What is it?

Here are two products that are coming home.  You may be wondering, "What is it?"  Worksheets from the curriculum are fairly straightforward.  The kids are working on blending, beginning sounds, high frequency words, story structure, and summarizing.   The purposes of the products are not so straightforward, but the activities are valuable.  They supplement rather than supplant the curriculum.  

First, there is a poster for lost underwear.  We designed it after a book we read entitled Oh, Where, Oh, Where is My Underwear? by Barney Saltzberg.   The story was mostly about an elephant who has misplaced his underwear.  Here's a link:    http://www.alibris.com/search/books/isbn/9781562826949

Yesterday, while reading the story I pointed to the word "where" printed on the whiteboard as a cue for the kids to repeat it.  Then, after thinking about who, what, when, and where, we created the poster.  Many students were able to easily find the word in the text of the story we read in the anthology today.  Easy-cheesy-piece-of-cake kind of recall.

The second paper I would like to share with you is a venn diagram used to compare two stories we read.  One is from the curriculum.  It is titled Jasper and the Beanstalk by Nick Butterworth:
http://www.amazon.com/Jaspers-Beanstalk-Nick-Butterworth/dp/0340945117/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317181590&sr=8-1   Jasper finds a bean, tries to plant it, and mows right over it.  He digs it up, throws it out, and forgets about it. While Jasper reads a book that looks like Jack and the Beanstalk, we see the plant growing in the background.  Jasper is last seen climbing the beanstalk.

Some of the students were not familiar with the story Jack and the Beanstalk.  To bring more meaning, we read Paul Galdone's version:
http://www.amazon.com/Jack-Beanstalk-Paul-Galdone/dp/0899190855/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1317181953&sr=8-12

We then made a venn diagram to compare the story elements:

The left side of the diagram shows what only happens in the story with Jasper.  The right side shows what only happens in the story with Jack.  The center shows what both stories have in common.

In addition, we briefly related Jasper's story to another story we read called
Cookie's Week:
http://www.amazon.com/Cookies-Week-Cindy-Ward/dp/0698114353/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317182057&sr=1-1
This story follows Cookie through the week just as Jasper is followed through the week.  Both kitties are black and white.

During these supplemental activities,  I could see students making connections and getting excited.  It's a wonderful thing to see.  When these papers come home maybe you can see that enthusiasm when you ask,
"What is it?"