Gooney Bird Greene

You will love Gooney Bird Greene from the moment you meet her!  This book by Lois Lowry is about a very spirited girl who is new to school.  She loves to be the center of attention and is thrilled when the students want to hear stories about her.  She says she will tell "absolutely true" stories.  The stories include how she got her name, how she came from China on a flying carpet, and how she directed a symphony orchestra.  These seem like strange, fantastical stories but they always end up being real.  The carpet was flying because it fell out of the back of their station wagon and she "directed" the orchestra by telling them directions to the Town Hall Auditorium.  I would use this book to teach about good storytelling. Which is what Gooney's class is learning about and she helps teach them with her wonderful stories.  I would also talk about homophones, such as "directing" and recommend the book Eight Ate: A Feast of Homonym Riddles by Marvin Terban to go along with it.

This book would be great for second or third grade.  It has seven chapters so it is not too long.  This would be a great beginning of third grade read aloud.  There are three other Gooney Bird books so be sure to share those titles with your students.

Extra Resources:

Book guide with questions and activities - http://www.merrybee.info/ba/gooney.html

edHelper's resources (must be a member) - http://edhelper.com/books/Gooney_Bird_Greene.htm

Wikispaces resources - questions for reading and journal prompts - https://desmoinesgtk-5.wikispaces.com/file/view/Gooney+Bird+Greene.doc