Title: A House for Hermit Crab
Author: Eric Carle
Publisher: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers
Date of Publication: 1987
Illustrator: Eric Carle
Genre Designation: Children’s Fiction
Readability Lexile: K-2 (ages 5-8)
Summary:
Hermit Crab has outgrown his shell and much to his dismay he has to find a new one. He looks around and finds a shell that he will fit into, but it is just so plain! Hermit Crab decides that the shell will do but it needs something to make it feel more like home. Hermit Crab begins to find some friends that will join his shell that will make it much less plain, and boring. Just when Hermit Crab finished his long journey and had decided that his house was perfect, it began to feel a bit small. Hermit Crab realized that even though he had come to love all of his friends and his new shell, that he must go and find a bigger one. It was hard for Hermit until one day when he saw a smaller hermit crab wondering by that didn’t have a shell because she had outgrown her shell. Hermit Crab told her that he had outgrown his shell too, he asked her to promise to be good to his friends and that she could have his shell. This time when Hermit Crab ventured out to find a new shell it wasn’t as scary as he remembered. Hermit Crab found a big shell, that looked pretty plain...and then thought of all the possibilities!
Evaluation:
I really liked this story, I thought that it had so many different positive qualities that the reader could take from it. The author used personification to tell the story about change. Of course a crab can’t talk, or ask all of the other stuff in the ocean to come and be a part of his shell, but it does provide a setting for readers to relate the story back to their own lives. Eric Carle did a really nice job of showing how our main character grew as the story went on. The reader saw just how nervous the crab was to leave his shell the first time, but by the second time he was excited about the possibilities that were in front of him. I also enjoyed how the author used foreshadowing by telling the reader that Hermit Crab was beginning to outgrow his new shell, but we didn’t actually see him move out his shell until the next page. This would allow the reader to process the text and even make a prediction about what might happen. Eric Carle also did a nice job of using allegory with this story, as we often see with many of his stories. Like we already mentioned the story can be seen as a story about accepting change, but it could also be looked as a story about diversity and understanding that it is okay to be different. I think that it also could be about survival, what did the hermit crab do to survive, he could have chose not to find a new shell and what would have happened.
Illustrations:
Like always the illustrations by Eric Carle are some of my favorites. He does a great job with this story of making the reader feel like you moving along with the hermit crab. The illustrations really add to the text, by supporting it as pictures clues and not distracting from the text.
Mini-Lesson:
This mini-lesson would focus on allegory. Students would have a piece of paper and draw the same picture on both sides, but tell a different story for each side of the paper. This would be one of our first steps in understanding how one thing can mean or represent two separate things.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Draw Me a Star
Title: Draw Me a Star
Author: Eric Carle
Publisher: Philomel Books
Date of Publication: 1992
Illustrator: Eric Carle
Genre Designation: Children’s Fiction
Readability Lexile: K-2 (ages 4-8)
Summary:
It all starts with a star, so the artist drew a star. Then the star wanted the artist to draw a sun, so the artist drew a sun. This continued throughout the story the artist built a beautiful world with stars, suns, people, houses, dogs, flowers, among many other beautiful things. At the end of the story we see the rainbow ask the artist to draw the dark night, and a star. Then we see the artist fly through the sky on a shooting star.
Evaluation:
This was an interesting story by Eric Carle. I believe that it can be interpreted in a variety of ways, which could either be good or bad in this case. I particularly enjoyed this story because it brought out the main characters inner artist as the story went on. We saw the character grow as the story went on because at the beginning he seemed shy about drawing his star, but towards the end he was drawing whatever was asked of him. It seemed as if he became more confident as the story progressed. I worry about this book because I think that parents/teachers could find the similarities between the story and biblical stories to be concerning and/or offensive. Another spot that may stir some controversy would be the illustration of the nude man and woman. The illustration is done in classic Eric Carle art, but it is a nude illustration which may or may not be troublesome to some. Carle does do a nice job of using metaphors in this story, which are supplemented by his illustrations.
Illustrations:
As previously mentioned the illustrations are classic Eric Carle artwork. They are beautiful and what we have come to love from Carle. However, there is a surprising illustration of a nude man and woman that may surprise both young readers and their parents if not warned ahead of time. The illustrations work wonderfully along side the text helping show the metaphors that Eric Carle had built into the story.
Mini-Lesson:
This mini-lesson will focus on metaphors. Students will get to be an artist or sculptor, by using whatever art supplies available to them they will build their own piece of art. Students will then use a metaphor to describe their art.
Example: This lump of paper is as heavy as mashed potatoes.
Author: Eric Carle
Publisher: Philomel Books
Date of Publication: 1992
Illustrator: Eric Carle
Genre Designation: Children’s Fiction
Readability Lexile: K-2 (ages 4-8)
Summary:
It all starts with a star, so the artist drew a star. Then the star wanted the artist to draw a sun, so the artist drew a sun. This continued throughout the story the artist built a beautiful world with stars, suns, people, houses, dogs, flowers, among many other beautiful things. At the end of the story we see the rainbow ask the artist to draw the dark night, and a star. Then we see the artist fly through the sky on a shooting star.
Evaluation:
This was an interesting story by Eric Carle. I believe that it can be interpreted in a variety of ways, which could either be good or bad in this case. I particularly enjoyed this story because it brought out the main characters inner artist as the story went on. We saw the character grow as the story went on because at the beginning he seemed shy about drawing his star, but towards the end he was drawing whatever was asked of him. It seemed as if he became more confident as the story progressed. I worry about this book because I think that parents/teachers could find the similarities between the story and biblical stories to be concerning and/or offensive. Another spot that may stir some controversy would be the illustration of the nude man and woman. The illustration is done in classic Eric Carle art, but it is a nude illustration which may or may not be troublesome to some. Carle does do a nice job of using metaphors in this story, which are supplemented by his illustrations.
Illustrations:
As previously mentioned the illustrations are classic Eric Carle artwork. They are beautiful and what we have come to love from Carle. However, there is a surprising illustration of a nude man and woman that may surprise both young readers and their parents if not warned ahead of time. The illustrations work wonderfully along side the text helping show the metaphors that Eric Carle had built into the story.
Mini-Lesson:
This mini-lesson will focus on metaphors. Students will get to be an artist or sculptor, by using whatever art supplies available to them they will build their own piece of art. Students will then use a metaphor to describe their art.
Example: This lump of paper is as heavy as mashed potatoes.
No, David!
Title: No, David!
Author: David Shannon
Publisher: Scholastic
Date of Publication: 2000
Illustrator: David Shannon
Genre Designation: Children’s Fiction
Readability Lexile: Pre-K- 1 (ages 3-6)
Summary:
The story centers around David, a mischievous little boy who is constantly up to no good. We see David being told No, No, No, as he tries to get to the cookies, then he goes running down the street naked! David keeps on going and continues to drive his mother nuts by continuing his crazy behavior. At the end of the story David breaks a vase and we see a tinge of sadness in David’s eye, then we read the last page that says, “Yes, David, I love you!”
Evaluation:
This story by David Shannon offers a great deal to a young reader. He uses a type of text were it allows a young reader to know what words they will see, and can begin to “memorize” the text. This can be helpful to some readers because it allows them the chance to begin the process of word and letter identification as well as building confidence in themselves. The author also did a nice job with making David seem goofy enough that every child could find a little bit of themselves within David somewhere. The theme of the story is a very relevant and important one for both children and adults. The story is important for children because it allows them to see that even though David is being goofy and acting crazy that his actions do have consequences. The story is also important for adults because it serves as a reminder that it is not all about the “No” but about the “I love you” and the “Good job” too. It is easy to get caught up in the “No” and forget about the “I love you” and “Good job.” David Shannon uses allegory very nicely in No, David! This story can be interpreted in different ways, depending on you chose to look at it. No, David! may not have a tremendous about of literary elements within it but you can certainly use it as a starting point, or a great discussion piece about behavior and personal connections.
Illustrations:
David Shannon does not disappoint with his illustrations in this story. They are vibrant and exciting to look at. David is illustrated wonderfully, in a odd sort of way. The illustrations are one of my favorite parts of this story.
Mini-lesson:
With this book I would focus on analogy. The students would be put into think, pair, share partners and then would compare themselves to David, how are they the same or different.
Author: David Shannon
Publisher: Scholastic
Date of Publication: 2000
Illustrator: David Shannon
Genre Designation: Children’s Fiction
Readability Lexile: Pre-K- 1 (ages 3-6)
Summary:
The story centers around David, a mischievous little boy who is constantly up to no good. We see David being told No, No, No, as he tries to get to the cookies, then he goes running down the street naked! David keeps on going and continues to drive his mother nuts by continuing his crazy behavior. At the end of the story David breaks a vase and we see a tinge of sadness in David’s eye, then we read the last page that says, “Yes, David, I love you!”
Evaluation:
This story by David Shannon offers a great deal to a young reader. He uses a type of text were it allows a young reader to know what words they will see, and can begin to “memorize” the text. This can be helpful to some readers because it allows them the chance to begin the process of word and letter identification as well as building confidence in themselves. The author also did a nice job with making David seem goofy enough that every child could find a little bit of themselves within David somewhere. The theme of the story is a very relevant and important one for both children and adults. The story is important for children because it allows them to see that even though David is being goofy and acting crazy that his actions do have consequences. The story is also important for adults because it serves as a reminder that it is not all about the “No” but about the “I love you” and the “Good job” too. It is easy to get caught up in the “No” and forget about the “I love you” and “Good job.” David Shannon uses allegory very nicely in No, David! This story can be interpreted in different ways, depending on you chose to look at it. No, David! may not have a tremendous about of literary elements within it but you can certainly use it as a starting point, or a great discussion piece about behavior and personal connections.
Illustrations:
David Shannon does not disappoint with his illustrations in this story. They are vibrant and exciting to look at. David is illustrated wonderfully, in a odd sort of way. The illustrations are one of my favorite parts of this story.
Mini-lesson:
With this book I would focus on analogy. The students would be put into think, pair, share partners and then would compare themselves to David, how are they the same or different.
The Loathsome Dragon
Title: The Loathsome Dragon
Author: David Wiesner & Kim Kahng
Publisher: Clarion Books
Publication Date: 1987
Illustrator: David Wiesner
Genre Designation: Folk
Readability Lexile: 1-3 (ages 6-8)
Summary:
This is a story about a beautiful princess whose father the king falls in love with a beautiful but mean lady. During a moment of jealousy, the new queen turns the Princess into a dragon. This is when the prince decides that he must save his sister and show the King who the new Queen really is. The story shows the problems that arise for the Prince as he tries to free his sister, but continues to run into problems as the queen tries to foil his plan. In the end we see the Prince beating the queen and releasing the princess from the Queen’s spell, and in return turning the Queen into a frog.
Evaluation:
When I started this blog, I decided that no matter what the story was I would always start my evaluation with the question of whether or not it was a good story? In my opinion this story was not one of my favorites, for this reading level. The word choice within the story goes well with this genre, however this could lead to some difficulties when young readers are trying to read and process the story. I found the story a bit long and bland, which I think can be attributed to some of the text used. The story didn’t really show a lot of character growth because we didn’t really know a lot about the characters before they began dealing with their problem. Even though the story is set in a far, far away time the way in which the characters are developed make it a fantasy story that young readers will have a hard time relating to. The author did use foreshadowing in the story by letting the reader know what would need to happen in order for the Princess to be released from the spell. We also saw this when the King brought the Queen home and he told us that she was beautiful on the outside but had an evil side as well. As the reader we also saw personification in the story by seeing the snake exhibiting human traits, as well as the frog at the end.
Illustrations:
The illustrations were nice, however I felt like they did not lend themselves to a young reader who may be using them to decode what the text may be telling them as well as they should have. At times the illustration gave a vague image of what the text was communicating to the reader.
Mini-lesson:
This mini lesson will focus on rhyming. Students will make their very own crown. We will start by allowing the students to pick a colored piece of paper. On their crown they will write either snake or frog and then write words that rhyme focusing on keeping the “ake” or the “og” letters to make their word family. Once the students have written their words we will work together to connect their crowns to sentence strips so they can be Kings or Queens for the rest of the day.
Author: David Wiesner & Kim Kahng
Publisher: Clarion Books
Publication Date: 1987
Illustrator: David Wiesner
Genre Designation: Folk
Readability Lexile: 1-3 (ages 6-8)
Summary:
This is a story about a beautiful princess whose father the king falls in love with a beautiful but mean lady. During a moment of jealousy, the new queen turns the Princess into a dragon. This is when the prince decides that he must save his sister and show the King who the new Queen really is. The story shows the problems that arise for the Prince as he tries to free his sister, but continues to run into problems as the queen tries to foil his plan. In the end we see the Prince beating the queen and releasing the princess from the Queen’s spell, and in return turning the Queen into a frog.
Evaluation:
When I started this blog, I decided that no matter what the story was I would always start my evaluation with the question of whether or not it was a good story? In my opinion this story was not one of my favorites, for this reading level. The word choice within the story goes well with this genre, however this could lead to some difficulties when young readers are trying to read and process the story. I found the story a bit long and bland, which I think can be attributed to some of the text used. The story didn’t really show a lot of character growth because we didn’t really know a lot about the characters before they began dealing with their problem. Even though the story is set in a far, far away time the way in which the characters are developed make it a fantasy story that young readers will have a hard time relating to. The author did use foreshadowing in the story by letting the reader know what would need to happen in order for the Princess to be released from the spell. We also saw this when the King brought the Queen home and he told us that she was beautiful on the outside but had an evil side as well. As the reader we also saw personification in the story by seeing the snake exhibiting human traits, as well as the frog at the end.
Illustrations:
The illustrations were nice, however I felt like they did not lend themselves to a young reader who may be using them to decode what the text may be telling them as well as they should have. At times the illustration gave a vague image of what the text was communicating to the reader.
Mini-lesson:
This mini lesson will focus on rhyming. Students will make their very own crown. We will start by allowing the students to pick a colored piece of paper. On their crown they will write either snake or frog and then write words that rhyme focusing on keeping the “ake” or the “og” letters to make their word family. Once the students have written their words we will work together to connect their crowns to sentence strips so they can be Kings or Queens for the rest of the day.
Ogres! Ogres! Ogres! A Feasting Frenzy From A to Z
Title: Ogres! Ogres! Ogres! A Feasting Frenzy From A to Z
Author: Nicholas Heller
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Date of Publication: 1999
Illustrator: Jos. A. Smith
Genre Designation: Children’s Fiction
Readability Lexile: K-3 (ages 5-9)
Summary:
An interesting take on a children’s alphabet book. This is an alphabet book that is unlike many that have come before it. When the reader opens the book we are invited into the basement, where we see ogres feasting on letters from A to Z. Each page pulls the reader in as we see the ogres eating through the alphabet. Each ogre is unique in their own right as they eat their letter, yet always giving a hint about what letter might be coming up next.
Evaluation:
This is definitely a creative take on the standard alphabet book, however I am not sure if it is the most accessible piece of literature for a reader at this level. The books focus is on “eating through the alphabet” but then the words used to represent the letters are incredibly difficult. For example the letter “A” is represented with, “Abednego adores anchovy butter,” For a beginning reader these words could present a rather large challenge. While this book may not be for all young readers, I can see how the words within the book can be discouraging for a young reader and may in turn shut down completely. This book does do a nice job with the use of alliteration, even if the words are a bit difficult. As previously mentioned the author does also work in the element of foreshadowing by including a word with the upcoming letter at the end of sentence. I do feel as if the story has some very positive aspects. The first being that the illustrations are lively and exciting, which are a lot of fun for the reader to look at. I think that this book would be a nice tool to use when beginning to teach students about alliteration or foreshadowing. The book uses these elements over, and over again and they are easy to see. I don’t believe that I would use this as an alphabet book however because while it serves the purpose of letter recognition it makes it hard for the student to move beyond that point of sounding out the word.
Mini-lesson:
This mini-lesson would focus on learning the alphabet. We would the story as a read aloud and then each student would get to make their own ABC book. They would write the letter and draw their very own special goofy picture to go with the letter!
Author: Nicholas Heller
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Date of Publication: 1999
Illustrator: Jos. A. Smith
Genre Designation: Children’s Fiction
Readability Lexile: K-3 (ages 5-9)
Summary:
An interesting take on a children’s alphabet book. This is an alphabet book that is unlike many that have come before it. When the reader opens the book we are invited into the basement, where we see ogres feasting on letters from A to Z. Each page pulls the reader in as we see the ogres eating through the alphabet. Each ogre is unique in their own right as they eat their letter, yet always giving a hint about what letter might be coming up next.
Evaluation:
This is definitely a creative take on the standard alphabet book, however I am not sure if it is the most accessible piece of literature for a reader at this level. The books focus is on “eating through the alphabet” but then the words used to represent the letters are incredibly difficult. For example the letter “A” is represented with, “Abednego adores anchovy butter,” For a beginning reader these words could present a rather large challenge. While this book may not be for all young readers, I can see how the words within the book can be discouraging for a young reader and may in turn shut down completely. This book does do a nice job with the use of alliteration, even if the words are a bit difficult. As previously mentioned the author does also work in the element of foreshadowing by including a word with the upcoming letter at the end of sentence. I do feel as if the story has some very positive aspects. The first being that the illustrations are lively and exciting, which are a lot of fun for the reader to look at. I think that this book would be a nice tool to use when beginning to teach students about alliteration or foreshadowing. The book uses these elements over, and over again and they are easy to see. I don’t believe that I would use this as an alphabet book however because while it serves the purpose of letter recognition it makes it hard for the student to move beyond that point of sounding out the word.
Mini-lesson:
This mini-lesson would focus on learning the alphabet. We would the story as a read aloud and then each student would get to make their own ABC book. They would write the letter and draw their very own special goofy picture to go with the letter!
The Book Thief
Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Date of Publication: 2005
Illustrator: Trudy White
Genre Designation: Historical Fiction
Readability Lexile: 9-12 (ages 14-18)
Summary:
The Book Thief is set around the Holocaust and how it affected a young girl named Liesel. Liesel was forced at a young age to live with a foster family in Germany, in hopes that she would be safe. Liesel could not read or write but when she came across a grave keepers handbook she knew that she must keep it. As Liesel began to learn to read and write while living with her foster parents the Hubermann’s her love for books continued to grow. The way that Liesel went about getting her books was by stealing them, which proved to be problematic for her. Liesel forms relationships with those around who are her age, those who are older, and even grew close in very different ways to her foster parents. Liesel hated Hitler but she had to keep her hatred to herself because if anyone found out she and her family would be punished. As the story went on we found Liesel affected by the war in numerous ways, both directly and indirectly. Towards the end of the story there is a massive bombing and we find that only one of our characters that lived in Liesel’s neighborhood survived. We also find out who our narrator was throughout the book. Throughout the entire book we are being told the story, yet we have no idea who is talking to us as the reader. At the end we finally find out who it is, and if the reader made a prediction we can find out if we were right!
Evaluation:
The Book Thief is a truly thought provoking story. The book takes a little while to get going but once it does it grabs you and doesn’t let go until the very end. The author does a nice job of blending the historical elements nicely with the story of Liesel. It makes the book feel like it could have really happened, or maybe that there are even stories very similar to Liesel that we will never know about. The author allowed the reader to see tremendous character growth from a variety of characters within the book. I liked how the author didn’t limit character growth only to our main character but also to many of our supporting characters and even some that we had closer to the end of the story. The language within the book seemed like it fit really well with the time that it was set in. I like how the author included German phrases through the book, however I do feel like this did make for a tough read at times. I also found that the book was hard to follow at times because there were so many voices speaking that I found myself lost as to who was speaking when, I can see how some student readers may also run into this problem at times. I liked how the author used similes through the book, often times describing what the narrator was seeing as they watched what was happening to the characters. In my opinion the author also used pun throughout the story, because there were those spots were the author wanted the reader to make the choice for ourselves as to what they were trying to get across. We also saw the use of personification within the story by giving our narrator human traits.
Illustrations:
The illustrations are few and far between in this book, but they leave a big impact on the reader. The illustrations are drawn to look like pencil drawings, which make it seem like Liesel herself drew them. It adds life to the book and makes it seem like an even more realistic, true story.
Mini-Lesson:
The focus of this mini-lesson will be to process the section that we read by using a simile to explain how we compare to a character and their behavior that we read about today. This will also indirectly help teach compassion and understanding by allowing students to see that even though we may not experience the exact same thing, that we may have an understanding of how somebody could have been feeling by own experiences.
Author: Markus Zusak
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Date of Publication: 2005
Illustrator: Trudy White
Genre Designation: Historical Fiction
Readability Lexile: 9-12 (ages 14-18)
Summary:
The Book Thief is set around the Holocaust and how it affected a young girl named Liesel. Liesel was forced at a young age to live with a foster family in Germany, in hopes that she would be safe. Liesel could not read or write but when she came across a grave keepers handbook she knew that she must keep it. As Liesel began to learn to read and write while living with her foster parents the Hubermann’s her love for books continued to grow. The way that Liesel went about getting her books was by stealing them, which proved to be problematic for her. Liesel forms relationships with those around who are her age, those who are older, and even grew close in very different ways to her foster parents. Liesel hated Hitler but she had to keep her hatred to herself because if anyone found out she and her family would be punished. As the story went on we found Liesel affected by the war in numerous ways, both directly and indirectly. Towards the end of the story there is a massive bombing and we find that only one of our characters that lived in Liesel’s neighborhood survived. We also find out who our narrator was throughout the book. Throughout the entire book we are being told the story, yet we have no idea who is talking to us as the reader. At the end we finally find out who it is, and if the reader made a prediction we can find out if we were right!
Evaluation:
The Book Thief is a truly thought provoking story. The book takes a little while to get going but once it does it grabs you and doesn’t let go until the very end. The author does a nice job of blending the historical elements nicely with the story of Liesel. It makes the book feel like it could have really happened, or maybe that there are even stories very similar to Liesel that we will never know about. The author allowed the reader to see tremendous character growth from a variety of characters within the book. I liked how the author didn’t limit character growth only to our main character but also to many of our supporting characters and even some that we had closer to the end of the story. The language within the book seemed like it fit really well with the time that it was set in. I like how the author included German phrases through the book, however I do feel like this did make for a tough read at times. I also found that the book was hard to follow at times because there were so many voices speaking that I found myself lost as to who was speaking when, I can see how some student readers may also run into this problem at times. I liked how the author used similes through the book, often times describing what the narrator was seeing as they watched what was happening to the characters. In my opinion the author also used pun throughout the story, because there were those spots were the author wanted the reader to make the choice for ourselves as to what they were trying to get across. We also saw the use of personification within the story by giving our narrator human traits.
Illustrations:
The illustrations are few and far between in this book, but they leave a big impact on the reader. The illustrations are drawn to look like pencil drawings, which make it seem like Liesel herself drew them. It adds life to the book and makes it seem like an even more realistic, true story.
Mini-Lesson:
The focus of this mini-lesson will be to process the section that we read by using a simile to explain how we compare to a character and their behavior that we read about today. This will also indirectly help teach compassion and understanding by allowing students to see that even though we may not experience the exact same thing, that we may have an understanding of how somebody could have been feeling by own experiences.
Cornelius P. Mud, Are You Ready For School?
Title: Cornelius P. Mud, Are You Ready For School?
Author: Barney Saltzberg
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Date of Publication: 2007
Illustrator: Barney Saltzeberg
Genre Designation: Children’s Fiction
Readability Lexile: Pre-K-2 (ages 4-8)
Summary:
This light hearted story is about a spunky pig who is supposed to be getting up and ready for school. Momma pig checks in with Cornelius to see if he is aware of the time, out of bed, made his bed, dressed, and all of the other things that we need to do before we leave for school. It just doesn’t seem right though, and Cornelius is just not ready to go. At the last moment it comes to Cornelius and momma pig that he needs a kiss goodbye, it was exactly what he needed! Cornelius runs right off to school, but what school is he going to?
Evaluation:
This story was a great quick read, that gave the reader good laughs and allowed foreshadowing and prediction. The author uses repetition within the story allowing for a newer reader to predict text that may be coming next. It is my belief that this is a nice tool for young readers, because it allows them to see words that they may be comfortable with as well building confidence with their reading skills. The story does a nice job of telling a new student about the importance of getting up and moving in the morning for school, even if it is a little bit different! I don’t think that this story lends itself to as many literary teaching elements as I would hope to see in a truly good children’s story. However, with that being said I do feel as though it has a good message about morning routine and getting ready to school. I also do feel that the story could be used as a good tool in using picture clues and prediction about what is going to happen. Our main character does not end up going to a “regular” school but ends up going to a clown school which explains some of the goofy things that were happening earlier in the story.
Illustrations:
The illustrations were a nice addition to the story. They were easy to understand and not overwhelming. As previously mentioned the illustrations actually served as an extra tool to infer more meaning that wasn’t explicitly told to us by the text.
Mini-Lesson:
This mini-lesson would focus on prediction. I would read the story two times, but the first time it the cover would covered with construction paper so the students wouldn’t be able to see it. I would then read the title and ask the students to make predictions about the story based on the text alone. Now we will read the story this time the students will get to see the illustrations, we will stop and make predictions throughout the story. At the end we will discuss how their predictions stayed the same or changed from before they saw the illustrations until after they saw the illustrations.
Author: Barney Saltzberg
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Date of Publication: 2007
Illustrator: Barney Saltzeberg
Genre Designation: Children’s Fiction
Readability Lexile: Pre-K-2 (ages 4-8)
Summary:
This light hearted story is about a spunky pig who is supposed to be getting up and ready for school. Momma pig checks in with Cornelius to see if he is aware of the time, out of bed, made his bed, dressed, and all of the other things that we need to do before we leave for school. It just doesn’t seem right though, and Cornelius is just not ready to go. At the last moment it comes to Cornelius and momma pig that he needs a kiss goodbye, it was exactly what he needed! Cornelius runs right off to school, but what school is he going to?
Evaluation:
This story was a great quick read, that gave the reader good laughs and allowed foreshadowing and prediction. The author uses repetition within the story allowing for a newer reader to predict text that may be coming next. It is my belief that this is a nice tool for young readers, because it allows them to see words that they may be comfortable with as well building confidence with their reading skills. The story does a nice job of telling a new student about the importance of getting up and moving in the morning for school, even if it is a little bit different! I don’t think that this story lends itself to as many literary teaching elements as I would hope to see in a truly good children’s story. However, with that being said I do feel as though it has a good message about morning routine and getting ready to school. I also do feel that the story could be used as a good tool in using picture clues and prediction about what is going to happen. Our main character does not end up going to a “regular” school but ends up going to a clown school which explains some of the goofy things that were happening earlier in the story.
Illustrations:
The illustrations were a nice addition to the story. They were easy to understand and not overwhelming. As previously mentioned the illustrations actually served as an extra tool to infer more meaning that wasn’t explicitly told to us by the text.
Mini-Lesson:
This mini-lesson would focus on prediction. I would read the story two times, but the first time it the cover would covered with construction paper so the students wouldn’t be able to see it. I would then read the title and ask the students to make predictions about the story based on the text alone. Now we will read the story this time the students will get to see the illustrations, we will stop and make predictions throughout the story. At the end we will discuss how their predictions stayed the same or changed from before they saw the illustrations until after they saw the illustrations.
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