Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Slice of Life - It's better than I thought!

It's better than I thought!  As I began reading Maybe a Bear Ate It!, (reviewed yesterday) a student commented it was wordless. They were looking for the print and knew to focus on the pictures to help tell the story.  I was thrilled they used the word - wordless to describe the book format at the beginning.  I struggled with deciding what the character actually was.  Yesterday I refer to him/her as a fun looking creature but my students agreed and decided the character in the story is a cat.  They could justify their opinion and I value their thinking, a cat it is.  As I read the ending of the book, several students got very excited.  They noticed each animal the cat visioned taking his book were actually stuffed animals in the cat's bed!  When I read the book the night before and was planning, I wondered what made the cat think about each large creature but it was a passing thought.  I didn't look close enough for evidence.  When my students did, I learned something new.  I was so excited to see my emergent readers in action.  This was a joyful moment in our day, together.

Thanks to Tara at Two Writing Teachers for organizing Slice of Life each week.



6 comments:

  1. I always learn so much from my students. They're much more observant than I am!

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  2. I love moments like this in a teaching day - after all, it's what our kids notice and respond to that enlightens and makes relevant the whole business of the day. Your kiddos are a thoughtful, observant bunch!

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  3. Uh-oh! This looks like another book I need to own! Were you "at" Title Talk on Twitter on Sunday night? The whole thing was on Wordless Picture books.

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    1. No, I wasn't at Title Talk, but did see the topic. I should look at the archives. Thanks for the reminder.

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  4. Such a great example of students noticing and thinking beyond our expectations. Joyful moment indeed.

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  5. That's a great lesson on collaborative discovery. A cat, it is.
    Kevin

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