If you give a first grader an idea, a pencil, and some paper!

 

Last week we spent a while reading what I like to call the "If You Give" books. We read several different ones and used graphic organizers to organize our thoughts about the books. Each day we read a book and then completed a different type of organizer about it. We varied the way that we did these; sometimes we did them as a class, sometimes the children did them on their own and then we shared as a class. 

We started on Monday by reading If You Give a Mouse A Cookie. After reading the story, the children looked at an organizer about cause and effect. The children had to think about what the cause was and then the effects of this. In this case, the cause was giving the mouse a cookie and the effects were all of the things that came afterwards.

Tuesday we did a "Sees, Does, Thinks, Feels" Organizer about the story, If You Give A Moose A Muffin. This organizer helped us to recognize events in the story as well as to empathize with the character to infer what he may have been thinking or feeling. These details often are not writing out explicitly in the text and inference is a great skill for the children to begin working with.

Wednesday we completed an organizer called "Question It!". The children had to identify the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How's of the story If You Give a Pig a Party. This emphasized the key concepts of character, setting, and plot. Children were able to pick out the different aspects of the story.

Thursday we completed a "Double Bubble" comparing If You Give a Cat a Cupcake and If You Give a Dog a Donut.  The children had to compare and contrast the two stories, picking out key details of each.

Friday we gave writing our own "If You Give" stories a try. We read If You Give a Pig a Pancake and then the children were asked to write their own story that was similar to the ones we read in class. We discussed what each story had in common. We decided that each story had some type of animal that got something that then reminded him of other things and so on until it circled back around. We nicknamed these "circle" stories because at the end they always end up back where they started. The children did a great job coming up with new characters and stories. This is a great way for them to practice using author's voice and craft.

Here are some examples... feel free to come check them out in our hallway as well!
 



The Wild Things

I was very saddened to hear that Maurice Sendak had passed away earlier this week. His book, Where the Wild Things Are,  is one of my very favorites!

In honor of this wonderful author, I did a little activity with our class. I wanted to share this great story with them so that they could love it as much as I do!

We started by reading the story. The children loved it! That max is quite a character!

Then I had the children write what they thought would happen next in the story.

I got all kinds of wonderful answers! Several children thought that Max would eat his supper and then go to sleep and dream about the Wild Things. Others thought that Max would eat his supper and then go back to visit the Wild Things to have another Wild Rumpus. One even suggested that maybe the Wild Things would come to visit Max at his house.

These were great responses to the story! It not only showed me the students' ability to use basic capitalization, punctuation, and sentence structure, it also gave them the chance to participate in writing by using an author's model of language and extending the model.

They also demonstrated their abilities to use words that name characters and settings and  tell action and events in simple texts.

Who knew that you could learn so much from just one book? That's why it is such a great story!