ReedALOUD: HELLO HELLO

Clever, Informative, Motivating, Interesting, Captivating

These are a few of the words I would use to describe HELLO HELLO by Brendan Wenzel after reading this story aloud with my first graders. 

HELLO HELLO is a celebration of the interconnectedness on Earth, but it's not just a celebration, it is a call to action to see and hear that which surrounds us. That act of seeing and hearing leads to learning and an understanding of the importance of caring for our planet and the beings that inhabit it.

Brendan Wenzel's mixed media art for this book is wonderfully-engaging and encourages the reader to slow down and explore each spread. Expressions and body language enliven this friendly group of animals.

The back matter includes a note from Brendan Wenzel encouraging readers to keep on learning. This is followed by a listing of the ninety-two animals that appear in the book along with their status - vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered, etc. This back matter proved useful when my students wanted to identify a few of the animals in the story.

Want a sense of how I shared HELLO HELLO with my students and the project it lead to? Read on!

I showed my students the book trailer before I read the book:

I was able to do a case art reveal and it was fun. The students were eager to share the names of all the animals they recognized in the silhouettes on the case.  We took a quick gander at the end papers and then were ready to read. 

Given the enthusiasm for sharing all the animals they recognized (and had some pretty vast knowledge of) on the case, I asked the students to practice their visual literacy skills and see what they noticed, what did they see that the words didn't mention? 

They shared some of common features and similarities that they saw. My students noticed many small and big details within the story, like how the last animal that appears on the far right of the spread is the first animal on the far left of the next spread, thereby reminding readers of the continuous thread of connectedness woven through the book. They also noticed when bird plumage and fish spiky fin rays were the same, or webbed feet, or striped tails.

We finished by going back page by page and talking through the connections. With these ideas in mind, the students went to the PebbleGo Animals Encyclopedia to begin exploring and looking for common features and connections between animals. Here are a few that I heard about just in an initial perusal of the articles:

cardinal and blue jay - they are both birds

hawk and a jaguar - they both hunt

eel and newt - similar tails

parrot fish and parrot - colors and teeth/beak

The students will return this week to gather information on this sheet:

I am excited to see how they continue this thread of interconnectedness started by HELLO HELLO.

What are you waiting for?

Just say...

ReedALOUD: Give Me Back My Book!

It's happened in my library. A student puts down a book to look at something and when he or she returns someone else is reading that book. Generally these moments are handled more calmly than in Give Me Back My Book! by Travis Foster and Ethan Long, but the attachment to the reading material is the same. 

Told in dialogue with plenty of white space, this book places the focus where it should be -- on its main characters and that very special green book. Expressive faces and body language leave no doubt exactly how these two are feeling at any given time in the story. I loved partially acting out the story as I read. How could I not point dramatically down at the pages, make fiendish faces or shake my arms? See for yourself.

In Give Me Back My Book!, Bloo happens upon Redd, who is reading a green book, the green book that Bloo thinks he had been reading. 

Redd, on the other hand, is convinced that this green book is very unique and unlike the one Bloo was reading.

The first and second graders that I read this book with immediately understood the humor of Redd describing his unique book followed by Bloo's response.

This library teacher appreciated the opportunity to talk about using bookmarks.

A bookworm (another great moment of fun with the students) takes advantage of the friend's disagreement and soon these two book lovers are working together to get back that green book.

Students easily understood how these two were feeling. Look at those fiendish expressions above! 

Book lovers become friends and that beloved green book becomes a shared treasure. (Don't worry about that bookworm, things work out for her as well.)

After students shared what they loved about the book, I held it up on my lap and slowly slid the cover off.

Audible gasps were heard along with a sense of wondering if this was THE green book. Very clever, book designers, very clever.

Did my students have a book they loved as much as Bloo and Redd loved their green book?

I think so! The students used the prompt to share an experience from their summer reading: something interesting they learned; someone interesting they met; or, somewhere interesting they traveled.

Give Me Back My Book! is such a fun way to get students talking about the books they love.

Children's Book Week and What's Yours, Mine, and Ours.

We are celebrating books and reading all week because it's Children's Book Week! We are continuing to focus our reading on books that help shape us as empathic people who are creative thinkers.

Yesterday, my kindergarten students and I read Mine! by Jeff Mack. 

One rock built for conquering and two mice friends eager to be the conqueror make for one epic battle...of wits. This nearly-wordless picture book is a seriously fun lesson in manners. To say that I had a blast reading it with my students would be an understatement.

When asked, my kindergarten students clearly understood that the orange mouse was luring the blue mouse off the rock. One student even used the word luring. That was so cool. 

I love this glimpse of the orange mouse. There's something about the bend of head and the outstretched paws that is endearing and shows how determined the orange mouse.

This Cheshire cat grin speaks volumes. With the rock now conquered by the orange mouse, it's time for the blue mouse to cleverly lure the orange mouse down. What better than a present? Everyone loves receiving a present.

Look at the orange mouse's joy and anticipation! 

Look at those legs at a full run. Look at those outstretched arms! Look at that expectant eyes!

Now look at our blue mouse. Almost my favorite illustration. Look at that body language. Look at that wave. Look at that Cheshire cat grin. 

My students were pretty confident that inside that box was not a real present. They were right. My students helped identify the emotions contained in that one expression: anger, sadness, and disappointment.

There was even some great fan art.

This battle of wits and determination continues until an unexpected turn of events remind these two friends, albeit briefly, that friends are more important than things.

The case art in this book is a subtle, or not so subtle, clue about what lies ahead. 

Here's a student's prediction:

What did the students have to say?

I asked my kindergartners to share what they would say instead of "Mine!"

No, it's yours

split it in two

why don't we share that?

no way

let's split it

no thank you

no, it's ours

no, it's ours

I also asked the students to share what they think the mice will find next and have a hard time sharing. Seems like these students already have learned how hard it can be to share friends.

This little book packs a big punch!