Thursday, January 21, 2016

The Mitten as a StoryWalk

Yesterday was our Outside Day for the month, 
 we visited the park with the Leprechaun Tree.
I prepared the book The Mitten by Jan Brett for our StoryWalk.
I picked the story for the variety of animals that are in it
and that they burrow into the mitt, 
connecting it to what we are learning in the classroom.
Our walk started in the rain but it didn't stop the enthusiasm of about 
a dozen children from coming out.
Like every StoryWalk we have done the children are excited 
to run from page to page.
I'm always impressed that they do stop and wait at each page.
As we read the story I introduced props.
The first was the white mittens.
Each child took a turn carrying the mitten from page to page.
I was at a conference on the weekend and bought the felt story of The Mitten
and used those pieces to stuff in the mitten.
Each was clipped to the back of the page that they were introduced.
After reading the page the children confirmed which animal should be behind
the page.
Then I'd bring it out and we'd squish it into the mitt.
The children began to investigate the back of the pages before we got there.
They were ready to help tell the story since they knew the animal coming.
What I love about doing StoryWalks every month is that the children
are practicing reading.
I see them finger tracing the words and telling me what they think it says.
By reading the pictures they are predicting what the story is about,
what is happening 
and what is going to happen next.
So much learning happens during a StoryWalk.