I've seen it before at book stores and such, and it's such an eye-catching book. But what made me fall in love was the book's description.
This book is PERFECT for my ELL kids. The majority of my students are in our ELL program (English Language Learners) or have been in the past. So I think they could really connect to this book. But like the description says, everyone can relate to learning how to read! We've all done it.
So, obviously, I immediately checked out this book and added it to my Amazon wishlist because borrowing this book from the library isn't going to cut it. And I couldn't help but write a blog about it for Andrea's Book Talk Thursday!!!
I found this great activity on TPT by Smart Chick Teaching Resources.
The activity she created to go along with this book focuses on context clues. Context clues are useful to all students, we know this. But context clues are invaluable to ELL students.
Sometimes my students get stuck on a word during a test and freeze up! One time during a test, one of my students had never heard the word "jug" before and she decided she could NOT answer the question because of this. It was a math measurement problem and if she had gathered context clues, she would have been able to easily solve the problem. So every year, context clues is a main focus in my classroom.
With this activity from Smart Chick Teaching Resources, the students fill in a chart during their quest to find the meaning of the strange, outlandish words in "Baloney" by Jon Scieszka. They have to identify the clues that helped them determine their hypothetical meaning of the word.
For example, here is a page from the book-
The students would have to guess what they thought "Torakku" meant and identify the clues in the text and illustrations that helped them arrive to that conclusion.
So glad I found this book and Smart Chick Teaching Resources today!
A colleague brought that book in to my class one day. I had never seen it before. I was multi-tasking so when I asked her the title I misunderstood it to be "Baloney and Repeat" and so I introduced it to the class by the wrong title. Her and I no longer call each other by first name. I call her "Baloney" and she calls me "Repeat". Couldn't help but share that story with you!
ReplyDeleteMrs. O
Mrs O Knows
Haha that is the best! I will always think of you when I read this book now!
DeleteI used this book last year while teaching context clues and it was a big hit with my students! We all had such a good time trying to pronounce the words and then figure out what the meant!
ReplyDeleteCourtney
Polka Dot Lesson Plans
I'm excited to use it! I'm glad to hear it was so engaging with your kiddos :)
DeleteThanks so much for linking up this week! Like Courtney, I love using this book for context clues. All of the students really enjoy it! I think it is great that you use it, especially with your ELL students. It really helps all of the other students realize how hard it is for them to understand what we are saying!
ReplyDeleteAndrea
Reading Toward the Stars
Yep! I think it also reminds us adults too!
DeleteI love Baloney! I use it every year to teach about context clues and how we can figure out unknown words. My students always LOVE the book even if they have seen it before... I teach fifth grade and quite a few fourth grade teachers have also discovered the book. My students love checking themselves at the end as we decode the story... last year several of my students called pencils a zimulus for nearly the entire year. I would agree that it's a great read & very educational!
ReplyDeleteAmanda
My Shoe String Life
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LOVE this book! I found it after seeing this resource on TPT for context clues.
ReplyDeleteDon't Let the Teacher Stay Up Late
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