I have 29 students in my classroom. Some of them have had exposure to literacy concepts before coming to school but some have not had any exposure to books and letters before starting kindergarten. Mo Willems is the perfect author to get them excited about reading and to teach them how books work.
I have 29 very energetic and curious students who are excited to learn.
Our elementary school is a very High Poverty school. It has 51% free and reduced lunch. My students' favorite time of the day is when they are being read to. A lot of them do not have access to books at home so the only exposure that they get is when they are read to at school. Gifted students, special needs students, low-economic students, high economic students, avid readers, reluctant readers, all work side by side in a safe and happy learning environment. I have students in my classroom that came in not knowing a single letter or how to even hold a book. In this short time they have learned about 20 letters and can all look at a book the right way. They love to show emotion in the books that they read and Mo Willems provides a great opportunity for them to do that.
My Project
Each day I will gather my students on the carpet and read these books out loud to them over and over again. We will laugh at the humor, get to know the characters, and notice the use of speech bubbles. I will have the opportunity to point out the difference between print and pictures and model how reading sounds. After these multiple readings, the books will be on display for students to read them independently and practice all the literacy skills that I have taught.
Reading opens up a whole new world.
As my 29 students experience these Mo Willems books their lives will be changed. They will fall in love with characters and reading. They will also learn the early literacy skills they need to become independent lifelong readers.
Pigeon Pack (4 Book Set) (The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!; Don't Let Pigeon the Stay Up Late!; The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!; Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!)
• Amazon
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