Posts tagged ‘endings’
120. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Retell: After Max is sent to bed without supper he imagines traveling to a world where he becomes king of the wild things. Being a wild things is fun for awhile but he learns that it cannot compare to the comforts of home.
Topics: monsters, mischief, disobedience, imagination, travel, dreams, home
Units of Study: Fantasy, Talking and Writing About texts
Habits of Mind: creating-innovating-imagining
Reading Skills: envisionment, inference
Writing Skills: using repetition, crafting endings that connect to the beginning
My Thoughts: I dressed up as a wild thing for our recent school Halloween parade. I looked more like a hairy viking than a wild thing, but I get points for trying. To introduce my costume I read this book aloud. Many of them had heard it before. I’m glad I was able to tuck in this classic read aloud before the majority of my students head to the cinema to see the movie. Upon rereading it, I realized that one has to do a huge amount of envisionment as they read the text. The illustrations are wonderful, but they don’t reveal all. When reading this book aloud I recommend using the pages where there is no text to have your students (or your own children) role play and act like Max or the wild things. You can encourage them to make noise like them, talk like them, move like them and think like them.
22. Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox
Retell: Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge enjoys visiting the old people’s home located next door to his house. He especially loves visiting Miss Nancy. When his parents tell him that she has lost her memory, Wilfrid searches for items that may help her remember.
Topics: memories, alzheimer’s disease, small moments, friendship, memory loss
Tribes: mutual respect, personal best
Units of Study: Personal Narrative, Memoir, Realistic Fiction
Reading Skills: inference, making connections
Writing Skills: keeping a writer’s notebook, using objects to get ideas for notebook entries, writing endings that connect to the beginning
My Thoughts: This is the book that I’m going to read when I introduce the concept that writer’s can get ideas for notebook entries by looking at objects. Mem Fox is the author of several excellent books for children. She is an advocate for reading aloud and provides videos, recordings, and tips for reading aloud on her website. Also included on her site is a “stories behind the stories” section where she discusses her inspiration for each of her books. Check out her website: http://www.memfox.com/welcome.html
17. Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say
Retell: Allen Say tells the story of how his grandfather made a home in both a village in Japan and in a city in America.
Topics: grandparents, journeys, San Francisco, Japan, World War II, California, travelling, home, being homesick, family
Units of Study: Memoir, Social Issues
Reading Skills: envisionment, interpretation, inference, making connections
Writing Skills: adding setting details, developing the heart of a story, including reflection, including endings that connect to the beginning
My Thoughts: I think I have a soft spot in my heart for this book because I too get homesick for more than one place. Allen Say’s illustrations remind me of faded photographs and automatically put me into a reflective, sentimental mood. This is a perfect text to use during the Memoir unit. Though it starts out as a story about his grandfather, it ends up being more about the author himself.
2. Three Days on a River In a Red Canoe by Vera B. Williams
Retell: After purchasing a red canoe at a yard sale, a family goes on a three-day canoe trip.
Topics: Family, adventure, camping
Units of Study: Personal Narratives, Launching the Writers Notebook
Tribes: Personal Best
Reading Skills: envisionment, making connections, inference
Writing Skills: incorporating details about setting, using transition words, including sensory details, writing endings that connect to the beginning
My thoughts: This book has great teaching potential. As the marbled cover suggests it reads like someone’s writers notebook. Each page describes a scene from the camping trip. I can imagine using this book when I introduce writers notebooks to my students. Each page is a small moment that could be stretched into a larger story. The colorful, colored pencil drawings will be inspiring for young artists who like to draw pictures with each notebook entry. I plan on using this as a mentor text for students who want to write endings that connect to an earlier scene.
Teachable Texts 