Flip Flops, Beach Chairs, and Great Books!


Welcome!

My friends from The Reading Crew are back with more mentor texts to share this weekend as summer break begins and thoughts turn to lounging by a pool, soaking up the sun on a restful walk, or tickling your toes in the sand!


David Wiesner's FLOTSAM is a great mentor text to use as you help students expand their ocean vocabulary and visualize their thinking about word meaning. Free Mind Maps and a creative writing booklet are included, along with picture clue cards.



If you've followed my blog for any length of time, you know that I absolutely LOVE vacationing in Naples, Florida.  My family celebrates Christmas there, and this sign on my condo mantel just sums up how I feel about all-things ocean related.....

David Wiesner's FLOTSAM is a great mentor text to use as you help students expand their ocean vocabulary and visualize their thinking about word meaning. Free Mind Maps and a creative writing booklet are included, along with picture clue cards.



When the theme for this mentor text hop was announced, I did not have to think twice about my book choice.  I hope you'll enjoy the magic and the mystery of using David Wiesner's Flotsam to help your students visualize story events and expand their content vocabulary!



David Wiesner's FLOTSAM is a great mentor text to use as you help students expand their ocean vocabulary and visualize their thinking about word meaning. Free Mind Maps and a creative writing booklet are included, along with picture clue cards.






This Caldecott Award-winning picture book begins with an illustration that focuses on the tools of observation that a young boy has brought to the beach.  You'll notice that he has a magnifying glass, binoculars, and a microscope laid out on his towel, along with snorkeling gear in his bag.  This page sets the stage for the the discoveries he is going to make as he spends the day exploring what has washed up on the sand around him.



David Wiesner's FLOTSAM is a great mentor text to use as you help students expand their ocean vocabulary and visualize their thinking about word meaning. Free Mind Maps and a creative writing booklet are included, along with picture clue cards.
www.davidwiesner.com





After showing my students this illustration, along with the title page, I model how to complete a Mind Map for the word flotsam, and together talk about their own personal experiences they have had while visiting the ocean shore.  We also discuss the different kinds of  "treasures" the waves wash up there and where it all might come from.



David Wiesner's FLOTSAM is a great mentor text to use as you help students expand their ocean vocabulary and visualize their thinking about word meaning. Free Mind Maps and a creative writing booklet are included, along with picture clue cards.


Making personal connections and drawing picture clues helps deepen understanding of word meaning, and Mind Maps give learners a way to organize and make their thinking visible.


David Wiesner's FLOTSAM is a great mentor text to use as you help students expand their ocean vocabulary and visualize their thinking about word meaning. Free Mind Maps and a creative writing booklet are included, along with picture clue cards.






Once we have completed the flotsam Mind Map, I introduce these slides and/or photo cards of words related to the story and the old-fashioned underwater camera and film the boy discovers.   Individual students or partners then select their favorite word from my collection and work to complete a Mind Map of their own.  Students then present their definitions, synonyms, context clues, and pictures to each other.  Other images and words in the collection I share include ocean, treasure, adventure, journey, waves.  There are also cards for binoculars, microscope, magnifying glass, and oceanographer.


David Wiesner's FLOTSAM is a great mentor text to use as you help students expand their ocean vocabulary and visualize their thinking about word meaning. Free Mind Maps and a creative writing booklet are included, along with picture clue cards.



After our thorough study of beach- and ocean-related vocabulary, I share the story with my second graders, asking them to "give it words" and describe what they see in each picture.  It is great fun to turn each page and experience their delight as the photos taken by the mysterious underwater camera are revealed.  Sea turtles swimming above seashell houses, aliens riding seahorses and fish, and faces of children from places around the world ignite their imaginations, and generate great discussions!




Once we've read and discussed the story, I ask my second graders to think about what would happen if they threw the underwater camera back in the ocean like the boy in Flotsam.  What pictures would it take?  Where would it end up?  What would happen next?  They use this booklet to write and illustrate creatively about their ideas.


David Wiesner's FLOTSAM is a great mentor text to use as you help students expand their ocean vocabulary and visualize their thinking about word meaning. Free Mind Maps and a creative writing booklet are included, along with picture clue cards.


You can grab the free MIND MAP worksheets 
and the free VOCABULARY SLIDESHOW & WORD CARDS

I hope that your student oceanographers enjoy exploring what they'd see under the sea
with this magical story!  

As always, thanks so much for stopping by
to share my story!


You might also want to follow this great Pinterest board for more ideas on how to use
mentor texts in your classroom!


David Wiesner's FLOTSAM is a great mentor text to use as you help students expand their ocean vocabulary and visualize their thinking about word meaning. Free Mind Maps and a creative writing booklet are included, along with picture clue cards.

Have fun stopping by the rest of these blogs to gather great lessons and freebies from
some of my favorite teacher-author friends!

May your summer be
as peaceful and easy as my days and evenings at the beach!

David Wiesner's FLOTSAM is a great mentor text to use as you help students expand their ocean vocabulary and visualize their thinking about word meaning. Free Mind Maps and a creative writing booklet are included, along with picture clue cards.

David Wiesner's FLOTSAM is a great mentor text to use as you help students expand their ocean vocabulary and visualize their thinking about word meaning. Free Mind Maps and a creative writing booklet are included, along with picture clue cards.
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