The Gruffalo

Title: The Gruffalo

Julia Donaldson (Author)

Axel Scheffler (Illustrator)

Comprehension Strategies: Visualizing, Inferring

                       

Arts Modalities: Visual Art, Drama

Summary:

A mouse is taking a stroll through the deep, dark wood when along comes a hungry fox, then an owl, and then a snake. The mouse is smart enough to know he would be a tasty treat, so he describes the gruffalo. Visualize the gruffalo: a creature with terrible claws, terrible tusks, terrible jaws, knobbly knees, turned-out toes, and a poisonous wart at the end of its nose. Wait. Could there really be such a thing as a gruffalo?

Materials:

The Gruffalo

chart with picture of gruffalo (covered for beginning of lesson)

paper

crayons or markers
character masks (optional)

Lesson:

Before you begin reading, show your class the spread of pages in the book that shows the setting.

Activate schema by asking questions such as:

“Have you ever been in the deep, dark wood?”

“What animals live in the forest?”

Discuss the words predator and prey.

Show the cover of the book with the picture of the gruffalo covered.

Explain that as you read the first half of the book, the students should listen for clues that help them visualize what a gruffalo might look like. Read aloud until the gruffalo makes his first appearance.

Have the class help you make a chart similar to the one shown that lists the physical characteristics of the gruffalo.

Tell students to pretend that they have been asked to illustrate the book. How would they draw the gruffalo based on the clues given in the text? Provide time for students to draw and then share their illustrations.

For added fun, play the song from the audio recording of the book. (Available at audible.com. Click the image to go to the recording.)

You can also listen to the song with this youtube link:

Now reveal the gruffalo on your chart and have students compare their drawings with Axel Scheffler's gruffalo.

Read the entire book from start to finish!

During another read aloud time, use the illustrations to have the children practice inferring. Show the students the picture of one of the animals as it approaches the mouse (remember that predator/prey relationship!). Compare to the picture of the animal after Mouse describes the gruffalo. What facial expressions change? How do the animals' movements change from showing confidence to fear? Invite the students to practice making these actions.

These masks are a hit when it comes to retelling and dramatizing the story. Of course, you can use them when leading students through a reenactment. To increase the thinking-skill level, ask a student to choose a character mask. Then interview the character to find out what it was thinking at different points in the story. Click the image to download the masks from Early Learning HQ. 

We went out to the "deep, dark wood!"

This wonderful site also contains finger puppets, word cards, posters and more!

Here's another video worth sharing to your young readers and and writers. Julia Donaldson shares her drafts of the book. Then she delights her audience by singing the gruffalo song with Gruffalo himself!

Sometimes I Like to Curl up in a Ball

Title: Sometimes I Like to Curl up in a Ball

Vicki Churchill (Author)

Charles Fuge (Illustrator)

Arts Modality: creative movement

Reading Strategies: inferring, making connections

Summary: Little wombat spends a day doing favorite things--what could they be? Are they your favorites, too? Let's look and see! He especially enjoys walking around and around, and doing a pigeon step till he falls down. Or sticking out his pink tongue--and pulling funny faces (now that can be fun)! And maybe he'll jump just as high as he can, and see how much noise he will make when he lands. But when the day ends and the sun starts to fall...he goes back home to mama and curls into a ball. Good night! (Summary from Sterling Children's Books.)

Materials:

Sometimes I Like to Curl up in a Ball

Lesson:

Do you ever feel like curling up in a ball? Or maybe jumping as high as you can? Either way, you and your little listeners are sure to connect with the feelings of the toddler-like wombat in Sometimes I Like to Curl up in a Ball. 

In this charmingly illustrated book, the wombat and his woodland friends spend the day doing some of their favorite things, such as jumping, walking around, falling down, and just standing still. Along with all the romping and rolling, there's rhyming as well. The simple rhyming phrases are easy for little ones to listen to, repeat, and understand. In much the same way, the simple movements are easy for young movers to watch, mimic, and enjoy.

Begin your story time by simply asking the children, "Have you ever wanted to curl up in a ball?" Go ahead. Let them wrap their arms around their legs and curl up into balls. Next explore the feelings that would make someone want to curl up so small that no one could see him or her, like the combat wants to do in the beginning of the book.

Continue this exploration of emotions with a picture walk through the book. Invite the children to look carefully at the wombat's facial expressions on each spread. Also consider the expressions of his companions. What feelings and situations would make them want to move the different ways they move in the book?

After you've used the illustrations to infer the animal's feelings, invite listeners to connect to the text through movement. Help the children find their own spaces. As you read each rhyming phrase, allow the children to copy the wombat's actions. Help them describe his movements. Where are his arms? Do his legs go in the same direction every time? When is his body up high? When is it down low?

 

As you read, children can:

• Curl up in a ball
• Jump high
• Walk round and round
• Fall down
• Stand still
• Make funny faces
• “Play” in mud
• Run fast
• Curl up in a ball and “sleep”

If you feel like reading another book that connects emotions with movements, try Sometimes I Feel Like a Mouse: A Book about Feelings by Jeanne Modessitt and Robin Spowart. Another good pairing is with Quick as a Cricket by Audrey and Don Wood.

The Little Little Girl with the Big Big Voice

The Little Little Girl with the Big Big Voice

Kristen Balouch (Author & Illustrator)

Comprehension Strategy: Inferring                  

Art Modality: Drama

Summary:

There once was a little, little girl... with a BIG, BIG voice.

One day she went to find someone to play with.

In this vibrantly illustrated picture book, one loud little girl looks for a friend to play with. She searches the jungle high and low for a pal, but her BIG voice scares all the animals away! One by one, an elephant, a snake and a croc quickly retreat away from her booming vocals, until at last she finds the perfect playmate-whose "roar" is even louder than hers! (Summary from Simon & Schuster.)

Materials:

The Little Little Girl with the Big Big Voice

Lesson:

Let me say this loud and clear. “THIS IS A FUN BOOK!” In fact, when I saw this book it screamed, “BUY ME!” This simple story is useful at the beginning of the year when you are teaching appropriate voice volume and you are focusing on classroom management. It also works beautifully if you want to zoom in on inferring. So if your classroom sounds like a jungle, open the book and try this lesson.

Before reading, place a sticky note over the little girl on the cover. Without showing the illustrations, read the beginning of the book in which the little girl attempts to make friends with the elephant, snake, and crocodile. Ask students to make inferences about what might be scaring the animals away. Read the beginning again, this time showing the pictures. Allow students time to continue making inferences. Continue reading, making sure to pause after you read, “But the lion looked at the little girl...” After sharing predictions. continue reading, but pause again after, “And the little girl looked at the lion...” Your students will love the surprise that follows and will join in laughing with the girl and the lion.

Now I just bet that you already have in mind a little, little child from your own class that as a big, big voice. Give that child a chance to use that voice in a dramatic retelling of the story. Invite students to play the roles of the girl, the elephant, the snake, the crocodile and the lion. Prepare the actors by talking about how each of the animals would move and what they were doing in the story. For example, the elephant is blowing bubbles and the snake is swinging. How would the elephant run away? How would the snake escape? As you reread, invite the students to act out the story. Repeat with additional groups of five children.

Want to make sure your voice can be heard? Need to make your little “loud mouth” even louder? Here’s a link for a printable megaphone:

http://books.simonandschuster.com/Little-Little-Girl-with-the-Big-Big-Voice/Kristen-Balouch/9781442408081#graphic_excerpt_carousel

Finally, here’s an analogy map to use with the story. Use it to make a class chart or provide copies so the students can make their own.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxZ0GKEr7Xl_d2JnODVNQWVmN0k/edit?usp=sharing

A Ball For Daisy

Title: A Ball for Daisy

Chris Raschka (Illustrator)

Comprehension Strategies:

Inferring

Making Connections

                       

Art Modalities:

Drama

Storytelling

Summary:

Any child who has ever had a beloved toy break will relate to Daisy's anguish when her favorite ball is destroyed by a bigger dog. In the tradition of his nearly wordless picture book Yo! Yes?, Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka explores in pictures the joy and sadness that having a special toy can bring. Raschka's signature swirling, impressionistic illustrations and his affectionate story will particularly appeal to young dog lovers and teachers and parents who have children dealing with the loss of something special. (Summary from Random House.)

Materials:

A Ball for Daisy

red ball

Lesson:

Here’s a book for the dog days of summer. In fact, here’s a book for any day that has been just plain  “ruff.”

There are a couple of reasons you might want to share this book first with a small group. As you know, wordless picture books can be powerful literacy tools. As students “read” the pictures, allow time for them to create narration. Encourage students to look at the pictures and retell the events to partners. As they retell, help students discover the elements of story and the sequence of events. Another reason to start with a small group is the opportunity for sharing personal connections. You little ones are sure to connect to how Daisy felt about the new toy, the broken toy and the new friendship.

To encourage students to make connections to the events and Daisy’s feelings, find a red ball and gather your group into a circle. Gently toss the ball to a volunteer who is ready to tell about a time that he experienced a loss such as a broken toy. (Older students may be able to make the connection to more significant life losses.) After the student shares his connection, have him toss the ball to another friend in the group.

Try these drama activities to help students infer what Daisy is thinking and how she is feeling throughout the story. Begin by asking each child to pretend she is Daisy. As you show each illustration, have each child say out loud what she (as Daisy) is thinking. Don’t worry about everyone talking at once...simply encourage students to think about the events and carefully study the details in the illustrations to narrate the story from the dog’s point of view.

Older students will enjoy retelling the story with this second drama extension. Put students in groups of four. Each child will play a character (Daisy, Daisy’s owner, the second dog, or the second dog’s owner). Direct the students to act out the story, saying what they think their characters would say in each scene. You might want to guide students in acting out the story with these parts:

Scene 1: Daisy gets the red ball.

Scene 2: Daisy goes to the park with the ball.

Scene 3: The second dog pops the ball.

Scene 4: Daisy misses her ball.

Scene 5: Daisy gets a new ball at the park.

Finally, here are some graphic organizers and writing frames for this story. They were designed to help your youngest readers turn their thinking into writing, but they are useful with older students as well. Just click on the links to download them for free. (If you like these graphic organizers and writing frames, be sure to check out my Smart Charts store on Teachers Pay Teachers or Teachers Notebook.)

Having a ball with this book? Catch this teacher guide provided by Random House:

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/teachers_guides/9780375858611.pdf