Kim McMahan's Book Share

Text Set Study: Author Jim Aylesworth

I love teaching using text sets. It is important for student to get attached to an author or authors. It is also important to get them familiar with different authors and different genres of writing. I have found that if a student likes a book, they will typically like another book by the same author. I have also found that if students familiarize themselves with the author they are more intrigued to read more book by the same author. It is also important to show your students the value of reading for authors you love and respect. Students also need to be exposed to different genres of writing. Once a student finds what genre of writing they prefer reading they can look for similar book by the same author. Doing text set studies, allows the students to ask questions about the books they are reading and find the answers by doing research or writing letters to the different authors studied. My students love writing letters to authors to learn more about them or the book. You should see their faces when they get a response back from an author they have been falling in love with. Here is a text set study that I put together that is geared more toward Kindergartners and first graders (maybe even second graders with some alterations). I hope you enjoy.

Monday
Aylesworth, Jim. Illustrated by Eileen Christelow. The Completed Hickory Dickory Dock. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. New York, New York. 1990.

This book completes the story of the classic nursery rhyme about the mouse that ran up the clock. It is filled with wonderful, bright colored illustrations. After reading this book, I would pass out two sheets, one would be a coloring sheet that had the mouse and the clock with the completed version of the rhyme. The class will read the rhyme together by putting their fingers on the words and following along. The second sheet would be a brief description to introduce the author of the week, which is of course, Jim Aylesworth. The purpose of the author sheet is for students to become familiar with the author that they will be learning about and for students to share with their parents their discoveries of this author. This will hopefully allow children to build an interest in authors for future use. I would then direct my class to the library to find some different versions of Hickory Dickory Dock. After reading each one, we would compare and contrast the different versions in an open class discussion. Some questions to look at would be:

• How is Aylesworth's version different from the other versions of Hickory Dickory Dock?
• How is it alike?
• Which one is more appealing to you and why?
• What do you notice about the pictures and the language?

Tuesday

Aylesworth, Jim. Illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin. The Full Belly Bowl. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. New York, New York. 1999.

This book is about a very old man who discovers a very small man, whom in return for kindness and generosity gives the very old man a magical bowl. if not used carefully, the magical bowl may cause problems. After reading this book, I would have the children put on a finger puppet performance. I will form groups of five and draw names to see who will be the old man, small man, animals, and clerk. Each child will have a chance to perform each part by rotating roles. Each group will have a chance to perform once in front of the class behind the black curtain. My focus will be to listen for language development and create a deeper understanding of the characters and setting of the story. After the puppet show, I would inform the students about what I have learned about the author. I would have done this by gathering information on his website at http://www.ayles.com/biography.html. I would pass out little facts about the author. I would have the classroom computers set up at the website http://www.ayles.com/ so they could explore for themselves. After the website exploration, the students and I will have a class discussion about Aylesworth's book. Here are some questions that will allow your students to think more deeply about the story:

• How does this book compare to The Completed Hickory Dickory Dock?
• Do you notice any similarities between the two books he wrote?
• Is there a lesson to be learned from this book?
• If so, what kind of lessons?

Wednesday

Aylesworth, Jim. Illustrated by Jo Ellen Mcallister-Stammen. Teddy Bear Tears. Aladdin Picture Books. New York, New York. May 2000.


This book is about a boy who overcomes his fear of the dark. He has four teddy bears that fear something different at bedtime. The boys is able to explain to the bears each sound and shape to comfort them and before long all are asleep. After reading this story, I would have each of the students write a letter to Aylesworth asking him questions they might have about his life or writings. By mid week they generate lots of questions. I would have asked the students on the day before to bring in something that they sleep with to share with the class. I will let each child share their bedtime experiences with the class. I will have them draw a picture of their bedroom at nighttime and share that with the class as well. We would compare Aylesworth's other works to this book while asking thought provoking questions like:

• Is this book like the other Aylesworth's books we read?
• If so, how?
• Can you relate to the boy's bedtime problem? Explain.
• How does the boy in the story finally end up going to sleep?

Thursday

Aylesworth, Jim. Illustrated by Barbara McClintock. The Tale of Tricky Fox. Scholastic Press. New York, New York. March 2001.

This book is about a very tricky, sly fox that fools women into giving him gifts of food until he came across a very smart schoolteacher. After reading this story, the class would create an author bulletin. We would decorate the bulletin board with facts about the author, a list of his books, clip art, and colored pictures that he children created. This book provides a nice recipe for baking cookies. For fun, I would bring the ingredients to make Tricky Fox's Eat-Your-Hat cookies, which is on the back of the book. The students will mix all the ingredients together while practicing measurement, language, reading, and motor skills. I would bake them during lunch and recess hour so we could enjoy a nice treat before going home. I will be focusing on social development as well as group participation. I will be asking myself questions like:

• Do the children communicate well?
• Do they share tasks or do they try talking over the project?
• Is everyone enjoying getting involved?
• Is the community we build in our classroom working?

Here are some reflective questions that could be asked:

• Is there a lesson or moral in the story that Aylesworth was trying to illustrate?
• What are the similarities and differences compared to his other books?
• Was this story fun to read aloud and why?

Friday

Aylesworth, Jim. Illustrated by Judith Friedman. The Bad Dream. Albert Whitman & Company. Niles, Illinois. 1985.

This book is about a small boy who is awakened by a very bad dream. His parents comfort him by telling him that bad dreams are not real. After reading this story, I would gather the students around the reading carpet to discuss some of the ways the children deal with nightmares. After our discussion, I would have the students go to their desks and begin writing a story of their bad dreams and how they overcame them for writing workshop. They will write their stories on some small square sheets that are stapled together to form a paper book. After they have completed their personal stories of their bad dreams, we will hang them up in class. I will focus on completed thoughts and creativeness. On the last day of the week, we would take a class vote between the five Aylesworth books we enjoyed the most. We will concentrate on some questions after the project is completed. Here are some thought provoking questions that could be asked:

• Do you notice something about this book compared to some of the other books we looked at by Aylesworth?
• Is it like one of this other books?
• What is the message that Aylesworth is trying to get across to young readers?
• What do you think about the illustrations?
• Which one of Aylesworth's books did you enjoy reading the best? Why?

Well I hope you have enjoyed my version of an Author Text Set Study. Maybe you will be able to use some of my ideas in your classroom. If so, please leave a comment and let me know how it went.

Here are some of my favorite literacy websites for students to use:

http://www.storylineonline.net/ --all grades

This website is amazing. This is definitely one of my student's favorite websites. It has different celebrities reading different picture books. It is really nice for students to see some of their favorite celebrities reading to them. It also encourages them to read. Some of my students even search the library for the books they see the celebrities reading. The website also offers activities that goes along with the book. For teachers, it offers lesson ideas that goes along with the book. (By the way if you love this website too they are in need of more funding to keep it running......please donate!!!)

http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/ --third grade and up

This website is a news site that is geared toward students. Students can stay current on what is happening around the world by reading articles and listening and viewing videos. It is just like watching the news on TV except it is child friendly. For students it offers interactive games and quizzes for students. For teachers it offers learning activities that go along with the news stories featured on their website. I use this website when I want my students to read something that is important. We tracked the Obama campaign and election using this website.

http://yucky.discovery.com/flash/ --grades third and up

This website is packed full of yucky science fact, games, and activities. Kids love this website. It is a great website to use for science ideas. Students can learn about the grossest things on earth like roaches and worms. It offers students a chance to ask their grossest questions to Wendell the worm. This website is very interactive. It allows students to conduct yucky science experiments, play games, and just simply have fun with science. This website is also located from the website http://kids.discovery.com/. There are lots other great activities for kids to do and read about.

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi --third grade and up

This website is a great social studies resource. Students can learn about famous Americans, all the 50 states, and major events and people from the past, history. It offers students an interactive way to get familiar with people who have change our world like, inventors, politicians, or performers by playing games and doing activities that goes along with what they are learning.