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Tuesday, June 2, 2015

I know I've been using the word poignant too much...

But what a great word it is! Poignant.

The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood made me a little sad and wistful.  What looks like a bedtime storybook for the very young (and it totally could be) can be used in many ways in the classroom.  Again, the illustrations are beautifully tied to the simplistic text!  This book will conjure up lots of memories and conversations.

How would Mrs. D use this book?

Reading strategy - Inference - My newly coined acronym WCB? WCA? is appropriate with the pictures in this book.  I can't believe I've come up with an acronym.  Please let me know if this is already out there.  I'm totally claiming it as my own until I hear otherwise!  Simply asking students, What came before this picture? and What came after this picture? is a great way to highlight what it means to make an inference.  There can not be a wrong answer, but there can be a great inference!  See what they come up with and let them choose the picture they discuss.

Reading Strategy - Connecting - This is such a basic strategy but actually hard for students to demonstrate well.  As readers, we are connecting all the time.  We don't realize the thinking we are constantly doing while reading.  I tell kids all the time, if they are not connecting in some way to the book (characters, setting, theme, plot) then they are either daydreaming or the book is too difficult.  Connecting are all the thoughts that are going through your head as you read.  What does the setting description remind you of?  What have you read before that reminds you of the theme? The plot?  I will allow a student to say that they dislike a book if they can prove to me that they can't connect with it in some way.

     For The Quiet Book, students will find a part that reminds them of something that has happened to them at some point.  There's their connection!  Was it a happy time?  What happened to them?  How was it different or the same from what 'seems' to be happening in the book?  The one page that resonated with me was, 'Top of the rollercoaster quiet'.  Who hasn't experienced that?  Can a student tell you about a rollercoaster experience?  How did it begin?  How did it end?

     After reading this book I'm convinced that there a numerous types of quiet!

Writing Form - Who wants to write a class book?  You may choose to do a Quiet Book or perhaps a Sad, Happy or Mad book.  Each student could pick an emotion and describe a few moments when that emotion feels different.  A great opportunity for students to practice paragraph writing!  Introduce the emotion in an introduction sentence, give a few examples and write a concluding sentence. Done.

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