I am feeling like this blog is turning into the Mo Willems blog, BUT really, it isn't.. I am NOT a stalker - really!
But this week we are reading Mo - I am reading Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and then I am reading his newest book, Naked Mole Rat gets Dressed. The kids love these books and I love reading them (and I have the coolest voices for both books) but I also love how I can relate both of these books to non-fiction selections. I read both of Mo's books, then we talk about how they are fiction and how we knew (the pigeon talks, the naked mole rats wear clothes etc...) and then I introduce non-fiction books about birds (I don't have a book just about pigeons) and a book about naked mole rats - which is always a hit because these things are UGLY - and of course the boys think they are great!
To finish up the story time I am having the kindergartners draw a pigeon and the older kids (I do a lot of story times with 1st & 2nd grade) are designing clothes for Wilber, the naked mole rat, to wear. You can get the coloring pages for the naked mole rat and a how to draw a pigeon guide on Mo's website under grownup stuff.
Of course, I will take a few of my students creations and send them in to Mo - he loves fan mail you know!
4 comments:
Oh, both Mole Rat books look cute. I'll have to look for them at the library (I'm in a 12-step program to get me over my amazon-ordering addiction :)
I love pairing non-fiction with fiction. Just today I paired Chester's Way by Kevin Henkes with a non fiction book about small pet mammals. (I didn't have a book just about mice!) I used that opportunity to show the first graders where the pet books lived on the non fiction shelves. I love the idea of having them respond with drawings. Do your children check out book at your library time? I never seen to fit everything in my 30 minutes with my K and 1st.
Amy, the answer is sometimes - my K studnets have a scheduled storytime every other week so they usually check out, my 1st & 2nd graders usually do not check out but come back later in small groups to check out. The teachers sign up to come in for story time (1st & 2nd grade) so I don't usually see all of them. I do my story times in two week cycles so I can try and get everyone in - my school is HUGE (1100 students)
Let me warn you - first you're loving his books, then you're going to his signings, and next thing you know you're stalking him with a camera at a book festival.
Not that I'd know or anything. ;^)
Great Mo post.
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