Tacky Is an Odd Bird...

Have you ever felt out of place? Thought you did not belong just because you were different from everyone else? 

Tacky the Penguin written by Helen Lester and illustrated by Lynn Munsinger is about an outcast named Tacky. Tacky is an odd bird because he is different in his appearance and behavior from his companions: Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect. While his companions are doing everything proper, Tacky marches to the beat of his own drummer. He wears an Hawaiian shirt, does splashy cannonballs, sings his own songs, and greets his companions with a hearty slap on the back and a loud "What's happening?" Tacky knows who he is and does not change for anyone. One day three greedy hunters invade the penguins' nice icy land singing, "We're gonna catch some pretty penguins, And we'll march 'em with a switch, And we'll see 'em for a dollar, And get rich, rich, RICH!" It will take a lot more than a bunch of perfect penguins to save the day. But who will be the hero?

Tacky the Penguin is a great book to use when teaching students how to summarize what they just read. Summarizing teaches students how to pick out the most important ideas in a text, how to ignore unrelated information, and how to combine the central ideas in a meaningful way. In other words, summarizing is the restating of the main ideas of the story in your own words. Students can summarize through writing, orally, drama, art, and music. Readers identify key elements into their own words during and after reading to solidify meaning. Making a "Story Summarizer" fold-able is a great activity for students to practice summarizing. The teacher will read Lester's Tacky the Penguin aloud to the class. After reading, students will make a fold-able to summarize what they just heard. To make the fold-able: fold a piece of paper hot dog style leaving some room on the side to write the title of the book, then cut the paper into four flaps, write 'Somebody, Wanted, But, So' on each flap. The students will write the main character under the 'Somebody' flap. They will write what the main character wanted under the 'Wanted' flap. Then write what the problem was under the 'But' flap and how did the character try to solve the problem under the 'So' flap. Creating this fold-able helps students summarize and comprehend what they read. The following is an example of a "Story Summarizer" fold-able.

 

Tacky the Penguin is an awesome book to read in the classroom because it shows readers that individuality has its own advantages. Everyone is unique in their own way and we should accept people or penguins for who they are. Do you follow the beat of your own drummer or the crowd's?

I CAN'T SLEEP WITHOUT MY MONSTERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

If a monster lived under your bed would it be sweet or scary? Would it have four eyes and green polka dots? Or would it have big terrible claws and crooked yellow teeth?

 

 I Need My Monster written by Amanda Noll and illustrated by Howard McWilliam is about a little boy named, Ethan, who can't fall asleep without his favorite monster, Gabe, under his bed. But one night Gabe left a note that he's gone fishing, so Ethan summons a series of substitute monsters to help him fall asleep. Ethan is very picky and rejects several monsters who would have loved to sub in for Gabe. None were quite up to his "monster" standards.

Noll's I Need My Monster is a great book to use while teaching the comprehension strategy of visualizing. Readers should be able to visualize a story by picturing in their mind what they are reading. Visualization is a proven way to improve reading comprehension. Having students draw a picture after listening to a story is a great strategy to teach visualization. Before reading aloud the teacher will offer students some suggestions, "While I read, close your eyes and listen carefully. Think about what happens in the story. Listen for describing words (adjectives) use those words to help paint a picture in your mind." The teacher will read I Need My Monster aloud once without showing the illustrations and have the front and back of the book covered up. He/She will stop reading throughout the story to model how they visualize the story. For example, "As I read, I thought about the words and I imagined what the characters look like, what they were doing, and what their surroundings were like."  After reading the book, the students will answer questions on a worksheet about their monster and draw what they visualize their monster would look like.  The teacher will emphasize that everyone's visualizations will be different. Students will then share and discuss their pictures with a partner and then as a class. Then, the teacher will read the book again, this time showing them how McWilliam pictures the night time monsters.  The physical act of drawing and discussing their picture can help students grasp the concept of visualization. These mental images help readers recall details and draw conclusions.

  

List of possible questions on the worksheet: 

What is your monster’s name?                           _______   _____
How old is your monster?                                  _______   _____
What color is your monster?                              _______   _____
How big/little is your monster?                          _______   _____
How many arms does your monster have?           _______   _____
How many eyes does your monster have?           _______   _____
How many legs does your monster have?           _______   _____
What does your monster like to eat?                 _______   _____
What does your monster like to drink?               _______   _____
Is your monster scary or sweet?                       _______   _____
Where does your monster live?                        _______   _____
What kind of hair does your monster have?       _______   _____

 Our monster is purple with green lips and yellow polka dots. What does your monster look like?

Who is coming?!

"When they finally had to leave, they were sad, but not for long. They all knew they would be together next summer." 

What happens when your relatives come to visit? Do you eat constantly, laugh a lot, and hug for days? In The Relatives Came written by Cynthia Rylant a family in Virginia packs up their station wagon to visit relatives far, far away for a few weeks during the summer. There was hugging, eating, and breathing for many weeks, after which the relatives pack up and go back home. After they leave they miss each other. The Relatives Came helps children understand the importance of family. They realize that while the family may not be together all the time; they are missed by their relatives. Rylant expresses the joy, laughter, and celebration of family, stirring up the reader's family memories of the past. The colorful illustrations in the book are eye-appealing and won a Caldecott Honor Award in 1986. We can all remember visits with our relatives and smile!

The Relatives Came is a great book to use when teaching connection-making in reading because everyone has schema or background knowledge about family. This realistic fiction book is likely to bring up thoughts that are close to the reader's own experience of their relatives. A Think-Aloud incorporated into a read-aloud is a great strategy to use when teaching how to make personal connections in reading. The teacher can read aloud The Relatives Came stopping whenever the text reminds him/her of their own lives, thoughts, or experiences; the teacher models how to make connections by how he/she relates to parts of the text, how that helps him/her understand what is happening in the story or how the characters might feel. The teacher thinks aloud how the story reminds him/her of when their relatives come to visit every Christmas. After reading the story, the teacher can invite students to join in and share their own connections. He/She can remind them to connect it to the text by saying things like, "When I read (or heard) these words...it reminds me of..." or "When I saw the picture...it made me think...", such as the time their family came to visit or they went to visit family. The teacher will write their responses on a large piece of chart paper. Using their charted responses, discuss which “connections” actually help us understand the story. This book is a great remembrance of what is most important in life-FAMILY!