We’re knee deep now in our Tomie dePaola author study . Each time I read The Art Lesson I’m reminded and amazed all over again at the acute recollection Tomie dePaola has of his childhood. Down to the last detail. It’s those little details in the story and illustrations that draw me in and make The Art Lesson one of my favorite books to teach with. I always say that Tomie books are every teacher’s dream. I love his simple, relevant themes and his books work so perfectly for teaching just about about any comprehension strategy and story structure. All the things you can do with these books for cause/effect, problem/solution, drawing conclusions, analyzing characters, their traits, and how they change is limitless!
Many are autobiographical tales and lend themselves so perfectly to teaching about an author’s viewpoint which can be a bit tricky for young readers. And text-to-text connections? You could practically create a timeline of this author’s life just through the characters in his books! I have a deep connection to The Art Lesson because I can relate so well to the main character,Tommy.
out on little “museum floors” for our end of year open house.
How cute is that?
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their adjective choices.
We used Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then to help us decompose the story.
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with the Strega Nona series!
To see all four parts of this series click the links below:
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