Learning About Spring with Children's Literature

Margaret A. Bryant, Marjorie Keiper, Anne Petit

• Publisher: Zephyr Press
• Year: 2006
• Print ISBN: 9781569762066
• eBook ISBN: 9781613746103
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Curricula

Taking a thematic approach to learning that employs seeing, hearing, reading, and writing, these books outline three four-week, cross-curricular units that develop the competencies children need to become fluent, independent readers and writers. While each unit focuses primarily on language—phonic skills, structural analysis, punctuation, capitalization, poetry, and comprehension—they also include math, science, social studies, music, art, and even mini-lessons in French for cross-cultural appreciation. Understanding that student ability levels in younger grades can vary widely, lesson plans are keyed to three types of learners: emerging, typical, and advanced. The series includes three titles that cover fall, spring, and winter, and each can be used independently or together throughout the school year.

1

MARCH

Theme: March of the Dinosaurs

Young children are fascinated by dinosaurs. This topic captures their imagination and is an excellent vehicle for comparing and contrasting the real with the imaginary, presenting measurement skills, and stimulating creative thinking. The author of the month is Mercer Mayer.

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Week 1: Overview

Instructional Books

There’s a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer
Giant Dinosaurs by Erna Rowe
The Monster Bed by Jeanne and Susan Willis

Related Titles

There’s a Monster under My Bed by James Howe (to be read aloud)

Poems

“The March Wind” Anonymous
“Who Has Seen the Wind?” by Christina Georgina Rossetti
“March” by Maurice Sendak

Objectives

1. Phonetic skills
   Identify and use the combination qu.
2. Punctuation
   Begin to understand the uses of commas.
3. Comprehension
   Begin to understand how to draw conclusions.

Materials

Word cards in the shape of monsters

(Note pads are available in these shapes and are a quick source of paper for this purpose.)

Poetry and Skills Session

DAY 1

March

Step 1:	Introduce the poem and have the children read along.
Step 2:	Relate the poem to the ideas about March weather. The old saying “In like a lion, out like a lamb” is good motivation for discussion. Is March really a windy month? What could cause so much wind? Allow time to share opinions.
Step 3:	Read the poem again. Review the ow and ou sounds. Ask for volunteers to circle these sounds in the poem.
Step 4:	Ask for volunteers to circle consonant blends in the poem.

DAY 2

“Who Has Seen the Wind?”

Step 1:	Reread “March.” Briefly review the discussion about wind.
Step 2:	Introduce “Who Has Seen the Wind?” It is another poem about the winds of March. Read the poem to the class.
Step 3:	Help the children identify the metaphors in the poem. Can trees really “bow down their heads”? Why would a poet choose to say that? Encourage the children to conclude that this is a way of painting a picture with words to create images of the wind.
Step 4:	Reread the poem. Have individuals mark long and short vowels.
Step 5:	Briefly discuss the use of question marks, colons, and apostrophes in the poem.

DAY 3

“The March Wind”

Step 1:	Briefly review the two poems introduced this week, allowing time for further discussion.
Step 2:	Introduce “The March Wind.” Read it with the children several times, encouraging them to enjoy making the sound of the wind.
Step 3:	Ask children to identify the verbs in the poem. Circle the verbs with a blue erasable marker.
Step 4:	Identify the adjectives, circling them with a marker of a contrasting color. This poem is also a useful tool for the review of long and short o.

DAY 4

Use this time to reread the poems presented this week. Encourage the children to feel the movement of the wind in the words of the poems. Allow them to stand and sway like trees as they read “Who Has Seen the Wind?” Encourage them to add their own ideas for feeling the movement.

As an ongoing part of the reteaching process, utilize this session to reinforce skills that have been difficult for the students to master.

DAY 5

Read favorite poems for pleasure.

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Reading Instruction

DAY 1

Biographical sketch of Mercer Mayer

Mr. Mayer was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on December 30, 1943. Because his father was in the navy, the family lived in different places. One of their homes was on a naval base surrounded by forests and swamps. Mr. Mayer spent much of his time catching the small animals that lived there. As an adult, he worked in an advertising agency but quit that job. Determined to use his artistic ability, he went to many publishers before he finally received a commission to illustrate The Gillygoofang for Dial Press. The first book published under his own name was a wordless book, A Boy, a Dog and a Frog (deMontreville & Crawford 1978).

There’s a Nightmare in My Closet was published in 1968 and was a true story. As a child, Mr. Mayer was afraid of the dark and would close the closet door before going to sleep. He believed that the click of the latch would serve as a warning that the “googly monster” was coming out and give him time to run (Commire 1971).

According to Mr. Mayer, he doesn’t draw monsters, he draws “critters.” He believes that his stories are given to him rather than created by him. When commenting on his Frog books, Mr. Mayer says that he does not think of the plots; it is as though he is Frog’s creation!

Mr. Mayer finds inspiration in many places. Ah-Choo had its beginning when he was conducting a workshop for some teachers in New Orleans. He finished the book on the flight home. It was on the same flight that he got the idea for Hiccup (Commire 1977).

There’s a Nightmare in My Closet

Shared Reading

Step 1:	Read the biographical sketch of Mercer Mayer. Relate his fear of the dark and monsters to the personal experiences of children in the class.
Step 2:	Read There’s a Nightmare in My Closet to the class. Encourage discussion about the story, giving special attention to the ending. Are monsters afraid? What would frighten them? Let the children discuss their definitions of monsters.
Step 3:	Relate the theme of monsters to dinosaurs. How are they alike? How are they different?
Step 4:	Lead the discussion to the portrayal of dinosaurs as villains in movies.

Small Group Instruction

Combine all ability levels for this session.

Step 1:	Bring the children to the reading center in small groups to read the story, allowing time for enjoyment of the pictures.
Step 2:	Begin a list of new vocabulary words; each group should contribute. Ask the children to locate these words in the text.
Step 3:	Review phonetic skills as needed.
Step 4:	Write the vocabulary words on cards that are cut in a “monster” shape.

DAY 2

There’s a Nightmare in My Closet

Shared Reading

Step 1:	Briefly recap the story. Encourage the students to share what they enjoyed most about the story. Help them focus on the author’s use of his own fears to write a book.
Step 2:	Pass out the vocabulary cards compiled during the previous session. As the story is read, each child should hold up his or her word when it appears on the page.
Step 3:	Briefly outline with the children the parts of the story: the problem, the decision to do something about it, the action taken, and the results. Write this outline on the chalkboard or large chart paper for use during extension activities.

Small Group Instruction

EL: Review the vocabulary with this group. Help them identify words that are causing problems and determine which decoding strategies will unlock the words.

Ask the children to read the story silently. After everyone has completed the story, ask them to choose their favorite page and read it out loud.

TR: Introduce The Monster Bed. Ask for predictions about the content of the story. Record these in a prominent place. Using directed reading strategies, have the children read the story silently. Ask content questions. Note words that are difficult. At the end of the session, write these words on vocabulary cards. Invite individuals to share the decoding strategies they used to read the new words.

Quickly reread the predictions and compare them with the story. Encourage the children to discuss clues on the cover that helped them predict accurately. Identify some events in the story that could not be predicted. Should clues to an entire story be given when designing a cover? What is the purpose of the cover?

AL: Introduce The Monster Bed. Ask for predictions, and record them for ...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• DEDICATION
• Table of Contents
• INTRODUCTION
• 1 - MARCH
• 2 - APRIL
• 3 - MAY