Eric Carle Unit

Before break, we finished our Eric Carle unit in language arts. Through this unit, students learned...

-Authors and illustrators are real people who often draw inspiration from daily life.

-About the process that authors and illustrators go through to publish a book.

-The reading comprehension strategy of Questioning.  We created “I wonder” statements as we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Mister Seahorse. “I wonder” statements are a starting point for asking meaningful questions as we read. Readers who ask questions are not only more engaged as they read, they also form more meaning as they strive to find answers to their own questions.

-The reading comprehension strategy of Retelling/Summarizing.   As we read Papa, Please Get the Moon For Me, we talked about how good readers stop during their reading to reflect on what has already happened and make predictions, so they better remember the story.  We also talked of the importance of retelling stories in our culture.

-The reading comprehension strategy of Schema.  Good readers draw on background knowledge to better understand the story.  For this strategy, we used the book Pancakes, Pancakes.  However, before we read, we made pancakes in the Discovery Room from scratch.  This helped students build their schema so when we read Pancakes, Pancakes we were able to make real world connections and better understand the reading.

Integrating art into this unit was easy, as Eric Carle is renown for his artwork.  We watched a video on Eric Carle's technique of making textured paper and collages.  Inspired by Eric Carle, we made our own collages to create our own version of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See?  Below are some excerpts from our class book.