The educational plan focuses on an author study of Mo Willems to enhance literacy skills according to Common Core standards. It incorporates a variety of his books, such as "The Elephant and Piggie"
Doing an Author Study on Mo Willems will use a variety of literary texts that can be used to teach all of the Common Core Reading Literacy standards. The books are also good for teaching how text is organized and basic text features. For writing, I plan to have the children create a shared book, write about their favorite book, complete a biography of Mo Willems using shared/guided writing. For the NETS standards, they would be using technology to play games, create art, and publish their story.
Mo Willems
writing skills
informational writing
creative writing
writing to express an opinion
level of student and teacher interest
Teacher: Five Stars
Students: Five stars
Learning Standards
NETS
1. Creativity and Innovation
2. Communication and Collaboration
3. Research and Information Fluency
5. Digital Citizenship
6. Technology Operations and Concepts
Writing
W.K.1. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book
W.K.2. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.
W.K.5. With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed.
W.K.6. With guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.
W.K.7. Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them).
W.K.8. With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
Foundational Skills
RF.K.1. Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.
Reading
RL.K.1. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
RL.K.2. With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.
RL.K.3. With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.
RL.K.7. With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear
RL.K.9. With prompting and support, compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories.
RL.K.10. Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding. RI.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
RI.K.2 With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
RI.K.3 With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
RI.K.4 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.
RI.K.5 Identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book.
RI.K.6 Name the author and illustrator of a text and define the role of each in presenting the ideas or information in a text.
RI.K.7 With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts)..RI.K.8 With prompting and support, identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text.
RI.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding
Online Resources
Reading Rockets: Mo Willems
Pigeon Presents
Mo Willems' Website
A Slice of Life Challenge: A Slice of Mo
Authors as Mentors: Mo Willems
Web Quest: Mo Willems Author Study
Knuffle Bunny: Book Series Study
Needs and Wants Lesson with the Pigeon
Learn to Draw with Mo Willems
Mo on the Go App
Go Mo
Implementation
We will be using the websites and app to practice following directions and to complete the game objectives. I have not chosen specific games yet but when they are chosen the children will get to play them during Reading Stations. The children will also learn how to be good digital citizens.
We will be using the author biographies and videos to create a class book about Mo Willems.
The other stories will be introduced and used to meet other reading standards. The children will be able to respond in writing using their journals. The children will be able to express their opinion about which is their favorite book and character.
As part of our reading foundations lessons, I will be using some of the other books, including That is Not a Good Idea!, to introduce punctuation, i.e. exclamation point and quotation marks.
Then I will Introduce the Elephant and Piggy Books and Cat the Cat. We will be using them in guided reading. The children will then create their own Elephant and Piggie comic. I've done this activity before and the kids really enjoyed it.
The author study will be implemented during the first Unit: I'm in School. Knuffle Bunny Too is part of the unit already, so I will use that as the introduction to Mo Willems. One of the projects in our unit is to make a book about our school, we are going to make it using the same style as Knuffle Bunny Too. I will then introduce the original Knuffle Bunny and Knuffle Bunny Free.
Relevant Topics/Themes
Being Yourself (being unique)
Hooray for Amanda and Her AlligatorElephant and Piggie booksNaked Mole Rat Gets DressedKnuffle Bunny booksEdwina the Dinosaur that Didn't Know She was ExtinctLeonardo the Terrible Monster
Wants vs. Needs
Pigeon BooksNaked Mole Rat Gets Dressed
Text Concepts
That is Not a Good Idea!Elephant and Piggie BooksCat the Cat BooksPigeon Books
Starting School
Knuffle Bunny Too
Friendship
Elephant and Piggie booksHooray for Amanda and her AlligatorLeonardo the Terrible MonsterKnuffle Bunny TooCity Dog, Country Frog
Topics Currently Covered
The Elephant and Piggie and Cat the Cat books are used as part of our leveled library.
Knuffle Bunny Too is one of the books used for our first unit, I’m in School.
Books in My Collection
Other Books
City Dog, Country Frog, Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed, Leonardo the Terrible Monster, Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct, Hooray for Amanda and Her Alligator, That is Not a Good Idea!
Cat the Cat, Who Is That?, Let's Say Hi to Friends That Fly
Elephant and Piggie Books
A Big Guy Took My Ball!, Let’s Go for a Drive!, We Are in a Book!, Can I Play Too?, Watch Me Throw the Ball, Are You Ready to Play Outside?, I Will Surprise My Friend!, I Love My New Toy!, There is a Bird on Your Head!, I am Invited to a Party!, My Friend is Sad, Today I Will Fly!
The Pigeon Books
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, The Duckling Gets a Cookie!?, Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay up Late!, The Pigeon Wants a Puppy
