Educational Mumbo Jumbo: Part III

Once temperatures drop in Oklahoma, we plan on taking Little Man (almost 4) and Little Miss (almost 2) to a local orchard to pick apples.  I want to make the most of our time there, so I thought we'd do a little prep work.  Little Man and Little Miss' schema (background knowledge you already know on a subject) is pretty limited.  They both love apples.  They know that apples come in different colors.  They know they are good for you, but that's it.  Not much else.  I wanted to build on their schema before we made the trek.   

Up, Up, Up!  It's Apple-Picking Time was the perfect book to help Little Man (Little Miss listened, and I was pleased with that).  First, we took a 'Book Walk'.  Little Man held the book and got to look through the pages without me reading.  Occasionally I would point to pictures and ask, "Why do you think that man is standing on a ladder?" or "What do you think they're doing?"  Sometimes he would answer, "I don't know."  To which I would say, "Well, maybe we'll find out once we read it." 

After he was finished, we started at the beginning and I read.  I was real careful to provide Think Time.  Once we got to the part about the ladder, Little Man's light bulb went off, "Mama, he's not on the ladder to climb the tree, he's picking apples!!!"  He was so excited to have figured that one out.  Of course it was obvious to me, but had I answered this for him during our Book Walk, I would have denied him the opportunity to have ownership over his idea.  It means more when he discovers it. 

Since we spent the time learning about apple orchards, I'm hoping our trip will be that much more valuable and he'll start making these types of connections...

Text to Self-A time where your child remembers what they have read in a story and connects it to a time in their life.  For example, when reading this book Little Man said, "That's the kind of apples we eat."  Connecting what he saw in a book and relating it to his little life.

Text to World-This is when your child makes a connection from a book to something in the world.  For example, I'm hoping Little Man will say, "This place is just like the book we read, " when we arrive at the orchard.

Text to Text- This is when your child makes a connection from one book to another.  For example, we also love Runaway Pumpkin.  When we sat down to read the apple book Little Man made a comment that pumpkins grow on the ground (which he learned from Runaway Pumpkin) and apples grow on trees.

Giving your kids these types of opportunities allows for  metacognition.  A big fancy word for 'thinking about thinking'. Reading offers a whole lot of metacognition!  Use the word today.  You'll sound super smart!!!

Well that's it for now.  Next week, we'll talk about some pre-reading activities involving acronyms KWL and FQR.  More mumbo jumbo if you ask me!