Archive for the 'Synthesis' Category

The Witch’s Guide to Cooking With Children by Keith McGowan

Schema: Hansel and Gretel , step-mothers, fairy tales, science fairs Big Idea: Good vs. evil The publisher offers a detailed reading guide for teachers that includes vocabulary,  poetry,  and writing responses. Text-to-Self Connections: sibling rivalry, bullying, moving to a new apartment, visiting the library Author’s purpose: to entertain Cause and Effect: Because an inheritance was [...]

The Wolves Are Back by Jean Craighead George

Schema: ecosystems, keystone animal Author’s Purpose: make readers aware of the importance of wolves in the ecosystem. Create a chart of the temperate forest food chain. Cause and Effect: This book is filled with great examples of cause and effect.  A graphic organizer such as the Cluster/Word Web Chart or the Multi-Flow from Thinking Maps works perfectly [...]

The Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall

Schema: selling what you make, seasons Circle story: The story begins in the fall and follows the man and his family through a year as they make what they can on their farm to sell and use the money from what they sell to buy the things that they can not make. Predicting: What do [...]

So Far From the Sea by Eve Bunting

Schema: sea, setting Questions to activate background knowledge: Can you think of another time in history where a group of people have been treated unfairly because of the color of their skin? Can you imagine being taken away from your family because of your ethnicity? Why is the title so far from the sea when [...]