Amazing Grace is truly special. This story is not only great for character building, but it touches on the importance of gender and racial equality and acceptance in the most honest of ways. This is spectacular for a social studies lesson as well as promoting reading between the lines. This inspiring tale of Grace, a confident adventure-seeker and lover of all stories, is ranked at an “L” on Scholastic’s guided reading scale and is appropriate for all elementary grades.

When Grace's school decides to perform Peter Pan, Grace longs to play the lead. Her classmates are quick to tell her that Peter Pan was a boy and also wasn't black. Grace learns that she can be anything she wants through the support of her family. The play is a success, and Grace is a great Peter Pan. 

Students can point out character traits about Grace, Mom, and Nana and find text evidence to support these in the book.

Lexile: 680L

Brief Review:

The wonderful things you will be is about “young children and their parents” saying that they will do wonderful things and they can’t wait to see what is in store for them. This story has positive reinforcement because in the story the adults talk about the wonderful things the young children will be.

Idea of how it can be used in a classroom:

The wonderful things you will be could be used in the classroom by giving students the affirmation that they can do anything they set their minds to no matter what it is. The teacher could have the students make a self portrait of themselves of what they want to become later on in life and write a short summary of what they what to become or the teacher write this part for them using their own words.

Reading Level & Leveling System:

Lexile Scale

460LL

Grades Early Childhood to Pre-K

Book Rating:

I would rate this book a 4 because of how positive it is toward young children, it shows that the adults in the young children’s lives really care about what is going on, which is something young children really need.

This books tells the story of a young girl who is so excited to learn to read, but soon realizes that she struggles to read the letters and numbers because they all get jumbled together. Finally in fifth grade, Trisha meets a teacher who recognizes what she CAN do and enlightens her to the magic of reading. This book never directly mentions dyslexia, but it would be great to have for students that can relate to this problem or have learning disabilities. This book provides hope and encouragement to struggling students! I would love to read this to my students and then analyze how Trisha overcame her problem of not being able to read. 

Lexile: 650L

Fountas and Pinnell: M

AR: 8.5

Grade Level: 6th-8th

Summary: Anne Frank: A Hidden Life is all about what Anne Frank and her family endured through the Holocaust. Anne Frank: A Hidden Life gives extreme detail, and allows the reader to experience the Holocaust through Anne's perspctive. 

Idea: This is a great way to intertwine reading into social studies because it covers a momumental part of our history.  I would most definitely use this book for upper grades, most likely 6th. I feel like the reading level and content is most appropiate here. For my lower level students, I can always fit this book into where I would meet their needs. This way, they would not miss out on a first hand account of a young girl, who experienced every bit of the Holocaust.