Friday, February 27, 2009

Beginning Kevin Henkes Author Study 2009

First grade teachers have begun their Kevin Henkes Author Study. This is an author study about one of our favorite writers and some of our favorite books. The purpose of the reading lessons are to teach the students to discuss books and to discuss across books. The writing goal is to produce a response to literature piece for the end-of-the-year portfolio. Students first learn to write a connection with a beginning and ending and finally learn to write a complete retelling with a lead and closing using a rubric to meet the response to literature standard.

Below is one of the early responses that includes a test-to-text connection coparing characters with an engaging beginning and a closing. As the unit continues, I will post work from several of the bulletin boards that just went up and final products.

(Lead - Connection - Closing)
One of my favorite stories is Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes. It also reminds me of Owen. I have a T-T (text-to-text) connection about when Wemberly and Owen had a special blanket or stuffed animal when they were scared or worried. Owen was worried when his parents wanted to take his blanket and get a new big boy toy, but he loved his blanket. He was going kindergarten, so his mom made a handkerchief for Owen. Now Wemberly, she worried about the tree falling on her house, if there was a snake in the radiators. She worries about if she's the only one who had a spot on her face. Those books Owen and Wemberly are my favorite books out of Kevin Henkes books!

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