Tips, Titles and Tools for Teachers
Instructional Resources for Comparison Reasoning
I know that first grade is looking at similarities and differences between owls, while kindergarten is planning to use photographs of two animals as part of their close reading. Second grade teachers have been comparing colonial life to our life today. At Williams, many teachers are using comparison reasoning related to culture and how people celebrate various holidays.
You can use the resources in this week's newsletter to support your students in understanding how to compare two topics. I know in the Reasoning Process training with Debra Pickering, she often reminded us to introduce comparison thinking with fun topics. I hope these resources support your work!
Happy Reading,
Shelly
Great New Mentor Text
Excellent Book Series for Comparison Reasoning
More Mentor Texts for Comparison
Honeybee Book Program at Atwood
Here are some great instructional ideas for using this book!
Black Bear Book Titles for Animal Lovers
Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer
And then more of her great-uncle’s unusual chickens come home to roost. Determined, resourceful Sophie learns to care for her flock, earning money for chicken feed, collecting eggs. But when a respected local farmer tries to steal them, Sophie must find a way to keep them (and their superpowers) safe.
Told in letters to Sophie’s abuela, quizzes, a chicken-care correspondence course, to-do lists, and more, Unusual Chickens is a quirky, clucky classic in the making.
Nuts to You
How far would you go for a friend? In Nuts to You, the funny and moving new novel by Newbery Medalist Lynne Rae Perkins, two squirrels go very far indeed to save a friend who has been snatched up by a hawk. Nuts to You is short, funny, and surprising—an Incredible Journey with squirrels. It features black-and-white art by the author on every page and will appeal to fans of animal fantasies by Kate DiCamillo, Kathi Appelt, and Avi.
The squirrels Jed, TsTs, and Chai are the very best of friends. So when Jed is snatched up by a hawk and carried away to another realm, TsTs and Chai resolve to go after him. New communities are discovered, new friends are made, huge danger is encountered (both man-made and of the fox and bobcat variety) and mysteries are revealed. Nuts to You is wholly original, funny, lively, and thought-provoking. It is a deeply satisfying piece of storytelling about the power of stories to save the world; about the power of friendship and the importance of community.
Wild About Bears
Shelly Moody
Williams Elementary School
Atwood Primary School
Email: smoody@rsu18.org
Twitter: @shelmoody