This year we explored many of Laura's books and even found a new favorite to use around conference time to share with parents. Below is a picture of just a few of the books from Laura Numeroff. The students are rereading them and placing post-it notes where they notice specific craft or parts they like. (They did this independently or with a partner after the whole class had already heard the stories as a read aloud.)
After the students found parts they liked in her stories, we created the "We Can..." chart as a whole class.
Laura Numeroff's flip books were a huge hit this year in room 123. The students couldn't wait to make a flip book of their own. They took the idea of "What ___________ does best" and came up with their own two pairs. This was a great way to work with antonyms.
The reason Miss Erickson and Mrs. Zahn was a logical choice was one is the morning teacher and one is the afternoon teacher. Students worked on brainstorming three things that were different about each topic. Then they brainstormed one thing that was the same about both topics to form a conclusion. This created the same organization as Laura Numeroff. This was a great teaching point on possible organization of a patterned book. Our class would say, "pattern, pattern, pattern, BREAK THE PATTERN" when they would notice this organization in stories throughout the year.
Would I Trade My Parents was a HUGE hit around conference time. We just happened to be studying Laura Numeroff during conferences. This book made the perfect mentor text for the students to create the perfect keep sake. They started by interviewing their friends. They asked several friends what was special about their parents, or what was their favorite thing to do with their parents. Then they took the information they got from the interview (prewriting activity) and turned it into their own book.
Click here for the interview prewriting form. Click here for the reproducible of the book template.
