The Miraculous Journey of Edward Toulane-Velveteen Rabbit Reading Comprehension

Are you ready bunnies, read-alouds, and reading comprehension?  Then read on to see how I incorporate them in my The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane/Velveteen Rabbit Packet!

I love, love, love Kate DiCamillo!  One of my favorite books by her is The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Upper elementary students love this book just as much as I do.  In case you're not familiar with the book, it's a fantasy book about a stuffed rabbit that becomes lost at sea and journeys around trying to find his way home.  It's a great book to talk about perseverance and the fantasy genre. I always like to read this book just before spring break because it ties in nicely with the season. 

Another of my favorite rabbit books: The Velveteen Rabbit. While these two books have completely different plots, they are similar in many ways. They both are of the fantasy genre, have a rabbit as the main character, and involve the loss of a favorite toy.

I like to read Edward Tulane as a class, and then split into pairs/small groups to read The Velveteen Rabbit.  

I created a  comprehension packet  for use with the books that incorporates the following skills/subjects:  

~Compare and contrast 
~Science (habitats/ecosystems) 
~Research (online and print resources) 
~Writing (conventions/editing/adjectives/creating mental images) 
~Comparing fiction/fantasy to nonfiction texts 
~Making inferences  


Do you love these books or similar titles?  I'd love to hear about your favorite rabbit books!

Author Study/Genre of the Month: Jacqueline Woodson

In the past couple of years, I have started to do a "genre of the month" during reading class.  This is loosely based off of The Book Whisperer.  By the way, it is a fantastic and quick read that you won't regret buying.  I highly recommend it!

February's author is Jacqueline Woodson.  The genre of the month is Poetry.  I thought it was a good genre, considering April is National Poetry Month.

As with the other months, I put out a bunch of his books to be displayed for the entire month and I choose one to read aloud. Woodson doesn't often using the traditional rhyming patterns, but she does use rhythm in her books.  It mimics a conversation or monologue, especially in Locomotion, which I read aloud.  I love discussing how this is still a form of poetry, even though it doesn't sound like what we're used to thinking of when we think of poetry (heavy rhyming).

Some other greats:
The Other Side
Show Way
Peace, Locomotion

I also have websites available for students to research Woodson  and find more books that they want to add to their "To Read" lists.  Harper Collins Publishers has this website called the Author Tracker and Reading Rockets has many more authors on this site.

 

Do you have a genre of the month or an author study?  I'd love to hear what you do with yours!

Author Study/Genre of the Month: Kate DiCamillo

In the past couple of years, I have started to do a "genre of the month" during reading class.  This is loosely based off of The Book Whisperer.  By the way, it is a fantastic and quick read that you won't regret buying.  I highly recommend it!

February's author is Kate DiCamillo.  The genre of the month is Fantasy, and DiCamillo nails it with the vivid mental pictures she creates. 

As with the other months, I put out a bunch of his books to be displayed for the entire month and I choose one to read aloud.  For DiCamillo, I like to read aloud The Tale of Despereaux.  I just love a good underdog story, especially when the underdog is unshakably upbeat no matter when negativity is thrown at him!  This is also another book that has a super cute movie in case you want to do a little comparing and contrasting between the book and the movie.

I really love this author!  Some of my other favs:
Because of Winn-Dixie
Any of the Mercy Watson series
The Tiger Rising

I also have websites available for students to research Kate DiCamillo  and find more books that they want to add to their "To Read" lists.  Harper Collins Publishers has this website called the Author Tracker and Reading Rockets has many more authors on this site.

 

Do you have a genre of the month or an author study?  I'd love to hear what you do with yours!

Author Study/Genre of the Month: Deborah Wiles

In the past couple of years, I have started to do a "genre of the month" during reading class.  This is loosely based off of The Book Whisperer.  By the way, it is a fantastic and quick read that you won't regret buying.  I highly recommend it!

February's author is Deborah Wiles.  The genre of the month is Historical Fiction, and Wiles has written several books about the 50s/60s that are kid-friendly.  I got to meet Wiles at a children's book conference a few years ago.  She's knowledgeable and friendly, and it comes through in her books.

As with the other months, I put out a bunch of his books to be displayed for the entire month and I choose one to read aloud.  For Wiles, I like to read aloud Freedom Summer.  This is a shorter picture book, but it's great for digging deeper into the integration issues of the 50s/60s.

 

I also have websites available for students to research Deborah Wiles  and find more books that they want to add to their "To Read" lists.  Harper Collins Publishers has this website called the Author Tracker and Reading Rockets has many more authors on this site.

 

Do you have a genre of the month or an author study?  I'd love to hear what you do with yours!

Author Study/Genre of the Month: Bruce Coville

In the past couple of years, I have started to do a "genre of the month" during reading class.  This is loosely based off of The Book Whisperer.  By the way, it is a fantastic and quick read that you won't regret buying.  I highly recommend it!

November's author is Bruce Coville.  The genre of the month is Science Fiction/Supernatural, and Coville is great at writing both.

As with the other months, I put out a bunch of his books to be displayed for the entire month and I choose one to read aloud.  For Coville, I like to read aloud Aliens Ate My Homework.  In 4th grade, it's hard to find Science Fiction that isn't FAR above that reading level.  Coville does this genre proud and adds in some humor for good measure, which is always a plus.

He also writes the "My Teacher" series.  The first book is below:

I also have websites available for students to research Bruce Coville  and find more books that they want to add to their "To Read" lists.  Harper Collins Publishers has this website called the Author Tracker and Reading Rockets has many more authors on this site.

 

Do you have a genre of the month or an author study?  I'd love to hear what you do with yours!

Compare and Contrast Genres Organizer

I mentioned in an earlier post that I like to start my year talking about genres, particularly realistic fiction.  Andrew Clements is my personal choice for an author that makes realistic fiction fun.  Frindle is quite possibly my favorite book of his, but it's such a tough choice!

After talking about genres and reading a bit of Frindle, we're ready to start applying our knowledge to our nightly reading choices.  I assign this organizer on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

I fill out this part of the organizer as an example and we discuss as a class and during small reading groups with our various reading choices.

The next part is what they complete on their own at home on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

You can pick up a free copy by clicking here.

Do you have any graphic organizers you like to use for genre study?

Author Study/Genre of the Month: Sharon Draper

In the past couple of years, I have started to do a "genre of the month" during reading class.  This is loosely based off of The Book Whisperer.  By the way, it is a fantastic and quick read that you won't regret buying.  I highly recommend it!

October's author is Sharon Draper.  I met this author at a children's book conference a few years ago.  She is funny and she's a former teacher, so she knows how to write high-interest books!

As with the other months, I put out a bunch of his books to be displayed for the entire month and I choose one to read aloud.  For Sharon Draper, I like to read aloud any of her "Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs" series books.  I think it was later renamed "The Clubhouse Mysteries" series.  This series is about a group of friends that solve mysteries together.  Since October is sort of a mysterious month, this genre seems perfect!  All the books are good for reading aloud, but The Buried Bones Mystery is a pretty good start.

 

 

Draper also has a "Sassy" series that may appeal more to female students.  The first book is below.

 

 

 

I also have websites available for students to research Sharon Draper  and find more books that they want to add to their "To Read" lists.  Harper Collins Publishers has this website called the Author Tracker and Reading Rockets has many more authors on this site.

 

Do you have a genre of the month or an author study?  I'd love to hear what you do with yours!

Author/Genre of the Month: Jacqueline Davies

In the past couple of years, I have started to do a "genre of the month" during reading class.  This is loosely based off of The Book Whisperer.  By the way, it is a fantastic and quick read that you won't regret buying.  I highly recommend it!

September's author is Jacqueline Davies.  This is a continuation of the Realistic Fiction genre from August because I really want kids to sink their teeth into this genre.  Davies is still adding to "The Lemonade War" series, which is humorous and students can totally relate to it.  Also, I love to get kids hooked on series because if they like the first book, they will most likely read through the entire series.

As with the other months, I put out a bunch of his books to be displayed for the entire month and I choose one to read aloud.  For Jacqueline Davies, I like to read aloud the first book of the series, The Lemonade War.  This is a book about the (sometimes unfriendly) competition between brother and sister over who will make more money at their lemonade stands that summer.

Other books in the Lemonade series:
The Lemonade Crime (second book)
The Bell Bandit (third book)
The Candy Smash (fourth book)

I also have websites available for students to research Jacqueline Davies and find more books that they want to add to their "To Read" lists.  Harper Collins Publishers has this website called the Author Tracker and Reading Rockets has many more authors on this site.

 

Do you have a genre of the month or an author study?  I'd love to hear what you do with yours!

Author Study/Genre of the Month: Beverly Cleary

In the past couple of years, I have started to do a "genre of the month" during reading class.  This is loosely based off of The Book Whisperer.  By the way, it is a fantastic and quick read that you won't regret buying.  I highly recommend it!

December's author is Beverly Cleary.  I like to keep things light in December, so this month's genre is humor and fantasy. 

As with the other months, I put out a bunch of his books to be displayed for the entire month and I choose one to read aloud.  For Cleary, I like to read aloud Beezus and Ramona.  The movie that came out a few years ago is super cute and that opens things up for some compare and contrast between the book and the movie.

If you don't think your class will go for this book, any of the "Ralph Mouse" books are always a hit.  There's also some older movies for this series as well.

I also have websites available for students to research Beverly Cleary  and find more books that they want to add to their "To Read" lists.  Harper Collins Publishers has this website called the Author Tracker and Reading Rockets has many more authors on this site.

 

Do you have a genre of the month or an author study?  I'd love to hear what you do with yours!

Genre/Author of the Month: Andrew Clements

In the past couple of years, I have started to do a "genre of the month" during reading class.  This is loosely based off of The Book Whisperer.  By the way, it is a fantastic and quick read that you won't regret buying.  I highly recommend it!

August's genre of the month is Realistic Fiction.  I like to start with this because most students can really relate to this genre.  It also allows me to start with one of my favorite authors:  Andrew Clements.

I put out a bunch of his books to be displayed for the entire month and I choose one to read aloud.  To be honest, the read-aloud is ALWAYS Frindle.  This book is so much fun to read because everybody loves a book about student vs. teacher, especially when the student wins his share of the battles. 

 

 

If you would like to include Andrew Clements's books in your classroom, here are some more of my favorites:

No Talking

The Last Holiday Concert

We the Children: Keepers of the School (This one is more of a mystery)

Things Not Seen (supernatural-science fiction)

 

I also have websites available for students to research Andrew Clements and find more books that they want to add to their "To Read" lists.  Harper Collins Publishers has this website called the Author Tracker and Reading Rockets has many more authors on this site.

 

Do you have a genre of the month or an author study?  I'd love to hear what you do with yours!

Author Study Literacy Center Idea

I'm working on consolidating and upgrading my spelling, writing and reading centers into one more awesome "literacy center."  One of the first projects is an author study.  You can download it for FREE at my TPT store:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Author-Study-of-Multiple-Authors


It includes some of my favorite authors as suggestions to the students.  I tried to pick authors that wrote more than just one genre of book.  For example, I purposefully didn't include Shel Silverstein even though he's one of my favorite authors because he mostly wrote poetry and nothing else.  I also kept out authors that mostly wrote a series as well because those books are too similar.

More Alternatives to the Boring Book Report

Cereal Box Book Report

Here's a link to my Teachers Pay Teachers example that's FREE:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Paper-Bag-Biography-Book-Report
I made it into a sort of rubric.


I got the idea from http://fabulous-fourth.blogspot.com/.  Check out her post to see how she does this: http://fabulous-fourth.blogspot.com/2011/12/cereal-box-book-reports.html.

Alternatives to the Boring Old Book Report

In order to expose students to a variety of book genres,  my grade level has the students read one Accelerated Reader book and one book of a chosen genre.  We have the students take a computerized test on the AR book.  Students do either projects or summaries on the genre book.  Here's the schedule of genres and projects:

Month	Genre	Project
September	Realistic Fiction	Summary
October	Biography or Autobiography	Wanted Poster
November	Mystery	Summary
December	Realistic Fiction	Free Choice Project
January	Fantasy	Summary
February	Poetry	Poetry Book Jacket
March	Historical Fiction	Summary
April	Biography or Autobiography	Timeline
May	Free Choice	No project

Here are the links to my Teachers Pay Teachers store so you can go pick some of these projects up for FREE:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Biography-Wanted-Poster-Book-Report
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Paper-Bag-Biography-Book-Report
I just read a post about using PowerPoint to do book reports, which I plan to use next year.  Go check it out for yourself:  http://atimetoshareandcreate.blogspot.com/2011/12/book-reportthe-powerpoint-way.html