. ¡Si, Se Puede!/Yes, We Can!: Janitor Strike in L.A. Illustrated by Francisco Delgado. El Paso: Cinco Puntos.
Heide, Florence Parry and Judith Heide Gilliland. 1995. Sami and the Time of The Troubles. Illustrated by Ted Lewin. New York: Clarion.

Krull, Kathleen. 2008. Hillary Rodham Clinton: Dreams Taking Flight. Illustrated by Amy June Bates. NY: Simon & Schuster.

-------------------. 2003. Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez. Illustrated by Yuyi Morales. New York: Harcourt.
Kyuchukov, Hristo. 2004. My Name is Hussein. Illustrated by Allan Eitzen. Honesdale, PA: Boyd Mills Press.
Tafolla, Carmen & Sharyll Teneyuca. 2008. That's Not Fair!/ No Es Justo!: Emma Tenayuca's Struggle for Justice/La lucha de Emma Tenayuca por la justica. Illustrated by Terry Ybanez. San Antonio, TX: Wings Press.
Yolen, Jane. 1995. Letting Swift River Go. Illustrated by Barbara Cooney. Boston: Little, Brown.

Books That Inspire Me To Create Mental Images

Gunning, Monica. 1999. Not a Copper Penny in Me House: Poems from the Caribbean. Illustrated by Frane Lessac. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press.
Herrera, Juan Felipe. 2003. Super Cilantro Girl/ La superniña del cilantro. Illustrated by Honorio Robleda Tapia. San Francisco: Children's Book Press.
Lee, Spike & Tonya Lewis Lee. 2011. Giant Steps to Change the World. Illustrated by Sean Qualls. NY: Simon & Schuster.
McNaughton, Colin. 2005. Once Upon an Ordinary School Day. Illustrated by Satoshi Kita-mura. New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux.
Nolen, Jerdine. 2003. Thunder Rose. Illustrated by Kadir Nelson. San Diego: Harcourt.

Books that Make Me Want to Ask Questions
Bruchac, Joseph. 2000. Crazy Horse’s Vision. Illustrated by S. D. Nelson. New York: Lee & Low.
Chin, Charlie. 1997. China’s Bravest Girl: The Legend of Hua Mu Lan. Illustrated by Tomie Arai. San Francisco: Children’s Press Books.
Haskins, Jim. 2008. Delivering Justice: W.W. Law and the Fight for Civil Rights. Illustrated by Benny Andrews. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.
Lyon, George Ella. 2011. All the Water in the World. Illustrated by Katherine Tillotson. NY: Atheneum.
McDonad. Margaret Read. 2006. Tunjur! Tunjur! Tunjur! A Palestinian Folktale. Illustrated by Alik Arzoumanian. NY: Marshall Cavendish.
Park, Frances. 2000. The Royal Bee. Illustrated by Christopher Zhong-Yuang Zhang. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press.
Park, Linda Sue. 2004. The Firekeeper’s Son. Illustrated by Julie Downing. New York: Clarion.
Williams, Karen Lynn. 2010. A Beach Tail. Illustrated by Floyd Cooper. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press.

Drawing Inferences
Lee, Milly. 1997. Nim and the War Effort. Illustrated by Yangsook Choi. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
McDonough, Yona Zeldis. 2002. Peaceful Protest: The Life of Nelson Mandela. Illustrations by Malcah Zeldis. New York: Walker.
Raven, Margot Theis. 2004. Circle Unbroken. Illustrated by E.B. Lewis. New York:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Ruddra, Anshumani. 2011. Dorje's Stripes. Illustrated by Gwangjo Park and Jung-A Park. La Jolla, CA: Kane/Miller Book Publishers.
Tran, Truong. 2003. Going Home, Coming Home. Illustrated by Ann Phong. San Francisco: Children’s Book Press.
Warner, Jody Nyasha. 2010. Viola Desmond Won't Be Budged. Illustrated by Richard Rudnicki. Toronto: Groundwood Books.
Weisner, David. 1999. Sector 7. New York: Clarion Books.

Determining Importance
Ancona, George. 1993. Powwow. San Diego, CA: Harcourt.
Arnosky, Jim. 2002. Field Trips: Bug Hunting, Animal Tracking, Bird-Watching and Shore Walking. New York: Harper Collins.
Brown, Don. 2002. Far Beyond the Garden Gate: Alexandra David-Neel’s Journey to Lhasa. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Hopkinson, Deborah. 2006. Skyboys: How They Built the Empire State Building. Illustrated by James Ransome. New York: Schwartz & Wade.
Locker, Thomas. 1995. Sky Tree: Seeing Science Through Nature. New York: Harper Colins.
Ray, Mary Lyn. 2004. Welcome, Brown Bird. Illustrated by Peter Sylvada. New York: Harcourt.
Rylant, Cynthia. 2006. The Journey: Stories of Migration. Illustrated by Lambert Davis. New York: Blue Sky Press.
Zolotow, Charlotte. 2002. If You Listen. Illustrated by Stephan Vitale. Philadelphia, PA: Running Press Book Pubisher.


Synthesis
Demi. 2007. The Legend of Lao Tzu and the Tao Te Ching. NY: Margaret K. McElderry.
-------. 2003. Muhammad. NY: Margaret K. McElderry.
Hunter, Sara Hoagland. 1996. The Unbreakable Code. Illustrated by Julia Miner. Flag- staff, AZ: Rising Moon.
Kalman, Maira. 2002. Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey. New York: Putnam.
Louis, Catherine. 2003. Liu and the Bird: A Journey in Chinese Calligraphy. Calligraphy by Feng Xizo Min. New York: North-South Books.
Mills, Lauren. 1991. The Rag Coat. Boston: Little, Brown Young Readers.
Shange, Ntozake. 2004. Ellington Was Not a Street. Illustrated by Kadir Nelson. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Woodson, Jacqueline. 2004. Coming on Home Soon. Illustrated by Earl B. Lewis. New York: Putnam.