The Golden Rule

Last night I was out-and-about during rush hour.  I was quickly reminded why I do not travel during the five o'clock hour.  Everyone is in a hurry.  When people are in a hurry, I think their worst traits seem to appear.  As I was sitting in traffic observing bad behavior being practiced by adults, I was quickly reminded of one of my favorite picture books: The Golden Rule by Ilene Cooper.  I wish I could have stepped out of my car and shared this book with my fellow drivers.  Sometimes even adults need a reminder about practicing the Golden Rule!

Cooper's book is such a great book to share with children.  It is one of those books that works with kids in kindergarten and kids in high school.  A young boy and his grandfather discuss the meaning and how to practice the Golden Rule.  The grandfather shares many cultures and religions have their own versions of the golden rule.  He shares examples with the young boy.  The boy contemplates what the world would be like if everyone practiced the Rule.

This book is more than a story.  It is a conversation starter.  It really lends itself to talking about how you and your child can incorporate the Golden Rule into your daily lives.  This is a super book for text-to-text connections and text-to-world connections.  If you want your child to learn how to practice the Golden Rule, it is important they are able to connect the story to their life and to the larger context of the world.  This is also a great opportunity to have your child synthesize information.  How does their thinking about the Golden Rule change throughout the story?  You want your child to get the big idea - what is the story trying to teach, but you also want to see how your child's thinking is enhanced throughout the story.  


Some questions and sentence stems to start your conversation:

1.  Read the first page "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" and ask your child:  Have you ever heard that saying before? What do you think it means?


2.  Read to "How do you think that boy or girl is feeling" and ask your child:   How do you think a new child feels at school? How would you feel if you were the new kid at school?


3. Read to "You're getting the idea" and ask your child:  Can you think of a way you can practice the Golden Rule?  or use the sentence stem: My new thinking about the Golden Rule is....


4.  Read to "Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many problems between people.  Between countries"  Ask your child:   Why do you think it is so hard to practice the Golden Rule?


5.  Read to the end of the story.  Talk with your child about what message you think the book is trying to teach.  Use a sentence stem to continue the conversation.  Some examples are:  I used to think_________but now I think  or I think the Golden Rule means ___________and I can implement it by __________.


There are so many great extensions to this story.  You can write your family's own version of the Golden Rule and help each other put it in practice.  You can keep a log of all the times you notice your child doing a specific deed that practices the Golden Rule.  Once a week you can review each child's log and celebrate!

Another GREAT book to share with younger kids about the Golden Rule is Do Unto Otters by Laurie Keller.  It does a great job of teaching the Golden Rule in a very primary way.  It might actually be a good book to start with and use The Golden Rule as a follow-up!

Mirror Mirror

I love it when I find a new book!  Mirror Mirror by Marilyn Singer is mesmerizing!  I could not put it down. The book is composed of poems about fairy tales.  However, they are not your typical poems.  They are reversos.  A reverso is a poem you can read from the top to bottom and from the bottom to the top!  This form of poetry is great for sharing two sides of one story.  When the poem is read from top to bottom the reader learns one side of the story.  When the poem is read from the bottom to the top the reader learns another side of the story. 

The book is like nothing I have read before.  It is truly one-of-a-kind! The pictures are stunning.  This book is going to be a favorite of librarians, teachers, and children!  It has become a favorite of mine.  


In order for your child to understand the poems in this book, it is important they have a working schema (background knowledge) of fairy tales.  So, make sure you and your child have read the original version of each of the fairy tales presented in this book.

Since each of the poems share two sides of a story, this is a great time to talk about point-of-view with your child.  After reading each poem, talk with your child about who might be the narrator.  How does each story differ when told from another point-of-view?

This is such a fun book to share with your child.  You both are going to love it!  It is going to make you think a lot.  Make sure you take the time to synthesize your thinking as you read.  You can do this by just talking with your child about what you are reading.  Pay attention to the punctuation.  How does it change and how does that impact the meaning of the text?

If you and your child get really adventurous, you can try and write your own reversos!  It is more challenging than you might think!

Enjoy!

Pink and Say

Many parents (and teachers too) quit reading aloud to children after second or third grade.  I have never understood why this happens.  I suppose many parents and teachers feel after third grade most kids can read text on their own and no longer need to have it read to them.  However, there are many reasons why reading aloud to older students is important.  First, a child's listening vocabulary is two years ahead of their reading vocabulary.  This means they can understand stories that are too hard for them to read on their own  Second, older children still need help comprehending the text.  Even though they may be able to decode the words on the page, they might not understand what they are reading.  Lastly, older children still need to hear you model fluent reading!

A great book to share with an older child is Patricia Polacco's Pink and Say.  It is a beautifully written and illustrated picture book.  The story takes place during the Civil War and it shares the journey of two Union soldiers --  Sheldon Curtis and Pinkus Aylee.  Sheldon is a fifteen year old wounded soldier who is nursed back to health by Pinkus (also a fiftteen year old soldier).  The story takes the reader on an incredible journey of friendship and love.  It is a rather deep and serious book.  In my opinion it is appropriate for children in grades four and higher.  

I guarantee this story will spark a conversation between you and your child.  You probably will not even need the questions below to help you and your child talk about the story.  Pink and Say is a great book to     apply the reading strategy of asking questions and synthesizing information.

Readers often ask questions about a story to help them make sense of what is happening.  Asking questions is a great way to interact with a story and stay focused.  A great question starter to use when reading with your child is "I wonder..." because it shows your curiosity. It is also good to show when you are confused by starting with the stems "I don't understand..." or "I am confused by..."  The answers you ask might not have answers.  The important thing is the thinking behind the statement.


Synthesizing is one of the toughest strategies because it takes so much thinking. Pink and Say  is a great book to synthesize.  As you read the story stop a few times and talk about how your thinking has changed through the story.  After finishing the story, you can think about what the story means to you.


1.  I wonder who are the marauders and why everyone is afraid of them?  


2.  I don't understand what it means to "jump the broom"


3.  Read to "I had no answer for him, but, God forgive me, I didn't want to ever go back to it!"
Stop and talk about the story so far.  You might start by saying, "I'm beginning to think..."


4.  Read to "That night I dreamt of hummin' birds and green pastures full of sunlight and wildflowers.
Stop and discuss your thinking of the story.  You might start by saying, "Now, I am thinking....."

5. How could the marauders hurt Moe Moe Bay?  She was not even fighting in the war!

6.  I don't understand why their would be trouble for Pink if they saw he had a pair of glasses.

7.  Read to "I held him as he had done for me."
Stop and discuss your thinking of the story.  You might start by saying, "My new thinking is..."


8.  At the end of the story ask "What does this mean to us?"

The above questions are just a guide to start a conversation.  When you are reading with your child stop and talk anytime you wonder about something.  Share anytime something in the story confuses you.  Authentic questions are the best!

Please keep reading to your children!  Books provide opportunities for great conversations!  There are tons of picture books that are appropriate for older children.

What is Comprehension?

Comprehension is simply making meaning of text. Reading is an interactive process between the words on the page and the reader.  Children need to understand what the words and sentences mean in order to make sense of a story. Comprehension is all about thinking and it is the key to reading.

Good readers constantly interact with a text using one of six strategies that aid in understanding.

1. Visualizing: Creating mental images as one reads through the five senses.
2. Using Schema (Background Knowledge): Making connections and retrieving prior knowledge before during and after reading.
3. Inferring: Drawing conclusions, making predictions and forming interpretations by using prior knowledge and information read in the text.
4. Questioning:  Generating questions about text before, during and after reading.
5. Determining Importance: Identifying the theme of a text and distinguishing between important and unimportant information
6. Synthesizing: Continually changing thinking as one reads through the text.

In this blog I will share some of my favorite stories from children's literature.  Along with each story, I will post guiding questions for you to ask your child.  Each story's questions will focus on one or two reading strategies.  Remember, reading with your child is a fun experience.  Do not focus too much on the questions.  They are just meant to help guide a conversation between you and your child!