Raising Readers and Writers

Squeals of delight could be heard as my kids discovered Here comes  the big mean dust bunny! sitting on the chalkboard tray yesterday morning.  Cruz begged me to read it just as it was time for him to leave for the ELL teacher.  He only relented when I promised we would read it as soon as he came back.  As we sat down to do our minilesson on nonfiction conventions an hour later, Cruz reminded me of my promise to read the new book.  The table of contents lesson was going to have to wait.  We had to read this book!

The rhyming dust bunnies are back!  Ed,Ted, Ned, and Bob are joined by the Big Mean Dust Bunny this time.  Just as in Rhyming Dust Bunnies, Ed, Ted, and Ned are rhyming away, this time to maybe cheer up the grumpy dust bunny.  He wants to smash them.  Again, as the three of them rhyme, Bob, comes up with words that don’t rhyme.  Right away, my kids wondered if he was warning the others about an upcoming danger…namely the cat.  Well, don’t you know, they were right on.  And the cat?  It’s Big Fat Cat, another familiar Thomas character.

The kids LOVED this book.  Laughter filled the room and their questions, predictions and inferences were bouncing all over!  These 6 year-olds never cease to amaze me.  We added this book to our Jan Thomas basket.  I know it will be well-loved just like the others.

I read Rhyming Dust Bunnies by one of  my favorite authors for first graders, Jan Thomas.  When I read it the first time, many of my kids didn’t know what a dust bunny was.  (I guess their moms keep their houses cleaner than I do!).  They thought they hopped around.  So, I told them that I would find some dust bunnies and bring them to school.  It was one of those things I kept putting off, mainly because I was thinking that maybe it was kind of gross to bring dirt that’s been lying around the house into school.  Well, M. asked me every day if I had brought in any dust bunnies until I finally did yesterday.  You would have thought that I had brought in  a bag full of new toys, they were so excited to see a “real dust bunny.”  I will say that it helped them understand the story better.  They were able to infer why a mystery person would walk around with a broom (they didn’t understand that in the first reading) and many were able to share stories about the dust bunnies at their house (see…authentic connections!).  I was also able to get a good feel for who can rhyme and who needs more support.  The best part came at the end of the story.  Several of the kids shouted out, “Mrs. Johnson, E. has a dust bunny in his pocket!”  Sure enough, he had found it in the corner of our room and had stuffed it in his pocket.  The kids clammored around him to see it and were very envious that he had found it.  I had to laugh when he told me that he was going to take it home to show his mom.  Think she’ll wonder what I’m teaching? 

I know it seems a little gross to bring dust bunnies to school, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do to help students make concrete connections.  I will say that I redeemed myself later in the day when I shared fresh peaches with the kids so they could see what a peach pit was.  It was the first time many of them had ever had a fresh peach.  I guess that’s one of the things I love about first graders.  They are so curious and open to new learning.  It helps me keep my eyes open to find the things I need to make learning more meaningful for them.

You know, Amazon gets me every time when I order a professional book.  If I add “$whatever amount,” to spend $25.00, I can have free shipping.  They’re geniuses!  I just got a new box in the mail with Will Richardson’s book (which I will talk about later…there is so much to think about) and 2 books by popular authors for first graders. (I added these to get to my $25.00 goal; however, I went way over $25.00!)  I know my kids will love these books and I’ll be adding them to the baskets in my room for the beginning of the year.

Scaredy Squirrel was a hit in my room last year and I was happy to see this title.  I thought it would be a great book to start the year off when many of the kids would still be thinking about going to the beach or pool.  Melanie Watt has the wonderful ability to tap into what kids fear (probably some adults too), but she does it in such a fun way.  Scaredy Squirrel wants to go to the beach, but he thinks it’s much safer to just stay at home where everything is familiar.  There aren’t any pirates, or sea monsters or falling  coconuts at his home in the trees.  So, he being the resourceful squirrel that he is,  decides to create his own beach at home.  However, as he lies beneath his flashlight sun, he realizes that he’s missing the most important part…the sound of the ocean.  He knows he has to overcome his fear and trek over to the real beach to get a seashell, so that he can hear the roar of the waves at his “home beach.”  Of course you know that he will face his fear and maybe find out that the beach isn’t so bad after all.

Part of what I love about these books is the variety of illustrations Melanie Watt uses.  She mixes maps, step by step “how to” instructions, labels, and insets within her humorous cartoon drawings.  Kids will see that authors don’t necessarily have to be writing nonfiction to use these traditional nonfiction conventions.  I can imagine that many of my young writers might try some of these techniques in their own writing.

Next, Jan Thomas’ A Birthday for Cow is one that will be added to my Jan Thomas basket.  I discovered her a few years ago and love her simple readable text.  My early readers always feel successful because they can go back and read her books  themselves after we’ve shared it in class.  This book is a fun one because the calendar on the end pages tells the reader that it’s Cow’s birthday.  Pig and Mouse are so excited to make him the best birthday cake ever.  (Right away, I can relate to Pig and Mouse…I’m already thinking about the birthday cake I would make).  However, Duck has other ideas…he thinks Cow would love a turnip!  A turnip?  If he can’t add the turnip to the batter, maybe he could stir the batter with it or just add it to the top instead of candles.  Pig and Mouse are adamant…no turnips!!!  Well, you can guess, Cow is estatic when he sees what his friends have prepared for him and the kids will be rolling on the floor when they see the expressions on the faces of Mouse and Pig after Cow gobbles down the …turnip. 

This seemingly simple book has a lot going on besides the simple words in the text.  The reader knows immediately that Duck is pretty sure  Cow will not want a cake for his birthday just by the look on his face and the way he says, “Cake?”  There is much to infer from the expressions on the characters’ faces, the size of the text, and the variety of punctuation used.  I can see us going back to this book over and over.

One more thing…the turnips.  I can’t let an opportunity go by without trying something new.  Since I have never even tasted a turnip, I am pretty sure that many of my students won’t have either.  I guess I’ll be shopping in the produce department the night before I read this book!