Posts tagged ‘witches’
150. Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini
Retell: Gritch the Witch wakes up one morning with an intense craving for ‘piggie pie’. When she discovers that she is missing the main ingredient she heads to Old MacDonald’s Farm where she meets some crafty pigs.
Topics: witches, pigs, nursery rhymes, cultural literacy, Old MacDonald, wolves, Wizard of Oz
Units of Study: Fairy Tales, Fantasy
Habits of Mind: Persisting, Thinking Flexibly
Reading Skills: Understanding humor, catching cultural references
Writing Skills: Writing commas in a list, Including alliteration, Using sentence variety
Thoughts: I can see reading this book during a study of fairy tales and folk tales. To thoroughly understand the story, students need to have a good understanding of the song “Old Macdonald”, the movie The Wizard of Oz as well as the role of the wolf in fairy tales. Though this book may be geared to children under 8, this could be a good book to read for older children when teaching readers to analyze cultural references. The “Spy vs. Spy” endings makes the story.
11. The Whingdingdilly by Bill Peet
Retell: Scamp is tired of being a dog and wishes he was a grand horse. He runs away and encounters a witch who turns him into a creature called the Whingdingdilly.
Topics: dogs, witches
Units of Study: Fantasy, Character
Tribes: Appreciations/No Putdowns
Reading Skills: inference, prediction, making connections
Writing Skills: using a balance of description and dialogue, using interesting verbs
My Thoughts: I really felt for Scamp in the beginning of this book. I’m a sucker for dogs who are down in the dumps. Unfortunately Scamp’s owner, Orvie calls him a “silly old dog” when he catches his dog pretending to be a horse. Though calling someone ‘silly’ may not be the worst putdown heard at school, I can still see using this book as a way to discuss the damage brought about by insults and putdowns. Scamp begins to feel better, and his luck begins to change when he hears how much Orvie appreciates him. The Whingdingdilly also teaches the importance of appreciating ourselves for our strengths rather than putting ourselves down for our faults. This could also be used as a mentor text during a unit on Fantasy writing. The story has a few fantastical elements but is mostly based on reality.
Teachable Texts 