We’ve had so many snow days this year that it looks like summer is going to be shortened due to make up days. That’s annoying but I’m not here to talk about that. I’m here to discuss what to do with the school age kiddies when at the time you’re still in your pajamas hoping to pour yourself another cup of coffee, they’re saying things like, “We are usually in music now. Right now we are reading stories. We eat lunch now.” (Yes, sometimes I AM still in my pajamas and hoping to pour myself another cup of coffee at lunchtime. Who am I kidding? I’m always hoping to pour myself another cup of coffee.)
So how about a little reading workshop activity? I got the idea because 1)I used to be a teacher and I’m brilliant at finding busy work for kids and 2)Hadley gets a newsletter every so often with a list of concepts the teachers are working on at her school. I thought I’d take one of those concepts and try it out on the Hs. Folks, this is a very easy activity. All you need is books, paper, and pencils. But listen, you have to use the words “reading workshop” otherwise the kids at home will not give a hoot. “Reading” and “workshop” sound important, official, even. So before you finish this post, tell your kids you’re preparing for a “reading workshop” for them and they will sit on the couch, hands folded, and patiently wait for the magic that is about to happen.
In first grade, teachers are working on having kids identify sensory words. That is, words that appeal to the senses: sticky, bumpy, salty, etc. So I picked out Owl Moon by Jane Yolen to read to the kids because the language is gorgeous and also because the setting went well with the predicament we were in. No, we weren’t preparing to go owl watching (do you even know me at all?!?!). I’m referring to all the snow days we’ve had.
Before we read, we talked about sensory words and the girls and I made a list: thirsty, whisper, shout, crunch, sip, etc. Then, I told them that as we read, they are to look out for words they think they can hear, or touch, feel, you get the idea. I wrote what they came up with and put them on our very sad looking bulletin board.
The girls found some great words, thanks to Ms Yolen who can tell a tale, friends. I recommend you find yourself some Yolen to read. You won’t be disappointed. Hadley and Harper liked: shine, whistle, faded, quiet, stained, shadows, and song.
After I read a story, the girls took a stack of books and did a hunt for sensory words themselves. For Hadley, I took five little notebooks and wrote, “touch, smell, taste, see, and hear” on them. Like this:
For Harper, since she can’t read yet, I gave her a stack of sticky notes and told her to look at the pictures in her books and to mark where she thought she could tell someone was feeling something, or smelling something, or listening to something, etc.
Here’s Mudge the dog, and Harper said that he looks like he feels scared in the picture. She knows this story and remembers that he is shivering in this scene because he is, in fact, scared. (Also, if you’re looking for Yolen books, you may as well look for Cynthia Rylant books as well. She’s top notch.)
Here’s Danny on his friend the dinosaur. Harper marked this because she thought the dinosaur and Danny felt happy. Also, she said Danny is touching the dinosaur.
Here are some of the words Hadley came up with:
These are all words having to do with seeing.
And here are a couple having to do with touch.
This was a fun activity. (Well, of course it was. I basically made it up for Pete’s sake!) But don’t be fooled: I want my kids back in school so I can go back to pouring myself a cup of coffee and drinking it while it is still warm. Because cold coffee? That’s just sad.
Dude. You HAVE a bulletin board. Ain’t nothing sad about that. I want one now too, except ours has been earmarked for SPD/self-control help issues. Don’t ask. Well, unless you want to.
Hmmmmm, not sure what SPD is, but if I have any sense, you are going to make that one nice bulletin board for the issue at hand. I remember how much fun I had looking through your notes and lessons the year I came to WCA. I was so sad we couldn’t teach together. I always thought that would be fun. Perhaps someday?
SPD stands for sensory processing disorder – related to ADHD. We have a lot of self-control, anger management, hyper-child-who-doesn’t-know-how-to-control-her-body issues.
I’m glad someone who appreciated all my hard work took over after me! I still wish I’d kept some of those novel units I made up. That took me so long, I should’ve at least sold them!
And yes, teaching together would be fun but I frankly don’t think I’ll go back to teaching unless I absolutely have to. 🙂
Well, SPD or not, I have no doubt this child is in wonderful hands. 🙂 I’d love to know how the bulletin board works out.
When I was pregnant with Hadley I said, “Never again” to teaching, but I have started to ache for it these last few months. If the conditions are right, I would love to go back. I’m starting to look to see what’s out there.
I love love love Owl Moon. You make me miss teaching.
I think you gave us this book. It’s a lovely, lovely one.
Great idea, Callie! I like that you can really sell it by making sure you call it “Reading Workshop!” I know that when Alayna is feeling belligerent about doing her homework, it goes better if we just do it as part of playing school. We get out the dolls, a pointer and white board, and she can explain her homework concepts to her unenlightened baby dolls. I’ll have to try this sensory words exploration — I think the girls will really get into it. Thanks for the idea!
Shannon, my girls are the same way. Well, Hadley is (Harper hasn’t experienced homework yet). But if I can find some sort of way to make it not so much fun but different then she’s on board. I like the idea of playing school. That actually worked a lot with me. Go figure. 🙂
Also, I loved this sensory word hunt. I think it’s a good exercise for me as well!
This sounded like fun so we used the idea today with Frederick by Leo Lionni. Thanks.
You’re right – Cynthia Rylant is worth looking up. I like her Brownie and Pearl books. Jane Yolen has some good books too, though I try to avoid the “How do Dinosaur…” titles.
I love Frederick. That’s a sweet book.
Yes, we went through a huge dinosaur phase, so we have a lot of the “How Do Dinosaurs…” books. We’re still sort of in the dino phase, but the girls haven’t spent much time with the books recently. I did like that they had the names of dinosaurs on the pictures throughout the story. Sometimes I wonder if Yolen wrote the dino books as sort of a fun creative project that sort of “cleanses the palate.” I’d think that after writing a book like Owl Moon, one would need a not-so-serious project to work on. I suppose it’s sort of like blogging. I work hard creating posts – they usually take me two-three days to process and write. But what I write here is nothing compared to the kind of stuff I’m hoping will get published someday. Blogging allows me to sort of keep writing and keep practicing, and I hope that I’m telling a fine story, but it’s just a different sort of creativity then the essays I work on.
And there I’ve gone and compared myself to a big time writer and made all sorts of assumptions. That’s probably not such a good thing.