Subway Story by Julia Sarcone-Roach. 2011.

Traveling Underground

Inspiration Book:

Subway story by Sarcone-Roach, Julia — Alfred A. Knopf, 2011--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.8

Jessie, a subway car created in St. Louis, Missouri, enjoys many years as an important part of the New York City subway system, and after she is replaced by more modern cars she begins another important job. 

Rationale: Many primary grade social studies curricula include a unit about different forms of transportation. I like to work with the teacher to introduce group mini research projects. Each group researches a specific form of transportation--the more unusual for your group, the better. The result is a drawing or model of the transportation plus a short oral presentation  of 3-5 facts. Subways may not be familiar to small town and rural USA children. The Inspiration Book and the first seven books on the list of related books provide the content for an informational story hour. The last books give a bit of info about coral reefs and their restoration which is what Susie Subway helped do after she was too old to be a subway car.

Incorporate these titles in a series of story hours about transportation when primary teachers are working on that unit in the classroom. You could do a month or more of story hours with or without hands-on, computer, or research activities. Try cars, trains, ships, planes, bicycles for simple starters. Eventually you will find Books Alive entries for all of those topics.

When I initially worked on this Books Alive entry in 2012, the number of related titles that had a significant number of positive reviews was minimal. Quality subway fiction books have made a comeback, but the nonfiction books still tend to be expensive series encyclopedic titles for classroom work. I think one of my next crusades will be promoting well written, interesting, and exciting nonfiction that meets curricular needs.

Teacher Resources

Author Interview for Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast (includes original sketches for book) http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=2242

Author website http://www.jsarconeroach.com/

Do All Trains Run Aboveground? PreK to 5 | Activity, Video, Website On September 1, 1897, more than 100,000 people took a three-minute trip on a train through a tunnel under downtown Boston. The first subway line in the United States had just opened! Let's ride the rails today in Wonderopolis. http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/do-all-trains-run-aboveground/ 

Related Books:

Count on the subway by Jacobs, Paul DuBois — Alfred A. Knopf, 2014 -E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 1.6. Illustrations and rhythmic text describe the sights and sounds of a subway ride in New York City as a mother and child go uptown, counting their way from one to ten and back again.

Tap tap boom boom by Bluemle, Elizabeth  — Candlewick Press, 2014 -E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 1.7. People race down to the subway for shelter during a thunderstorm.

Subway ride by Miller, Heather — Charlesbridge, c2009 p2011--388.4; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 1.8

Follows five children as they ride subways in ten cities throughout the world. 

Trains run! by Lyon, George Ella — Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2019 -E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 1.9. Illustrations and simple, rhyming text reveal different kinds of trains including subways, how they run, and the sounds they make.

The secret subway by Corey, Shana — Schwartz & Wade Books, 2016 : 388.4; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.4. In 1870, Alfred Ely Beach invents New York's first underground train

Subway by Niemann, Christoph — Greenwillow Books, 2010--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.7

Simple, rhyming text follows two boys and their father as they spend a rainy day riding the various lines of the New York City subway system. 

The street beneath my feet by Guillain, Charlotte  — Words & Pictures, part of The Quarto Group, 2017 551.1; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.9. This book, constructed on one continuous folded page, explores the layers of the Earth from human-made structures like sewers, subways and archeological finds, down through various formations of rock, to the Earth's core and back up again. FREE Teaching Resources available for download from Follett.com

The brilliant deep : rebuilding the world's coral reefs : the story of Ken Nedimyer and the Coral Restoration Foundation by Messner, Kate  — Chronicle Books, 2018 333.95; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.4. A nonfiction picture book that examines the ongoing efforts to save and rebuild the world's coral reefs.

Life in a coral reef by Pfeffer, Wendy — Collins, 2009 : 591.77; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.7. Explains how coral reefs form, tells what they are made of, and describes some of the animals that live in or around coral reefs.

Coral reefs by Earle, Sylvia A  — National Geographic, 2016 551.42; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.4. A brief introduction to coral reefs, including where they are found, how they grow, what lives in them, their importance, and efforts being made to protect and restore them.

Coral reefs by Chin, Jason  — Roaring Brook Press, 2011 577.7; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 6.1. A girl pulls an extraordinary book about coral reefs from the library shelf, and as she turns the pages, finds herself immersed in the coral cities of the sea. FREE Teaching Resources available for download from Follett.com

Coral reefs by Gibbons, Gail — Holiday House, 2007--577.7; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.5 An illustrated history of coral reefs, how they are formed, where they are found, and the importance of protecting them. 

Migrant by Maxine Trottier

A Tough Life

Inspiration Book:

Migrant by Trottier, Maxine — Groundwood Books ,House of Anannsi Press, 2011--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.9. Anna, the child of Mennonites from Mexico who travel north to harvest fruit and vegetables, compares herself to various animals that share some of her behaviors, and wonders what it would be like to be a tree with deep roots as opposed to a feather in the wind. 

Rationale: Farmers and businessmen employ migrant workers from Mexico and Central American countries to help during their busy times. Immigration and migrant workers and visas, and green cards are all part of contemporary America. Migrant offers a twist on the topic because originally this group of workers was from Canada and moved to Mexico and now migrate yearly back to Canada to work in the fields. Listed in the bibliography are a variety of books about Mennonites or migrants and migrant life that represent people from many countries.

If you want the emphasis to be on the Mennonites, use Migrant with the folk tales and stories from the Mennonite tradition that you will find in the bibliography. Some of those titles are older and may not be in print much longer--you may need to dig them out at public libraries.

Grades K-3: My Mommy & Daddy Harvest Your Vegetables

Background: This is a tough topic for primary grades. Unless students live in an area of migrant farm laborers they may have no concept of why people move around the country to work on a farm. More and more of our children think food comes from the grocery store, not a farm or garden. Use these titles during harvest season in the early fall, and take a trip to a farm market to meet some of the farmers. I like to use Tomas and the Library Lady with Migrant at the beginning of the year because I can talk about the value of libraries, but The Hard-Times Jar works as well and emphasizes the importance of schools and books.

Preparation: Find an old copy of the October, 2012 issue of LibrarySparks (now discontinued) and prepare a readers’ theater production of the book found in that periodical. Or rewrite your own readers’s theater script.  I like to prepare a readers’ theater presentations with the third graders and have them perform for the first and second graders.

Introduction: Who has a garden at their home? Who has been to a farmers’ market? Where does the super market get its fruits and vegetables? Who grows them? In today’s Inspiration Book, a little girl and her family move from country to country following the harvesting of fruits and vegetables. Listen to the backstory for the Inspiration Book. The author will go right into reading the book and I’ll finish reading.

Listen to (you may need to register if you have not previously used TeachingBooks):

Meet the Author Book Reading http://www.teachingbooks.net/book_reading.cgi?id=8222

Continue reading aloud: Migrant by Trottier, Maxine — Groundwood Books,House of Anannsi Press, 2011--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.9. Anna, the child of Mennonites from Mexico who travel north to harvest fruit and vegetables, compares herself to various animals that share some of her behaviors, and wonders what it would be like to be a tree with deep roots as opposed to a feather in the wind. 

Anna and her family are migrants, and move from Mexico to Canada to pick produce near Leamington, Ontario. One of my sons lives near Leamington, and I’ve seen all the tomato greenhouses. Look carefully at tomatoes available in winter and you may find a small notice on the tomatoes that they are a product of Canada, and probably Leamington.

Anna wanted to be settled. In our next story just going to school can be a problem for migrant children.

Read aloud:

The hard-times jar by Smothers, Ethel Footman  — Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.0 Emma, the daughter of poor migrant workers, longs to own a real book, and when she turns eight and must attend school for the first time, she is amazed to discover a whole library in her classroom. 

OR

Tomas and the library lady by Mora, Pat — Dragonfly Books/A. Knopf ,Distributed by Random House, c1997 p2000--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.5 While helping his family in their work as migrant laborers far from their home, Tomas finds an entire world to explore in the books at the local public library. 

Or View Video of entire book: http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=35878&CategoryID=9470

Teacher Resources:

Meet the Author Book Reading http://www.teachingbooks.net/book_reading.cgi?id=8222 (See note for introduction).

Reader’s Theater of Migrant in LibrarySparks October 2012, pp.45-47. Now OP, but worth attempting to find.

Related Books:

The hard-times jar by Smothers, Ethel Footman  — Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.0 Emma, the daughter of poor migrant workers, longs to own a real book, and when she turns eight and must attend school for the first time, she is amazed to discover a whole library in her classroom. 

Working cotton by Williams, Sherley Anne  — Voyager Books/Harcourt Brace, c1992 p1997--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.0 A young African-American girl relates the daily events of her family's migrant life in the cotton fields of central California. 

Pancho Rabbit and the coyote : a migrant's tale by Tonatiuh, Duncan — Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2013. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.3. When Papa Rabbit does not return home as expected from many seasons of working in the great carrot and lettuce fields of El Norte, his son Pancho sets out on a dangerous trek to find him, guided by a coyote. Includes author's note. Social Studies List 2014.

First day in grapes by Perez, L. King — Lee & Low Books Inc., 2002. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.5. When Chico starts the third grade after his migrant worker family moves to begin harvesting California grapes, he finds that self confidence and math skills help him cope with the first day of school. FREE Teaching Resources available for download from Follett.

Tomas and the library lady by Mora, Pat — Dragonfly Books/A. Knopf ,Distributed by Random House, c1997 p2000--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.5 While helping his family in their work as migrant laborers far from their home, Tomas finds an entire world to explore in the books at the local public library. 

Amelia's road by Altman, Linda Jacobs — Lee & Low Books, 1993--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.9 Tired of moving around so much, Amelia, the daughter of migrant farm workers, dreams of a stable home. 

Going home by Bunting, Eve  — HarperCollins Publishers, 1996--E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 5.4 Although a Mexican family comes to the United States to work as farm laborers so that their children will have opportunities, the parents still consider Mexico their home. 

Related Nonfiction Books:

Dolores Huerta : a hero to migrant workers by Warren, Sarah E — Marshall Cavendish Children, 2012. Dewey: 331.4; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.1. An illustrated look at the life and accomplishments of Dolores Huerta, who fought to ensure fair and safe work places for migrant workers. Includes a timeline and resources for teachers.

A picture book of Cesar Chavez by Adler, David A — Holiday House, 2010. Dewey: 331.88; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.7. An illustrated exploration of the life of labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez.

Harvesting hope : the story of Cesar Chavez by Krull, Kathleen — Harcourt, 2003. Dewey: 331.88; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 6.3. A biography of Cesar Chavez, from age ten when he and his family lived happily on their Arizona ranch, to age thirty-eight when he led a peaceful protest against California migrant workers' miserable working conditions.