By Melanie Watt (2006)
| Introduction | About the Willows | Strategies | Lessons | Helpful Resources | References |
Summary
Augustine is a shy, artistic penguin who moves from the South Pole to the North Pole because her father has a new job. The story is told through small sequenced pictures and words and documents her feelings as they pack, she says good-bye to her family and friends and travels on a plane. At her new school, she finds that her drawing talent helps her to make friends and inspires her new classmates to prepare for and hold an art show. Her pictures throughout the book are obviously influenced by famous paintings from around the world. These are referenced in the back of the book.
Strategies
The story of Augustine lends itself to the reading strategies of making connections, inference and visualizing. If the story is used to model these strategies, the teacher would read to students and stop to think aloud when he/she makes a connection, inference or visual image. If the story is being used for guided practice, the teacher would invite students to talk about their connections, mental images and inferences. Recording their thinking on large chart paper might be a part of this guided practice or individually for independent practice. Responses might be written on sticky notes with text codes and brief explanations or they might be written on something like a two column note forms. Headings on the form might indicate things like: What the Text Said/My Connection, What the Text Said/My Thinking, What the Text Said/The Picture My Mind Made, depending on the strategy that is being practiced.
Connections
These are some of the topics from the story that I felt I could make a connection with and model my thinking. When modeling, I would read and might start a connection with a statement like "I remember..." or "This reminds me of...". If students were already familiar with making connections, I would invite them to make connections. Some of these topics framed as a question might get them started.
• Text - to - Self
- being named after someone or what does your name mean
- finding out you have to move
- packing, saying good-bye
- flying in an airplane
- finding a new house and moving in
- going to a new school
- not playing ball at recess with the other students
- making friends through drawings
- holding an art show
• Text - to - Text
- other books about drawing and famous artists
- information books about the North and South Poles
• Text - to - World
- background knowledge about the famous artists and paintings that Augustine draws
- background knowledge about the North and South Poles
Visualizing
Each step of the move can provide visual images for readers depending on their own prior knowledge. In this story it isn't the words of the story as much as what is happening to the characters that can help create pictures in the mind with the five senses and a person's emotions.
- Try to imagine what what your bedroom would look like if you packed all of your toys and clothes in boxes.
- Try to get a picture in your mind of what the new house would be like if it looks like a castle.
Inferences
Every two-page spread describes another phase of the move. There are nine little pictures on the left and one larger picture on the right accompanying the text. Some of the nine little pictures have short labels. Most of the nine little pictures sequence what would be happening in Augustine's life during this phase of the move but they are not directly mentioned in the text. Reading the pictures would help students infer some of the events that are happening.
Determining Importance
The centre picture of the nine small ones on each spread is one that Augustine has drawn herself and often is key to understanding what is important to her at that time in the story. Drawing students attention to this would help them determine what is important at that point in the story.
This would also be a good story to sequence which helps students pull out what is important.
Strategies Used in the Activities Suggested on the Willow Awards Site
We identified the following reading strategies as being necessary for students to complete the activities that are suggested on the Willow Awards site. Depending on a student's familiarity with using the strategies, they may need some explicit teaching and modeling to be able to complete the activity independently.
Willow Awards 2007 - Augustine
http://www.willowawards.ca/nomdescribe/augustine.htm
- Research animals found at the north and south poles. Draw pictures and include on a bulletin board about the two areas. Determining Importance, Synthesis, Visualizing
- Create a play or dialogue about a penguin and a polar bear (or animals found in either location). Determining Importance, Synthesis
- Divide a paper into nine equal squares. Write a story and include an item associated in the story in each of the squares. Inferences, Visualizing
- Sponsor an art show in the classroom. Invite other classes and/or parents to visit. Visualizing, Making Connections
- Visit an art gallery. Invite an artist to the classroom. Making Connections
| Making Connections | Questioning | Visualizing | Making Inferences | Determining Importance | Synthesis | Monitoring Meaning |
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Augustine.doc | 60 KB |
