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Reading
Strategies ~ Strategies That Work by Stephanie Harvey
Determining Importance
This magical book
provides great opportunities to teach the strategy of
Determining Importance. When readers determine
importance in fiction books and other narrative genres, they
often infer bigger themes in the story. All throughout
this story there is an underlying theme of friendship that
we would want students to discover.
With Determining
Importance you can either in whole group or individually
complete a two column chart with the titles "Theme" and
"Evidence of Theme". Students can find phrases
that
infer the theme of friendship and jot them down on the
chart. (Second Reading)
Other Strategy Ideas:
Predicting
On the second page
there is a perfect spot to stop and have students make
predictions.
"No one knew what was
to be, as daylight grew quite dim, that soon our lives would
change so much, simply because of him"
Visualizing (First
Reading)
To do this next
activity with the strategy of visualizing, you need to not
show the pictures to the students. (You can still do the
predicting activity first, just don't show the pictures).
Have students fold or
already have folded a sheet of paper into 4 boxes.
Choose 4 times in the story that is very descriptive to stop
and allow students to draw what they are picturing in their
minds.
Reread the story and
they can compare their pictures.
Another follow up
idea is to have students exchange their drawings and write
their own version based on the illustrations they are
looking at. It would be like retelling in their own
words.
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Writing
Strategies ~ 6+1 Traits of Writing by Ruth Culham
A Snowman Named Just
Bob is a whimsical story about a snowman who teaches a
family about the value of friendship. Beautiful
illustrations create the backdrop for this wonderful example
of Sentence Fluency and Voice.
Before you get started,
make a point to preview these words and phrases so that you
can really savor the story without concern about the
meanings of this new vocabulary:
- "feasted...on
fine-cooked fare"
- obscuring
- "dance a jig"
- exquisite
- "peace fell
lightly like a robe"
- inclined
- countenance
Teaching Sentence Fluency:
Varying Sentence Length and Structure
"How the sentences
sound to the ear depends greatly on their construction,"
Ruth Culham explains. The lines of A Snowman Named
Just Bob are written in rhyme, which is one way that the
author leads you through the story of Bob and the night he
came to be. When you read the book, the flow and
movement of the lengthy sentences carry you through the
story, as if you are a snowflake floating on the winter wind
yourself!
Pay close attention
to the length and structure of Bob's sentences.
It is as if the author composed a beautiful poem, and then
turned each stanza into a long, lyrical sentence.
Interesting writing will include sentences of varied length
that begin and end in different ways, and you'll find these
characteristics in Bob.
To help your students
focus on the construction of their own sentences, Ruth
Culham suggests several lesson ideas:
1. Slinky
City (adapted
from page 200-201)
- Select a couple
of writing samples to share with your students, with one
full simple, short sentences, and another containing a
variety of sentence lengths.
- If you have them
available, give students each a Slinky. (Or use
one yourself and model the activity for your class.)
- Select a text
and display it overhead. As you read the story
aloud, have your students practice stretching or
shrinking their Slinky to match the length of the
sentence. (Students can also do this with their hands,
moving them apart and together to represent the length
of the sentences.)
- After reading
quite a few sentence, stop and ask students to discuss
the length of the sentences they've heard. Were all the
same length, or were some longer and some shorter?
Did this variety (or lack thereof) make the story more
or less interesting?
- Select another
text and display it on the overhead. Repeat the previous
steps, pausing to reflect on the differences between the
two stories and impact that sentence has on the way the
story sounds to the audience.
2. Sentence
Stretching
(aka Sitton Spelling "Stretch It" Activities)
- Start by
providing students with a short sentence or group of
words.
- Have each
student add a word or short phrase to enhance his/her
sentence, and then pass it to a neighbor who will add
another word or phrase.
- After several
rounds, stop and have students share the sentences that
they have created. Compare the original sentence
to the final product, and discuss why the addition of
adjectives and adverbs can make the sentences more
specific and interesting!
(See 6+1 Traits,
pages 195-209, for more ideas for teaching Sentence
Fluency.)
Teaching Voice: "...the heart
and soul of the writing.."
"Voice is the
writer's music coming out through the words, the sense that
a real person ...cares about the message," as Ruth Culham
explains it. The enthusiasm that the author has for
the subject becomes evident in everything - the word choice,
the sentence structure, the punctuation marks! In A
Snowman Named Just Bob. it is plain to see that the
author wants to impart a feeling of wonder and whimsy.
If you begin by
reading the back cover of the book, you receive your first
clue: "Sometimes life presents us with unexpected and
magical moments." And thus the magic begins.
Mark Kimball Moulton has crafted a story filled with
beautiful language and fluid motion that invites the reader
to read slowly and carefully. He's chosen enchanting
words such as "exquisite" and "countenance", and presents a
winter snowstorm that brings his wonderful character to
life. The novel vocabulary and the rhyming sentences,
bursting with action and description, work together to
elicit a feeling of wonder and excitement from the reader.
Here's an idea for
connecting Voice and Word Choice with your
students...
Getting a
Reaction!
- As you are
beginning the brainstorming phase of a new writing
project, have your students pause and reflect on the
feelings they'd like to evoke from their audience.
Are they hoping to share the feeling of excitement, and
engage the reader with enthusiasm? Are they
embarking on a debate, and hoping to persuade their
audience to agree with their stance on a particular
topic? Are they relaying a sad story, and hoping
their readers will by sympathetic?
- Once they
determine what their desired reaction will be, have
students brainstorm a list of words that they could use
to evoke those particular feelings. If they're
describing their favorite family vacation, they might
use words like "hilarious", "wonderful," and "amazing"
-words that are exciting, not bland! Ask them to consult
a thesaurus if they need more powerful words!
- Finally, have
the students use those particular words to enhance their
stories, and watch how their classmates react when they
share the stories aloud.
(See 6+1 Traits,
pages 125-138, for more ideas for teaching Voice) |
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Character
Connections
A
Snowman Named Just Bob is a wonderful book to use to
teach the character traits needed for true friendship. The
child in the book first demonstrates respect for Bob,
generosity, and kindness, as he attempts to grant Bob's
request and expresses his concern that he wants to gather up
all of Bob's goodness to make the perfect friend. He
demonstrates leadership, motivation, and dedication to his
promise as he gathers his family members to help him build
Bob. Bob, the snowman, shows gratitude as he thanks
the family for building him and giving him his eyes, mouth,
hat, carrot nose and scarf. Bob knows the boy is a
loyal and trustworthy friend because the boy takes such care
to follow Bob's directions and grant his requests, including
posting the sign that says just "Bob was here". |
