Gobble, Gobble, Gobble....

Is it going to be a Happy Thanksgiving on this fantasy farm? Join us in reading today as we hear about the exciting lives of three turkeys who don't know what they are getting into.

In this cute Thanksgiving read-aloud, Ollie the turkey hears farmer Joe talking about the Thanksgiving turkey. Ollie, Wing, and Cassie decide to have a field day to prove to their farmer who should be chosen as the "special" turkey for Thanksgiving. They are all wanting to win until they figure out that the special turkey means you will get eaten. The turkeys decide to tie the race and run away.
This a great book to use when teaching students the strategy of summarizing. First the teacher should read the book aloud. After the story has been read, explain to the students that when you summarize you only pick the main ideas and put them in your own words. The teacher should model how to summarize by discussing the key points of the beginning, middle, and end of story and putting them into her own words. After the students are shown how to summarize instruct them to return to the seats and practice summarizing on their own by doing the following handout:

 

 

What on earth could the Gruffalo look like??

Have you ever heard of a Gruffalo? Join us in a walk through the forest today in reading as we find out just exactly what this creature is and see what excitement awaits along the way.

   

    The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson is an entertaining story of an imaginative mouse that is traveling through the woods. On his travels the clever mouse devises a plan in an attempt to protect himself from a mouse, fox, and a snake. These are all predators that want to eat him. He tells each of the animals that he is going to meet a Gruffalo and each time he gives a detailed description of this creature that he has made up in his mind. He succeeds in frightening away the animals, but then he meets the animal of his imagination- A GRUFFALO! The mouse must now deal with the Gruffalo that also wants to eat him. The mouse tells the Gruffalo to walk behind him through the woods and see how all the other animals fear him. The Gruffalo is skeptical that other animals would be frightened of a mouse. He walks behind the mouse, and when the animals see the Gruffalo behind the mouse they run away with fright. The Gruffalo then believes that the mouse was telling the truth and ends up running away with fear himself.

    The author of this book uses rhyme and repetition. There is a large amount of description used throughout the book. The humor is this book is age appropriate and very entertaining. The introduction of the made up creature the Gruffalo really appeals to the imagination.

    This book would be great to use when teaching kids the strategy of visualizing. This could be done by showing the kids the cover of the book that has a sticky note over the illustration of the Gruffalo. Inform students that you have the Gruffalo covered up because you want them to visualize what they think he looks like after hearing all the descriptions of him that are made throughout the book. After talking about the cover and the book read it aloud to the students. Once the story has been read to the students have them go back to their desk. Give them a worksheet that instructs them to draw and color what they think the Gruffalo looks like. Once everyone is done, then show the students what the Gruffalo on the cover looks like. If there is appropriate time it would be a good idea to read the book again to students and point out all of the descriptions the author made and also show the illustrations. Once the students have seen the cover and pictures in the book ask anyone if they would like to share the illustration they made of the Gruffalo. This is a great way to have students visualize and is also fun for them. (Book cover with sticky note and worksheet examples below)

                       

   

Would you be friends with the giant next door?

   Everyone has felt left out and lonely at some point in their life. Today in reading we are going to hear a story about a boy named Jake that befriends a new kid at school when nobody else would be his friend. After hearing this story,you may  think about a time in your life when you became friends with someone when nobody else would.

   This book How to Make Friends with a Giant is a story about two friends, Jake and Jacomo. Jake is much smaller than all the other kids in his class. One day, Jacomo moves next door to Jake. Jacomo is much bigger than all of the other kids in his class. No one wants to be Jacomo's friend because he is so different. Jake tries to be his friend and at first it is very difficult. By the end of the book, Jake and Jacomo have figured out how to be best friends. The illustrations in this book are very simple yet interesting.
   I am going to use this book by teaching the strategy making connections. To practice making connections I would first read How to Make Friends with a Giant to the class. Then I would model to the students what it would look like to make a connection between the text and my own experience. I would tell the students about a time when I was the new kid at school and struggled to make friends.  For example: 'My family and I moved to a new town when I was in 2nd grade. I had a broke arm at the time and was very embarrassed because of the big ugly cast I had to wear on the first day of school. I felt like nobody wanted to be my friend because of my broken arm. When I arrived at school on the first day the girl that sat next to me had a broke leg. We began talking about our injuries and she took me in as a friend that day."  I would also show the students a drawing of my experience.

   After showing the students how I made a connection with the text , I would instruct the students draw a picture of a time when they had to make a new friend and write a few sentences about their experience. When everyone is done I would have a few students show their drawing to the class and tell about their experience.
   I think this is a great activity for teaching students to make connections with the text they are reading. I think presenting my connection with the book will get students \to thinking even more about how they can connect with their own experience of making a new friend.