Off We Go

Yolen, Jane. (2010). Off We Go. L. Molk (Illus.). Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company

No matter what animal, big or small, the best place in the world will always be grandma's house. From spiders to snakes, mice to moles, they all enjoy going off to grandma's house.

Connecting to the Standards
Kindergarten RL (5): Recognize common types of texts (e.g., storybooks, poems).

• This story is a clear example of a rhyming poem.

Kindergarten RL (6): With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.

• The author and illustrator are important aspects of the story. Without them, the story wouldn't exist. Students should understand this.

Kindergarten RL (7): With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

• The illustrations and text are clearly related in this story as they go through different animals.

Kindergarten RF (2): Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes). a. Recognize and produce rhyming words

• There are rhyming words in this story.

Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to recognize that this story is a form of rhyming poetry. They will explore the variety of rhyming words used in the story. They will also recognize the recurring theme of "Off to grandmother's house I..." and "Sings little..." Students will be able to name the author and illustrator and will go back through the story and explain how the text by the author relates to the art by the illustrator.

Adapted to the Classroom
This story is a great way to introduce a different type of rhyming scheme (AAAB) repeated throughout the story. Students should be carefully listening for the ending rhyme sounds of each stanza. Students should try to figure out what the rhyme scheme is. The teacher will establish a rhythm so the students can understand the meter of the story.

Students will then take what they heard, go back through the book, and identify each rhyming word in the poem. As a class, they will discuss what makes a rhyming word a rhyming word. Through teacher guidance, students will be given the chance to name other words that rhyme with the words from the books. Students will hopefully recognize homonyms as well.

Bloom's Taxonomy
Give an example of a word that rhymes with _____. (Application)
What is a rhyming word? (Knowledge)
Restate some of the rhyming words in the story. (Comprehension)

Differentiation
Students with aphasia may have difficulty recognizing that certain words are rhyming words. Maybe giving them basic rules to understand what words rhyme with what, like similar spelling endings, could help them. However, this won't help when it comes to homonyms.

The Book that Jack Wrote

Scieszka, Jon. (1994). The Book that Jack Wrote. D. Adel (Illus.). New York, New York: Penguin Books

Using cumulative rhyme, Scieszka takes classic nursery rhymes and creates a poem. The end result is a rather hilarious story with an effective and understandable rhyming scheme.

Connecting to the Standards
Grade 2 RL (4): Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.

• This cumulative poem has a lot of rhyme and rhythm in it.

Grade 2 RL (5): Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.

• Not only is this poem cumulative, but it is also circular making it rather unique in this instance.

Grade 2 RL (7): Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

• The illustrations really illuminate what the story is telling in pretty clear visuals.

Grade 2 SL (1): Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups

• Students will work in small groups to create a visual timeline, sequencing the events in the story.

Adapted to the Classroom

Students will most likely have heard some of the nursery rhymes mentioned in this story like the cow jumping over the moon and Humpty Dumpty. If not, it may be necessary to establish that understanding, and can be done during the course of the reading of the book most likely. It may not be necessary for the teacher to do a read aloud for this one and may be more appropriate for small groups to read together. After all, the vocabulary is not too difficult for 2nd graders. Students should be actively thinking about the sequence of the story and how the beginning and the end relate.

After they have read the story and discussed the sequence, they will create a visual timeline to show that they understand how the story is sequenced. This can be done through visuals for each line; like a pie for the baker and an hat for the hatter. They may draw in the visuals too if you, as the teacher, believe that is something that your classroom can manage effectively. This activity will hopefully help students understand the circular motion of this story. 

Bloom's Taxonomy

Outline the sequence of events. (Analysis)

Create a visual map to go along with the sequence of events. (Synthesis)

Differentiation

There is some more difficult vocabulary in the story, so the teacher should be standing by and observing groups as they read. If a group gets stuck, the student should support the students; possibly guiding them through sounding it out, or asking if they've ever seen that word before. Students who have trouble reading should be put in groups with higher level readers who can support them through their reading.

The Wizard

Prelutsky, Jack. (2007). The Wizard. B. Dorman (Illus.). New York, New York: Greenwillow Books

This adaptation of a poem from Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep shows the life of a wizard living in a tower. Bored by the monotony of his daily life, he decides to have fun when a bullfrog shows up, turning him into everything from a cockatoo to a flash of light.

Connecting to the Standards

Grade 2 RL (4): Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.

• Students will be able to recognize and identify the rhyme and beat of this poem.

Grade 2 SL (5): Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

• Students will write and perform their own poem that has rhyme and rhyme.

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to identify rhythm and rhyme in a story. They will identify the ending words that create the rhyme and the meter that creates the rhythm. Students will be able to write, edit, and revise their own poetry using meter and rhyme, much like The Wizard. 

Adapted to the Classroom

Students should have already had some experience with poetry and identifying rhythm and rhyme before they are asked to complete the creative writing activity in this lesson, writing there own poem with rhythm and rhyme. 

The book in this lesson, The Wizard is just one example of a poem book that can be used along with this creative writing activity. Students should be exposed to a variety of rhythm-and-rhyme poetry to establish an understanding of different types of rhythm and possibilities for rhyme. 

Once this understanding has been established, students will engage in a creative writing activity that tests their understanding of rhythm-and-rhyme poetry. Students will, over a long writing period, create their own poem using rhythm and rhyme. Students will write over a period of 2-3 weeks, editing and revising their poems. When they are finished, the poems could be recorded by the students and posted to the classroom website.

Bloom's Taxonomy

What are the parts or features of a rhythm-and-rhyme poem? (Analysis)

Create your own rhythm-and-rhyme poem. (Synthesis)

Differentiation

Because this assignment occurs over a long period of time, teachers will have the chance to meet with students who are having trouble completing the assignment and help them get back on track. Some possibilities for support may include a rhyming dictionary or give students the chance to look online for rhymes for their poems.