The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

Title: The Strange Case of Origami Yoda 
Author: Tom Angleberger
Publisher: Amulet Books
Publication Date: 2010   
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Novel  
Summary: Tommy collects stories for his close look at "The Strange Case of Origami Yoda".  Origami Yoda is a finger puppet that Dwight makes and brings to life.  Kids ask Origami Yoda's advice...and find that his advice actually works, even though Dwight is not the coolest kid in school.  Tommy hopes that by collecting all the stories he'll be able to decide if he should take Origami Yoda's advice when it comes to his super important question...about a girl!  
What I Think: I think everyone loves Yoda!  How can you not!?!  I have shown this book to all of my students this week and their eyes light up when they recognize Yoda on the cover.  I even showed it to my younger students who I wouldn't recommend the book to just to get them talking about origami.  Many of them have never heard of it!
     I love stories about real boys and real girls.  To me, this is one of those books that either a boy or girl could read and relate to and love.  I think this would actually make for a great read aloud.  I can just imagine getting a class of kids up and dancing the Twist!  Or what about making their own Yodas?  I, personally, think a girly pink Yoda would be very cool!  (There are instructions in the back of the book, very simple instructions that make a basic Yoda.  You can go to the book's website for a little bit harder instructions.)
It's a little tricky to see my computer-paper-white Yodas!  On the left if the very basic one, and the right is the little bit harder one...which I think kind of looks more like a ninja.  I obviously need some more practice with this, but maybe you know just the perfect student who would take the time to master the art of Origami Yoda.  Succeed you will!

Read Together: 4 - 6   
Read Alone: 4 - 8  
Read With: Flipped By Wendelin Van Draanen; Hoot By Carl Hiaasen; Swindle By Gordon Korman; Diary of a Wimpy Kid series By Jeff Kinney; Big Nate: In a Class by Himself By Lincoln Peirce
Snatch of Text: "What happened to me was this: I was in the bathroom right before school was about to start and I saw that someone - probably Harvey - had written 'Kellen Drinks Pee' on the wall over the sink, so I leaned across the sink to erase it and I had on these light brown pants and they got all wet right across the front.
     It seriously looked like I had peed in my pants.  Really bad.  I tried to cover it with my shirt, but it was that really shrimpy shirt of mine with Scooby-Doo on it and it wasn't long enough to cover the pee part.  Which really wasn't pee, of course." (p. 18 - you can start with this and continue through p. 22 for  Kellen's story...and how Origami Yoda helps him out!)  
Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections, Predicting, Visualizing, Making Inferences 
Writing Strategies to Practice: Personal Narrative, Characterization
Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you felt embarrassed and how you coped with the situation.  Write about someone in your life whose advice you trust.  
Topics Covered: Friendship, Yoda, Wisdom, Trust, Taking Risks, Embarrassment, Being Different  Translated to Spanish: No