Visualization

Visualization

I was out for a walk listening to music when Tiny Tim's "Living in the Sunlight" came on.  I started to picture what the character in the song would look like, a blend of Tiny Tim and Spongebob, and thought, you know what I need to do some visualizing with songs again.  I picture taken a blank sheet of paper and folding in four and having students sketch a character from four different songs in each space.

Other songs that might work

"Kick Push" by Lupe Fiasco

"Hair" from the Hair Soundtrack

"Bad Bad Leroy Brown" by Jim Croce

"Wake Up Song" by Nillson

"We're Going to Be Friends" by the White Stripes

I'm sure there are millions of others so give them a shot and see what your kiddos are inspired to see.

Every Living Thing

Every Living Thing
by Cynthia Rylant

In this beautiful collection of short stories, the longest clocking in at 10 pages, we see a variety of ways that animals can help people. For example, in "Slower Than the Rest," sad and struggling 10 year old Leo bonds with a turtle he finds on the highway.  This relationship brings Leo new found confidence.  Other stories that stand out to me are "Retired," "A Pet," "Spaghetti," "Shells," and "Stray."

Simple Texts for Expanding

Simple Texts For Expanding

I've noticed my fifth graders enjoy listening to simple picture books and then rewriting single pages by adding thought shots, dialogue, and action.  The books provide the main idea and the students then provide the specific details that are missing in the book. 

For instance, after reading No, David by David Shannon, students might choose to describe David's actions, thoughts, and dialogue with his mother as he tries to steal a cookie from the cookie jar.


I've found the following books or series of books are easy to adapt to this type of writing.

No, David and related books by David Shannon

Dinosaur Vs. Bedtime and related books  by Bob Shea

Little Critter series by Mercer Mayer

Diary of a Worm and related books by Doreen Cronin

Cornelius P. Mud, Are You Ready For Bed? and related books by Barney Saltzberg

Good Night, Monkey Boy by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Marshfield Dreams

Marshfield Dreams
by Ralph Fletcher

In Marshfield Dreams, Fletcher describes his early years growing up in a large family in Marshfield. This book a similar feel to Fletcher's Fig Pudding, but this book is a memoir and not a work of fiction.

If you working on personal narrative or memoir with your studtents this book is awesome.  It is filled with stories that demonstrate the keys aspects of the idea trait: exploded moments, precise details, dialogue, and thought shots. It covers every other trait as well, but I'm currently focusing on ideas in my classroom, so that's what I noticed. 

You could choose to read the entire book to your class or just pick and choose a few stories.  The book does blend together as a whole, but the majority of the stories could stand alone also. 

The Woods

The Woods
by Paul Hoppe 

In The Woods, a young boy sets out to find his lost stuffed rabbit before going to bed.  On his quest, he imagines he is in the woods and encounters many scary monsters. To defeat the monsters, he does nice things, and by the end he has his stuffed rabbit and a few other stuffies to snuggle with. 

I see using this book for copycat writing.  Students could follow the organizational structure of searching for a lost item, running into obstacles, and overcoming them.  The obstacles wouldn't need to be monsters, and the solutions wouldn't need to be solved with kindness.  If you assign this copycat write, students  could choose to follow the exact format or invent their own. It could be realistic or fantasy based.  This book could be used a lot of ways. 

Published: 2011

Fig Pudding

Fig Pudding
by Ralph Fletcher


In this work of fictional personal narratives, 11 year old Cliff covers all of the emotions from laughter, tears, shame, and joy.   These stories can be used to teach the ideas trait in writing, especially for expanding details.  Examples of exploded moments, precise details, dialogue, and thought shots are found throughout the book.

Hugs From Pearl

Hugs From Pearl
by Paul Schmid

Pearl is a lovely little porcupine who loves to hug her friends.  Her non-porcupine animal friends don't always love her hugs because Pearl is a porcupine.  Will she ever be able to hug her friends without hurting them?

This book is great for copycat writing.  Students could choose an animal and write about a problem the animal is facing due to one of its physical characteristics.  For example a snail might have trouble hanging out with his faster friends.  Another one might be a dog who can't figure out a way to visit his mouse friends in their mouse hole.

For each story I would ask students to introduce the character and the problem, attempt at least two failed solutions, and finally have a happy resolution. 

This could be done at any time of the year or after an animal research project. 

Published: 2011

Locations: Public library