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Winnie
Dancing On Her Own
By
Jennifer Richard Jacobson
Book
Discussion Questions:
Does
this story, Winnie Dancing on Her Own, remind
you of any experiences you've had in your own life?
Have
you ever had to choose between what your friends wanted
to do and what you wanted to do? What did you decide?
Why?
Winnie
was not a good dancer, but she had other strengths
and talents. What are your personal strengths? Are
they the same or different from your friends?
Reading
Comprehension Mini-Lessons:
Compare
and Contrast / Characterization: Even though Winnie,
Zoe, and Vanessa like to dress alike and do many of
the same things, they are actually quite different.
Have students compare and contrast these characters
using a three-ring Venn diagram.
Plot:
It is the author's job to create tension in a plot.
Tension is a feeling of suspense that keeps the reader
wanting to know what will happen next. Ask, how did
the author create tension in this story? List students’
responses on the board or chart paper.
Possible
responses might be:
- She
raised questions in our minds: Will Winnie dance?
Will her friends still like her if she quits?
- She
keeps getting Winnie in deeper and deeper trouble
and we worry about her. We want things to turn
out well for Winnie.
Book
Celebration
Make
Indoor S'mores! For a recipe, go to: http://www.childfun.com/themes/camping.shtml
Language
Arts
Chants,
jump rope rhymes, and traditional songs: Winnie
loves to recite chants and sing silly songs with her
friends.
Activities
- Invite
students to collect their own favorite chants,
rhymes and songs and compile them in a notebook.
- Have
each student contribute one favorite chant or
cheer to a class book.
- Write
chants and silly songs on chart paper and introduce
them at meeting time. Invite students to tell
you what they observe about the print and rhyming
patterns.
- Suggest
that students write their own chants, songs or
raps.
Internet
Connections
Mysteries:
Winnie, who loved going to the library, was reading
every mystery in a series. Do you have mystery lovers
in your class? Try these activities.
Activities
- Ask
students to make a chart of characteristics that
define a mystery. As they read mysteries, have
them check off literary elements that were detected.
Mysteries usually have:
- an
unanswered question
- unexplained
events
- a
suspenseful mood
- clues
planted within the plot
- a
red herring – a suspicious character meant to
throw the reader off the trail of the real culprit
- Suggest
students write their own mysteries. Suggest they
answer these questions when plotting their story:
- What
question will you raise for the reader?
- Who
will your protagonist (detective or crime fighter)
be?
- What
clues will lead the protagonist to the answer
to the question?
- Who
or what events will fool the protagonist and
the reader?
Internet
Connections
Science
Penguins:
When Winnie uses "the Fletcher imagination,"
she pretends to be a penguin even though everyone
knows that penguins can't fly.
Activities
- Have
students research penguins to answer the question,
"Why can't penguins fly?" (The Penguin
Adaptation site below has some terrific experiments
to explore the answer to this question)
Internet
Connections
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