A WOLFIE THE BUNNY Thank You Note

My students create a unique thank you note after visiting with Ame Dyckman and hearing her read WOLFIE THE BUNNY. Read about that visit.

WOLFIE THE BUNNY

It's a new wolf baby for the bunny family!

Upon finding a little wolf baby on the door, Mr. and Mrs. Bunny become immediately smitten and adopt him into their family. Dot, once the one and only child, is worried. 

It appears as if Dot is the only one to recognize the danger they are all in. New siblings are always an adjustment, but a new sibling that might want to eat you is something else entirely. Even her friends recognize the situation. For each of Dot's complaints, the parents see only joy in the new member of their family. Their complete adoration of Wolfie sends a reaffirming message about families and love. 

Dot might have continued in her misunderstandings (don't all siblings misunderstand each other at some point?) if not for the fateful trip to the grocer to get more carrots. Sometimes we don't know what we have or how much we love someone until someone else helps us see it.

Ame Dyckman's funny and heartfelt story of sibling relationships is rendered beautifully by Zachariah OHora. A forward looking retro style adds to the universality of the story. When Dot says that Wolfie follows her everywhere, OHora shows an exasperated Dot in the bathroom with company she'd rather not have. 

OHora's depiction of a scowling Dot is one of my favorites in the book. Who knew that bunnies could scowl?

Watch out for bunnies in red hoodies.

My first graders recently had a visit with Ame Dyckman via Skype.  Her enthusiasm is infectious! Hearing Ame read her book was an added bonus to an already wonderful story. 

Beekle Booktrailer

After reading Beekle by Dan Santat, two fifth grade students created this book trailer. 

I love it! I did talk with them about the importance of punctuation.

What would your BEEKLE Look like?

This week's conversation with my students centers around a character trait that I hope my students will bring to our learning community and their learning experiences: Courage. To frame our conversation, I read The Adventures of Beekle, The Unimaginary Friend, written and illustrated by Dan Santat and published by Little Brown.

Just as Beekle does the unimaginable

and finds something magical

so too will we....

As another way to connect with the story, my first graders created images of the imaginary friend that they would like to come find them. Love these...

~~~~~~~~~

About Beekle: "This magical story begins on an island far away where an imaginary friend is born. He patiently waits his turn to be chosen by a real child, but when he is overlooked time and again, he sets off on an incredible journey to the bustling city, where he finally meets his perfect match and-at long last-is given his special name: Beekle. 

Learning about courage from Beekle

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” 

― E.E. Cummings

Today's lesson was the bookend on a conversation about community character traits.  Like all teachers, there is an invisible thread sewing my lessons and the ideas they embody together. The trick is helping the students not only see the thread, but also understand it. This week, I am connecting our first conversation about what we want to be with our second conversation about who we want to be and by realizing what these two things entail: courage.

What we want to be:

Who we want to be:

This week's conversation centers around one character trait that is inherent in all of the others: Courage. What better story than the beautifully written and illustrated, The Adventures of Beekle, The Unimaginary Friend, written and illustrated by Dan Santat and published by Little Brown.

Here's the description from the publisher: "This magical story begins on an island far away where an imaginary friend is born. He patiently waits his turn to be chosen by a real child, but when he is overlooked time and again, he sets off on an incredible journey to the bustling city, where he finally meets his perfect match and-at long last-is given his special name: Beekle. New York Times bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Dan Santat combines classic storytelling with breathtaking art, creating an unforgettable tale about friendship, imagination, and the courage to find one's place in the world."

Just as Beekle tried to find his place in the world, we're working on finding our place in our learning community.

The third grade students that I shared the book with today had no problem identifying with Beekle and his quest to find a friend. Having an imaginary friend is not so far from many of these students reality. 

This image of this spread does not do it justice...I would have a framed copy if I could.

Dan Santat's art is breathtaking - sweeping vistas and shifts in perspective keep the reader journeying onward with Beekle. In this interview, Dan Santat explains how he came to make the book and describes how he created the book. 

My students understood exactly how Beekle felt at this point...

When all seems lost...

And encouraged him to journey forth...

...we should all do the unimaginable.

And rejoiced when his persistence paid off...

because you never know what might happen...

After reading the book, we talked about the trait that allowed Beekle to set off to look for his friend: courage. 

I pointed out that it takes courage to be the people the want to become: thoughtful listeners and curious explorers who are risk takers that make room for all learners. It takes courage to:

~ say what one thinks, feels, or believes
~be risk-takers
~be curious
~be listeners
~be forgiving
~be inclusive

It takes courage to be a community

To connect the conversation back to the one we had after reading My Teacher is a Monster! (No, I am not), we talked about the courage to reach out and connect with another person. I pointed out that I thought that Bobby and Ms. Kirby had shown  tremendous courage moving past their school relationship to find a connection outside of school. Also, as we did with My Teacher is a Monster! (No, I am Not), we can speak the importance seeing things from a different perspective. 


Near the end of the discussion, one of the students asked why courage was not one of the words on the window, I explained that those were words that the students had shared and that no one had mentioned courage. I shared that I had been thinking of courage since before school started and had placed the word in front of them. Before school started, I typed up, laminated, and hung up this poem by Naomi Shihab Nye.

Courage
To be let in,
A word must slide and sneak and spin
into the tunnel of the ear.
What's to fear?
Everything.

A word must travel through 
a tongue and teeth and wide air
to get there.
A word has tough skin.

But a word is brave.

We read the poem silently and then aloud.  We rounded out our discussion of community character traits by talking about courage and the importance of both sharing what you believe and hearing what others believe.  I hope that my students hold onto the character traits that our community values, but the one that I hope drives our learning is courage. 

So, there you have it, two books, My Teacher is a Monster! (No, I Am Not)  and The Adventures of Beekle, The Unimaginary Friend, that encourage great thinking. Think of them like bookends - two great books that support the same important central conversation. 

I think it is going to be a great year.

~~~~~~

Note: Many students had not noticed the poem or taken in its meaning until we shared it together, an important reminder that for students to take ownership of what is written and hung on our walls, they need time to take it in and think about it.

Thinking about perspective with My Teacher is a Monster! (No, I am Not)

How do you want others to see you?

To help frame this discussion, we read, My Teacher is a Monster! (No, I am Not) by Peter Brown.

I really like this book. I am drawn to Peter Brown's storytelling and illustration style and this one does not disappoint. I wrote about the book here.

My Teacher is a Monster! (No, I am not.) is a book that lends itself to many discussions. After reading it to 22 classrooms last week, I can tell you a few things:

1. This book appeals to students in grades 1-5.

2. The page where Ms. Kirby thanks Bobby for saving her hat received the same reaction  - laughter and chortles - demonstrating that the students understood that she had broken from her traditional response.

3. The "AHA!" moment never gets old, "Ms. Kirby has changed!

4. The students were eager to discuss and understand the transformation of Ms. Kirby. (The older students understood the perception aspect, but for some of the younger students, we worked our way around to perceptions. With the first graders, I heard creative thinking, such as: "I think she drank monster juice", "Maybe she turns into a monster when she gets mad", and "Maybe she's his mother." (hmmm...this last one got me thinking!)

5. Not all students understood that Bobby is short for Robert.

6. Those that knew that Bobby was short for Robert, completely understood the super subtle way that Peter Brown helped the reader see that Ms. Kirby's perception of Bobby had changed.

7. That final scene on the park bench when both Bobby and Ms. Kirby's perceptions have changed is a magical moment - they really see each other.

8. The fact that the shift in perspective for both Ms. Kirby and Peter takes place slowly (relatively) is an important message for students. Change takes time. Each year the students come together in a new grouping, we talked about how perceptions should shift and grow as they do).

8. The ending is another important message - no one is perfect, but if we allow our perceptions to change and grow, we can understand each other better.

It's is difficult to read, but we started the week with these words on the window: We want others to see us as...

After reading and discussing the book, I connected the story back to our original question, "How do you want others to see you?" I modeled the idea with a student and then encouraged all the students to think about how they would want a learning partner to perceive them and what they would want others who observed them working to see. The students contributed their ideas all week and I would add them each night. These are just a few of their words:

with their ideas and materials!

We all have strengths and challenges. 

There is room at our tables for all learners.

Here are some of the words I am writing out this evening: 

understanding

caring

fun

loyal

reliable

mindful

smart

brave

clever

supportive

artistic

sympathetic

(drat, I left the other words at work and will add those tomorrow)

If I were to add a word, I would add: courageous. I hope that students will have the courage to share, try, and create.

These words will stay on the window reminding us to think about how we want others in our learning community to see us. No one can embody these traits all the time or every day, but being mindful of them will help keep our learning community one that is a safe for all learners and productive for all learners.