Like I noted yesterday, I had to try some new things today. With Mrs. Crooks's kindergarten class, I decided to read No Matter What instead of If Kids Ran the World. No Matter What was my second choice on my lesson plans, and now I know it should have been my first! This story is about a large fox and a small fox; Small is feeling grumpy and wants to know if Large will still love him/her. Of course, Large says, "No matter what!" I had a lot of fun asking the kids to make grumpy faces or silly faces or otherwise show their reactions to the story. In addition, the book progresses through the day, going to dinner time, bath time, and, finally, bed time. Having the students predict the order of the story was sometimes a leap for their understanding. I felt like this was an appropriate lesson for them to experience and stretch their knowledge of plot.
On the page where the characters were looking out at the starry night, one of the students asked if we could count the stars! "Absolutely!" I exclaimed, so excited that the students actually wanted to do more with the text! (This is a far cry from my 10th graders!) We counted them together (I stopped counting after "3" to see if they could do it), and reached 14 stars! And today was Valentine's Day! Perfect! I asked about today's date and then how many stars and suggested maybe the illustrator did that on purpose, to remind us that though the 14th of February is a day for love, "no matter what" we can love each other. I never would have thought I would say something as "cheesy" as this; however, these children are still learning about love and how to treat one another, so they were actually excited and interested in knowing this tidbit!
Today's 1st grade class did so much better with If Kids Ran the World. I decided to try it one more time because this teacher has a more strict teaching style. I thought that maybe the book did not succeed yesterday more because of behavior than because of content. I was partially right... These students were interested in the story and had excellent contributions to the message and moral of the story. They connected details from the pictures and followed my prompts and overall seemed to enjoy the book instead of rolling around on the floor. In the end and with some reflection, I think If Kids Ran the World is a story that is actually more for adults than children! I also think that this story may be more appropriate at a family story time where the parents and siblings can really talk about the message of the story: generosity, kindness, and caring.
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