A few BERRY good books...

As our blueberry bushes are blooming in the backyard, I'm pulling out a few books that I consider classics.


Blueberries for Sal is the sweet story of a boy and his mother going out to pick blueberries, carrying simple tin pails along. The illustrations are fun and retro.


The second story is Peter in Blueberry Land by Elsa Beskow. This book was first published in Sweden in 1901 by the author of the classic tale Children of the Forest. In this fantasy, Peter magically shrinks and discovers a whole world of tiny people ruled by the King of Blueberry Land. His adventures of the day culminate in his basket being full of blueberries and him being back to his normal size. Peter then presents his mother with the basket of berries for her birthday.

Elsa Beskow's books are amazing and invoke a simpler time. I'd recommend that everyone check them out!

Literature Circles Continued...

Today we used adding machine tape to create timelines. My students had to choose important events from the book to represent using illustrations, dates, and/or quotes from the book. This activity really gets readers digging through the book to locate facts.

We also brainstormed other ideas for literature circles. Here's our list of possible responses to literature:
*Creating a play to act out a scene from the story.
*Woven story mats: Each group creates a strip of adding machine tape that represents the story then they are all woven together to create one comprehensive piece of artwork.
*Discuss the favorite part of the book then come up and act it out like charades.
*Predict what might happen next (rewrite the ending of the story or write a continuation of the story).
*Chart advantages and disadvantages of living forever. (Specific to Tuck)
*Put together a Venn Diagram to show the similarities and differences of main characters.
*Draw what you imagine the characters looking like.
*Discuss the metaphors included in the book.

Literature Circles

In class, we've been working with Tuck Everlasting in literature circles. I want my students to experience literature circles as a reader so they can more effectively utilize this method in their own classrooms. Here's a list of activities I've presented to them so far:

Open-ended question cards - to stimulate depth of conversations in beginning literature circle groups

Poster missions - including these circle tasks
*Create a wanted poster for one of the main characters in the book. Be sure to include lots of character descriptions and traits to help people identify the person.
*Pretend that this book is being made into a movie. Create a movie poster to advertise the new film.
*Choose a minimum of five powerful quotes from the book and create an aesthetically pleasing poster to display the quotes.
*Compare and contrast two of the main characters from the book. Display your ideas on a poster.

Illustrate a scene from the book then incorporate the words (from the book) that helped your form that image into your illustration.

The purpose...

This blog is a place to reflect, react, and record all things children's lit! I teach a children's literature course and would like to share my thoughts with my students and encourage the development of an online community of learners. I'll chronicle some of the activities in our class and hopefully my students will respond and continue our discussions.