Wemberly Worried

Our mini lesson for Reader's Workshop was "Good Readers" make connections to the stories they read.  Students who make connections while reading are better able to understand the text they are reading. It is important for students to draw on their prior knowledge and experiences to connect with the text. Students are thinking when they are connecting, which makes them more engaged in the reading experience.

We read Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes. Wemberly is a mouse and she worries about EVERYTHING! She worried about spilling her juice, about shrinking in the bathtub, even about snakes in the radiator. She worried morning, noon, and night. And Wemberly worried about one thing most of all: her first day of school. But when she meets a fellow worrywart in her class, Wemberly realizes that school is too much fun to waste time worrying! 

Wemberly Worried Read Aloud

When I finished reading the book, I challenged the students to connect with Wemberly and think of something they worry about.  Here are some samples of student's work:

The rest of the children wrote what they worried about:

Sam - thunder and lightning

Griffin - going on a ride at Disney World

J.J. - starting school

Lucas - riding on the bus

Christina - going to the doctors

Christian W. - his brother taking his Pokemon cards

Rilyn - a power outage at her grandmother's house

Christian R. - starting school

Dylan - swimming at the All Star meet

Johnny - having bad dreams

Liam - starting school

Victoria - going to school

Bella - her sister shutting the basement lights off on her

Ellie - singing in front of the whole school with her friends

How can you extend learning at home?

When reading with your child, challenge them to make connections.

Focus on text-to-self connections: What does this story remind you of? Does anything in this story remind you of anything in your own life? Focus on text-to-text connections: What does this remind you of in another book you have read? How is this text similar to other things you have read? How is this text different from other things you have read?
Focus on text-to-world connections: What does this remind you of in the real world? How are events in this story similar to things that happen in the real world? How are events in this story different from things that happen in the real world?
Happy Reading!