Posts tagged ‘imagination’
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.
116. “Could Be Worse!” by James Stevenson
Retell: Day in, day out Grandpa always says the same thing: “Could be worse.” One day Grandpa tells his grandchildren about a wacky adventure he had the night before. At the end of the rambling story his grandchildren surprise him by delivering his favorite phrase.
Topics: imagination, grandparents, family
Units of Study: Fantasy, Realistic Fiction
Habits of Mind: Creating-imagining-innovating
Writing Skills: storytelling
My Thoughts: This month our TC staff developer (Colleen Cruz) will be working with the upper grades on planning interactive read alouds. She reiterated that interactive read aloud is THE most important part of the school day and should never be cut out. She also mentioned that teachers should try and tuck in different kinds of read alouds throughout the day whenever possible. This has inspired me to find quick, fun texts that I can read during transitions or during times when kids are riled up.
“Could Be Worse!” is a cute, short read aloud that can be used to connect to the storytelling work that students are doing during Writing. I think I’m going to read this next week as students get in line. The next day, I could work in fluency practice by having students say the grandkids’ line while I say Grandpa’s lines and on the next day vice versa.
82. Flying Over Brooklyn by Myron Uhlberg
Retell: On a snowy, winter’s evening a boy dreams of flying over Brooklyn. He visits many of his favorite places: Prospect Park, The Brooklyn Bridge and of course, Coney Island.
Topics: Brooklyn, birds-eye view, dreams, flying, imagination, winter
Units of Study: Personal Narrative, Memoir
Habits of Mind: responding with wonderment and awe
Reading skills: envisionment, making connections
Writing Skills: using sensory details, using observation to generate entries, zooming in on small moments
My Thoughts: This book is beautifully written. I think it will be an excellent book to use as a mentor text for using descriptive language. When I read this aloud, I plan on pointing out how the author makes you feel the snow and sense the quiet throughout the snowy city. 4th grade teachers in New York may want to read this during a Geography unit. After reading the book aloud, students could find each place on a map or make their own map based on places visited throughout the text.
Teachable Texts 