Lilly's Standard-based Bulletin Board

The TDRs put up a standard-based bulletin board this week featuring retellings of Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes. It is a culmination of a first grade unit with a goal of discussing and responding across books by a single author.

Each of the retellings begin with an engaging lead, include a retelling with the beginning, middle and end and conclude with a closing. Some of the retellings also include a connection in the opening or the closing. Below is an example of one of the retellings that is posted with the transcription following each page.

Have you ever got in trouble with your teacher? Well if you have you should read Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes.

Lilly loved school but she especially (loved) her new teacher, Mr. Slinger. One day her grandmother bought a new purse that plays music and (had) three quarters and movie star glasses. Isn't that fun?! When Lilly got to school she wanted to share, but her teacher Mr. Slinger told Lilly, "No!" But she kept showing her friends. Mr. Slinger took away Lilly's stuff!! She was sad. She thought. Then she got very mad. She made a mean note to Mr. Slinger that said, "Big fat mean Mr. Slinger." P.S. - When it was the end of the day Mr. Slinger gave back her stuff.

She said, "I don't want to be a teacher when I grow up" and her teacher said, "I like you." On the way home she found a nice note in her purse from Mr. Slinger. She was sad. Lilly felt she was going to cry. She ran home. She didn't watch her favorite movie. She put herself in time out for 1000 years. She counted a long time. After that Lilly felt better. She wrote a story about Mr. Slinger and her Mom made snacks for Mr. Slinger. When she got to school she said, "I am

really, really, really, really sorry." She gave Mr. Slinger the snacks. Everyone forgave Lilly. Then they danced to the music. Everyone ate the snack.

Did you have a blast reading Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse?

Teacher's Commentary: This student produced a detailed retelling of Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes. He asks the reader if he has ever gotten in trouble with a teacher. In doing so he creates an engaging "hook" that pulls the reader into his retelling. He also asks the reader to make a connection between his own life and the book. The retelling includes a beginning, middle and end. The writer provides a closing or "sign off" with the last sentence. The writer provides punctuation and capitalization to express his feelings and reactions of the characters. Quotation marks are used during appropriate dialogue and his spelling is easy to read. He also spells most high frequency words correctly, again fulfilling an important part of the language use and convention standard. Many of the sentences begin with transition words to indicate the direction of the story.