"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!
This book seems like a good book for making connections. The students would also have fun with the activity, and it would give the students a good chance to talk about some of their own personal experiences.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
~Jennifer
Students will love this book because every student I have ever known has wanted to tell me all about their cousins, brother, sisters, grandmothers, pets, etc! Everyone should be able to relate to having someone come to visit, and they will probably have a story to tell about it!
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds really cute! I'm sure all the students can think back to a time that they spent with their family. Younger kids especially enjoy talking about their families. Good job! Mallory
ReplyDeleteWhat a great book to use for making connections. Your description of the book takes me back to Christmas with the family. I believe that most students would make connections around holidays with their families. Great job on choosing a book and writing it up in your blog!
ReplyDelete-Cara
This seems to be a great book for making real world connecting. This book will be very beneficial to students trying to represent their background knowledge and experiences with topic in class. Connecting a book with the student’s family memories is a great idea to get them interested in the story and also allows for further discussion on the piece. Great blog!
ReplyDelete