Literacy and Winter Fun with Jan Brett

Jan Brett is an award winning author and illustrator.  Her book, The Mitten, is one of the books of our literacy study this month.  It tells the story of a little boy who begs his grandmother to knit him a white mitten.  He drops his mitten in the snow and soon it becomes a warm refuge for eight winter animals, many of whom the children are familiar with and some which are new to them.  The text of the book is filled with wonderful and rich vocabulary, giving us many opportunities to discuss and use new words.

AT HOME FUN:  This is a delightful book to dramatize and retell.  Your children will be bringing home a small book and props to help them retell the story. 

Encourage your child to make up their own version of The Mitten.  Encourage them to find a towel or large blanket to be the mitten and then find stuffed animals (or family members) to squeeze into the "pretend mitten."

Retelling stories is a good skill to practice and develop as it is an important language and literacy kindergarten readiness skill.

Give your child practice listening for sounds as you read to them or use it as a fun game as you review the story after reading it.  The "M" sound is a perfect sound to listen for while reading The Mitten. 

The Gingerbread Man is a timeless story which never loses it's appeal to children.  The repetitive verse, "Run, run as fast as you can.  You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread man," is unforgettable.  The predictable and repetitive verse balances the suspense of the story. 

This is one of few childhood stories that doesn't have a happy ending (that is if you're rooting for the gingerbread man).  This makes it a very good book for discussion and also gives children the opportunity to rewrite the ending of the story. 

   Rewriting the ending is exactly what Jan Brett does in her book,  The Gingerbread Baby.  This is a fun companion book to the Gingerbread Man.  The updated story and the illustrations are a treat for the eyes and the ears.  We will be sharing and reading both versions with the children. 

AT HOME FUN:  Encourage your child to retell the story of the Gingerbread Man or the Gingerbread Bagy with a new ending.  Perhaps your child would like to make his or her own book.  They can illustrate the pictures and dictate the words for parents to write. 

Creating and Caring

Last spring, Miss Diane's class experienced many styles and processes of art and through it all came up with the idea that others might enjoy their masterpieces as much as they did.  And so . . .  

Read more...