Vampires Don't wear polka dots

Title: Vampires Don't wear polka dots
author: Debbie Dadey
about the author: 
 Debbie Dadey is the author and co-author of more than 125 books, including the Publishers Weekly bestselling The Adventure of the Bailey School Kids series, which has over 25 million books in print, as well as The Worst Name in Third Grade, The Ghostville Elementary series, and The Swamp Monster in Third Grade series. She also teamed up with her son, Nathan Dadey, to write The Slime Wars.
 http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/debbie-dadey


 
Grade: 3
summary:The third grade at Bailey Elementary is so hard to handle that most teachers quit after meeting them. But no one dares make Mrs. Jeepers mad--she has long red hair and fingernails and lives in a haunted house with a coffin in the basement! The kids think she's a vampire.

My reaction: I absolutely loved this book. I used it during my third grade student teaching placement and the students were hooked on trying to figure out if Ms. Jeepers was really a vampire or not.

  
 

Lesson Ideas:

Make your own Magical Brooch!

Begin with oval shapes of oaktag approximately 2 inches in height.

Have students glue an oval of bright green construction paper of approximately 1 1/2 inches in height in the center of the oaktag.

Decorate the outside frame of the oaktag with crayons or markers.

Spread glue lightly on the green construction paper center and apply green glitter. Then apply a larger dot of glue on which the students can place one or two faux emeralds found in craft stores.
 http://www.debbiedadey.com/Teachers/index.php?sid=226

sideways stories from wayside school

title: sideways stories from wayside school
author: Louis Sachar

about the author
Mr. Sachar received a B.A. in economics from the University of California at Berkeley. His first book, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, was accepted for publication during his first year of law school. After receiving his law degree, he spent six years asking himself whether he wanted to be an author or a lawyer before deciding to write for children full-time. His books include Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom, Wayside School is Falling Down, Dogs Don’t Tell Jokes, and the Marvin Redpost series.
Louis Sachar lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and their daughter, Sherre.
 http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/Kids/AuthorsAndIllustrators/ContributorDetail.aspx?CId=18323 
 

grades 3-5  

summary: 
Wayside School was supposed to be built with 30 classrooms all next to each other in a row. Instead, the classrooms were stacked one on top of the other — 30 stories tall! Here are some hilarious and fun stories about the school, the teachers, and the students.You'll meet Mrs. Gorf, the meanest teacher of all, terrible Todd, who always gets sent home early, and John who can read only upside down — along with all the other kids in the crazy mix-up school that came out sideways 
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/sideways-stories-wayside-school 

My reaction:
During my student teaching this was one of the only books that held my fifth graders attention and that they wanted me to continue reading after the time was up.   They loved that the book kept them on their toes and that they didn't know what to expect. 

lesson ideas:
Have students predict what they think will happen next in the story. Have them create their own version and chapter as a group and then share with the rest of the class.