Mentor Text Madness--Day 3

The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster and illustrated by Chris Raschka is a delightful text that describes, through the eyes of child, what happens outside the window of her grandmother and grandfather's house.  This is another great read aloud for the beginning of the year, because you can revisit it for several mini lessons throughout a unit on narrative writing.

Mini lesson ideas:

• Small moment
• Seed Story
• Show, don't tell
• Voice
• Point of View
• Closing with a reflection of character's thoughts and feelings

Children identify easily with story and often are eager to share their own experiences with visiting grandparents or other relatives.  This is a perfect time to have them turn and talk with their elbow partner about those experiences and then send them off to write while they are excited!  Younger children enjoy modeling a similar story with another object or place.

• Hello, Goodbye Treehouse
• Hello, Goodbye School
• Hello, Goodbye Pet

Enjoy!