Mo Willems - An Author Study with Pigeon, Elephant & Piggie, and Knuffle Bunny!

Do you LOVE Pigeon?! Do your kids LOVE Pigeon?!

I cannot get enough of that silly pigeon and my kids agree. He is a read-aloud favorite and my kids begggg for me to read a pigeon book at least once a day! 

I'm not a pigeon-only type of gal either. I think all three Knuffle Bunny books are just amazing for students in so many ways.... and those Elephant and Piggie books?! They are also class favorites.

Basically, I love Mo Willems. My class loves Mo Willems. and I think he is a literary genius! All this being said, my 1st grade team and I are finishing up our year with a few author studies. I knew my kids would SO enjoy studying Mo Willems and all his fantastic books, so I wanted to get started on this unit right away!

If you can't already tell... I am SO excited about this unit :)

I made a better preview so you can actually SEE some of the pages and types of activities in the unit... if you want to check that out... click HERE!

Here are some examples of activities included:

 Letters to write to Mo Willems!

Making inferences, comprehension questions, text-to-self connections and more with Elephant and Piggie! 

 Character changes over time, making predictions, looking at dialogue and more with all three Knuffle Bunny books!

Adjectives, text-dependent questions, opinion prompts, vocabulary and more with Pigeon!

A fun, creative writing activity looking at the unique photographs/illustrations in the Knuffle Bunny books!

Click on any of the images above to get a closer look :) The unit is on sale through tomorrow night (Wednesday 4/23).

PS- If you want to win a free copy... make sure you head on over to my facebook page!

;)

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Close Reading in 1st Grade - Spring Edition

For more information about how I run close in reading in my 1st grade classroom, click HERE and you can read all about it!

A few days ago, I put the finishing touches on my Close Reading - Spring unit and I wanted to share a couple passages from the pack!

I am currently on February vacation - YAHOO - and quite honestly with the mounds and mounds of snow, it doesn't feel like Spring is anywhere close. However, I know in some parts of the country the temps are rising, so I wanted to get this pack out sooner rather than later.

This unit is set up the same way as my Close Reading - Winter pack.

It has a few pages explaining how I do close reading in my classroom as well as a few generic close reading practice sheets that can be used on books/poems/passages of your choice. There are 5 non-fiction passages  and 5 fiction passages, each with vocabulary and comprehension text-dependent questions.

The nonfiction passages include:

Flowers Bloom

Rainbows

Pet Rabbits

Thunder & Lightning

Monarch Butterflies

Sneak Peek:

We use lots of circle, highlighting, and arrows to prove our thinking!

The fiction passages include:

Hippity, Hoppity - a story about a bunny that helps his frog friend overcome a fear

Rainy Day Fun - a story about a boy who grows restless after it has rained for 5 days in a row

Let's Fly a Kite - a fantasy story about a boy and his magical secret

Check out my Bug Collection - a story about 2 girls who learn to love bugs and start a collection

Caterpillar & Bumblebee - a story about 2 insects who deal with caterpillar's change into a butterfly

Sneak Peek:

If you are interested in checking out my close reading packs, click below! Other seasons are in the works, included non-fiction only units and more :)

Now it is time to go out to lunch with the momma! I hope everyone else on their vacation is enjoying it!!

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