Just the GIST please! You're making me Grumpy!

Mr. Gloomingdale's Downpour by Andrew Conlan is the story of a very grumpy man by the name of Mr. Glommingdale.  Mr. Gloomingdale lives in a very lovely cottage with very lovely plants that always had very lovely days, and he hated it.  He's always in such a grumpy mood that he thought the happy plants and animals were making fun of him by smiling all the time, but they were really just trying to make him happy! One day Mr. Gloomingdale gets a letter in the mail telling him about a wishing well.  He goes and finds the wishing well, and knows exactly what he is going to wish for.  He wishes for there to be no sunshine and cheer around him as long he is in this grumpy mood.  All of a sudden a rain cloud appears and starts following him around. He runs into his house to avoid the rain, but it follows him.  He looks outside and realizes that the only one in the rain is him.  The plants are smiling, the sun is shining, and the animals are playing.  To help stay dry, he had to wear a rain coat and carry an umbrella.  He thought it made him look silly which made him livid!  He soon realized that the he was taking up all the rain, and the sunny days were taking their toll on the plants and animals.  Soon the plants began to wilt and the animals fell over.  This didn't make Mr. Glommingdale happy or grumpy, it made him sad.  He put his umbrella down and looked at the plants.  When he did, rain dripped from his yellow hat, and the plant he was standing over started to get better.  After he saw this he hurried to all the plants and animals and gave them water.  After helping all the plants and animals he realized the rain cloud was gone, and he was not grumpy anymore.  He was happy at his very lovely cottage with very lovely plants that always had very lovely days. 

Summarizing information: Means to tell what's important!

GIST: A summarization strategy.  The group will write a summary in 20 words. 

Explanation:  The GIST of something is the main idea.  Sometimes we don’t need to remember all the details but read just to get the GIST of the material.

Procedure: Draw 20 word sized blanks on the chalkboard.

After reading a short section of text (one-two paragraphs), the students will assist the teacher in writing a 20 word summary to give the gist of what they read.

 With older students, read an additional section of text (one-two paragraphs).  Information from both sections must be incorporated into a new 20 word summary.

Can you do a 20 word Gist of the story from the synopsis above?

  

I see...I hear...I feel...I smell...I taste...???

    A Quiet Place by Douglas Wood is a wonderful story to help children use the skills of visualizing and inferring.  The story follows a young boy that finds the city just too noisy and dreams of ways to escape. The boy imagines many different places he could go to find quiet; the desert, a forest, a pond, and a museum to name a few.  The reader becomes an adventurer along with the young boy as he explores different settings in his imagination.  In the end, he realizes that you can always go to a quiet place inside your own mind, "the very best quiet place of all." 

Images from the book include scenes from the boy's imagination as he tries to find quiet:  "You could look in the desert, where Old Man Saguaro reaches for the sky, and far-off thunderheads bloom like sky-flowers over the mesas.  And you can be a Pony Express rider galloping through the Old West."

    When we talk to students about visualizing we could tell them to create a movie in their mind before, during, or after they read a book.   To help students understand how to visualize we could model prompts like, "When I read this, I see... I hear... I feel...I smell...I taste..."   Teachers can use a guided imagery activity to help students create mental images.  The teacher asks the students to close their eyes as a descriptive passage is read.  During the reading, pause to ask students what they see, hear, taste, smell, and feel.  After the story, the students can draw what they imagined.  

   To help students use the skill of inferring, teachers can act out small scenes from the story.  For instance, in A Quiet Place the boy is trying to escape from the loud racket of a city,  "A place to rest your ears from bells ringing and whistles shrieking and grown-ups talking and engines roaring..."  The teacher could place her hands over her ears and close her eyes.  The students could infer what the teacher is dramatizing. The story could be dramatized after it is read aloud to the class.  The students would enjoy creating their own  dramatization after the story.

   Take a moment, close your eyes, and find your quiet place. 

  

Everyone Worries!

Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Waber

Ira is super excited to spend the night away at a friend's house for the first time, but then he realizes he will have to decide if he should take his teddy bear with him.  He always sleeps with his bear.  He decides to leave the bear at home but then finds himself scared and unable to sleep after a ghost story!  Will his friend understand if Ira wants his teddy bear?

Have you ever done something for the first time and found it scary?  Like go to a new school, visit a new place, or try a new sport?

Just like Ira, you could be worried about what others will think of you or be nervous about what will happen.  And, because you have felt worried or nervous before, like Ira you can understand that everyone gets scared or worried sometimes!

Making Connections through text to self:

Think about a time you were worried or scared.  You could think about the first day of school and how you felt to walk into a new classroom with new people.  Take out a sheet of notebook paper and draw a line down the middle.  On the left side of the paper,  write down how Ira felt without his bear.  Then,  on the right side of the paper, write how you felt once when you were scared.

How did you solve your problem?   On the back of the paper write down what you did to feel less scared or worried.  When you are finished writing, share your ideas with your writing partner