Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich by Adam Rex

Bibliographic Information:

Rex, Adam. Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich. Orlando: Harcourt, 2006.

Plot Description: Adam Rex’s collection of silly poems feature great horror characters (like Frankenstein) and food, including “The Creature from the Black Lagoon Doesn’t Wait an Hour Before Swimming,” “Count Dracula Doesn’t Know He’s Been Walking Around All Night With Spinach in His Teeth,” and “Bigfoot Can’t Believe You Called Him Yeti Just Now.”  There are references and puns for all audiences, including adults, such as the repetitious songs “It’s a Small World” and “The Girl from Ipanema.”

Quantitative Reading Level: Lexile 670; GL 3.8

Qualitative Reading Analysis: These poems are entirely silly, and thus there are no significant knowledge demands – even the characters themselves do’t have to be familiar to readers to make the poems enjoyable.  The book does employ the use of graphics, which are beautifully illustrated and support and extend interpretation of the text.  Language is mostly familiar, with a few classic and more challenging words like “ne’er do well” and “ennui.”

Content Area: English Language Arts

Content Area Standard(s):

CCSS for Reading Literature, Grade 3: 1) Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers; 5) Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when writing or speaking about a text, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza; describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections.

Curriculum Suggestions:  This is a delightfully hilarious read-aloud for older children, between grades three and five.

Supporting Digital Content: Student-made Book Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmXQ49CYqRs

Leaf by Leaf: Autumn Poems selected by Barbara Rogasky

Bibliographic Information:

Rogasky, Barbara. Leaf by Leaf: Autumn Poems. New York: Scholastic Press, 2001. Print

Plot Description: This collection of short poems celebrates the beauty of fall, from the turning colors of the landscape to the cooling of the air as winter approaches.  Twenty-four poems and excerpts explore the outdoor world in its many changes for plants and animals alike.  Poems are printed in light text over striking photographs of people and scenes, natural and urban.

Quantitative Reading Level: Lexile n/a (non-prose); GL 5.5

Qualitative Reading Analysis:  The language of these poems is familiar, but as poetry, it is sometimes playful.  Measures of sentence structure and conventionality are not well-suited for these poems, even though some are excerpts from formatted poetry.  All of them share a theme of recognizing Fall’s beauty, so there is a layer of meaning, but not inherently complex, rather, artistic.

Content Area: English Language Arts

Content Area Standard(s):

CCSS for Reading Literature, Grades K-5: 2) Recount stories and determine theme from details, including how characters respond to challenges; 4) Describe how words and phrases supply rhythm and meaning. 7) Use information gained from illustrations and words to demonstrate understanding. 10) Read and comprehend literature at grade level.

Curriculum Suggestions:  The poems in this book would make an excellent Read-Aloud for a fall day, perhaps coupled with a poetry writing assignment.  It is very accessible to even lower level readers and thus would be great independent reading choice as well.

Supporting Digital Content:

“The Wild Swans at Coole” by Yeats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdic4rNp_gY

“Come Up from the Fields Father” by Whitman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCSa39zTzQI

Subjects/Themes:  Seasons, Nature, Change, Death and Rebirth