Foundations of Literacy ACTIVITIES

Jenny Sharpe

Read Aloud Defense

10/27/15

Pigeon Makes a Difference

           My name’s the Pigeon. Yes. The Pigeon. I’m from a book you know! Ever read it before? It’s called Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Don’t worry, I won’t ask. I just want to tell you a little story! I was once owned by a teacher named Mrs. Grandfield. Boy was she a meany! She taught the first grade and you could tell she loved what she did. NOT!

She would read me aloud to the students and their eyes would glaze over and I swear one kid was asleep! Mrs. G, do you mind if I call her that? Okay great. Anyways, Mrs. G read my book every year to her first graders. I was tired of being read aloud. She made me seem so boring and eventually I started to believe it myself. Books around me always drooled over me because I have some sort of award. They all tell me that I have potential to “make a difference.” I usually just laugh in their face because there’s no way I can do anything like that. Just look at Billy drooling in the back of the class when Mrs. G read me aloud last year. Come on, you can’t tell me that I was “wonderfully created.” I have other books you know. They’re actually supposed to be pretty good too but no one ever cares to read more about me so I just sit here wanting to drive the bus my entire life.

 Each year I would get so excited that maybe this year would be different. Maybe the students will actually like me. Maybe I could even get a chuckle or be thought about later in the day. Maybe even the students will want to see how I used to want a puppy! (That was scary; maybe I’d rather just want them to see me find a hot dog). But this year, I got way more than I ever could’ve asked for. The day that I was supposed to be read out loud to the students, Mrs. G was sick. Out with the flu! Poor Mrs. G, but not poor me! The sub, Miss Sharpe was going to read me to the students today. Mrs. G left me on her desk with the plan for the day. Ha! Like that was ever going to go right! Her note said, “Read this.” Miss Sharpe then opened me up and read me like a book. Ha! Get it?! She examined my pages and my facial expressions, kind of made me feel uncomfortable. This has never happened to me before. Mrs. G only ever looked at the words. Miss Sharpe read me once and then read me twice. That was a record for one day! She was actually paying attention to me. It was all about me. I think I like this woman. I think this is going to be a good day. Please let this be a good day! Please!

The students walk in and for the first time I get nervous! Come on, birds don’t get nervous! They just beg for stuff like hot dogs and puppies. The kids seem normal like every other day and then they see Miss Sharpe. They are confused because Mrs. G never misses school. (Though we always wished she would). So the students gather their things up and sit down at their desks to do morning work that I can tell they love to do. NOT! Come on let’s just skip that part and read me! But it’s on the sub plan so Miss Sharpe chooses to obey.

The time has come. It’s Pigeon Time! Miss Sharpe has the first graders gathered at the carpet. Their eyes are glazed over and all. They look like they usually do during a read aloud, tired and unamused. I think to myself, “great, just like every other year.” But then Miss Sharpe speaks. She speaks loud and enthusiastic. She speaks with life and now it’s show time! The students’ eyes pop right open and something has clicked in their brains, I can see it! Miss Sharpe reads as if she knows everything I am thinking. She somehow captured my voice. (Did I accidentally talk to her? Is she imitating me? Oh no, she definitely has figured me out). Next thing I know, the students are yelling. They’re responding to my words (Wadsworth, 2008)! They’re laughing at my faces! But you just wait, we get to the part where I lose my mind and then the kids lost their minds! They laughed so hard that I couldn’t believe it! Nothing like this has ever happened in my entire life. I was alive. I was real. I was loved!

Then that stupid Bus Driver came back and the book was over. I hate that guy. He’s a fun sucker. The students chant, “Again, Again (Wadsworth, 2010)!” I wanted to join in but I had to remain calm and shut my mouth. Apparently I’m not actually real…whatever. Miss Sharpe decided that it would be best to talk about me instead of read me again. (Probably a good choice because I would’ve shouted with joy at the students’ love for me!) The class talked about times where they wanted something really bad but couldn’t have it. Seems to be like my entire life. Turns out, the students are just like me! They want things that they can’t have too! The equivalent of Billy from last year is named Ronnie and Ronnie told Miss Sharpe about five different things that he wanted but couldn’t have. I was shocked! I predicted Ronnie to be out cold the whole time I was being read aloud.

After Miss Sharpe read me to the students, she also talked about the words begging and bribing (Kindle, 2010). Apparently I do that. The kids learned what these words meant and then pretended to beg and bribe people all day long to get what they wanted. Probably not the smartest thing of Miss Sharpe to do because those kids are going to be bribing their parents now! They sound just like me!

Throughout the day I popped into the students heads. Whenever somebody thinks about me, apparently I jump right into their brains and can see what their thinking. This was weird and it was something I’ve never experienced before thanks to Mrs. G. Ronnie was intimidating my voice all day long. You could hear him from all the way down the hall! Christina kept saying, “C’mon!” I quickly realized how annoying I could get. Johnathan kept bribing five bucks that he didn’t have and then had to say no when his classmates would accept his bribe (Kindle, 2010). Silly kid! I was so tired and exhausted but I didn’t think this would ever happen again so I had to keep going. Spotlight was on me and I wasn’t going to let that escape before the kids went home. And it didn’t.

The students went home that day and I was still hard at work. Students were bribing and begging and parents were getting frustrated and giving in. Way to go, kids! LaTrel went home and decided to use my voice to read a story to one of his younger siblings at home. LaTrel’s younger brother wanted to read the book now that he realized that he was holding the book upside down the past month! Also Selena told her sister about me and her sister wants to read the book for herself! You hear that? Someone else wants to read me! This is nuts! I’m getting everything I’ve ever wanted!

Mrs. G came back the next day and noticed her students were still going crazy with my voice and started to bribe her as well. Her monotone self was denying their bribes all day long but was concerned with what had happened the day before. Miss Sharpe left Mrs. G a note that said, “Students loved the book! Sorry about the begging :) .” Mrs. G was confused. No students have ever reacted to a read aloud before. She knew she had to do it so she did but she always thought they were a waste of time. (I overheard her talking with another teacher. C’mon it wasn’t my fault!). The students asked for Miss Sharpe back and also asked for more books to read. This was incredible! Like, c’mon you’re telling me that kids actually like books now (Wadsworth, 2008)?

Mrs. G noticed the students constantly talking in a voice and realized that it was me that they were talking about. Mrs. G knew that there were more books with me in them and went on the hunt for me. Did you hear that? Mrs. G went looking for more of me! The students want more! Mrs. G decided to take the students to the library. Usually this time is boring and I just sit on the shelf in there like I do in Mrs. G’s class. But this time, I was fought over. The kids fought over me like I was a hot dog or a puppy! The students had an hour to read whatever they wanted. I was read for the entire hour (Ediger, 2002). The students even looked through my books about the hot dog and puppy! The librarian showed the class who my creator was. She told them that he wrote other books about other things (not as cool as me but whatever). My friends Elephant and Piggy got to share some of my glory too. But it’s still my glory not theirs.

In the library, a student named Aaron was having trouble reading my book about wanting to drive the bus. He was getting frustrated because he couldn’t remember what my voice sounded like (Marchessault & Larwin, 2013). I was confused how you could forget a voice like mine but whatever. Another older kid in the library saw his frustration and came and read to him. Aaron looked relieved and just smiled and listened to his new older friend read him the story (Marchessault & Larwin, 2013). He was now able to listen to my voice and remember it again! Oh, how I love people loving me!

After the library Selena came up to Mrs. G and asked for me. She wanted to bring me home. I was going to leave this dreadful classroom shelf and go to a home. Pinch me I must be dreaming! She told Mrs. G that her sister Rachel wanted to read me. Mrs. G agreed and gave her my book to take home. Later that night, Selena read my book to Rachel and Rachel laughed so hard! Selena’s mom was so happy because Rachel had been having a tough week. I was able to make Rachel laugh when she hasn’t been happy (Wadsworth, 2008). Did you hear that? I made a sad person laugh! This life just keeps getting better. I want more!

You want to know what the best part of this whole experience was? Christopher. Christopher hates school. And I mean he really hates it! He hates it so much that he just sits there with his eyes shut and ignores everyone and sometimes scares me with how he looks at people. He probably needs a hot dog! But the best part of Miss Sharpe coming and reading my book was seeing Christopher crack a smile. I’ve never seen Christopher smile in my entire life! I don’t even know if Christopher has ever smiled in his entire life! I think something about his home rubs him the wrong way but I won’t go into that. It just makes me sad and makes me want to give him a puppy that I don’t have. I won’t go into that either (bad memories).

Every time Christopher would get grades back, I could tell they weren’t the greatest because he would usually rip it in half. No wonder he didn’t like school. Who would when you have Mrs. G as a teacher who constantly gives you bad grades? I hear Christopher talk to friends though and he’s a smart kid. I usually don’t have the attention span to listen to him for too long because he uses big words and I have the attention span of well… a pigeon. He’s so smart that he usually gets stuck with boring smart people books that Mrs. G gives him. But when he got to listen to my book read by Miss Sharpe, he cracked that smile and I knew what had to be done (Wadsworth, 2008). Give that boy a good book like mine! Yep I said it, I’m in a good book and I can make a difference!

Mrs. G saw Miss Sharpe later in the day when she walked by Mrs. G’s room. Mrs. G called her inside her classroom and decided to have a little chat about the previous day with her substituting.

“What did you do that has my kids begging and bribing and so excited?” Mrs. G said (Kindle, 2010). Miss Sharpe told Mrs. G that she just read the book like she was told and Mrs. G asked her to read it to her. So Miss Sharpe did the exact way that she read it to the class, though a little weirded out, and something clicked in Mrs. G’s head because this was new to her. She didn’t even know me! She didn’t know who I was supposed to be probably because she never paid enough attention to me. She just knew I was a good book so she read me to the class like she does her silly romantic drama novels to herself. Mrs. G took advice from Miss Sharpe that she didn’t even know she was giving.

The next day, Mrs. G decided to read another book called The Adventures of Beekle to her class. This time she examined Beekle and made him feel uncomfortable. Beekle told me all about it and he said it was the weirdest thing he had ever experienced and he’s been around some weird imaginary friends! Mrs. G read Beekle’s adventures to the class in the best way that she could and had some fun with it herself. She never realized children’s books could be so imaginative. All I could think to myself was, “Duh, Mrs. G, where have you been the past 50 years?”

Mrs. G saw her students light up before her eyes. They were shocked! Shocked I tell you! Christopher had his eyes open! And he was listening (Ediger, 2002)! The students didn’t know Mrs. G had it in her and quite frankly Mrs. G didn’t know she did either. Over time of reading her students books, their grades skyrocketed (Kiefer, 2010), they checked out more books at the library (Ediger, 2002), and they talked about the books all day long to their families and friends.

You want to know what the actual best part of this whole story is? I bet you can’t guess who owns me now? C’mon, guess. Seriously, guess already! Okay, I’ll tell you. It’s Christopher’s son, Jack! I know, I can’t believe it either! Christopher told his son that my book, yes my book, was the reason he started to enjoy reading. Christopher received Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus! from Mrs. G as a gift for turning into such a “fabulous reader.” Christopher then passed the book down to his son and read it to him just like Miss Sharpe did. Christopher told his son that he never had anyone that wanted to read to him and spend time with him so he wanted to be there for Jack. He imitated my voice perfectly! All because of Miss Sharpe reading me and knowing who I was. I can make a difference! I did make a difference! Did you hear that? The real me made a difference! I deserve a puppy!

References

Ediger, Marlow (2002). Reading Aloud to Aid Pupil Achievement. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED468079.pdf

Kindle, Karen J. (2010). Vocabulary Development during Read-Alouds: Examining the Instructional Sequence. Literacy Teaching and Learning, 14, 65-88. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?q=EJ888269&id=EJ888269

Wadsworth, Reba M. (2008). Using Read Alouds in Today’s Classrooms. National Association of Elementary School Principals, 5(3). Retrieved from https://www.naesp.org/resources/2/Leadership_Compass/2008/LC2008v5n3a4.pdf

  Marchessault, J.K., & Larwin, K.H. (2013). Structured Read-Aloud in Middle School: The Potential Impact On Reading Achievement. Contemporary Issues In Education Research, 6(2), 241-246. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1073207.pdf

Kiefer, B. Z. (2010). Charlotte Huck’s Children’s Literature. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

 The Importance of Reading Aloud
  by Taylor Garr

                  (click link below)
      The Importance of Reading Aloud to Children

Man Fish

Man Fish

 

Standard: 

• 4.3.2 Observe, compare and record the physical characteristics of living plants or animals from widely different environments. Describe how each plant or animal is adapted to its environment.
• 4.3.4 Describe a way that a given plant or animal might adapt to a change arising from a human or non-human impact on its environment.

Objective: 

• Students will read “Manfish” and identify facts about creatures and pollution that takes place in the ocean
• Students will also practice environmental awareness and brainstorm ways students can become more involved.

Description:

• Students will listen to the teacher read “Manfish”
• Bulletin board will show different facts and pictures of creatures that one might come across in the ocean.  -Students will be looking at a bulletin board as if they were Jacques Cousteau himself (through the eyes of his snorkel goggles)!
• After students learn about facts, students can not only learn how to clean up and take care of the oceans but the environment around them.  QR codes talk more about pollution and how to take care of the planet.
• Teacher can set up recycling activity with the students and pick up trash around their community

Exemplary Literature:

Materials:

• Background paper
• Tape
• Staples
• QR codes
• Di-cuts
• Paint
• Pieces of garbage
• String
• Saran wrap 
• Printed fish/ocean floor

The Greedy Triangle

“The Shifting Shapes”

Bulletin Board Content                             Ashlyn Kesler, Michelle Heremia, Abby Gordon

 

 

QR Code:                                                                                                                           http://books.google.com/books/about/The_greedy_triangle.html?id=5BfjuWQBV6IC

Standard: K.G.3 Model shapes in the world by composing shapes from objects.

Objective: Students will be able to make basic shapes using lines. 

Through this interactive bulletin board students will be able to create shapes as a hands-on approacb to understanding basic geometry. On the bulletin board is a box of pipe cleaners and a set of instructions as to how to form the basic shapes. The shape making is an application of knowledge that the students have learned in the class. The reading of, The Greedy Triangle, helps students see shapes in action as they can be changed and transformed into different shapes. This interactive bulletin board lesson would be completed after a read aloud of the book.

Materials:

    -     Construcion paper for shapes and traingle on stand, bulletin board paper for backing, QR code printed from online, fishing line for hanging up letters, box for pipe cleaners, and pipe cleaners for creating shapes.
    -     Adhesion with gluestick, masking tape, stapler, and command strips.

There is a QR code attached to the board. This code directs readers to a review of the book, The Greedy Triangle. Also linked to the code is information about the author.

Once Upon A Dime

Once Upon A Dime!

Standards:

2.M.7. Find the value of a collection of pennies, nickels, dimes, quarter and dollars.

2.RL.2.1: Ask and answer questions (e.g., who was the story about; why did an event happen; where did the story happen) to demonstrate understanding of main idea and key details in a text.

Objective:

Student will be able to use resources to answer questions about the text. Students will develop and understanding of how to make a dollar using coins. Students will understanding the basis of spending money.

Description:

1. Students will begin the lesson by reading the book Once Upon a Dime.
2. Students will complete the three activities on the bulletin board.
         -Reading comprehension questions: using the dry erase markers provided answer the three comprehension questions about the story. Answers are provided so students can check their work.
         -Four ways to make a dollar: using different configurations of coins, students will work together to make a dollar.
         -Farmer Worths market: given the amount each item is worth, students will use dollars and coins to come up with that specific amount.

Materials:
Construction Paper (variety of colors), velcro, tape, lamination of (paper money, coins, title), scissors, staples, "Once Upon A Dime", tray for book, dry erase markers, fishing wire, kleenex box,

Book:

Once Upon A Dime
By: Nancy Kelly Allen

Website:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ARNqyQ0CuY

Olivia goes to Venice

Standard:

K.1.1. Use all senses as appropriate to observe, sort and describe objects according to their composition and physical properties, such as size, color and shape. Explain these choices to others and generate questions about the objects.

Objective:

Students will be able to use their five senses as they complete the different activities provided on the board. After reading through the book Olivia goes to Venice, the students will pretend to discover the city of Venice as they use their sight, touch, taste, smell, and hearing just as the main character, Olivia, did in the book.

Activity Description:

1. Read Olivia goes to Venice by Ian Falconer

2. Complete each activity on the board using the five senses:

- Sight: use the binoculars to discover objects along the Grand Canal

- Taste: select one of the mystery flavors from the basket, and make an educated guess of the believed flavor. Check your answer by opening the window of the building.

- Touch: place your hand inside the brick located in the bell tower and make an educated guess of the object you have discovered. Check your answer by looking at the back of the brick.

- Hear: pull the string to hear the bell of the bell tower.

- Smell: scratch the colorful circles, and make an educated guess of the scent that matches the smell. Check your answer by opening the window of the building.

3. For additional learning about the city of Venice, as well as activities that can be done while visiting the city, use the QR Code which will lead you to a website with necessary information.

Materials:

·                     Olivia goes to Venice by Ian Falconer

·                     Colorful Paper

·                     Stapler

·                     Tape

·                     Hot glue gun

·                     Glue stick

·                     Scissors

·                     Markers

·                     Crayons

·                     Cardboard boxes

·                     Paper bags

·                     Olivia (character) cut out

·                     Popsicle stick

·                     Velcro

·                     Charcoal or paint (for background)

·                     Toilet paper rolls (for binoculars)

·                     String

·                     Small bell

·                     Scratch and sniff circles (Jello powder, baking soda, and water)

·                     Tootsie Rolls (or any flavored candy)

·                     Objects for brick (ones that can be identified through touch)

Literature:

Olivia goes to Venice by Ian Falconer