Archive for May, 2009

Punk Farm and Punk Farm on Tour by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Schema: farm life, rock bands
Predicting: What are the animals are getting ready for to do?  Go to bed?
Inferring: What are the animals inferring when they see that the farmer’s light is on?
I am inferring the animals are sleepy at the end of the book because….
Text-to-Self Connections: waiting in line
Mental Images: Can you make a mental [...]

If Dogs Were Dinosaurs by David M. Schwartz

Mental Images: This book has some good examples to practice making mental images.
Mathematics: Math word problems are provided at the end of the book to show how the comparisons were mathematically determined.
Compare and Contrast: The book lends itself to comparing.

Martha Calling by Susan Meddaugh

Schema: dogs, talking dogs, Martha cartoon shows on television
Inferring: The family thinks the Inn will infer that Marth is a person when they put her in the wheel chair.
What does the maid infer when she sees a very full Martha and a pile of bones on the floor?
What do dogs infer when they hear the [...]

Mouse Went Out to Get A Snack by Lyn Rossiter McFarland One is a Feast for a Mouse: A Thanksgiving Tale by Judy Cox

Schema: mice, snacks, other books about mice, Thanksgiving, feasting
Text-to-text Connection: One is a Feast for a Mouse: A Thanksgiving Tale by Judy Cox

Point of View: the illustrations show the mouse’s point of view.
Counting: Mouse sees a certain number of each of the foods he selects.  Younger children could count the items as the book is [...]

Three Horrid Little Pigs by Liz Pichon

Schema: the original 3 Little Pigs story
Point of View: This story is from the wolf’s point of view, and the original one is from the pig’s point of view.
The 3 little pigs steal their materials is this story.  The straw is taken from cows, the sticks from birds, and the house from chickens.
Cause and Effect: [...]

Tree of Birds by Susan Meddaugh

Schema: trees, birds, nests
Persuasion: This book might be a good example to teach persuasion.  What are the birds trying to persuade Harry to do?  What is Harry’s mother trying to persuade him to do?  What is Harry trying to persuade his Mother to do?
Inferring: Harry infers that a car hit the bird.
I am inferring that [...]

Cat Jumped In by Tess Weaver

Schema: pets; what do your pets do that make you love them?
Word Choice: This is a great book for verbs.  The cat has lots of actions.
Many words that represent sounds are used.
Cause and Effect: Because the cat jumps into the paint, the effect is that the mother loves art and thinks he is artistic too.
Text-to-Self [...]

Think Big! by Nancy Carlson

Schema: What’s in your schema about being small? What are the good things about it?  What are the bad things about it?
Text-to-Self Connections:
being called a name
too short to reach the books
couldn’t keep the ball at recess
too short to see the food in the lunch line
had to be the smallest character in the school play
choosing the [...]

What Can You Do With a Rebozo? by Carmen Tafolla

Schema: a Mexican woven shawl, brainstorm all of the things you could do with it
Text-to-Self Connections: wear it as a shawl
make a baby cradle or sling
hide under it
put in on our head or in our hair
use it as a blanket
wipe something up as if it were a rag
make a blindfold
use is for a playhouse
play [...]

Fiesta Fiasco by Ann Whitford Paul

Schema: party, mixing up information, problems
Point of View: Whose point of view was the rabbit thinking from when he said what snake would like?
Whose POV were Tortuga and Iguana thinking from when they suggested a book?
Cause and Effect: Because the rabbit wants these items, the effect is that he tricked the others into buying them [...]