Social Justice

Read Aloud Write Up Format:

Name: Meghan Keefer

Date: 4/1/16

Grade Level: Kindergarten

Book Title and Author: Wangari's Trees of Peace by Jeanette Winter

Indicate whether it is a whole class or small group (list how many): Whole Group (20 Children)

Selection

I chose this book because my children have been talking about cycles and the environment. We haven’t really talked about the negative part of cycles or the impact we have on the world. I thought that choosing this book would help them think about the world around them and help them realize they can make a difference. I really liked how it connected to other things we had been learning and how the children can bring what they know into the story and make connections. I focused on predicting and making connections during this reading.

           

Introduction

I will introduce this book to the children by reminding them of what we have been talking about. “What have we been learning about in Science?” “Right, Cycles, do you remember which cycle Ms. Kasburg talked about yesterday” “Yes, the trees, what do you think happens when we end a cycle?” I will then take their answers. “Readers make sense of the texts they encounter not by staying within the four corners of a text, but by using their background knowledge of the world” I will expect and ask questions of the children that have them draw on their background knowledge (Serafini, 301)I will say “Those are all good ideas, let’s see what happened in this book”.

Text Interactions (During the Reading!)

I will pause on the first page to point out all the trees. I will ask them if it looks like anywhere they know. When she comes back to Africa, I will ask them if any of them think something has changed. Then when she gets put in jail I will ask them what will happen to the trees. I want them to predict what will happen to the trees as the story continues.

Discussion Questions (After the Reading!)

After reading, I will ask the children what we just read. After someone summarizes it, I will ask them what this books has to do with us. I will ask them questions like “What if we had no more trees?”, “Why do we cut down trees?”, “What can you do to make sure we have trees?”.  I will explain to the children that if we cut down all the trees the next generation, won’t have any trees to make the things we need. I want to see if they know that trees help give us oxygen. Wasik says “Relative to other types of prompts, open-ended prompts are uniquely valuable for building language in the classroom.” This was very true in my class and I was so surprised by the language and words the children were using. (Wasik and Hindman, 302)

Conclusion

            At the end of the lesson, I will remind the students that when they read they can make connections to the real world and that books can help influence their decisions. I will remind them that when they read, they should pay attention to what they are reading and see if they could learn anything from it.

Reflection:  Please thoroughly answer ALL questions to get full credit!

The children loved this book and they asked if they could look at it again during free time. The children were really interested and almost everyone had something to say and made connection with the book. I had to set limits on how many people could talk. I was surprised by how much they children knew about the subject and were willing to share. The children were really good at making connections, because at the end the children were able to say how they would make a difference and they could plant trees. If I were doing this again, I would talk more about making connections at the beginning. If this were my classroom I would like to do something like planting trees or having them write letters about to organizations with environmental concern. “When readers use all kind of knowledge to make sense of what the author has to say the transact with it, which implies that the reader brings understanding and ideas to the text to make meaning” (Heinemann ,2). The children were able to bring what they knew to the text and understand more than just the book, but also how it applied to their lives. The children were really passionate about the subject so I wish I could do more with them and continue it or turn it into a unit.

Owocki, G. (2013). Comprehensive: Strategy Instruction for K-3. Portsmouth, NH.

Serafini, F. (2013). Close Readings and Children's Literature. Read Teach The Reading Teacher, 67(4), 299-301.

Wasik, B., & Hindman, A. (2013). Realizing the Promise of open-ended questions. The Reading Teacher, 67(4), 302-310.