Category: What We’re Reading

Today we read “Lon Po Po” by Ed Young.  It is a version of Little Red Riding Hood from China.  Three children are told not to open the door to anyone when their mother goes to visit their grandmother.  A wolf shows up, pretending to be their grandmother, their Po Po.  The children let him in, but when they climb into bed to go to sleep they realize he is really a wolf, so they come up with a plan to trick him.  They climb the gingko tree to eat its nuts, but the wolf cannot climb the tree.  So they pull him up in a basket on a rope, but let go of the rope before it reaches the top, killing the wolf.

Before reading, we discussed the three different kinds of connections: text to self (when a book reminds you of something that happened to you), text to world (when a book reminds you of something you have seen or learned about), and text to text (when a book reminds you of another book).  After reading the story, students shared their connections, then wrote about them.  We had lots of good connections– here is a sampling:

“When Shang thought the wolf is the grandma reminds me of my grandma at home.”

“When the wolf dies in the story reminds me of when the pig ate the wolf in the Three Little Pigs.”

“When the wolf knocked in the door it reminded me of the mailman knocking on the door.”

“When the wolf went in bed reminds me of Goldilocks and the Three Bears when Goldilocks went in bed.”

“When the children climbed the tree reminds me of climbing a tree.”

“When they forgot to lock the door reminds me of when Goldilocks went in the bears’ house because they forgot to lock the door.”

“When the mom left the kids reminds me of when my mom went to a conference in Hawaii.”

“When Shang asks questions to the wolf reminds me of when Little Red Riding Hood asks the wolf all the questions.”

“When they call the wolf Po Po it reminds that my Grandpa is Po Po.”

“When the wolf says ‘The journey is long, my children, and the day is short” reminds me that the days are short in winter.”

This week we read “How Full is Your Bucket?” by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer.  The message is that everyone has an invisible bucket, and when someone does something that makes you feel good, it fills your bucket a bit, but when someone does something that makes you feel bad, it dips into your bucket.  We talked about ways to fill up someone else’s bucket, such as helping when they are hurt, saying kind words, and inviting someone to play.  We also talked about ways people dip into your bucket, such as teasing, hitting, and using mean words.  We are trying to be bucket-fillers, to help other people, rather than hurting them and dipping into their buckets.

On Friday we read a book to help us reflect on Remembrance Day and peace.  It was “What Does Peace Feel Like?” by Vladimir Radunsky. This book was written by students at an international school in Italy, and combines beautiful pictures with wonderful words.

After reading the book we created our own writing.  Each table group had a different sense, and the students worked together to write or draw their own meanings for peace.  We emphasized cooperation and taking turns, since there was only one piece of paper for 4 or 5 students.

They came up with some lovely ideas.  Here are a few of my favourites:

What does peace sound like?

• Birds flying in the sky
• The giant crunch of a lollipop

What does peace look like?

• Poppies
• Sand castles
• Peace is a sunny summer day

What does peace smell like?

• Pizza
• Fish and crab (because that’s what his cottage smells like)

What does peace taste like?

• Ice cream
• Cotton candy

What does peace feel like?

• Silk and muffins
• The best day ever!
• Love around the world

On Friday we read Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. In the story, the main character Chrysanthemum is made fun of at school because of her name.  We talked about what was happening to her, and I was impressed that several students remembered the term “verbal bullying” from the Power of One presentation we saw a few weeks ago.

After reading the story we wrote down the hurtful words on a paper heart.  Then I read the words, and for each word folded the heart until it was all crumpled up.  We brainstormed kind words that could make someone feel better, and wrote them on another heart.  We opened up the crumpled heart, and smoothed it out, but it didn’t look quite the same.  I reminded all the students that our words are powerful, when we say hurtful things it hurts someone’s heart, and even when we say kind things to fix it, those wrinkles are still there.  I think the students understood how important it is to think about what you are saying before you speak.