Brief Review:

Corduroy is about a little stuffed bear in a store department who badly wants a home. When he finally meets a little girl who wants to take him home he learns that he's missing a button. That night he went on search for a button so he can be like new again. Its a good story for children because it personifies the stuffed animal to have feelings of being wanted.

Idea of how it can be used in the classroom:

This book could be used at the end of first grade or the beginning of second grade to teach students about personification of non-living things. The teacher could turn this into a writing lesson to get the students to personify one of their most loved possessions.

Reading Level & Leveling System:

Direct Reading Assessment

Transitional Readers

End of Grade One and Beginning of Grade Two

Book Rating:

I would rate this book a 5 because it is a classic and has a good moral. Because in the end he learned that even if he wasn't perfect the right person would still want him.

Good fun. Not a lot of unfamiliar words, but lots of fun to look through. Even my son likes it (and he's not a reader).

2/2/2011 ** This classic book on vocabulary instruction does an excellent job explaining how to narrow down and select target words from the extensive lists of words that are generally included with a basal story selection. The three tiers of word categories are easy to understand and provide an excellent framework for selection. The text also provides useful examples of ways to provide students with repeated exposure and a wide range of interaction levels. However, if you're looking for a resource that suggests specific words and provides 'ready-made' activities, sentences, etc., this isn't the book for you.

This is the type of professional book that I would usually prefer - explaining how and why, but leaving the decision making up to my professional judgment. In my quest to improve my explicit and intentional vocabulary instruction, I've read several articles from Reading Teacher and JAAL. I also decided to revisit this book. However, I'm still stuck - I'm using a Readers' Workshop approach to reading instruction and therefore, I don't have a common text which might provide the basis for choosing common vocabulary words. Perhaps in this case I might also want a 'teacher resource'/worksheet type of book. Or perhaps the spelling book I'm using might be a place to locate words for core vocab instruction. I'd love to have the kids choose their own words, from the books they're reading, but I don't think I'm there yet in terms of organization.

I'm feeling a bit like I'm cheating by marking this book as read - I didn't read the whole thing this time around; however, I'd used it previously in a professional study group and it was pretty quick to skim parts I'd read then. I did read at least half the book carefully.