Trading Places by Claudia Mills

Summary: When fifth-grade twins, Amy and Todd, tackle a school project, they also have to cope with issues of friendship at school and problems at home, including their father’s unemployment.

Author Web Site:  http://www.claudiamillsauthor.com

Author Interview: http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/mai_mills_claudia.html

Teacher’s Guide:  Not Currently Available

Related Links:  Entrepreneurship

EconEdLink (Lesson Plan from The Council for Economic Education):  I Can Be an Entrepreneur

EconEdLink (Lesson Plan from The Council for Economic Education):  Not Your Grandma’s Lemonade Stand

Virtual Lemonade Stand

Related Links:  Mini-Society Curriculum

http://www.mini-society.com

Related Links:  Poetry for Kids

Gigglepoetry.com
This poetry Web site of Meadowbrook Press includes funny poems, poetry contests, and lots of ideas for teachers.  One neat feature of the site is Ask the Poet Interviews, which include interviews of Darren Sardelli, Bruce Lansky, Eileen Spinelli, Kenn Nesbitt, and many more authors.

Haiku:  How to Write a Haiku Poem by Giggle Poetry
This section of gigglepoetry.com offers a brief explanation, examples, and a short lesson.

Haiku Teaching Unit
This fourteen (14) day unit on haiku poetry was developed by a fifth grade teacher.

Poetryarchive.org
Wow!! Need poetry readings by children’s poets?  Some are audio clips (Roald Dahl reading “Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf”) and some are video clips including interviews (Valerie Bloom).  There are currently 28 poets featured with photos, biographies, poetry readings, and in some cases, video clips of interviews and readings.  There are also links to the poet’s Web sites and publisher sites.  Very well done!

Poetry4kids.com
This poetry Web site of Kenn Nesbitt includes funny poems, lessons, games, contests, a rhyming dictionary, and much more!

Poetry for Kids:  Types of Poetry
This site offers a explanation and example of different types of poetry including acrostic, alphabet, autobiographical, ballad, cinquain, color, diamante, epitaph, explorer, haiku, and more with Web links to further resources about each.

Storyit.com:  Poems for Children
This site contains a wealth of resources including classic poems for children to read online (with a selection of these poems illustrated for printing/display), as well as seasonal themes (poems, story starters, picture prompts, and more about seasons and holidays), and write on shapes (clip art designed to print as lined shapes for use in writing projects.

Read-Aloud Recommendation: Recommended.  While this book does not have a fast paced storyline, the story deals with the realities of school and family relationships.  It also delves into economic realities, both through the characters struggle to create and market a product and through the unemployment woes of the former family breadwinner.  Students will be able to identify with this story.