The Relatives Came {Freebie}

One of my favorite books to read this time of the year is “The Relatives Came” by Cynthia Rylant. {It is on backorder on Amazon…BUT you can get it through Scholastic}.

She is just one of my favorite authors in general. I know there are a lot of teachers out there that are very limited on what they can teach this time of the year. I am lucky enough to work in a school where our principal trusts us and we don’t feel too much pressure from administration.  A lot of “holiday” talk or thematic teaching is frowned upon. Which is a total bummer because most students (even adults)  learn thematically…

Anyways, this is a great story to read this time of the year because it’s a story about families getting together. Obviously, they are getting together for the holiday season. You wouldn’t be reading it for that reason though. Many families go on road trips or trips in general during this time of the year. I really start to focus on text-to-self connections. We talk about how relating and making connections to a story helps you understand it better. If students are having a hard time with making connections, create a list or graphic organizer of events that happened in the story. Connections can be obscure for some kiddos because they haven’t learned how to think on that level. Model how to make connections. Do it in all of your read a-louds.

“One time, I went on a road trip with my family and it seemed like it took forever!”. That is a connection I may say as I’m thinking aloud while reading. Many students travel or have family come visit them. This is a great story to reinforce or to introduce connections this time of the year.

This Thanksgiving, we are the relatives coming to town 🙂 Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

What are your plans?