Video Book Talk 2: Wombat Divine

Craft Lesson 3

Literature as a means of expressing feelings

Materials:
Sophie by Mem Fox and Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson
Pencil and journals
Thesaurus

Discussion:
Often in literature authors use their books as a means of expressing emotions. Many of these emotions come from the authors personal experiences. People often have a hard time expressing what they are feeling in words. This is especially true of young children as they do not have the vocabulary to always say what they are thinking or feeling. Allowing children to journal their ideas will help them to find a way to express the feelings that they otherwise might not be able to get out.

How to teach:
Today I going to talk to you about how your feelings can affect your writing. Have you ever been feeling something and you just could not find the words to express what you were feeling? (Wait for responses) What did you do when that happened? (Wait for responses) Well today we are going to read a book about a girl named Sophie. Sophie and her grandfather have a very special relationship and through this book you will see Sophie and her grandfather grow together and experience many different feelings. (Read story to children stopping periodically to discuss what the characters might be feeling and why we think that) Now that we have read Sophie, can anybody name a few of the ways the author or the illustrator expressed emotion in the book? (Wait for responses) Do you think that maybe the author has had a similar experience in her life, and that is why she wrote the book? (Wait for responses) I want you all to now go back to your seats and take out your journals and write about a time in your life when you felt something that you had a hard time telling people about. You can write about happy experiences, sad experiences, scary experiences, or anything you choose. But think about the words that you chose to describe your experience and use the thesaurus if you need to.

About the book:
Sophie is about a girl and her grandfather. Sophie's family is very happy when she comes into the world, and Sophie's grandfather is especially happy. Sophie grows and grows and grows until she if finally old enough to work with her grandfather. Then her grandfather starts to get smaller and weaker until finally he dies. Sophie's world is sad for a while until she has her own baby and then it is feeled with joy once again.

Journal: Stuart Goes to School

Stuart Goes to School by Sara Pennypacker and Martin Matje

I thought this book was good considering that it is meant to be a chapter book for young readers. I felt like children could identify with Stuart and his worries about school, and that they would find this story entertaining. Having read Clementine also by Pennypacker, I felt that this book did not have as much of the humor that I was expecting, but that the characters that she writes are similar. Both Stuart and Clementine are children who have a lot of ideas about things, and usually have a hard time fitting in at school. Stuart is different from Clementine in that he worries about everything and she is just a free spirit. The part of the story where Stuart introduces his magical cape was a little confusing, because I didn't understand the "magical" element of the story. The begining of the book makes it seem that the story is going to be a story that could possibly happen in real life. But then when Stuart starts crawling through magical holes in the wall, and forgetting to draw his teacher in the classroom and she dissappears is where I got a lost. I thought that the cape was more of a symbol of a good luck charm that gives Stuart the confidence to do things. My only concern with having my class read this book would be that they would get confused about the same things that I did and I would not be able to explain them. However, seeing that they are young children they may be able to use their imagination and look past that and enjoy the story!

Journal: What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?

What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? By:Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I really enjoyed the information the book provided, and felt that the illustrations made the book more child friendly. I also liked how the book allowed for predictions to be made. You could predict what you would do with that body part, and you could predict what the animal was. I found it very helpful that there was a glossary at the end of the book that showed each individual animal, and also gave a brief description about that animal. I felt like I learned a lot from this book, but also that it could be used in many different ways in a classroom at many different grade levels.

Book Talk-Pinkalicious

Craft Lesson #2

MAKING PREDICTIONS

Materials:
What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
Paper
Crayons

Part of being a good reader is making predictions about the story and what is happening. Many times these predictions are made based on what the child has read so far, what they know from real life experiences, and context clues. The TEK's for first graders states that "First grade students listen attentively and connect their experiences and ideas with information and ideas presented in print." They should be able to use the knowledge that they already have to make simple predicitions. This lesson will build on the previous lesson of using context clues, but it will also ask the children to use their prior knowledge to make the prediction.

Start by introducing the book "What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?" to the children and asking them what animal the think the tail on the cover belongs to. Continue reading the story and ask the children on the pages that just show a picture of the body parts and not the full animals what animal they think the body part belongs to and why? Ask the children to make these predictions on their paper. Then when you read the next page that shows the full picture of the animal have them put a check mark in a different color crayon next to all the predictions they got right. At a later date you can revisit the text and have the children actually make predictions about what the different body parts are used for, and then discuss those answers as you continue reading the text.

*The first time you use this book for this lesson, the book will be used primarily for the pictures to assist the children in making predictions. The second time when you revisit the text is when you can ask the children to make predictions about the use of the various body parts.

Grades:1-4

Journal: Take Me Out of the Bathtub

Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs, by Alan Katz and David Catrow

As with "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands," I could not help but want to sing the traditional words to these songs as I was reading the book. I really enjoyed the new twist on these old favorites- especially Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Brother Mitch. My only concern was that children these days may not be familiar with the original songs, and therefore would not be able to sing the new words to the old tune. One way you could deal with this is by teaching the old songs, and when they children are comfortable with them you could then introduce the book and let them enjoy the new versions. You could also have them make up there own words to the old songs! I thought the illustrations in the book were fun, but maybe a bit overwhelming depending on the age of the child reading the book.

Journal: He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

He's Got the Whole World in His Hands by Kadir Nelson

I thought this book was an interesting new perspective on a familiar song. I couldn't help but hum the tune as I was reading the book. I really enjoyed the colorful pictures and how they visually represented what the words were saying. Although I definitely felt that this was a personal idea of what Nelson felt that the song meant. I think one way this could be used is for an art lesson. You could have children draw what they see when they hear the lyrics, because everybody is going to have a different mental picture of what they see when they hear the lyrics. I would like to use this book in a classroom someday, but depending on school district and the school that may or may not be possible.