Thinker’s/Reader’s Self Talk
What is reading, but silent conversation. Walter Savage Landor
To a great extent within classrooms, the language used by teachers and students
determines what is learned and how learning takes place.
Wilkinson and Silliman, 2000
As you read the following ideas about apprenticing students in a brain show and tell (Benson, 1997), reflect are some of the ways you talk to yourself as you work to understand the texts you read (or hear). See if you hear some of your internal dialogue and some of your ways of understanding.
MONITOR UNDERSTANDING
As I read, I work to...
- Monitor, clarify, refine & repair my understanding of the text.
I employ my phonological awareness, phonics knowledge, fluency models, vocabulary wells, and multiple ways of knowing to understand a variety of genres.
I talk to myself by saying:
“I get it...”
“I think…”
“This is about...”
“Okay, here’s what I know so far…
“I’m thinking…because…”
“I know…”
“Hmm, I don’t really get this/ understand this…I’d better reread that part…”
Self Talk for Monitoring Understanding:
I understand.
I don’t get it. Hmm, what should I do now?
I better reread that.
I will try that again.
I know...
I learned...
This made me think about.../I was thinking...
Prompting Monitoring:
Tell me what you are thinking.
Does that make sense?/What would make sense here?
Does that look right?/What would look right there?
Does that sound right?/What would sound right there?
Reading should make sense. Let’s see if we can work together to understand this piece. What are you thinking as you read this section/word/part?
Have a go./Try that again./Give that another try.
Reread that part.
Ask the author for a “Pardon me. What did you say?” like I showed you during our shared
reading. Reread the text to hear the words again.
Check the picture.
What could you do to help yourself there?
Let’s try one of our new word strategies there. Which one do you think would work there?
Share your movie/video of this story/piece.
Bibliography for Monitoring Understanding:
Any book in your classroom or home! :)
Student authored texts
Author autobiography and biography
Metaphorical texts such as Making Tracks
Atkins, S. Beth Voices From The Field: Children of Migrant Farmworkers Tell Their Stories
Boynton, Sandra All titles
Cleary, Beverly Dear Mr. Henshaw
Clements, Andrew The Landry News
Cowley, Joy Mrs. Wishy-Washy’s Farm
Crews, Donald School Bus
Cronin, Doreen Diary of a Worm
Cummings, Pat Talking to Artists
Fleming, Denise In the Small, Small Pond
French, Jackie Diary of a Wombat
Gantos, Jack Jack’s Black Book
Gomi, Taro Spring Is Here
Griego, et. al. Tortillas Para Mama
Haseley, Dennis A Story for Bear
Heide & Gilliland The Day of Ahmed’s Secret
Hort, Lenny The Seals on the Bus
Kirkpatrick, Taylor Worthwhile
London, Jonathan I See The Moon and The Moon Sees Me
Lowry, Lois Anastasia Krupnik
MacLachlan, P. Arthur, For The Very First Time
McGrath, Barbara I Love Words
McPhail, David Fix It!
Meyer, Mercer A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog
Moss, Marissa Amelia’s School Survival Guide (series)
Moss, Marissa Max’s Logbook
Myers Walter Dean Monster
Nagda, Ann W. Dear Whiskers
Raymer, Dottie Molly’s Route 66 Adventure
Ringgold, Faith Cassie’s Word Quilt
Roe, Eileen All I Am
Stepanek, Mattie Celebrate Through Heartsongs (poetry series)
Talbott, Hudson Safari Journal
Viorst, Judith Alexander, Que Era Rico el Domingo Pasado
Wildsmith, Brain Can You Do This?
Wolff, Ashley Oh, the Colors/De Colores
CONNECT
As I read, I work to...
Use my experiences and knowledge of the world and reading to understand the text; and
Connect what I know to what I am learning.
I talk to myself by saying:
“This reminds me of...”
“This is like/feels like…”
“This seems like…”
“This is like…and/but not like…”
“This makes me think about…”
Self Talk for Using Background Knowledge:
The language I want to model and cultivate in my students to help them be mindful readers in using their background knowledge sounds like (but is not limited to):
This reminds me of....
This is just like...
A connection I made to this piece is...
A book brother for this book is...
Prompting Background Knowledge:
I listen for the self-talk of each strategy and prompt it if I don’t hear talk which will lead the child to understanding or if I want to strengthen a child’s disposition to use a strategy. My goal is to help each child be a mindful reader - aware of their own thinking as well as understanding the piece being read or written by the child.
What did this story/book/piece remind you of? Why?
As you watched me during the modeled reading today, I constantly think to myself, “This reminds me of...” Show we a place in the text where you found a "reminds me of..." connection.
We have been talking about making connections as we read. Tell me about the connections you are making as you read this book/text.
How is this book like...the book we read yesterday? ...the video we saw? . ..a book you read before?
Books To Model and Practice Using Background Knowledge:
• Amber On The Mountain by Tony Johnson
• Best Class Picture Ever, The by Denis Roche
• Best Wishes by Cynthia Rylant
• Buster by Denise Fleming
• Day In The Life of Murphy, A by Alice Provensen
• Drawing Lessons from a Bear by David McPhail
• Extra Innings by Lee Bennett Hopkins
• Hello, Harvest Moon by Ralph Fletcher
• How My Parents Learned To Eat by Ina Friedman
• If there would be no light by Sahara Sunday Spain
• Ira Sleep Over by Bernard Waber
• It’s Not My Fault by Nancy Carlson
• Jessica by Kevin Henkes, Kevin
• Kid In the Red Jacket, The by Barbara Park
• Kids From Room 402 by Betty Paraskevas
• Little Dog Poems by Kristin O’Conell George
• Mapping Penny’s World by Loreen Leedy
• Mark Twain? What Kind of Name Is That? by Robert Quackenbush
• Memory String, The by Eve Bunting
• My Life As A Dog by Gary Paulsen
• Nick Plays Baseball by Rachel Isadora
• Oh Tucker by Steven Kroll
• Oliver Button Is A Sissy by Tomie dePaola
• Puddles by Jonathan London
• Reading Grows by Ellen Senisi
• School Mouse, The by Dick King-Smith
• Skinny Bones by Barbara Parker
• Some Frog by Eve Bunting
• Spectacular Science by Lee Bennett Hopkins
• Staying Nine by Pam Conrad
• Tom by Tomie dePaola
• Tomas and The Library Lady by Pat Mora
• The Twelve Days of Kindergarten: A Counting Book by Deborah Lee Rose
• Twenty-Six Fairmont Avenue by Tomie dePaola
• Wanted…Mud Blossom by Betsy Byars
• Week In The Woods, A by Andrew Clements
• When The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant
• With a Dog Like That, a Kid Like Me… by Michael Rosen
• Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Book? By Lauren Child
• Read books by authors who write from their background knowledge
-Sandra Cisneros
-Donald Crews
-Tomie DePaola
-Katherine Paterson
-Cynthia Rylant
-Gary Soto
-Jane Yolen
• Text which reflects authors use of their own background knowledge:
(autobiography, biography, personal narrative, memoir, scrapbooks)
• Books in a series are an excellent way to encourage children to use their background knowledge. The reoccurring characters and themes of books in a series give growing readers great success in being more aware of using their background knowledge and, thus, comprehending these stories.
• Read books with a “variation of a theme”; Reading different versions of folk tales and fairy tales is a motivating way to involve children in shared and independent readings (i.e.: Compare Jon Scieszka’s The True Story of The 3 Little Pigs with The Three Javelinas or Goldilocks and The Three Bears with Somebody and the Three Blairs).
QUESTION & INFER
As I read, I work to...
• Probe, ask questions of the text/author and
• Infer meanings in and beyond the text.
I talk to myself by Asking Questions and saying…
“I wonder...”
“I am curious about…”
“A big question for me is…”
Journalist’s Questions: Why…? How…? What? When…? Where…?
and by Making Predictions & Developing Inferences by saying…
“I bet...”
“I think that maybe…”
“I’m predicting/guessing…”
“The text doesn’t say this but I think/it seem like…”
“This is going to happen next because…”
Self Talk of Questioning:
I wonder...
I wonder...and I found out...
I wonder...I found out...and/or I was surprised to find out... Why...
Turning the title into a question, I asked myself ___________ as I read. Why...
I am curious about...
Prompts for Questioning
What are you wondering?
Take me to your “I wonders...” Tell me about your thinking here.
What are you curious about?
Tell me about the questions you created while you read _____.
What questions did you answer as you read _______?
What did you learn as you read _______? How did your questions help you?
Do you have any unanswered questions? Oh, goody. Let’s talk about those.
Did you create a question from the title? How did it help you understand this
piece?
Books for a Strategy Study of Questioning:
• Auto Mechanic, An by Douglas Florian
• Because of Winn Dixie by Kate Dicamillo
• Boy of a Thousand Faces, The by Brian Selznick
• Brave Potatoes by Toby Speed
• Case of the Climbing Cat, The by Cynthia Rylant
• Charlie Anderson by Barbara Abercrombie
• Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco
• Come Back, Salmon… by Molly Cove
• Composition, The by Antonio Skarmeta
• Crazy World of What If, The by Steve Parker
• Dogs Don’t Tell Jokes by Louis Sachar
• Dragon in the Cupboard by Karen Dolby
• Fernando’s Gift/El Regalo De Fernando by Douglas Keister
• Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting
• Forest Has Eyes, The by Bev Doolittle and Elise Maclay
• From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
• Giggler Treatment, The by Roddy Doyle
• Giver, The by Lois Lowery
• Guess What? by Mem Fox
• Holes by Louis Sachar
• Hooray for Wodney Wat by Helen Lester
• Ink Drinker, The by Ric Sanvoisin
• I Wonder by Tana Hoban
• Jeremiah Learns To Read by Jo Ellen Bogart
• Jerusalem Shining by Karla Kuskin
• Jigsaw by Miriam Moss
• Library Lil by Suzanne Williams
• Lion’s Share, The by Chris Conover
• Magic Treehouse Series by Mary Pope Osborn
• Meet Danitra Brown by Nikki Grimes
• My Name is Georgia by Jeannette Winter
• My Teacher’s Secret Life by Stephen Krensky
• Number The Stars by Lois Lowry
• Picture Book of Harriet Tubman, A by David Adler
• Post Office Book, The by Gail Gibbons
• Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner
• Someday Today by Bert Kitchen
• Spectacular Science by Lee Bennett Hopkins
• Super Dog: The Heart of a Hero by Caralyn Buehner
• Super Dooper Jezebel by Tony Ross
• Truman’s Aunt Farm by Jama Kim Rattigan
• Water’s Journey, The by Eleanor Schmid
• When Will I Read? by Miriam Cohen
• Whipping Boy, The by Sid Fleischman
• Who Needs Birds When Dogs Can Fly? by Fay Robinson
• Wolf by Becky Bloom
• Words by Heart by Quida Sebestyen
√ Wordless Picture Books such as Carl’s Christmas by Alexander Day and Pancakes by Tomie dePaola
√ Books in Spanish such as ?Que hay Para Comer? by Shelley Harwayne are published by Mondo Press. A bibliography of children’s’ books in Spanish can be found in Connie Weaver’s Practicing What We Know, p. 436 – 438 and I have included several in the Monitoring text set.
√ Mysteries and fantasy books always work well for cultivating questioning.
√ Nonfiction texts are born from questions. Authors often write to answer their own questions. Thus, these texts work well to help children become more conscious of the importance of questioning as readers and writers.
Inferring
Self Talk:
I bet...
I knew it...
I bet...I knew it...and/or I was surprised to learn...
I am guessing that...
I sense...
I predict...
I think...
Filling in the blanks here, I think the author means...
Prompting Inferring:
To cultivate children’s’ inferring, I prompt their self talk by nudging them with the following words as I confer with each child and meet with them in large and small group nests:
Tell me about your “I bets...” and “I knew its...”
Tell me about your “I bet...” here. Where did this become an
“I knew it.” or an “I was surprised to learn.”
What will happen next? or What will you learn next?
What do you think this will be about? How do you know that?
Was there a part where you had to infer? Tell me about that.
Like listening to me talk on the telephone, take me to a place in your
reading where you had to figure out what the author was saying on your own?
Do you like the main character(s)? Why or why not?
Would the main character make a good friend? Why or why not?
The author won’t tell us everything. They trust us to figure some things
on our own. Take me to a place in your reading where you had to figure out what was happening on your own.
What can you predict from this chapter title/heading?
Books to Share with Students to Cultivate Their Inferential Thinking:
Adoff, Arnold Love Letters
Agee, Jon. The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau
Allard, Harry. Miss Nelson Is Missing
Alexander, M. You’re a Genius, Blackboard Bear
Asch, Frank. Bear Shadow
Avery, Charles. Everybody Has Feelings/Todos Tenemos Sentimientos Babcock, Chris . No Moon, No Milk
Baker, Leslie. The Third Story Cat
Banotuk, Nick. Griffin and Sabine; Sabine’s Notebook
Baylor, Byrd. I’m In Charge of Celebrations
Bellairs, John. The Mummy, The Will, and The Crypt
Bleguard, Lenore Anna Banana and Me
Bluthenthal, Diana C. I’m Not Invited
Briggs, Raymond. Jim and the Beanstalk
Brighton, Catherine. Five Secrets in a Box
Brookfield, Karen. Eyewitness series
Bunting, Eve All her titles work well
Calhoun, Mary. Hot Air Henry
Cohen, Miriam. First Grade Takes A Test
Cooney, Barbara. Miss Rumphius
Conrad & Shulz Snoopy’s Guide to the Writing Life
Crew & Smith Troy Thompson’s Excellent Peotry Book
Crews, Donald. Big Mama’s
Crews, Donald. Freight Train
Dakos, Kalli. If You’re Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand
Day, Alexandra Carl the Dog series
DeBrunhoff, L. Babar’s Mystery
DePaola, Tomie The Knight and the Dragon
DePaola, Tomie Pancakes for Breakfast
DePaola, Tomie Watch Out for the Chicken Feet in Your Soup
DeRegiers, B. S. May I Bring A Friend?
Dragonwagon, C. Always, Always
Dragonwagon, C. Home Place
Duke, Kate. Aunt Isabel Tells A Good One
Duke, Kate. Guinea Pigs Far and Near
Fandex. American Indians; Dogs; Presidents
Feelings, Tom. Soul Looks Back In Wonder
Fleischman, Paul Joyful Noise
Fleming, Denise. In a Small, Small Pond
Fleming, Denise. In the Tall, Tall Grass
Fleming, Denise. Lunch
Foreman, Michael. The Angel and the Wild Animal
Fox, Mem. Guess What?
Fox, Mem. Time for Bed
Freeman, Don. Corduroy
George, K. O. The Great Frog Race
Gibbons, Gail All her titles
Giovanni, Nikki. Spin A Soft Black Song
Golenbock, Peter. Teammates
Graves, Don. Baseball, Snakes, and Summersquash
Green, Donna. . My Little Artist
Greenfield, Eloise. In The Land of Words: New & Selected Poems
Grimes, Nikki. It’s Raining Laughter
Gwynne, Fred Chocolate Moose for Dinner
Gwynne, Fred . The King Who Rained
Gwynne, Fred A Little Pigeon Toad
Hopkins, Lee B. Good Books, Good Times
Howe, James. Celery Stalks at Midnight
Howe, James. A Night Without Stars
Hughes, Langston. All his poems; The Dream Keeper and Other Poems
James, Simon. Dear Mr. Blueberry
Johnson, Dolores. Your Dad Was Just Like You
Keats, Ezra Jack. The Snowy Day
Lionni, Leo. Broderick
Lionni, Leo. Swimmy
Little, Jean . Hey, World! Here I Am!
Lucado, Max. You Are Special
Macaulay, David. Black and White
Macaulay, David. Motel of the Mysteries
MacLachlan, P. Sarah Plain and Tall
MacLachlan, P. What You Know First
Maclay, Emily. The Forest Has Eyes
MacDonald, Amy. Little Beaver and the Echo
Marshall, James. George and Martha series
Meyer, Mercer. A Boy, A Dog, and A Frog
Moon, Pat. Green Lines: Poems for The Green Age
Parrish, Peggy. Amelia Bedelia series
Paulsen, Gary. Hatchet
Pfister, Marcus. Rainbow Fish
Rylant, Cynthia. A Fine White Dust
Rylant, Cynthia. Every Living Thing
Rylant, Cynthia. The Relatives Came
Sandford, Lyne. Ten Second Rainshowers
Saunders-Smith, Gail. All her titles
Schertle, Alice. A Lucky Thing
Schertle, Alice. Keepers
Sendak, Maurice. In Grandpa’s House
Sharmat, M. A Big Fat Enormous Lie
Steptoe, John. The Story of Jumping Mouse
Soto, Gary. A Summer Life
Turner, Ann. The Hedgehog for Breakfast
Turner, Pat. Katie’s Trunk
Van Allsburg, C. All titles!
Viorst, Judith. Alexander Who Use To Be Rich Last Tuesday
Wilhelm, Hans All For The Best! The Secret of Happiness
Wood, Douglas. Rabbit and the Moon
Worth, Valerie. All the small poems and fourteen more
Yolen, Jane. The Mary Celeste: An Unsolved Mystery From History
Young, Ed. Seven Blind Mice
Thoughtful reading is only rarely a matter of flashy insight. More often it is a gradual, groping process.
Dennie Palmer Wolf, Harvard University
EVALUATE/IDENTIFY IMPORTANT IDEAS
As I read, I work to...
• Identify importance striving to grasp the messages, main ideas, themes, and feelings of the text
I talk to myself by saying:
“The most important idea here is…”
“The message(s) here is...”
“The author wants me to learn…”
“I know that this is really important because…”
“From the title, the big idea is…”
and...
I learned...
I was surprised to learn/read...
The most important thing to remember is...
The most important ideas here are...
The message here is...
The author wants me to learn...
My reason for reading this piece is...
I was surprised by/I was surprised to read...
I learned...
The most important thing to remember is/are...
The big ideas here are...
From the title, I know the main idea of this piece is ________ and I will read to
find the details...
Prompting for Identifying Importance:
Tell me what you are thinking.
What are the big ideas here?
When I read, I expect to learn something. What did you learn from this book?
What is the main idea(s)/messages/theme here/in this text?
Is this a factual piece or one based on the author’s opinion? How do you know?
As I read, I find surprises. These are usually the places where I learned
something new. Did you find any surprises here?
How did the graphs/picture/charts/maps/bold print help you understand this
piece/text?
What does the author want us to learn from this piece?
We are studying how we determine importance as we read. Take me to a place
in your reading where you figured out what is important in this text/ story. How do you know that?
Books for Cultivating Students’ Capacity to Identify Important Ideas:
Ackerman, A. & A. Our Mom Has Cancer
Aliki How A Book is Made
Aliki The King’s Day
Angelou, Maya I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Barrett, Judi A Snake Is Totally Tail
Battle-Lavert, Gwendolyn Papa’s Mark
Brown, Margaret Wise The Importance Book
Bunting, Eve Fly Away Home
Bunting, Eve Someday A Tree
Bunting, Eve The Wall
Bunting, Eve Wednesday’s Surprise
Cole, Joanna Magic School Bus Series
Crew & Smith Troy Thompson’s Excellent Peotry Book
DePaola, Tomie Oliver Button Is A Sissy
Ehlert, Lois Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf
Elleman, Barbara Tomie dePaola: His Art & His Stories
Fletcher, Ralph Writer’s Notebook
Fletcher, Ralph Fig Pudding
Fox, Mem Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partirdge
Gibbons, Gail Monarch Butterflies
Gibbons, Gail Trains
Gibbons, Gail Up the Skyscraper
Haley, Alex Malcolm X
Hawes, Julie Fireflies In The Night
Hopkins, Lee Bennett Been To Yesterdays
Jakes, John Susanna of the Alamo: A True Story
Janeczko, Paul The Place My Words Are Looking For
Johnson, Tony It’s About Dogs
Katz, Bobbi We The People
Kitchen, Bert Somewhere Today
Kovacs, Deborah Very First Things To Know About Bears
Krementz, Jill A Very Young Actress
Little, Jean Hey World, Here I Am!
Livingston, Myra Cohn Up In The Air
Lloyd, Pamela How Writers Write
Lobel, Arnold Fables
Miller, William Richard Wright and the Library Card
Moutoussamy-Ashe, C. Daddy and Me
Nobisso, Josephine In English, Of Course
O’Brien, Patrick The Bookworm’s Feast
Parring Then and Now
Quackenbush, Robert Don’t You Dare Shoot That Bear! A Story of T. Roosevelt
Reynolds, Peter The Dot
Ryan, Pam Munoz When Marian Sang
Sabuda, Robert Tutankhamen’s Gift
Sandin, Joan Coyote School News
St. George, Judith So You Want To Be An Inventor?
St. George, Judith So You Want To Be President?
Rylant, Cynthia Missing May
Rylant, Cynthia Waiting To Waltz
Ueland, Brenda If You Want To Write
Weeks, Sarah Two eggs, please.
Wood, Jenny The Animal Book
Yolen, Jane Writing Books for Children
And the following:
Biographies/Memoir Brochures Colorado Kids (Denver Post)
Cookbooks Internet Texts Mini Page (Rocky Mountain News)
Newspaper Poems React (Denver Post)
Reference Texts Time for Kids Scholastic News
Textbooks Zillions
PIECES Students HAVE AUTHORED!
SYNTHESIZE
As I read, I work to...
Synthesize or connect all the pieces of the text together to form one whole idea, picture, image, feeling, or concept
I talk to myself by saying:
“From the beginning, middle, end, I know...”
“Let me retell what I read/what I saw/what happened/the author’s words...”
“To summarize this, I think…”
“Synthesizing all this information…”
Summing Up
“I found out…”
“I knew it…”
“I learned…”
“I was surprised to learn…”
“Pulling all this information together…”
“The most important ideas/information…”
“Okay, now I know that…”
“Comparing this information to…I now think that…”
“I didn’t know that. That makes me think…”
"Here's what I know now/think now…"
"Wow, I never knew that…"
"Hmm, this seems really important because…"
"This is just like…but not like…"
Clarifying "Sum Up" Thoughts:
"I am still wondering about…"
"I don't get this part…"
"I didn't really understand…"
"I'd better reread that…because I just don't get it!"
"I am not sure about…"
"What does this mean…?"
And...
I know...
Okay, I’d better stop and ask myself if I understand/can pull all these pieces
together...
The quilt of my reading is...
I learned...
Pulling all the pieces/words of this text together, I know...
Somebody...wanted...but...so
Like putting a puzzle together, the pieces of my reading are...
In the beginning of the story...and by the end...
From the beginning...middle...end..., I know...
First, he...then, she...
From [all parts of this book], I learned/know...
Prompting for Synthesis:
Tell me about the quilt of your thinking.
What have you/we learned so far?/What do we know now?
From what we have read so far, what have we learned about the
character?
Putting all the parts/chapters together, what can you tell me about the
problem of this story? ...big ideas in this nonfiction piece?
What is this story about?
Tell me about the beginning, middle and end of this story/text.
Tell me about the piece in one sentence (one sentence summary).
Books to Grow Children’s’ Sense of Synthesis
52 Great Children’s Books by Lynn Gordon (card set)
Amelia and Eleanor Take a Ride by Pam Munoz Ryan
Amelia’s Notebook by Marissa Moss
Archibald Frisby by Michael Chesworth
Blaze the Horse by C.W. Anderson
The Book of Mean People by Toni & Slade Morrison
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Kraus
Cook-A-Doodle-Doo! by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel
Cookie’s Week by Tomie dePaola
The Diary of Hansel and Gretel by Kees Moerbeek
Dilly’s Summer Camp Diary by Cynthia Lewis
Emma’s Journal by Marissa Moss
“Fire! Fire!” Said Mrs. McGuire by Bill Martin Jr.
From Seed To Plant by Gail Gibbons
I.Q. Goes To The Library by Mary Ann Fraser
Jasmin’s Notebook by Nikki Grimes
Jim and the Beanstalk by Raymond Briggs
The Landry News by Andrew Clements
The Legend of Thomas Blue Eagle by G. Matthaei and J. Grutman
Little Dog Poems by Kristin O’Connell George
Meanwhile... by Jules Feiffer
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
My Mama Had A Dancing Heart by Libba Moore Gray
Naming the Car by Lawrence Pringle
The Perfect Spot by Robert Blake
Poppy and Rye by Avi
The Quilt Makers Gift by Jeff Brumbeau
Shortcut by David Macaulay
Stella Louella’s Runaway Book by Lisa Campbell Ernst
Rachel’s Journal by Marissa Moss
Reach for the Moon by Samantha Abeel
Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins
Tell Me A Story by Jonathan London
The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by E. Trivizas
Workshop by Andrew Clements
The Young Author’s Do-It-Yourself Book by D. Guthrie, N. Bentley, and K. Arnsteen
The Young Journalist’s Book by D. Guthrie and N. Bentley
…and, as always, texts the children have authored! :)
Synthesis Out In The Big Wide World:
Autobiographies Baby Albums Biographies
Book Reviews Christmas Letters Diaries
Do-it-yourself Manuals/Guides Itineraries
Journals Letters Many Magazines
Memoir Movie Reviews Newspapers
Non-Fiction Books Obituaries
Post Card Trip Summaries Professional Books
Recaps Research Storytelling
Trip Photos TV Guide Updates
Year Books
Visualize
As I read, I work to...
Develop a visual story or representation for the text like creating my own video movie or graphic of the words bringing in sensory images and feelings.
*I talk to myself by saying:
“I see…”
“Reading this, I visualized…”
“While I read, I saw...”
“I sensed that...”
“It feels like…because…”
“I would cast Morgan Freeman as the main character because…”
