Surprise Author Study

We have been working on retelling during shared reading. I had started out with fairytales, but stumbled up a great author study for retelling. I’m not quite sure why I pulled out an Ezra Jack Keats book to read, but his books are AMAZING for retelling. They are fairly straight forward and worked really well to get the results I was looking for. (Don’t you hate it when you choose a book that ends up being way too complicated?) The kids LOVE listening to his books and can make tons of connections, plus it adds a bit of diversity to our reading. Our school is in a very suburban area and there is not a great deal of diversity. The facts that Keats’ books have city settings and diverse characters is fantastic! Plus, my grandmother was a teacher in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, and she read these books to her class and to me when I was growing up. It is funny that all of the books my grandmother saved from her teaching days and read to me in the early 80s are now classics that children still love! When I see the covers, I always smile and think of her.

I used my little retelling signs and the kids were all over getting to hold a sign. I had to promise everyone would get a chance over a few days. I think I might make a bunch to put in centers. Click on the image to go to that post.

Check out the Website for Ezra Jack Keats for great information about this author and his books!

What books do you love for teaching retellings? Are there an author studies that are great to try out?