This is my personal connection to the recent threads about reading enjoyment and response to literature with strategies in general. HOpe it is not too far off your mark. I like showing my first grade kids how all the strategies come together through book clubs.The first one we do is actually a fishbowl activity. My little ones sit around a garden table that is filled with cheese and crackers, fruit kabobs, and pastries. I usually invite five or six adults to discuss a book at my book club table. We always set one more place to signify the opinion that may not be touched upon by the group. then the moms begin chatting about a book that the children have previously read. I usually pick one that is a bit controversial. On Friday we did just that with Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. I join in the group but do not monitor. we are sure to videotape.(Beforehand, the class synthesized the story by recording new thinking every few pages as described in Debbie Miller). As the conversation goes on, my kids record notes about eye contact, body language, turn taking in conversation, topics covered and anything else they notice. Nothing is rehearsed and I do not tell moms about considering strategies. On friday, one mom began with whether she thought the book was appropriate for first grade. this lead to a rather interesting conversation among the members.... a grandmother, a high school student, a principal, a business woman, and a stay at home mom. After awhile, the conversation drew upon the illustrations, the message of the book, notes about the author, and how the book did (when they read it as a child) and does now affect the members personally. children are free to take turns sitting in the unoccupied chair if they have something new (key word new) to add to the conversation. For example some comments my kids added were about the size of the illustrations increasing until there were no borders and what he thought that meant.... they also were quick to notice the bear strung up in one early illustration and made a comparison to the boys desire of perhaps stringing up his mother or anyone who did not allow him to be the boss. another kid added that he thought this wasn't the first temper tantrum the kid had ever had as evidenced by the drawing on the wall which labels the kid a wild thing. Of course, each time a child offers an opinion, he or she is free to sample a treat... a big draw for first grade so they don't get lost in the grown up conversation. the grown ups who thought the book was too upsetting for first grade were surprised to hear the kids comments as well as how much they got from the visual image... something they had not paid as much attention to or were opposed to because of appropriateness for youngsters. After the chat, I ask the kids to tell the parents what they noticed. Parents are amazed at the list! Then we talk together about the message in the story and how that message will affect us personally. and decide together whether our next book will be the same author, the same topic, or totally new. Next week, I will play the video and ask kids to label the thinking strategy used at certain spots in the film. this is the ah ha moment of conversation .... where they see how automatically how thinking strategies are used natually when reading and discussing books. I have done this for the past several years and the conversation never goes quite the same but the reaction to the activity has always been well received by parents as well as first graders. I must say it is a lifetime reading memory for me.
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