Archive for January, 2010

Nubs The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle

Schema: Marines, miracles Text-to-Text Connection: Heroic Afghan Dog Reunited With a U.S. Soldier Author’s purpose: The author is sharing his journey with Nubs because it is a miracle that he was able to get the dog from there back to his home in San Diego. Because Nubs did not give up on finding Major Dennis, [...]

Stick Man by Julia Donaldson

Schema:  sticks, playing with sticks Text-to-Text Connections: Over in the Meadow, an old rhyme about the animals in a meadow; the rhyme goes something like, “over in the meadow in the sand and the sun lived an old mother turtle and her little turtle one…”  See the lyrics Also a connection with the Gingerbread Man [...]

Here Comes Darrell by Leda Schubert

Schema: people you know that are always helping others Sequencing: the book goes through each season Setting: Vermont Characterization: Make a graphic organizer to show Darrell’s characteristics. With Tommy he takes the time to let him play like he is driving his truck With The Barretts he gives the firewood to them even though they [...]

Growing Up With Tamales Los Tamales de Ana by Gwendolyn Zepeda

Schema: making tamales, looking forward to getting to do the things your older brothers and sisters are doing Text-to-Self connections: helping mother, wishing to be older Sequencing: The book begins when Ana is 6, and she goes through each part of the book with her age increasing. Math: numbers are added by 2′s throughout the [...]

Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto

Schema: making tamales, admiring jewelry Text-to-Self Connections: taking something without permission, not wanting to get caught, getting together with relatives for the holidays,  seeing something and then remembering something you forgot about Predicting: Predict what Maria is going to do when her mother leaves to answer the phone. Drawing Conclusions: What conclusion does Maria come [...]

Sneeze! by Alexandra Siy

Schema: sneezing, allergies Text-to-Self Connections:  sneezing for one of the reasons listed in the book; understanding how the brain works to make connections Although this nonfiction book discusses the causes and physical reactions associated with sneezing, the book is an excellent source for showing how the brain makes connections. Inventors:  At the end of the [...]

Can’t Catch Me by John Hassett

Schema: ice from the fridge, icebergs Text-to-text Connections: Gingerbread Man stories, stories where characters are being chased Compare and Contrast: the animals that want to eat or cool off with the ice cube to characters in other versions of the Gingerbread Man.  Compare the whale with the fox in the original story. Sequencing: Sequence from [...]

Charlie Needs a Cloak by Tomie De Paola & Red Berry Wool by Robyn Harbert Eversole

Schema: sheep, wool, sweaters, cloaks, the invisible cloak in the Harry Potter stories Text-to-Text Connections: These two books make a big connection in that they both talk about how wool is used to create a garment.  Charlie shares more technical information about the process.  Red Berry shows how the words used to create fabric can [...]

Reading Comprehension Strategies

Making Thinking Visible: The terms I am explaining below work together to create connections that will help young children to increase their reading comprehension.  For years we have taught reading in abstract terms and many children do become great readers by being exposed to books and reading.  Some of us need something more concrete to [...]

Tortuga in Trouble by Ann Whitford Paul

Schema: turtles, desert settings, Grandma’s house looks like a sand dome Text-to-text connection: other retellings of Little Red Riding Hood Predicting: What do you predict the animals will do in order to save the turtles from the coyote? Cause and Effect: Because Tortuga’s friends made the noise at Tortuga’s grandmother’s house, the effect is that [...]