85. Kat Kong by Dav Pilkey
September 20, 2009 at 8:18 pm 1 comment
Retell: Explorers from Mousopolis land on an uncharted island where they meet the terrifying “beast” Kat Kong. They bring him back to Mousopolis in order to seek fame and fortune. When Kat Kong escapes his shackles, citizens are terrified.
Topics: cats, mice, greed, exploration, monsters, humor, puns
Units of Study: Fantasy
Tribes: mutual respect
Habits of Mind: finding humor
Reading Skills: monitoring for sense
My Thoughts: This is the adorable sequel to Pilkey’s book, Dogzilla. Similar to the style of Dogzilla, Kat Kong includes ‘cheesy’ puns and idioms, all related to cats. For example, when Kat Kong ravages the city the butcher cries, “The cat’s got my tongue!” I plan to read this book aloud when I want to focus on the reading skill monitoring for sense. I find that many books written for upper elementary students are highly engaging, but can also be really confusing. Many of my students are English Language Learners and often don’t understand when an author slips in a joke. Using Kat Kong as an a model could remind students to seek out humor throughout their reading.
Entry filed under: Chapter books, Male authors, Uncategorized. Tags: "just for fun", cats, exploration, fantasy, finding humor, greed, humor, mice, monitoring for sense, monsters, mutual respect, puns.
Teachable Texts 
1.
Colleen | September 24, 2009 at 2:38 pm
I love both Kat Kong and Dogzilla. And I completely agree with the idea that humor is a great tool to use with students to not only encourage, but also gauge comprehension. Which jokes do kids get and which ones do they not open all kinds of teaching opportunities. And with read aloud, you can figure this out almost immediately because we either see and here them laughing or smiling or we don’t.