Writing Territories: 3 Bear Books

Writing territories are topics each of us knows well. These topics we know well or enjoy learning more about. One writing territory I enjoy is baseball. I have read many picture books on the topic: narrative- first person, second person, third person, informational, historical fiction, biographies, ABC book, 101 Reasons, specific professional team. One topic; many forms of writing.

Kids need to see they can use their same topic in many writing forms. Comparing books is a great way to show children how they can explore writing techniques.

Bear and Duck by Katy Hudson is a fictional story about a bear who tries being a duck. An unlikely friendship forms.

Savorings for Bear and Duck:

• Power of 3
• Sequential steps
• How To
• Hyphenated words
• Encouragement
• Friendship

Bear Has a Story to Tell by Philip C. Stead is about a bear who wants to share his story but helps his friends get ready for winter. Spring comes. Bear does random acts of kindness for his friends.

Savorings for Bear Has a Story to Tell:

• Story elements – great as a mentor text
• Sesnory description
• Love of Story
• Hibernation
• Fast-forward Time
• Acts of Kindness
• Friendship

A Beginner’s Guide to Bear Spotting by Michelle Robinson presents a different approach to bears. A little boy is on adventure to find bears with the reader speaking to him in second-person narrative. Love the voice in this book! Enjoy!

Savorings for A Beginner’s Guide to Bear Spotting:

• Field Notes/ Writer’s notebook
• Reader talks to the character
• Second Person Narrative
• Compare/ Contrast
• Voice
• Humorous

 

Never Smile at a Monkey

Steve Jenkins warns his readers about the dangers of some animals in a kid-friendly fashion in Never Smile at a Monkey. Each page shares one of eighteen different creatures’ harmful characteristics. Written in a repeating structure, NEVER begins the informative paragraph using alliteration in the subsection titles. At the end of the book, more information is shared regarding each creature.

Introduce the book with this book trailer.

Jessica Ivy shares how to use the book with close reading techniques (level O). She shares her reproducible resources on Teachers Pay Teachers for free.

Savorings for Never Smile at a Monkey:

• Alliteration
• Descriptive
• Commands – Look out!
• Intertwines physic qualities with emotional characteristics – “Sharp hooves, long horns, and an extremely nasty temper”
• Dependent Clauses
• Power of 3

The Blobfish Book

Jessica Olien (@jessicaolien) created a hybrid text in The Blobfish Book. Students are introduced to the creatures of each ocean zone. Facts are shared with real photos of the animal creatures. Blobfish adds his first-person commentary on each page with speech bubbles. The humorous style will hook your kids into learning more about the ocean.

When the text shares that the Blobfish was named the ugliest animal in the universe, Blobfish has a melt down. The other creatures, his friends, rally around him to uplift his spirits.

This book trailer includes an explanation of the different ocean zones.

This kid science video explains why the Blobfish is called the ugliest animal. Also, check out the book Pink is for Blobfish.

Savorings for The Blobfish Book:

• Hybrid text
• Persuasive
• Speech bubbles
• Personification
• Encouraging others

What Do You Do With a Problem?

Problems. They arise when you least expect it. Each one of us handles problems in different ways. Children are learning to handle problems, to see another person’s point of view or to face a fear perhaps. This book, What Do You Do With a Problem?, gives us an opportunity to teach children different ways of handling problems. It’s a great reminder for anyone.

“Every problem has an opportunity for something good. You just have to look for it.”

On this link, the first 1:37 seconds is a book trailer. The reader continues to read the book for the duration of the video.  Below is another read-aloud of the book.

The author, Kobi Yamada, gives his thanks to teachers as he reads his book Because I Had a Teacher.

Savorings for What Do You Do With a Problem?:

• Magic of 3
• Character thinking
• Perspective
• Repeating phrase
• Building scenes
• Face Challenges – “And the more I avoided my problem, the more I saw it everywhere.”

Ellie

Everyday we have opportunities to brighten the lives of others.

On my first reading of Ellie by Mike Wu, the story line seemed to be a simple story. The setting and characters are set with a zoomed-in lens with white background. Ellie’s eyes capture your heart and you are drawn in to her emotion. It was the scene of Ellie first trying her painting, giving it her first try after Walt had modeled the basics, that I made a connection. Ellie explored her talent and surprised her “teacher” with the unexpected. Ellie’s talent shined because Walt: 1) celebrated her accomplishment; 2) brought her the needed tools to thrive; and 3) honored her contribution.

We are like Walt. At the moment Ellie had self-doubt, he encouraged and supported. And like Walt, we equip our students with tools to create, explore, and flourish. We have the power to propel our students forward to paint their masterpieces while we celebrate alongside.

Show this book trailer to your students to introduce the book.

Click this link to hear the video online. The story pace allows the children time to admire the illustrations. This link would be a wonderful eLearning book to share with your students. You could have them write a response to the book sharing about what they are good at, a time they helped someone, or maybe a special trip to the zoo. You can then discuss the deeper meaning of the book with your class.

Savorings for Ellie:

• Introduction to Story Elements
• Internal Conflict
• Repeating phrase -“If only…”
• Making a Difference
• Teamwork

Spike: the Ugliest Dog in the Universe

A dog shares his story of being branded with a label, left abandoned and then rescued by a boy, who needs someone too. The boy tries to persuade his mom to let the dog stay.

Debra Frasier shares her story behind, Spike: the Ugliest Dog in the Universe, as the author and illustrator. She then invites you to write a story alongside you. (Teachers: scroll down and find several activities linked to this book.)

Savorings for Spike: the Ugliest Dog in the Universe:

• Point of View – dog tells the story
• Synonyms
• Imperative Sentences
• Persuasion – the boy and the dog both try to persuade Mom to let him stay
• End of the Book – Instructional Essay
• Acceptance – looking beyond the outward appearance
• Illustrations – created with 129 parts of jeans as the outline frame

What About Moose?

Fox is ready to build a tree house with her friends: Skunk, Bear, Frog, and Porcupine. All of a sudden, Moose arrives on the scene and he begins to shout orders. Teamwork seems to go by the wayside as Moose disrupts the groups’ plans.

“But what about you, Moose?” Fox asked with a glare. “You’re tromping about but not doing your share.”

View the book trailer with the class and predict what may happen. As a class talk about how this story compares with group work in class. You could possibly create guidelines for teamwork on projects.

View the book being read online. On Corey Rosen Schwartz‘s website, you will find a curriculum guide for activities in all content areas and STEM activity too. For language arts, this book has numerous words ending in -ed (28 different ones).

Savorings for What About Moose?

• Rhyming
• Problem Solving
• Verbs
• Teamwork
• Being in charge
• Conflict Resolution
• Friendship
• Clauses

Never Smile at a Monkey

Steve Jenkins warns his readers about the dangers of some animals in a kid-friendly fashion in Never Smile at a Monkey. Each page shares one of eighteen different creatures’ harmful characteristics. Written in a repeating structure, NEVER begins the informative paragraph using alliteration in the subsection titles. At the end of the book, more information is shared regarding each creature.

Introduce the book with this book trailer.

Jessica Ivy shares how to use the book with close reading techniques (level O). She shares her reproducible resources on Teachers Pay Teachers for free.

Savorings for Never Smile at a Monkey:

• Alliteration
• Descriptive
• Commands – Look out!
• Intertwines physic qualities with emotional characteristics – “Sharp hooves, long horns, and an extremely nasty temper”
• Dependent Clauses
• Power of 3

Madeline Finn and the Library Dog

I’m in love. Lisa Papp, thank you for this delightful, touching book of hope in Madeline Finn and the Library Dog.

As a child, I struggled with reading. The letters came together slowly, and I longed to do well – just once. I have vivid memories of knowing who the star readers were in kindergarten, first grade, second grade, third grade. As a kindergartner, I would hide and whisper in order to not read aloud. By second grade, SRA was my HATE! I never seemed to be able to progress past the ugly color. Reading was not magical.

Madeline Finn doesn’t like to read. You can feel her struggle.

 

“Sometimes the sentences get stuck in my mouth like peanut butter.”

Her teacher supports and encourages. Her mother does too. On Saturday she goes to the library. The librarian brings life to Madeline when she introduces her to Bonnie, a reading dog-buddy. Bonnie never giggles when she makes a mistake. She just listens.

To view the entire book on YouTube, click on this link. The book trailer is below.

Savorings for Madeline Finn and the Library Dog:

• Dedication – “for libraries, where the real magic happens“
• Perserverance
• Magic of 3
• Growth Mindset
• Love of Reading
• Community Building – an opportunity to talk about difficulties in learning – how to support each other
• order on Scholastic Book Clubs

 

Strictly No Elephants

Lisa Mantchev addresses the issue of fitting in, acceptance, to a child’s level of understanding in the book, Strictly No Elephants. It’s Pet Club Day and the boy is excited to share his pet elephant only to be disappointed to not be included. As they walk away, Taeeun Yoo’s illustrations display the disappointment. The neutral colors on the two page wordless spread cause the reader to pause and soak in the character’s dampened feelings. Turning the corner, the boy and pet meet a girl with her pet skunks. Through renewed hope, the two choose to form another club. Along the way, more children join who have different pets.

As a teacher I envision this story will invite a lot of conversation. Topics of differences and acceptance, overcoming rejection and hardship, are a few that will arise. The book invites you to discuss how the class might solve problems that arise in the class. Strictly No Elephants can be used as a touchstone text for restorative circles.

Emily Arrow shares her song about Strictly No Elephants.

Savorings for Strictly No Elephants:

• Theme
• Color highlights
• Cause/ Effect
• Repeating Phrase – “That’s what friends do:…”
• Friendship
• Restorative Practice topic starter