This book written by Dolly Parton is about a young girl who is in need of a winter coat. Her mother sews her a coat made of rags and the girls wears it to school. Her fellow classmates mock her for having a coat made of rags but she takes pride in her coat since every stitch is made with love. 

With this book students could make a crafted coat out of different colors of paper and write positive words about themselves on each piece. The whole class could make a huge quilt using paper and each student could color one piece each and write one word to describe them on it. 

Lexile: AD1040L

Matilda is such a bright little girl. She started reading very difficult books at a very young age. Her family does not seem to care about how smart she is, but Matilda stands her ground. When Matilda goes to school she is faced with the mean Ms. Trunchbull and in that moment she finds out she has unique powers which she uses to not only fight back, but to play pranks on people! This is an amazing story and is one of my all time favorites. 

Students can come up with their own power and act it out in front of the class, write about it, or draw a picture about it. They can also get into groups and analyze characters from the book. 

Lexile: 840L

This is just one of the many books in this series. Each book is in the point of view of a boy who survives each historical event that has ever taken place. It detailed what happened in an age appropriate way which captures all students attention and keeps them wanting to read more. 

My CT from last semester read these books to her class every day. I would love to have the collection and read them to my class and discuss each historical event before or after we read. I love how it is told by a little boy to help get younger children to understand what happened. 

Lexile: 590L

August Pullman was born with a facial deformity that has kept him from going to a regular school, util now. He is starting fifth grade and is very nervous about people accepting him and making friends. Auggie wants to be treated as an ordinary kid but some classmates cannot look past his facial deformity. This book discusses Auggie's life, how he meets friends, the challenges he faces, and how he overcomes each one with confidence. 

This book can be used for many activities. Students can learn about cause and effect, character education, inside and outside traits, and bullying. 

Lexile: 790L

Chrysanthemum is proud of her name. She loves how unique it is, until kindergarten started. All the other children have regular names and make fun of her name and that she was named after a flower. Then she meets her new teacher, which has a very unique name as well. Chrysanthemum is beaming with happiness and cannot contain her excitement when she finds out that Mrs. Twinkle wants to name her daughter Chrysanthemum. All the other children wish they were named after a flower and Chrysanthemum is beaming with excitement yet again. 

With this book, students can research their name and find everything that is unique about their name. 

Lexile: 570L