The simplest would be books organized in a way to provide maximum support for the retelling, I think. So, obviously books with a strong chronology such as Today Is Monday, or that are organized in a memorable way so as to provide cues as we go, such as Chicken Soup with Rice or Chicka Chicka Boom Boom or Roar! a Noisy Counting Book. A bit more sophisticated, thereby providing less direct support, would be books like Q Is for Duck or Tomorrow's Alphabet. Along that same line would be fractured fairy tales because the structure of the original would be a known, therefore a cue, and the "fractured" part would be the part the child would have to retell. The books personally meaningful for a child, who would then have plenty of schema, would of course have more support, therefore books about a day in the life of a rancher would be more supportive to a child in Wyoming, whereas a book about a day in the life of a fisherman might be more supportive to a child in Maine. Books with exquisite language are easier for children to retell than are "simpleton" books. We've all known some surefire books with universal appeal that children "absorb" intact then recreate in amazing detail. For me, one of those books is always Rough-Face Girl. Another is Pink and Say. Knots on a Counting Rope. Familiarity matters. For instance, the first time through Junie B. Jones, a child will not have a particular advantage in retelling...but for Junie B. lovers, each book they read is easier to retell than the previous ones. When it comes to nonfiction, the named structure of the Contents provide great hooks to cue a retelling, such as in Animal Fathers. I understand the argument that summarizing is a higher level skill than is retelling, but I think the answer is more complex than that. Would love to hear more from "both" sides of this discussion, although I think "both" may be more accurately "the many" sides.
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:15:32 -0800> To: > [email protected]> Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] DRA 2 in Sept. for first > graders> > What books would you suggest to use to teach retelling.> Pat K _________________________________________________________________ Helping your favorite cause is as easy as instant messaging. You IM, we give. http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Home/?source=text_hotmail_join _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
