Text Set: Activating and Connecting (Winnie)

Danneberg, J. First Day Jitters.

The alarm rings, but Sarah Jane Hartwell just slips down deeper into her covers and announces that she doesn’t want to go. Sarah Jane slowly tumbled out of bed, stumbled into the bathroom, and fumbled into her clothes when Mr. Hartwell finally orders her down to breakfast. Mr. Hartwell puts her in the car and drops her off at school. Sarah Jane is led to the classroom by Mrs. Burton, the principle. The readers are eventually led to the revelation that Sarah Jane is not a student, but actually a teacher.

Strategy Connection: This book is a great way to start the students on making connections between what they read and what is going on in their lives. This book can help create great conversations on how do we feel about first day of school? Do we have anything in common with Sarah Jane? This book can also help the students realize that they are not the only ones that feel nervous on the first day but teachers have the same feelings and fears as well.

Flanaga, A.K. Cinco de Mayo.
This book is a great way to introduce the holiday day Cinco de Mayo to students. It talks about the background and the history of how the holiday came about. The book talks about the food eaten, music played, and the dances people do during the holiday. It also shares with the students how the holiday is celebrated here in the US and what the students can do themselves on that holiday.

Strategy Connection: This is a great book for the students to practice the idea of noticing and recording down new things they learn throughout a book. This could be a great way for the students to learn about another holiday besides the ones they have been celebrating since they were little. This is also a way for the students to learn and experience different cultures besides their own.

Viorst, J. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

From the moment Alexander wakes up with gum in his hair, things just do not go his way. At breakfast, Alexander's brothers Nick and Anthony reach into their cereal boxes and pulled out amazing prizes, while all Alexander ends up with is cereal. Things don’t go smoothly throughout the day either. Alexander’s teacher doesn't like his drawing of an invisible castle, he loses his yo-yo, there is no dessert in his lunch, the dentist tells him he has a cavity, there is kissing on TV, and he has to wear his railroad train pajamas (he hates his railroad train pajamas). With all of this, it isn’t any surprise Alexander wants to move to Australia! Alexander’s mother's assures him that everyone has bad days, even people who live in Australia.

Strategy Connection: This book is a great way to teach the students Text-to-Self connections. This book can be used as a great discussion starter. The teacher can his/her students what causes them to have a bad day and how do they deal with it when they are in those situations. This can show the students that although characters in a book are not real, they can sometimes have very much in common with the students themselves.