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BACKGROUND: I'd asked the kids to write about their moms doing good "mom"
things, for Mother's Day. Their writing seemed very bland and "nice." (This
is what happens when I mistakenly put product over process!) Today's reading
lesson was intended to remind the children that authors "show, don't tell."
It's written as a lesson plan.
 The book is Tales of Oliver Pig by
Jean Van Leeuwen, illustrated by Arnold Lobel.
Van Leeuwen has written many
books about Oliver, his little sister, Amanda, and their family. The reading
level is about G or H.
READING MINI LESSON: The children will read books in which the author
"showed," rather than "told about" moms doing "good mom things." The next
day, I will remind the children of today's conversation about, "show, don't
tell," and ask them to apply it to their writing.
CONNECTION
Yesterday, you collected books in which mothers were important; you put them
in your book boxes. Today, we'll look for places in those books that show
moms doing good "mom" things. You'll put Post-Its on the pages that show the
moms most clearly.
TEACHING
Take one book that you found yesterday. Start looking through it, and search
for places that show or describe a mom doing good "mom" things. Decide if
the example clearly shows the mom doing something, or if it just tells a
little about it. I've given five Post-Its to everyone to mark the examples
you like best.
ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT
Let's practice. First, I'll read two descriptions of Oliver's mom doing
something. One description is written by the author, Jean Van Leeuwen, the
other was written by me. After I read, we'll vote (thumbs up/down) about which description is
clearer and stronger.
Example
1: from Tales of Oliver Pig
"Today is not a day for outside," said Mother.
"It is cold and wet."
"What can I do, then?" asked Oliver
"Come to the kitchen," said Mother.
A big yellow mixing bowl was on the kitchen table.
"Today," said Mother, "is a baking day."
"What are we going to bake?" asked Oliver.
"Oatmeal cookies," said mother.
"With raisins?" asked Oliver.
"With lots of raisins," said mother. |
Example 2:
by Mrs. Forrester
Oliver liked helping his mother. It was fun.
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LINK
Okay, are you ready? Go to your seats. Choose a book from your book box and
find some places where Moms are doing good, clear, special Mom things. After
you're done, we're going to sit back on the carpet and share what we've
found. Ready? Off you go.
SHARE
Okay, what did you find? You can read from your page, or you can tell us
what the mom did. I'll write down a little bit about what you say, so we can
remember it for our writing tomorrow. (Try to illustrate, "Show, don't
tell," if possible.)
STUDENT WORK: descriptive writing that "shows, not tells:
 I
asked Jacob what the letters were on the picture of his mom cleaning. He
explained that was the noise his mom made when she cleaned. That noise, he
added, was how he and his two brothers could fight unnoticed!
love it when my
mom cleans
me and
my brothers
have lots of fun
we play fihgt
I always win me and Adam
bete up then
then the rell
action start I punch him in the you-know-what he kicks me in the shin
and and says "rip off artist"
The story continues and ends with:
 that
is why i like it when my mom cleans 
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