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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 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 a 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 his 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:
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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)
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Select a couple of writing samples to share with
your students, with one full of simple, short sentences, and
another containing a variety of sentence lengths.
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If you have them available, give students each a
Slinky. (Or use one yourself and model the activity for your
class.)
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Select a text and display it on the 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.)
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After reading quite a few sentences, stop and ask
students to discuss the length of the sentences they’ve heard.
Were they all the same length, or were some longer and some
shorter? Did this variety (or lack thereof) make the story more
or less interesting?
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Select another text and display it on the
overhead. Repeat the previous steps, pausing to reflect on the
differences between the two stories and the impact that sentence
variety has on the way the story sounds to the audience.
2.
Sentence Stretching
(aka
Sitton Spelling “Stretch It” Activities)
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Start by providing students with a short sentence
or group of words.
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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…
1.
Getting a Reaction!
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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 form 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 be sympathetic?
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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!
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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 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”.
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