Comparing Stories by Eric Carle

As a part of our lessons on fiction story elements and our author study of Eric Carle, we compared the stories The Mixed-Up Chameleon and The Foolish Tortoise. Using a Double Bubble Map, we started with how the two stories are the same: author, problems, solutions, setting, animals, reptiles, etc. We then talked about how those things are the same, there are differences between them. We color coded the parts to show how although they have elements that are the same, the author used them differently to create two unique stories.

A Story Before Bed

A while back I stumbled across a site called A Story Before Bed. The site is intended for parents and grandparents to be able to record picture books using their webcams to share with their children and grandchildren who are far away. I used it to record books for my class to use in Daily 5's Listen to Reading. I also used it for a couple of lessons where I knew students would be in and out of the class for various reasons (research, testing, etc.). I was able to play the stories for the students in small groups while I worked with other small groups. I could then go back and work on comprehension skills with them based on the book they hear read aloud. This site can also be easily used for flipped lessons. Students can access a read aloud at home and then do a follow up comprehension lesson in class. In addition to the website, they have an iPad app.

The Copycat Fish

We read The Copycat Fish by Marcus Pfister and then the students retold the story in order as a class using a Flow Map. The students then individually retold the story on a foldable focusing on the beginning, middle, and end. They also colored a Rainbow Fish to go along with their work.

 

 

Fred and Pete at the Beach

We read Fred and Pete at the Beach by Cynthia Nugent to practicing retelling stories in order. As a class, the students retold the events on a Flow Map using Interactive Writing. With Interactive Writing, each student gets a chance to write while the rest of the class helps them with word order, spelling, and punctuation.

Lisa's Daddy and Daughter Day

We read Lisa's Daddy and Daughter Day to practice making predictions and retelling a story. Before reading, we took a picture walk and charted the students' predictions. After reading, we checked off the predictions that were true and wrote down the text evidence that supported the prediction. We then retold the story on a Flow Map. The students individually created a foldable to retell the beginning, middle, and end in their own words.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

To practice retelling a story in order, our class and Mrs. Francis' class went on a "bear hunt." We went outside to the garden and read "We're Going on a Bear Hunt." After reading, we learned motions to go along with the story and acted out retelling the story.

Asking and Answering Questions

Before reading The Kissing Hand, the students asked questions they had based on a picture walk. We typically take a picture walk before reading a book to get the students thinking about what may happen in the book and to allow them to make predictions. Taking a picture walk and asking questions helps greatly in their comprehension of the story. As the students asked questions, I charted them on the Promethean Board. After we read, we went back through the story to answer the questions using text evidence. The students then wrote down one question and its answer. Note taking is another high yield way for students to remember what they read and aids in comprehension.

Wemberley Worried

We recently read Wemberley Worried by Kevin Henkes. After reading, the students brainstormed their favorite parts of the story which we charted on a Circle Map. They then completed one sentence to record their favorite part and illustrated it.

The Cow Who Clucked

We recently read The Cow Who Clucked by Denise Fleming to further learn how to make connections to a story. After reading and discussing some of the events that happened, the students wrote one sentence to describe their connection to the story on an outline of a person. They then colored the person to look like them.

Pirates Don't Change Diapers

During our author study over David Shannon books, we read Pirates Don't Change Diapers. After reading the story, the students retold the beginning, middle, and end on a Flow Map using the Promethean Board. They then created a three-flap foldable individually to retell the story. Once they were finished, we had a mini-art lesson on how to draw a pirate. Their drawings turned out amazing!

Comparing Stories by David Shannon

As a part of our study over David Shannon books, we read Too Many Toys and A Bad Case of Stripes. As you can read about in previous posts, the students analyzed the characters, wrote about the beginning, middle, and end as well as the story elements. In this lesson, the students created a Double Bubble Map to compare the two stories. They then wrote at least one way the two stories were the same and two ways they were different on a four-tiered foldable. The foldables were displayed along with artwork they created for A Bad Case of Stripes. The students traced their hand and arm and then colored it with stripes.

Comparing Eric Carle Books

In addition to reading The Mixed Up Chameleon, we also read The Grouchy Ladybug. The students created three-flap foldables for this book as well to write the beginning, middle, and end of the story. They also created Story Maps for the book. As a class we compared The Mixed Up Chameleon and The Grouchy Ladybug on a Double Bubble Map. The students then created their own Double Bubble Maps. They used their own Double Bubble Map to create a four-tiered foldable to write one way the books were the same and two ways they were different.

Rosie Sprout's Time to Shine

In reading we read Rosie Sprout's Time to Shine to work on comparing character traits. After reading the book the class created a Double Bubble Map to compare the two main character's traits and then they created a graphic organizer for one of the characters.

Text Evidence

In reading the students are learning to use text evidence to support their answers to questions. Ms. Willemin read Butterfly Cafe with the students from ReadingA-Z. The students then answered various comprehension questions related to the story. They had to find the answers in their books adn document where they found their answers.