How does it look to swallow a chick?

Welcome back readers! This week we are going to discuss the reading strategy “visualizing” and share an activity that could be used to teach children to visualize.  With spring in the air we wanted to share a book to get everyone in the spring and Easter sprit! The title of our book is There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick by Lucille Colandro.

In this story there is an old lady and she first swallows a chick, next she swallows some straw to cover the chick, then she swallowed an egg and didn’t get sick. The story continues with the same rhythm as the lady continues to swallow different items. Children would think it was so funny to hear a story about an old lady swallowing non-food items.

A way to use this book to teach children visualizing would be to read the book to the children and do not show them the pictures. Encourage the students to close their eyes and picture what they believe the old lady and the chick look like. After the students have done that, ask them to use their mental pictures to draw their own version of the story. Last, read the story to the children again and show them the pictures. Encourage a class discussion to compare what the children visualized and what the real characters looked like.  

CLICK HERE for a reading of the book.

I Wonder...Did a fish steal that hat?

Welcome back friends! 

"Making Inferences" - which simply means making predictions or reading between the lines.  Play the part of a detective while reading!  Look for clues about the story before you read, make predictions of what is going to happen based on the title or picture on the cover or few couple of pages.  Use evidence from the book, and your background knowledge to ask and answer questions while reading, such as "I wonder what .....?" or "I think....will happen" statements. After reading, review if any of your predictions were validated.

This Is Not My Hat, by Jon Klassen is a wonderfully unique book with a surprise ending!  This Caldecott medal winner is a good book to use to reinforce the idea that pictures can help us make predictions and the text can also help us infer meaning. From the very first page with the statement, "This is not my hat, I stole it"  to the last three wordless pages  where you see the big fish swimming with the hat, will have your students making predictions from the start to the end.

The story is about a small fish swimming along with a tiny hat on his head, readily admits he has stolen it from a HUGE, sleeping, fish!  He never really justifies why he took it, and he swims along thinking no one will ever know he took it.  He hides in tall weeds, where he believes he is safe and that he will be able to keep the hat. Does he get away?  Will he be able to keep the hat?  Why did he take the hat? Who will help the big fish find his hat? Can the big fish find the little fish? Will he care or notice his hat is gone?

 Make your own inferences as you listen to the read aloud:

 

An activity to go along with your read aloud:
Begin by showing the student's a list of words (without showing the book):
big fish
little fish
hat
thief
plants
 
Write down on chart paper their predictions about the plot, setting, or characters from the words about the book.  Next, do a brief picture walk, tell the children to focus on the characters eyes - what can they infer about the characters of the story? What do they notice about their behavior? How does the author use color to convey the tone and mood?  Be sure to show them the last three pages that are wordless -  the ending is left up to the reader to figure out. You can have students debate what they think happens at the end, and give reasons to support their position. Do any of your students think the little fish got away? If he did, what might happen next?
During the reading, have students look for clues to validate their predictions and jot them down on paper.  Finally, after reading, have the students complete the making inferences chart using the clues and evidence from the book, and their background knowledge.

  http://firstgradeadventureinteaching.blogspot.com/2013/02/inferring-in-first-grade-good-book-to.html

We hope by sharing this activity and book with you, it gives you an idea of a fun way of introducing the strategy of making inferences to your class.
 
Send us your comments - we love to hear from you and learn ways you might use this book in your classroom. 
 
Have a great week!