Before John was a Jazz Giant by Carole Boston Weatherford

Published by: Henry Holt and Company, LLC

Based on the story of John Coltrane, a saxophonist in the 1930s, this moving poem by Weatherford will inform students about jazz as well as introduce them to the time period.

Suggested Delivery: Read-aloud

Reading Level: Lexile: AD1090L

Vocabulary: Whistling, jitterbuggers, Bojangles, jazz, saxophone, phonograph, ukelele, warbling, scoutmaster, sermon, phonograph. 

Vocabulary Activity: Introduce and relate vocabulary to jazz for the students to understand the terms. Have the students address and relate the words to the book and to jazz music. 

Teaching Strategies: 

Pre-Reading: Discuss with students the time period; what was occurring in the 1930s? Who was John Coltrane? Why is he famous? What is jazz? Play a sample of jazz music for the students to hear.

During Reading: Stop during reading and address various aspects of John's life prior to playing jazz. Why does he choose to play jazz? what kinds of influences did he have in his life? 

After Reading: Discuss what students have learned about John Coltrane and jazz music ( as well as his contribution). Have students provide examples from the book. Introduce students to some of John's music. Inform them of the various other African American musicians of his time. 

Web Resources: 

Activity Guide: http://media.us.macmillan.com/activityguides/9780805079944AG.pdf

Information on John Coltrane: http://www.johncoltrane.com/

Book Review: http://thebrownbookshelf.com/2008/04/21/book-report-before-john-was-a-jazz-giant/

Reading of Book: http://www.teachingbooks.net/book_reading.cgi?id=3127&a=1&crc=1

Author's Website: http://www.caroleweatherford.com/

Weatherford, C. B., & Qualls, S. (2008). Before John was a jazz giant: a song of John Coltrane. New York: Henry Holt.

The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller

Published by: Henry Holt and Company, LLC


This whimsical story begins with Uncle Tom introducing us to the characters, the Fifty States of America. Readers will be engaged by the interesting, silly, dilemma faced by the states, as well as Keller's depiction of the states as individual characters. The states are bored with their current location and decide to change places and are faced with the consequences of this action.

Suggested Delivery: Read-Aloud

Reading Index: Lexile: 510L

Vocabulary: Position, moaned, bicker, shrieked, wacky, accordion, committee, giddy,  arrangement, interaction, jabbing. 

Vocabulary Activity: Students can complete a vocabulary self awareness chart prior to listening to the read-aloud. For the words they are unfamiliar with, they will look up the meaning (dictionary) and write this meaning down for reference when reading and to become familiar prior to reading.

Teaching Strategies: 

Pre-Reading: Discuss with the students the fifty states and what they already know about them, referring to a map. Model and provide the students with a map filled out correctly and labeled correctly. Provide the students with a map of the United States and have them label this map with the names of the states. 

During Reading: Have the students discuss the feelings of the states. Why did they want to move? What were some of the reasons for why the states wanted to move? Have them provide examples.

After Reading/Writing: Have the students take the place of one of the states in the book. Have them write from the perspective of this state: before they moved and after they moved. How did they feel? Why did they not want to stay? 

Web Resources: 

Activities for the book: http://www.lauriekeller.com/schoolstuff_scrambled.html

The Scrambled States of America Game: http://www.gamewright.com/gamewright/index.php?section=games&page=game&show=93

Movie via Netflix: http://movies.netflix.com/Movie/The-Scrambled-States-of-America/60034656

Author Website: http://www.lauriekeller.com/

Keller, L. (1998). The scrambled states of America. New York: Henry Holt.