A Close Reading Lesson with Blart: A little Blob of Art!
Excerpted from the chapter, 'A Feeling of Place' from Trees in the Forest: Growing Readers and Writers through Deep Comprehension.
"Exploring setting may not seem important, but writers carefully select settings as a spring board for telling stories. Writers know that they cannot write about an entire world, so they write about a smaller world to serve as a microcosm of our own lives. Many teaching strategies help children discover the importance of setting by asking questions. While asking questions is important, remember to emphasize opinion-based questions that have no right answer. When we write as a means of discovery, we can then share our writing as a catalyst for discussion. We invite our children to think of more than one answer. We invite them to become deep thinkers." (97-98)
Children understand setting best when they learn to connect a story's setting to the larger world around them, and then to their own world. The simpler the setting, the better the platform for conveying these parallels. Because Blart offers such a simple setting, it is a great book for introducing this strategy to children of all ages. Once they have completed this activity, you can apply this strategy again and again with other books in your curriculum. Below are step-by step instructions to help children learn to relate a story's setting to their own lives.
Children understand setting best when they learn to connect a story's setting to the larger world around them, and then to their own world. The simpler the setting, the better the platform for conveying these parallels. Because Blart offers such a simple setting, it is a great book for introducing this strategy to children of all ages. Once they have completed this activity, you can apply this strategy again and again with other books in your curriculum. Below are step-by step instructions to help children learn to relate a story's setting to their own lives.
1. Understanding Blart's World
First let your children read Blart: A Little Blob of Art. Once they are finished, ask them to fill in the circle with a couple ideas about the setting of the story. Don't be afraid to jump in and write your own ideas as well:
2. Relating to the Whole World of People
Now lets compare Blart's world to the whole world of people. Ask your kids to think of some things about Blart that remind them of their city, country, or planet. Now write again for 2 or 3 minutes in a new circle. Don't forget to share with each other when you are finished:
3. Relating to Your Own World
Ask your kids to write one final time. This time they will compare Blart's world to their own world. Ask them to think of things about Blart that remind them of their family, friends, school, or neighborhood:
If you enjoyed this lesson, check out Trees in the Forest: Growing Readers and Writers through Deep Comprehension for more strategies and activities to help kids understand and relate to text!