submitted by Lisa/2/CT
From: lag <lgama@worldnet.att.net>

Hi - my kids just finished an author study on Robert Munsch. They
loved
it! I thought I'd share with the group. I teach second grade. It's
actually more of a mini-study, since it's pretty short. I have quite a
collection of his books, and cleaned out our library, so the kids had a
lot to choose from. Hope you can use it! I am planning on posting my
MLK unit (better late than never!) and the Lincoln unit I just did.
I'll get those out tomorrow. -Lisa/2/CT

Robert Munsch
An author study

(Robert Munsch's website, www.robertmunsch.com, is an excellent place
to
learn more about the author and to find out where his story ideas come
from. Munsch also has a collection of poems he wrote, especially for
kids. Excellent site.)

Days 1
? Focus: what makes a book funny?
? Reading Material: Thomas' Snowsuit
? Format: independent reading or partner choral reading
? Introduction: Introduce the author study with a Type 1 writing
activity. Pose the question, "What makes a book funny?" Students
write
for 3 minutes on this topic. Share responses and make a list of ideas
to refer to throughout the author study. (Ex. What characters do, what
they say, what they look like, jokes, silly things, etc) Show the cover
of Thomas' Snowsuit. Invite predictions about the story problem and
main characters. Point out the expressions on the mother's face and on
Thomas' face. Why do you think they look that way? What might they be
thinking? Read aloud information on where Robert Munsch got the idea
for this story. Explain that Munsch is a storyteller first, before he
is a writer. He makes up stories on the spot for kids he is with.
? Purpose for reading: noting what is funny
? Discussion: After reading: students write down which parts they
thought were funny. Share with group and relate to items on chart.
Add
new ideas where needed. (ex. Character expressions, the unexpected,
the
problem itself . . .)
? Closure: (if time allows, students enjoy doing a whole class choral
reading of this story. Teacher reads the narrative text, and the
students read the dialogue, with much expression. They love it.)


Days 2 and 3
? Focus: becoming familiar with Robert Munsch's style of writing
? Reading Material: collection of books by Robert Munsch
? Format: independent or partner choral reading
? Introduction: Review the "What Makes a Book Funny?" chart started
yesterday. Explain to students that they will spend the next two days
reading other books by Robert Munsch and thinking about what makes them
funny. Items will be added to the chart as needed. (Read aloud
another
Munsch title, sharing info on where the idea came from.)
? Activity: Students choose a book, read it, and record the title and
rating (1-4) on their recording sheet. Repeat for next book chosen.
Students spend the entire time over the next two days reading as many
Robert Munsch books as they can.
? Purpose for reading: to notice what makes the book funny, and what
makes a "Robert Munsch" book
? Discussion: Students can do a quick "booktalk" of their favorite
title so far to a small group.
? Closure: Share thoughts on Munsch books so far. Add anything to the
chart?

Day 4 - writing a book response (if you don't feel comfortable with
this procedure, feel free to email me and I'll share my activities for
introducing book responses)
? Focus: individual responses to Munsch titles
? Reading Material: collection of Robert Munsch books
? Format: independent
? Introduction: Review chart, "What We Can Write About Books", created
earlier in the year. Go over examples of each type of response and how
to write a quality response.
? Activity: Students choose one book they have read so far and write a
response.
? Purpose for reading: reread, if necessary
? Closure: do "human graph" on which book chosen the most, fewest; can
move to representational graph

Day 5
? Focus: sharing book responses
? Reading Material: written book response and book chosen
? Format: small group, with students all having read different titles
? Introduction: Review with students how to share and discuss in a
whole
group. Have one student model listening and one model reading.
Discuss
response, showing good manners and respectful listening.
? Activity: students share their responses in their small groups and
discuss
? Purpose for reading: to share ideas
? Closure: students can share their types of responses, add new ones
to
chart if needed
(ex. What we liked/our favorite part; I noticed that . . .; I
wondered
. . ; text-to self connection, text-to-text connections, text-to-world
connections; humor, etc)

Day 6
? Focus: Robert Munsch's Fingerprints
? Reading Material: collection of previously read Munsch books
? Format: independent or partner
? Introduction: Ask students if they think they could identify a Robert
Munsch book now by only reading part of it. What makes a Munsch book?
Encourage students to brainstorm a list of characteristics of Robert
Munsch's writing. (can do this whole group, or ask students to do a
Type 2 writing and come up with at least 3 or 4 ideas on their own,
then
add to class chart). Examples include, using NNOOO, repetition of
funny
parts, kids as characters, problems kids can relate to, using/showing
characters from other books in a story, using sound words
(blam-blam-blam), having the unexpected happen, etc
? Activity: Students become "reading detectives" and choose 4 of these
'fingerprints' and locate support for them in books they have read.
They record this information on a recording sheet.
? Purpose for reading: find support for statements about Munsch's
writing style
? Discussion: share support for each idea and add to class chart
? Closure: review chart and "what makes a book funny" chart created
earlier in the unit. Encourage students to use these ideas to write
their own Munsch-style story.