5th Grade
Battle of the Books
2012-2013
Common Core Curriculum Connections
5th Grade Battle of the Books List 2012-2013:
Author:
Title:
Haddix, Margaret
Curtis, Christopher Paul
Balliet, Blue
Kirby, Matthew J.
Spinelli, Jerry
Collins, Suzanne
Lupica, Mike
Henson, Heather
Going, K. L.
Riordan, Rick
Anderson, Jodi Lynn
DiCamillo, Kate
Choldenko, Gennifer
Lowry, Lois
Draper, Sharon
Law, Ingrid
Hiaasen, Carl
Avi
Gidwitz, Adam
LaFevers, R.L.
Pearsall, Shelley
Connor, Leslie
Rawls, Wilson
Paulsen, Gary
Reedy, Trent
Among the Hidden
Bud, Not Buddy
Chasing Vermeer
Clockwork Three, The
Crash
Gregor, the Overlander
Heat
Here's How I See It: Here's How It is
Liberation of Gabriel King, The
Lost Hero, The
May Bird and the Ever After
Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, The
No Passengers Beyond This Point
Number the Stars
Out of My Mind
Savvy
Scat
Seer of Shadows
Tale Dark & Grimm, A
Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos
Trouble Don't Last
Waiting for Normal
Where the Red Fern Grows
Woods Runner
Words in the Dust
Unit 1: Playing With Words.
This four-week unit invites encourages students to experiment with language and to
explore their personal writing styles.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Why (and how) do we play with language?
Battle of the Books Selections:
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett:
A famous Vermeer painting, The Lady Writing, is stolen while in transit to a Chicago museum. Petra
and Calder, classmates at the University of Chicago Lab School, think they may be able to solve the
mystery. Petra has found, and then lost again, a related letter, and each of them may be getting
supernatural messages about the theft, Petra directly from the Lady in the painting, and Calder from a
set of pentominoes. As they track down clues, their investigations lead them in many directions: an
old lady in the neighborhood, a famous bookstore, their teacher, a book of freakish phenomena, a
friend's disappearance, and a series of odd coincidences. No one is what they seem to be, and Petra and Calder don't
know whom they can trust.
A thinking child's mystery, the first of a trilogy, filled with clues, red herrings, multiple suspects, plot twists, concluding
explanations), and also with secret codes (which the reader has to decode to read the whole story), mathematical
patterns, hidden drawings, art history, and references to the real books of Charles Fort, who wrote in the beginning of
the 20th century about unexplained phenomena. Sometimes called The Da Vinci Code for tweens.
Websites for lesson plans: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/chasing-vermeer-teachers-guide
Activities:
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W.5.7: Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of
different aspects of a topic.
Divide students into small groups to research topics relevant to the novel: Blue Balliett, Bret Helquist,
pentaminoes, Johannes Vermeer, A Lady Writing
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/catalogue/lady_writing.html, The Geographer
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/catalogue/geographer.html , Girl With A Pearl Earring
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/catalogue/girl_with_a_pearl_earring.html , Rembrandt (Dutch
contemporary of Vermeer), Alexander Calder, Art Institute of Chicago, National Gallery of Art (DC), Powell’s
Used Books http://www.powellschicago.com/ , University Lab School http://www.ucls.uchicago.edu/
SL.5.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, group, and teacher-led) on grade 5
topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Assign students Ms. Hussey’s assignment on p. 36 about what makes an object a work of art after reading
through page 55 (Calder’s description as a model).They will share their descriptions with their small group
having them guess what object is described, choose one student’s description, and have that student present it
to the class, asking the class to guess what the object might be.
RL.5.2: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a
story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.
Using a Venn diagram or other graphic organizer, compare Calder and Petra (their personal traits and response
to the challenges they faced in solving the mystery). Write a brief essay about why it took both children,
working as a team, to solve the mystery. Give specific examples from the text.
(Create your own Venn Diagram: http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/venn/ )
Unit 2: Renaissance Thinking. This six-week unit focuses on the research process, as well as the creative and critical
thinking used by writers, inventors, and famous people from the Renaissance and beyond.
Essential Question: How does creativity change the world?
Battle of the Books Selection:
The Clockwork Three by Matthew J. Kirby
Giuseppe is an orphaned street musician who sees no way to escape from his ruthless master, until the day he
finds an enchanted green violin.
Frederick is an apprentice clockmaker with a past he cannot remember, who secretly works to build the most
magnificent clockwork man the world has ever seen.
Hannah is a maid in a grand hotel, whose life is one of endless drudgery, until she encounters a mystifying new
guest and learns of a hidden treasure.
As mysterious circumstances bring them together, the lives of these three children soon interlock, like the turning gears of a clock,
and they realize that each one holds the key to the others’ puzzles. The trio’s adventures sweep them through the winding alleyways
and glittering plazas of their city, and along the way Giuseppe, Hannah, and Frederick must learn to trust in one another — and in
themselves — for they risk losing the things they hold most dear, as the dangers they face quickly become all too real.
Topics/Themes

Cooperation and Teamwork

Abuse

Bullying

Homelessness and Poverty

Overcoming Obstacles

Runaways
Interest Level: Grade 6 - Grade 8
Grade Level Equivalent: 4.2
Lexile® measure: 680L
Genre/Theme: Adventure, overcoming adversity
Website link for additional activities:
http://lwinliteracy92011.wikispaces.com/file/view/Clockwork+Three+Literature+Focus+Unit.pdf
Unit 3: Clues to A Culture. This six-week unit focuses on aspects of Native American nations/cultures as revealed
through pairings of literature and informational text.
Essential Question: How does literature provide insight into a culture?
Battle of the Books Selection:
Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy
A contemporary 13-year-old Muslim teen's life changes profoundly when American forces
arrive in her war-torn Afghanistan village. Born with a cleft palate, Zulaikha's tormented by boys
calling her "donkey-face," adults averting their eyes and an insensitive stepmother. With
marriage unlikely, Zulaikha secretly learns to read and write, emulating her birth mother, who
was murdered by the Taliban for keeping books. As the Americans build a village school,
Zulaikha's father wins a construction contract and arranges a marriage for her beloved sister
with a wealthy older man. When the Americans fly her to Kandahar for successful
reconstructive surgery, Zulaikha finally looks and feels normal until family tragedy strikes and
she realizes "normal" isn't everything. Drawing from personal experiences in Afghanistan,
Reedy creates a multidimensional heroine who introspectively reflects on how to "be patient
enough to forget all the ugliness and focus on . . . good things" in an oppressive culture where
women are undervalued. An inside look at an ordinary Afghanistan family trying to survive in extraordinary times, it is
both heart-wrenching and timely. (pronunciation guide, glossary, author's note, notes on Persian poetry, recommended
reading)
Connection to Core:
*Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters
in a story or drama respond to challenges.
*Describe how a narrator’s or speaker’s point of view influences how events are described.
Topics:
Communities and Ways of Life
Middle Eastern
Wars and Conflicts
People, Places, and Environments
Interest Level: Grade 6 - Grade 8
Grade Level Equivalent: 4.2
Lexile® measure: 670L
DRA: 70
Guided Reading: Z
Genre/Theme:
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Multicultural

Realistic Fiction
Unit 4: America in Conflict.
This nine-week unit focuses on the causes and consequences of the American Civil War, as
revealed through literature and informational text.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How are fictionalized characters and real people changed through conflict?
Battle of the Books Selections:
Trouble Don’t Last by Shelley Pearsall:
Eleven-year-old Samuel was born as Master Hackler's slave, and working on the Kentucky farm is the only
life he's ever known--until one dark night in 1859. Without warning, Samuel is pulled from his bed by
Harrison, the oldest slave on Master's farm. And together, they run.
The journey north seems much more frightening than Master Hackler ever was, and Samuel is not sure
what freedom means aside from running, hiding, and starving. But as they move from one refuge to the
next on the Underground Railroad, Samuel discovers the secret of his own past--and future. And old
Harrison begins to see beyond a lifetime of hurt to the promise of a new life.
Through the compelling words of Samuel, Trouble Don't Last gives a voice to the runaways themselves. It is a
suspenseful and fast paced story that will immerse readers in their emotional journey.
Websites for lesson plans: http://www.shelleypearsall.com/TroubleDontLastGuide.pdf
Webquest to begin before reading Trouble Don’t Last and to complete after the novel is read/It includes websites and
videos to help the students learn more about The Underground Railroad:
http://www.zunal.com/webquest.php?w=58167
Activities: [Suggested objectives, works, and activities from Common Core Standards Map for this unit could all work
well with this novel; the below are suggestions specific to this book]
Assign Before reading the novel:
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RL.5.4/W 5.6: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative
language such as metaphors and similes. / With some guidance and support from adults, use technology,
including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others;
demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single sitting.
Create a figurative language display.
Trouble Don't Last is filled with many examples of figurative language. Shelley Pearsall uses similes to
create certain images. For example, “He walked ahead, snapping branches like bones under his feet.” (p. 87)
Ask students to find other similes/metaphors/figurative language in the novel and write them in their reading
notebook, noting the page number where they are found, as they read. Have students select and illustrate the
figurative language phrases from the story in a poster format or on a web-based “poster” such as Wordle
(http://www.wordle.net/ / Using Wordle in the Classroom http://www.slideshare.net/murcha/using-wordle-inthe-classroom-presentation ) or Tagxedo (http://www.tagxedo.com/ ) Be sure to use the tilde ~ between words
in a phrase to keep them together. OR students can be divided into small groups to combine and illustrate their
language phrases on the web poster maker Glogster http://edu.glogster.com/ or Web Poster Wizard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjqfpU5Tk1o These can then be printed out &/or posted on your classroom
website.
W.5.7: Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of
different aspects of a topic.
Divide students into small groups (or have each individual select a topic—maybe draw out of a hat so that all
topics will be covered) to research topics relevant to the novel and historical time period: Frederick Douglass,
John Brown, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Angelina and Sarah Grimke, William Lloyd Garrison, Mary Ann Shadd
Cary,Harriet Tubman, Lucretia Mott, Henry “Box” Brown (give students Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine),
Black Codes, Emancipation Proclamation, Fugitive Slave Acts, Compromise of 1850, the 13th Amendment,
Underground Railroad, “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” secret signs and symbols
http://pathways.thinkport.org/secrets/ . These can be presented in essay form or as PowerPoints, Prezis
http://prezi.com/ , or other web 2.0 applications.
After reading the novel:
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RL.5.2/RL 5.3/W 5.1: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how
characters in a story or drama respond to challenges; summarize the text. / Compare and contrast two or
more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how
characters interact)./Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when
drawing inferences from the text.
Using a Venn diagram or other graphic organizer, compare Harrison and Samuel (their personal traits and
responses to the each of the challenges they faced). Write a brief essay about why it took both the boy and his
grandfather, working as a team, to escape. In your opinion, could either of them have made it to Canada without
the other? Give specific examples from the text.
(Create your own Venn Diagram: http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/venn/ )
Unit 5: Exploration, Real and Imagined. This five-week unit builds on the study of character development
begun in Unit Four by having students articulate what we learn from real and fictional characters’ experiences.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What do people, real or imagined, learn from exploring their world?
Battle of the Books Selections:
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
By: Kate DiCamillo
Reading Level: 4.8
A timeless tale by the incomparable Kate DiCamillo, complete with stunning fullcolor plate by Bagram Ibatoulline, honors the enduring power of love. “Someone
will come for you, but first you must open your heart…” Once, in a house on
Egypt Street, there lived a china rabbit named Edward Tulane. The rabbit was
very pleased with himself, and for good reason: he was lost. Kate DiCamillo
takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the depths of the ocean to the net of
a fisherman, from the top of a garbage heap to the fireside of a hobo camp, from the bedside of an ailing child
to the bustling streets of Memphis. And along the way, we are shown a true miracle that even a heart of the
most breakable kind can learn to love, to lose, and to love again.
Summary From: www.titlewave.com
Websites For Lesson Plans/ Discussion Guides:
http://www.edwardtulane.com/
Activities (Reading Connection)
1. Throughout his journey, Edward Tulane yearns to go home, which he considers to be Egypt Street. And
yet he spends many happy years with people who take him in and give him new homes
(www.edwardtulane.com). Create a timeline of Edward’s physical journey throughout the novel (see
possible timeline software to use below). Then choose one event to discuss how it led to Edward’s
discovery of self during his emotional journey. Students can use the How and Why Characters Change
graphic organizer to record their responses.
EXTENSION: Create a classroom timeline of Edward’s physical journey. Convert each event of the timeline to
a QR Code to be placed around the room. Incorporate the images from the book to further enhance the
experience. Embed audio recordings of the How and Why Characters Change responses for each event. Allow
students to explore the timeline using iPads or iPod Touch technology.
HOW TO CREATE AUDIO QR CODES:
http://www.tammyworcester.com/TipOfWeek/TammyWTechTipOfWeek/Entries/2012/5/22_Tip_114__Audio_QR_Codes.html
Graphic Organizers:
 How and Why Characters Change Graphic Organizer:
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson858/change.pdf
 How and Why Characters Change Graphic Organizer Rubric:
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson858/rubric.pdf
Free Timeline Web 2.0 Tools:
 http://www.timetoast.com/
 http://www.capzles.com/
 http://www.dipity.com/
 http://www.tiki-toki.com/
Activities (Writing Connection):
2. “I have lived one hundred years. And in that time, I have been in places that were heavenly and
others that were horrid. After a time, you learn that each place is different. And you become a
different doll in each place, too. Quite different” (pg. 198). “If you have no intention of loving or being
loved, then the whole journey is pointless” (pg. 199).
Consider the quotes above. Write about one of your defining moments and how it shaped or affected
you. How did this experience change the way you thought or looked at the world?
(www.edwardtulane.com) Compare your defining moment to one of Edward’s defining moments
using one of the character comparison sheets below.
EXTENSION: Students will convert their written experiences to graphic novel format using
http://www.comicmaster.org.uk/. The graphic novels can be printed and placed in a display in the hallway, in
writing folders, or combined to make a classroom book.
Graphic Organizers:
 Character Comparison
http://printables.scholastic.com/printables/detail/?id=40506
 Character Comparison Sheet
http://printables.scholastic.com/printables/detail/?id=35527
Activities (Research/Social Studies Connection):
3. (1.) On Abilene’s eleventh birthday, her parents tell her the family will soon sail to London on the
Queen Mary (www.edwardtulane.com). (2.) “And so it was that Edward took to the road with a hobo
and his dog” (pg. 93). Research one of the above topics (The Queen Mary or Hoboes) discussed in The
Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Provide information concerning the historical significance of
your choice. Use the attached Big 6 Assignment Organizer to organize your research process. The
teacher can review the Big 6 Research Methodology using the attached PowerPoint or Prezi
presentation. Students can use the Interactive Notetaker tool to take notes while reading.
EXTENSION: Students will present their information in a creative manner using one of the following tools:
1) www.prezi.com
2) www.kerpoof.com
3) http://www.xtranormal.com/
4) http://www.powtoon.com/
Graphic Organizers/Printables:
 Big 6 Handout
http://big6.com/media/freestuff/Big6Handouts.pdf
 Big 6 Assignment Organizer
http://ils.unc.edu/daniel/242/Big6AsnOrganizer.html
 Research Web Handout
Provided At Training
Big 6 Presentations:
 Prezi Presentation
http://prezi.com/ybb29h1ph4ny/the-big-6/
 PowerPoint Presentation
http://www.slideshare.net/kathykhan/big-6-powerpoint
Interactive Notetaker:
 http://interactives.mped.org/notetaker722.aspx
Unit 6: Coming Of Age. This final six-week unit focuses on the genre of the novel, and uses “coming of age”
as a unifying theme.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How can literature help us understand what it means to “grow-up”?
Battle of the Books Selections:
Bud, Not Buddy
By: Christopher Paul Curtis
Reading Level: 5.5
It’s 1936, in Flint, Michigan. Times may be hard, and ten-year-old Bud may be a
motherless boy on the run, but Bud’s got a few things going for him: 1. He has his own
suitcase filled with his own important, secret things. 2. He’s the author of Bud
Caldwell’s Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of
Yourself. 3. His momma never told him who his father was, but she left a clue: flyers of
Herman E. Calloway and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the
Depression!!!!!! Bud’s got an idea that those flyers will lead him to his father. Once he
decides to hit the road and find this mystery man, nothing can stop him--not hunger, not fear, not vampires,
not even Herman E. Calloway himself. Bud, Not Buddy is full of laugh-out-loud humor and wonderful
characters, hitting the high notes of jazz and sounding the deeper tones of the Great Depression. Once again
Christopher Paul Curtis, author of the award-winning novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963, takes
readers on a heartwarming and unforgettable journey.
Summary From: www.titlewave.com
Websites For Lesson Plans/Discussion Guides:
http://www.randomhouse.com/features/christopherpaulcurtis/
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/press-conference-buddy-303.html
http://novelinks.org/pmwiki.php?n=Novels.BudNotBuddy
http://www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/teachers/connections/pdf/BudNotBuddy.pdf
http://eduscapes.com/reading/bud/teacher.htm
Book Supplements:
Children of the Great Depression
Out of the Dust
The Dust Bowl: An Interactive History Adventure
Rose’s Journal: A Story Of A Girl In The Great Depression
Encyclomedia Videos:
America In The 20th Century: The Great Depression (Teacher’s Guide & Discussion Questions)
Voices of the Dust (Teacher’s Guide & Discussion Questions)
History In Focus: 1930-1939 (Quiz)
20th Century Turning Points: 1929-1943
The History of Jazz: Swing, Bebop, and Modal Jazz (Quiz)
The History of Jazz: Blues, Ragtime, and Dixieland (Quiz)
Websites For Research:
www.kyvl.org
http://www.history.com/topics/great-depression
http://pbskids.org/jazz/
http://history.searchbeat.com/greatdepression.htm
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/themes/great-depression/
Activities (Reading/Research/Social Studies Connection):
1. Bud, Not Buddy takes place during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Create a classroom newspaper
written from the perspective of someone living in the 1930’s. The class will be divided into groups.
Each group will be responsible for researching a specific aspect of the 1930’s. Examples of possible
topics are:
I. Causes of the Great Depression
II.
Fashions of the 1930’s
III.
Riding The Rails
IV. The Dust Bowl
V. The Jazz Age
VI. The New Deal
VII. Franklin D. Roosevelt
VIII.
Gangsters
IX. J. Edgar Hoover
Each student will write an article pertaining to the topic they were given. Once the articles are
complete, students will be reorganized into groups containing one person from each topic group.
Students will then organize their articles into one “group” newspaper. This can be done on a large
piece of butcher paper. Students may then decide a newspaper title and draw in advertisements
appropriate for the time. Newspapers will be placed around the room and students allowed to
investigate each. To create excitement, the teacher can offer to place one article from each group
onto the classroom website. In addition, students could be allowed to dress-up according to the
fashions of the 1930’s in order to present their articles to the class.
EXTENSION:
1. Then and Now Webquest. Students will compare costs of living in the 1930’s to today’s cost of the
living and create a budget for a family of four.
http://www.ecsd.us/staff/kreichle/Depression%20webquest/Great%20Depression%20Webquest.htm
Activities (Reading/Practical Living Connection):
2. “Most of the kids in the Home keep their things in a paper or cloth sack, but not me. I have my own
suitcase” (pg. 6). Record your responses to the following questions in your writing journal:
(http://www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/teachers/connections/pdf/BudNotBuddy.pdf)
a) Why is Bud’s suitcase so important to him?
b) Do you keep things that have sentimental value?
c) What are some things that you have saved and why are they so important?
d) Why do people feel the need to do this?
e) Why does Bud finally unpack his suitcase at the end of the book?
Work in a group to complete the Problematic Situations Student Activity by analyzing the items Bud
chose to include in his suitcase to the items you and your group would choose.
EXTENSION:
Put yourself in Bud’s shoes by creating your own suitcase and filling it with “10” must have items. Use
the template below to create the suitcase out of cardstock. You may use magazines, scrap paper, photos, and
the Internet to find images representing the items you would include in your suitcase. In your writing journal,
list the ten items and provide a short explanation as to why you would include each.
Graphic Organizers:
 Problematic Situations Student Activity
http://novelinks.org/uploads/Novels/BudNotBuddy/Problematic%20Situations.pdf
Suitcase Template:
 Suitcase Template and Materials Needed
http://www.ruthannzaroff.com/mirkwooddesigns/suitcase.htm
Activities (Writing Connection):
3. Throughout the book Bud, Not Buddy you can find "Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things for Having a
Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself". Create your own “Rules To Live By” and provide
a short explanation of your choices. The lists and explanations can be combined to create a classroom
book. In addition, the classroom could create a “Rules To Live By In Room #___” to be placed at the
front of the classroom.