Inspired by HELLO HELLO, these first graders found connections in these animals...

Last week, my first graders and I read HELLO HELLO by Brendan Wenzel. They loved this book! You can read about that experience here.

This week, inspired by HELLO HELLO, they found two animals with something in common. They used the PebbleGo Encyclopedia to find the animals and their features. I love their thinking. These first graders and seeing and listening.

Have a look:

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...

They All Saw a Cat inspires big thinking about perspectives

This week, this students and I have been reading They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel. You can read about the experience on this post: ReedALOUD: They All Saw a Cat.  On this post, you will find examples of the thinking the book inspired in the students. 

There is now a bulletin board outside the library showing second through fifth grade students' work with perspective taking: how they see themselves as learners and how they want others to see them as learning partners. After having a conversation, the first graders practiced drawing cats from an emotional/relationship or proximity perspective.

I connected They All Saw a Cat and this type of perspective taking to our work around our library rules, and after exploring the many amazing things about the book, I told the students that in order to take care of ourselves, our first school rule, they had to know themselves as learners... the reflection parts. I gave examples for how I see myself: enthusiastic, interested, creative. I added that in order to take care of others, they had to think about how others see them as members of our learning community. I then gave these examples for myself: flexible, curious, hardworking. For the younger students I play acted partners and thought bubbles. (I did something similar with Peter Brown's My Teacher is a Monster (No, I am Not) two years ago.)

This is our almost complete bulletin board. The first graders created the cat borders, like the one on the bottom and I have one more to hang up.

Fourth and Fifth Grade

I created a window and a mirror hoping to further encourage introspection and give the students a more tangible prompt.

Third Grade

I drew a cat and a pond, mirroring (no pun intended) the final pages of the book, hoping to help them better separate the type of perspective.

Second Grade

The second grade students shared a word that they hopes would be in a projects partners thought bubble when thinking about them as a learning partner. (The thought bubble is important because we always use a poker face when hearing partners and groups.)

They also drew cats from close up and far away (proximity perspectives) as well as tried to show how they feel about cats (emotive relationship/perspective).

First Grade

The first graders had a conversation, joined Emily Arrow in a sin-along song of the book, and drew a cat border for the bulletin board.