The Cupcake Thief by Ellen Jackson - Historical Fiction

“There is a lesson in everything, you just need to find it.”

This book was fantastic! The title alone caught my attention (who doesn’t like cupcakes??) This is really one of my favorite books that I have had the pleasure to read for this blog. It starts off with a typical scenario where Zach’s cupcake is missing and is found in his fellow classmates desk, Tyler. While most teachers would take this as a point to scold one of the children, instead we see the teacher turn their sixth grade class into a court room with judges and jurors. It really shows a fellow reader (that is a teacher) that you can almost take anything that happens in a classroom, and with a twist of creativity can get the students involved and hands on in learning about something. Through discussion and debates, the final outcome of the story is that Zach’s cupcake was not stolen in fact, but was in Tyler’s desk by mistake. Again, loved the theme of this book! Highly recommend it.

Reading Level - 3.1

Readers: Below are a few activities that you could us in your classroom to help reinforce what was learned in this book.

-This website is full of questions and activities that you could use when reading this book. It also has standards that these activities meet which I think is wonderful!

-This is a website which is about the author and list many of her other books that she wrote I find it important for students to learn about the author and their background as it makes the author “more human” to the students and allows them to look at other books that they might enjoy reading if they enjoyed this one!

Vocab -  Some of the vocabulary that might need to be pre-taught includes: Court, Eye witness, Jury, Juror, Judge, Lawyer, and Supreme Court.

Activities:

Before Reading:

Before the start of the book I would have a discussion with the class and talk about what a “court” and “jury” is. It is important that students understand the relationship between them and how they work together.

During Reading:

Students can read in groups and write down in there journals new things that they are learning and the relationships and connection that there new knowledge has! (Ie: How does a jury relate to a court, what purpose does it serve?)

After Reading:

An excellent after reading activity would be to have a Jury and court case in your own classroom! This would really liven the students up and allow them to show off there new skills, knowledge, and words that they learned from reading this book!

Jackson, E. B., & Sims, B. (2007). The cupcake thief. New York city: Kane Press.