November 2006

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November 13, 2006

Podcast of Courage by Bernard Waber

Here is wonderful collection of students sharing their rendition of Courage by Bernard Waber.  Make sure you listen for those special definitions you hear that pertain especially to you or someone you love.

Download CourageBOM.mp3

November 09, 2006

Kindergarten Activities

New Page 1

Courage by Bernard Waber

 

  1. Read aloud Courage by Bernard Waber. 
  2. Think, Pair, Share – Reread several passages from the book, pausing after each one to allow students to think about what might happen if one did not demonstrate courage that particular scenario.  Students share their thoughts with a partner.  Have each pair share with the group.
  3. Allow students to act out/dramatize some of these scenarios from the book.

 

 

 

 

Health- Kindergarten

 

H.K.2.1 Decision Making
The learner will be able to recognize that there are consequences to actions and behaviors.

 

H.K.3.3 Self Management
The learner will be able to recognize emotions and appropriate ways to express them (including effective and ineffective ways to handle anger).

Home/School Connection

Courage by Bernard Waber

Talk to your parents, sisters, brothers and grandparents about times in their lives when they had courage.

Visit the author, Bernard Waber, at

www.bookpage.com/0301bp/meet_bernard_waber.html

He draws and writes answers to an interview about himself.

Primary EATS Lesson

Courage by Bernard Waber

The organization of this book centers on the different uses of the word courage.  So for this lesson, the organization and word choice traits are highly interrelated.  As Waber moves from concrete to abstract examples of how courage is displayed in everyday life, the text unfolds.  From the simple to the profound, this text expresses many emotions that are evoked with the use of this one word. (Cullham, 2004)

Essential Question:  How can I organize my writing?

Activating Strategy: 

Read aloud Courage by Bernard Waber.

Teaching Strategy:

Think, Pair, Share

Reread Courage (Waber, 2002), pausing at least every couple of pages to allow students to discuss the examples that compromise the definition of courage.

Shared Writing Activity 

Create a class big book using pieces of chart paper or 12”x18” construction paper, following the same organizational style for another word, such as happiness, honesty, self-control, generosity, kindness, cooperation, wisdom, or perseverance.  Illustrate and display the book for students to use as a model when they create their own books.

                  

Distributed Guided Practice:

Students create their own books, organizing the text around a single word.  Younger students who are not yet writing may dictate their sentences to an adult.  Have students use a visual organizer, such as a web, to organize their thoughts.  Allow students to work in pairs to brainstorm ideas for their books.  Provide plenty of paper, colored pencils, crayons, etc….  Bind the finished books with staples or yarn. 

Summarizing Strategy:

Learning Log:  What part did you struggle with?

Journal Topics/Writing Prompts:

  • What do you think courage means?
  • Write about an incident that illustrates courage.
  • Courage is…

 

Works Cited

Culham, R. (2004). Using picture books to teach writing with the traits. New York: Scholastic.

Waber, B. (2002). Courage. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

What is Courage all about?

Courage

By Bernard Waber

There are many kinds of courage.
Awesome kinds.
And everyday kinds.
Still, courage is courage—
whatever kind.
— from Courage, by Bernard Waber

    Courage is something we can all use these days—courage to deal with little things like jumping off the high dive, and courage to deal with big things like learning how to say good-bye. 


      What is courage?  There are the everyday kinds that normal, ordinary people exhibit all the time, like "being the first to make up after an argument," or "going to bed without a nightlight." There are the admirable kinds like "sending a valentine to someone you secretly admire and signing your real name." And there are the heroic kinds…


     Bernard Waber touches on the many kinds of courage and celebrates the moments, big and small, that bring out the hero in each of us.  It all comes together in the end with a universal message—“Courage is what we give to each other.”