Monday, February 26, 2007

Next Read Aloud--Advice Needed

So, we are almost finished with RULES by Cynthia Lord. It has been a great read aloud. Lots of great talk around the book. Kids are doing great thinking in their notebooks as we read and chat. Many seem to be thinking hard about the characters in the book.

As I think ahead to our next read aloud, I am thinking maybe THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET by Brian Selznick. I haven't read much of it and I have always struggled with reading aloud books with graphics. And the graphics are almost half of this book. But with all of the new technology, I think I can project the pages onto a screen and we can think through it all together. Has anyone finished it? I would love to hear what anyone has to say about the appropriateness for grades 3 and 4 and whether it is worth reading aloud using a screen for the graphic pages. I think it could be a pretty fun experience if it can work. I think the technology piece can really expand the kinds of books we read together as a class.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:42 AM

    Hi Franki,

    Thank you so much for choosing RULES! It's always such a thrill for me to hear that.

    If you're interested, I have a packet that I mail out to any teacher who asks for it, which shows "behind the scenes" things from RULES (a copy of a draft page from each stage of RULES' publishing process, the evolution of the cover, etc.) I think it brings the idea home how whether you're a published author or a fourth grader, writing is both fun and work.

    I'm also glad to exchange emails with a classroom. So please feel free to contact me, if you'd like (cindy@cynthialord.com)

    Best,
    Cindy

    Cynthia Lord, RULES

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  2. I so hope you write about how this goes if you give it a try. I recently read Chasing Vermeer to my fifth graders and simply copied the pictures for them to refer to. They are so important to the story in that book. I wish I had thought to put them up on the screen. I hope this works for you!

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  3. Anonymous12:35 AM

    i've read the book and it's fantastic. i think it might be a little challenging for some third-fourth graders but not too much.

    i'd love to hear if you make it work with the screen. the only thing with this book is it's so big! that's a lot of images to project onto a screen. it seems like it might become a little tedious?

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