Cinderella and Prince Cinders

As a part of our study of fairy tales, we read Prince Cinders by Babette Cole. Prince Cinders is a funny and modern twist to the classic Cinderella story. After reading, the students discussed with a partner events that were similar and different from the two stories. We then created a class Double Bubble map to chart their findings. The students then took notes on their own Double Bubble map. They then created a foldable to describe two events in the story that are similar, but not exact, along with the main idea that makes them similar. For example, in Cinderella, she goes to a ball. In Prince Cinders, he goes to a disco. In both, they go to a party.

The Princess and the Pea

Last week we read The Princess and the Pea in order for the students to practice retelling the main events. The students then created foldables to write and illustrate what happened in the beginning, middle, and end of the story.

Comparing and Contrasting Stories

Last week our weekly theme was sports. As a part of our lessons, we read Maria Joins the Team and Carlos Joins the Team from Reading A-Z. The main purpose of the lesson was to have the students retell the story and answer multiple choice questions about the text in order to teach them the strategy of "looking back" and to assess their comprehension. The reason I chose these books is because they are the same story but with slight changes. After reading the first story, the students retold the story to friends and then answered questions about the text. Then we read the second story. As we read, the students began to have that "light bulb" moment when they make connections or notice something unique. They quickly realized the stories were the same. To help them express their thoughts, we created a class Double Bubble Map to compare and contrast the stories. Fellow teachers, Reading A-Z has many different leveled readers that can be used for this purpose.

Franklin's Halloween

As a part of our study of making connections, we read Franklin's Halloween by Paulette Bourgeois. The students made text-to-text and text-to-self connections to the story.

Bats on Parade

To identify the features of a fantasy text, we read Bats on Parade by Kathi Appelt. The students brainstormed various reasons why the book was a fantasy:

• Bats do not wear hats.
• Bats do not drive cars.
• Bats do not play instruments.
• Bats cannot talk.
• Bats do not have parades.

The students wrote at least one reason they knew the story was a fantasy and illustrated that part of the story.

Humpty Dumpty

A few weeks ago we studied various Nursery Rhymes. One of the Nursery Rhymes that we practiced was Humpty Dumpty. To help the students practice retelling a text including the beginning, middle, and end, the students took a two sentence strips and folded them in half. They wrote one part of the Nursery Rhyme onto each piece of the sentence strip including the title. The students then put them in order on a piece of construction paper. This became Humpty Dumpty's wall. They then placed Humpty Dumpty on top of the wall.

Each Peach Pear Plum

This week in reading we have been learning about Nursery Rhymes. Along with reading traditional nursery rhymes such as Hey Diddle Diddle and Humpty Dumpty, we have been reading books based off of Nursery Rhymes. One of the books we read was Each Peach Pear Plum. In this book, different characters from different nursery rhymes "spy" one another. The story lends itself well to retelling using a Flow Map. Using a foldable, the students wrote and illustrated the order of the characters in the story and who they "spied." They then glued them in order on sentence strips and practiced retelling the story in small groups.

Comparing Fairy Tales

Today we compared Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella to discuss how fairy tales typically begin with the phrase "once upon a time" or "long, long ago." We used the online media stories for both which the students found very engaging. After hearing both of the stories, the students identified the characters - including the heros and the villains. They discussed that fairy tales usually have heros and villains and have to overcome a problem. To help them visualize their comparisons, we created a Double Bubble Map.

Habitats: Where Animals Live

Last week we read "Habitats: Where Animals Live" to talk about the different needs of living creatures. After reading, the students worked in teams to list the animals from each habitat region on a Tree Map. After listing the animals, each student illustrated one animal for each habitat region on a six-part chart.

A Cub Grows Up

Last week the students did a shared reading of the short story "A Cub Grows Up." The story is from our state textbook series. After reading, they discussed with a partner the different stages of a bear's life and what they can do in each stage. They then wrote Flow Maps individually to retell the story in their own words. After they were finished, they created their own bear cub.

Story Elements

As a way to help your child with their comprehension, you can use this story elements chart to help them understand the key characteristics of a fiction story: characters, setting, problem, and solution. The students can draw the pictures and/or write notes about each part. As students work on these, encourage your student to look back at the text to find answers. Also encourage them to use specific details such as the proper names of the characters rather than "the boy" or "the girl" and the specific setting such as "a farm in the winter" rather than "outside."

                                         

The Three Snow Bears

Today in our whole group comprehension lesson we worked on making inferences and drawing conclusions. The students looked at the cover of the book The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett and discussed what they saw. After discussing that the cover had three bears - a papa, a mama, and a baby - the students were asked if they had ever read a book about three bears. The quickly came up with Goldilocks and The Three Bears. The students then retold the story of Goldilocks to a neighbor. After retelling, we talked about how we can use what we already know to predict what will happen in our new story. After reading a few pages, we would stop to allow the students time to predict what would happen next. To complete our comprehension lesson, we created a Double Bubble Map to compare and contrast the two stories. The students then created their own "snow bear" by only cutting out simple shapes.

Storyline Online

The Screen Actors Guild Foundation has a great website, Storyline Online, where actors read their favorite children's books. The site is a great way for your child to hear engaging and fluent reading as well as practice their comprehension skills. As additional practice at home, have your child listen to one of the stories online and then have them tell you the events of the story in order. You can extend the learning by having them write the beginning, middle, and end of the story in a Flow Map.