On of my favorite things to hear is children giggling. Even thinking about kids laughing and chuckling makes you smile, no?! An author study that I love to do in my classroom, that ALWAYS brings lots of giggles, is Mo Willems. Reading one of Mo Willems' books is entertaining no matter how old you are. {Sometimes I probably think the books are even more funny than my students do!} A few weeks ago I posted this picture on instagram. My class was having a little BIG issue with using the restroom correctly {YUCK}, so I went to the library and checked out this book. Who knew a book with the word "pee" in the title could work "Bathroom Miracles"!? :) Thank you Mr. Willems. Time to Pee! After reading the "Pee Book" {as it was referred to by my students} my kids were so excited to start our Mo Willems Author Study. We mastered many of our ELA standards, just by focusing on this one author. Mo Willems makes reading fun! Here are some of the activities that we did... We learned all about Mo Willems and examined what he does as an author and illustrator. As we worked through this unit we tried to be an author and illustrator just like him. We examined characters in Mo Willems' books and compared their adventures and problems in the stories. Of course one of our favorite characters was Knuffle Bunny! Pigeon was a big hit too! The kids loved changing their voices while they were reading to sound just like Pigeon. Probably one of the favorite characters that my students got to know was Wilbur from the book Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed. They were so creative when they got to dress their own Naked Mole Rat! Piggie and Elephant {my personal favorite Mo Willems' characters} were a huge hit! The students are still selecting these books for in their independent reading book baskets! If you don't have Mo Willems books in your classroom library...they are a MUST! I recommend purchasing hardcover ones, they will be read over and over again--getting lots of wear and tear! As we read Mo Willems books we discovered that as an author he uses his characters to teach us lessons. Even though we are done with this unit, my students still refer to books and characters that we read during our author study. I will randomly hear, "You should share like Piggie." or "I am a leader like Wilbur." Melts my heart! :) If you are interested in doing a Mo Willems Author Study, I recommend this unit to you... Included in the unit is all the chart parts, printables and crafts shown in this post! Click on the picture or HERE to go check it out! The best part of Mo Willems' books are the joy and fun that he brings to reading...something that is so important as we develop our students as "Reading Lovers"! Here is a little FREEBIE to help you celebrate this amazing author!
Mo Willems Author study: Book-based unit study. Find book list and activities, meet the author, and download an 8 page free printable pack.
I figured it was time for another author study, and who better to choose than the legendary Mo Willems! Author of the Knuffle Bunny trilogy and the Pigeon books as well as the Elephant and Piggy se…
On of my favorite things to hear is children giggling. Even thinking about kids laughing and chuckling makes you smile, no?! An author study that I love to do in my classroom, that ALWAYS brings lots of giggles, is Mo Willems. Reading one of Mo Willems' books is entertaining no matter how old you are. {Sometimes I probably think the books are even more funny than my students do!} A few weeks ago I posted this picture on instagram. My class was having a little BIG issue with using the restroom correctly {YUCK}, so I went to the library and checked out this book. Who knew a book with the word "pee" in the title could work "Bathroom Miracles"!? :) Thank you Mr. Willems. Time to Pee! After reading the "Pee Book" {as it was referred to by my students} my kids were so excited to start our Mo Willems Author Study. We mastered many of our ELA standards, just by focusing on this one author. Mo Willems makes reading fun! Here are some of the activities that we did... We learned all about Mo Willems and examined what he does as an author and illustrator. As we worked through this unit we tried to be an author and illustrator just like him. We examined characters in Mo Willems' books and compared their adventures and problems in the stories. Of course one of our favorite characters was Knuffle Bunny! Pigeon was a big hit too! The kids loved changing their voices while they were reading to sound just like Pigeon. Probably one of the favorite characters that my students got to know was Wilbur from the book Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed. They were so creative when they got to dress their own Naked Mole Rat! Piggie and Elephant {my personal favorite Mo Willems' characters} were a huge hit! The students are still selecting these books for in their independent reading book baskets! If you don't have Mo Willems books in your classroom library...they are a MUST! I recommend purchasing hardcover ones, they will be read over and over again--getting lots of wear and tear! As we read Mo Willems books we discovered that as an author he uses his characters to teach us lessons. Even though we are done with this unit, my students still refer to books and characters that we read during our author study. I will randomly hear, "You should share like Piggie." or "I am a leader like Wilbur." Melts my heart! :) If you are interested in doing a Mo Willems Author Study, I recommend this unit to you... Included in the unit is all the chart parts, printables and crafts shown in this post! Click on the picture or HERE to go check it out! The best part of Mo Willems' books are the joy and fun that he brings to reading...something that is so important as we develop our students as "Reading Lovers"! Here is a little FREEBIE to help you celebrate this amazing author!
Mo Willems Activities and Crafts for kids! Mo Willems infuses humor kids love with an artistic simplicity that seems deceptively easy.
FREE Elephant and piggie activities for pre-k, kindergarten, or homeschool reading lessons. Check out the bundles!
Kindergarten Writing Workshop Unit Wondering where to begin writing workshop in Kindergarten? Use this Writing Workshop unit to build your students’ confidence and support them in their first endeavors of putting their pencil to paper. All the lessons in this drawing unit follow the Writing Workshop Format of a group mini-lesson, drawing time followed by a time to share. Start each drawing lesson by reading the mentor text and having conversations about what they are going to draw that day. This drawing unit sets the foundation for written expression that will be used throughout the entire school year. They will continue to draw to support their writing during writing workshop, draw to show their understanding of math concepts and share their understanding of literature with drawings during guided reading. This unit can also be used as a Mo Willems author study by pulling out the drawing and art activities related to his books. What is included in this unit... There are 25 drawing lessons included in this unit that are connected to mentor texts. These lessons include drawing lines, encouraging drawing, using shapes to draw, using how to draw books to draw, adding details and color, filling up the white space, drawing faces and people, adding words to drawings and more. There is a Book of Drawings cover to make a book of your students' drawing or the lessons you want to use from the unit. Directions for having an end of unit drawing celebration are included. There are nine fun drawing/art projects to complement this unit. 15 of the activities included are inspired by Mo Willems' books One of the first things that a child can do is pick up a pencil and start drawing. Use this unit to make sure you never hear “I can’t draw!” or “I can’t write!” again! Here is what teachers like you are saying about this drawing unit... ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ leeanna S. says, “My students not only enjoyed using this amazing resource but they became deeply engaged in story recall, retelling and even wanting to write their own stories! The opportunity for them to become illustrators, like Mo Willems, was quite inviting!” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jennifer B. says, “I love how this illustration study really breaks down the drawing steps and connects it with an illustrator that kids know and love already!” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Allison Z. says, “This is awesome. It is a fantastic way to connect reading and writing at the beginning of the year and the kids love drawing about the stories. Love it!” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Nicola L. says, “My students loved this unit and all the anchor texts used were awesome, will continue to make this part of our classroom for years to come.” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Susan B. says, “This resource was great for students who are reluctant to draw. The mentor texts are fun and engaging.” Check out my other KINDERGARTEN activities: Math Workshop Writing Workshop Reading Workshop Created by: Jonelle Bell Click HERE to follow A Place Called Kindergarten Permission to copy for single classroom use only. Please purchase additional licenses if you intend to share this product.
Mo Willems is one of my favorite author studies. I really enjoy using Willems because it brings a lot of fun to our classroom! His books are entertaining and the kids always have a great time. These highly engaging “Elephant & Piggie” themed activities are sure to be a hit with your young learners. See the list of suggestions below. Hope you enjoy! CHECK OUT THIS GREAT SELECTION: #1 Elephant & Piggie – Extension Activities Your students will enjoy these extension activities to use with Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems. source: Teaching Owlets #2 “Elephant & Piggie” Theme – Mask 4 Pack Have fun with this easy and fun literacy extension craft activity! Based on the “Elephant & Piggie” book series by Mo Willems. Great for reader’s theater exercises. source: Cheeky Cherubs #3 Elephant & Piggie – Mad Libs We did this after reading Let’s Go for a Drive! by Mo Willems. We were just focusing on nouns and verbs. The kids loved doing this work and sharing their final silly stories. source: Brittany Eastman #4 Elephant and Piggie Characteristics Printable This printable works wonderfully with a mini-lesson on book characteristics/adjectives. Students will cut and paste adjectives to […]
I figured it was time for another author study, and who better to choose than the legendary Mo Willems! Author of the Knuffle Bunny trilogy and the Pigeon books as well as the Elephant and Piggy se…
FREE printables to go along with the book series Elephant and Piggie by Mo Willems. Preschool and kindergarten kids will have a blast learning with these 2 lovable friends! Practice early math and literacy skills, alphabet, counting, patterns, scissor skills and more!
Here's a simple math game you can use as a book-tivity with any of the Pigeon books by Mo Willems. The newest Pigeon book was released today, April 1st!
A blog about teaching, lessons, decor, organizing, interactive notebooks, literacy stations, math stations, classroom set up, etc...
Need a fast -n- fabulous kindergarten lesson? You might wanna try these Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus creations on for size. In the following video, I demonstrate using a bingo dauber. I know you might not have those to try using either a black oil pastel or a Sharpie instead. This was a two-day lesson for my 40 minute kindergarten art classes. Here you go: Super fun and easy, didn't I tell you? I love doing guided drawing every now and again with my students. They LOVE it and are always excited by their results. Kindergarten is especially great at just "going with the flow" and not worrying about being "perfect"...but there are always some kids who do stress. That's why, before doing a guided drawing, we always chat about how we are unique people which means we are unique artists who create uniquely! We also love to give a shout out to Barney's book Beautiful Oops. Y'all know I had to wear my Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus dress! Each little squawky bird was so different, funny and cute. After reading the book, this was as far as we managed to get. I've gotten a lot of questions on where to find bingo daubers and what to fill them with. I got mine from my art supply catalogs but I've also seen them on the Oriental Trading website. I fill mine with India ink...I don't use any particular brand as all the India ink I've ever purchased has been fine. My go-to oil pastel for projects like this are Sargent's florescent brand. They GIVE ME LIFE. I love how creamy, bright and bold they are. And so do the kids. As for watercolor, you'll see in my video how I set up my trays. Every two kids gets a sponge, a non-spill cup of water (art supply catalogs!!) and my Crayola Mixing Colors watercolor paint. I always order: magenta, red, red-orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, blue-violet and purple. I cannot wait to get these hung in the halls! I've also been asked a lot recently about what kind of paper we use. I ALWAYS order 80lbs paper and we use it for EVERYTHING. It can take a lot of art: paint, watercolor, collage, you name it. This paper is strong stuff. We called these our Party Pigeons...I like how hard some pigeons partied!
On of my favorite things to hear is children giggling. Even thinking about kids laughing and chuckling makes you smile, no?! An author study that I love to do in my classroom, that ALWAYS brings lots of giggles, is Mo Willems. Reading one of Mo Willems' books is entertaining no matter how old you are. {Sometimes I probably think the books are even more funny than my students do!} A few weeks ago I posted this picture on instagram. My class was having a little BIG issue with using the restroom correctly {YUCK}, so I went to the library and checked out this book. Who knew a book with the word "pee" in the title could work "Bathroom Miracles"!? :) Thank you Mr. Willems. Time to Pee! After reading the "Pee Book" {as it was referred to by my students} my kids were so excited to start our Mo Willems Author Study. We mastered many of our ELA standards, just by focusing on this one author. Mo Willems makes reading fun! Here are some of the activities that we did... We learned all about Mo Willems and examined what he does as an author and illustrator. As we worked through this unit we tried to be an author and illustrator just like him. We examined characters in Mo Willems' books and compared their adventures and problems in the stories. Of course one of our favorite characters was Knuffle Bunny! Pigeon was a big hit too! The kids loved changing their voices while they were reading to sound just like Pigeon. Probably one of the favorite characters that my students got to know was Wilbur from the book Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed. They were so creative when they got to dress their own Naked Mole Rat! Piggie and Elephant {my personal favorite Mo Willems' characters} were a huge hit! The students are still selecting these books for in their independent reading book baskets! If you don't have Mo Willems books in your classroom library...they are a MUST! I recommend purchasing hardcover ones, they will be read over and over again--getting lots of wear and tear! As we read Mo Willems books we discovered that as an author he uses his characters to teach us lessons. Even though we are done with this unit, my students still refer to books and characters that we read during our author study. I will randomly hear, "You should share like Piggie." or "I am a leader like Wilbur." Melts my heart! :) If you are interested in doing a Mo Willems Author Study, I recommend this unit to you... Included in the unit is all the chart parts, printables and crafts shown in this post! Click on the picture or HERE to go check it out! The best part of Mo Willems' books are the joy and fun that he brings to reading...something that is so important as we develop our students as "Reading Lovers"! Here is a little FREEBIE to help you celebrate this amazing author!
I figured it was time for another author study, and who better to choose than the legendary Mo Willems! Author of the Knuffle Bunny trilogy and the Pigeon books as well as the Elephant and Piggy se…
Handprint Pigeon Craft For Kids | Fun Mo Willems idea. Use a free printable PDF template to cut out & make. Great for preschool, kindergarten, + elementary.
A blog about teaching, lessons, decor, organizing, interactive notebooks, literacy stations, math stations, classroom set up, etc...
Sharing activity inspired by Should I Share My Ice Cream by Mo Willems! Perfect for homeschool, classrooms, or family fun. Includes a free printable!
FREE Elephant and piggie activities for pre-k, kindergarten, or homeschool reading lessons. Check out the bundles!
Mo Willems is one of my favorite author studies. I really enjoy using Willems because it brings a lot of fun to our classroom! His books are entertaining and the kids always have a great time. These highly engaging “Elephant & Piggie” themed activities are sure to be a hit with your young learners. See the list of suggestions below. Hope you enjoy! CHECK OUT THIS GREAT SELECTION: #1 Elephant & Piggie – Extension Activities Your students will enjoy these extension activities to use with Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems. source: Teaching Owlets #2 “Elephant & Piggie” Theme – Mask 4 Pack Have fun with this easy and fun literacy extension craft activity! Based on the “Elephant & Piggie” book series by Mo Willems. Great for reader’s theater exercises. source: Cheeky Cherubs #3 Elephant & Piggie – Mad Libs We did this after reading Let’s Go for a Drive! by Mo Willems. We were just focusing on nouns and verbs. The kids loved doing this work and sharing their final silly stories. source: Brittany Eastman #4 Elephant and Piggie Characteristics Printable This printable works wonderfully with a mini-lesson on book characteristics/adjectives. Students will cut and paste adjectives to […]
A blog about teaching, lessons, decor, organizing, interactive notebooks, literacy stations, math stations, classroom set up, etc...
A blog about teaching, lessons, decor, organizing, interactive notebooks, literacy stations, math stations, classroom set up, etc...
Pigeon book study activities unit with literacy printables, reading companion activities, and a craft for ANY Mo Willems Pigeon book in the series K-1
Just an update on the homework posts. I've updated the last post - http://www.teachingmaddeness.com/2014/07/im-lovin-homework-thats-wrap-mini-series.html - with my MONSTER Folder Overview as a free download. I also had a ton of requests for the version of the MONSTER folder cover that was shown in my picture so that will be up in our shop this week! With back to school coming soon, I thought I would round up some of my favorite freebies I've offered here on my blog to make sure you haven't missed out on any of them! My students LOVE these Animal Goodbye Signs. There are 35 different signs. I laminated them all and post one by our classroom door each week of the school year. As students leave in the afternoons, they say the first part (ex. "Better Shake") and then the rest of the class responds with the second part (ex. "Rattlesnake"). They EAT.IT.UP! If I forget to change it one week, they are all over it. :) This is a pack of my favorite Attention-Getters! I've even provided tips on how and when I use them. I LOVE an author study! I "map out" (loosely) my read-alouds for the year on my planning calendar so I have an idea of what I want to read when. I include one chapter book per month. The rest of the month's read-aloud time is devoted to a particular author. This gives me the best of BOTH worlds. An opportunity to share those GREAT can't-wait-to-read-the-next-chaper-to-find-out-what's-going-to-happen BOOKS, as well as digging into an author's craft. When we get to our author-of-the-month, I like to provide my students with a little background on the author. They love to know that he/she used to make books with paper and yarn as a child, or that he/she couldn't read until the fifth grade, or that he/she NEVER thought they would grow up to write books! This pack was so popular, that I did ANOTHER Freebie Pack! 2nd Grade Common Core Essential Questions for ELA...(53 pages) 2nd Grade Common Core Essential Questions for Math...(27 pages) Sorry, I don't have EQs for any other grades. I hope you can use these Forever Freebies in your classroom this year. If you like them, spread the word so other teachers can come snatch them up! :)
Make learning fun for your students while reading Pigeon books written by Mo Willems. These Pigeon activities and worksheets are perfect for your students. This resource is ideal for kindergarten and first grade students. These activities can be used during whole group instruction, independent work, and center time. Easy-to-use activity sheets with clear directions and answer keys are provided. THIS IS A DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, NO PRINTED MATERIALS ARE INCLUDED! HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL GET… *Class poster to display student work *Graphic organizers for character traits, story elements, answering wh- questions, compare and contrast, can/has/is, text connections, sequencing, retelling, problem/solution *Parts of a book cut and glue activity *Mo Willems fast facts, fact organizer, and speech bubble *Mo Willems speech bubble *Writing activities and story starters *Math activities including patterning and color by number *Trace the Lines activity sheet *Acrostic Poem *Word Search *Comic strip creative writing *Answer keys Your students will love reading and listening to Pigeon books. With the variety of activity sheets, your students will have fun with books written by Mo Willems. Prep is quick and easy... just print the student worksheets and activity sheets and your students are ready to read and respond. **After your payment, you will receive instant downloading access to the purchased file which contains 48 PDF pages. Copyright Kraus in the Schoolhouse All rights reserved by Laurie Kraus. Permission to copy for single classroom/personal use only.
Nothing motivates my students like reading book after book from the same beloved author. Mo Willems, David Shannon, Kevin Henkes, Ezra Jack Keats, Jan Brett, and Tomie DePaola are just a few of our favorite authors. I absolutely LOVE doing author studies with my students. For one, we get to know authors and understand their work on a much deeper level. When the students connect to the writer, they love the stories even more! When I talk about doing author studies, some people seem to think it’s a big complicated
This month marks the start of our Books in a Series unit. In reader's workshop students select a series of their choice to explore in book clubs, while also creating and writing adventures about a realistic fiction character of their own in writer's workshop. What better author to use for mentor texts than the one and only, Mo Willems?! His work is dreamy (insert heart eye emoji here)! This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. I consistently choose his work each year to guide my students to explore all the potential there is with author's craft of such few words and pictures. In reader's workshop I use the Elephant and Piggie series during my mini-lessons and look to the Pigeon series in shared reading. As a culminating project, we make these sweet Pigeon headbands that make you go googley eyed at the first sight of them! I had seen them on students while watching Mo Willems speak at an elementary school at the end of one of the Knuffle Bunny DVDs. I am having a hard time locating where you can find the DVD. I took it out at my local library. You can find Knuffle Bunny, Knuffle Bunny Too, and Knuffle Bunny Free on Amazon by clicking the book titles. With this particular craft, I chose to precut the pieces for the students. I got very lucky that the blue paper and blue sentence strips that I had laying around happened to be the very same shade. Unfortunately I do not happen to know the brand of either. However, I have selected two online that I believe to be the closest match. The bright blue in the Astrobrights "bright" assortment pack gives you a great option! Students glued all the pieces for the Pigeon face. Once they were finished gluing, they came to me to assemble the "neck and body." I chose to staple these pieces in effort to save time. One staple to attach two white strips to the head. Then I separated the strips and attached one to each side of the "body." One tip- the longer the white strip, the more likely the pigeon head will lean to one side. I chose to keep them short to prevent this from happening! The body was a blue sentence strip. I did my best to match up the sentence strip color and found this multicolor neon pack from Carson Dellosa on Amazon. I measured each students head before attaching the Pigeon head. I have also seen teachers incorporating curriculum needs by adding writing to the sentence strip. Student can practice adding dialogue tags to what Pigeon says in his speech bubbles. This is the perfect way to incorporate dialogue punctuation as well. Then students can write the whole sentence including the dialogue tag on their sentence strip. Click each Pigeon book title to grab yourself a copy! The Pigeon Wants a Puppy Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus The Pigeon Needs a Bath The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late The Duckling Gets a Cookie!?
A blog about teaching, lessons, decor, organizing, interactive notebooks, literacy stations, math stations, classroom set up, etc...
Has your child discovered the character Pigeon by Mo Willems yet? Try these fun and easy Pigeon and Bus Activities with your child today.
Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems is the perfect activity to add to your autistic child's home program schedule! Build fine motor skills and have fun!
Hey friends! I hope you have been well! We have been so busy loving every minute of our Pigeon books and learning about Mo Willems I have ...
High quality read alouds by a certified, experienced teacher! These Mo Willems QR codes are perfect for an author study, listening centers, or a brain break for students any time of the school year. Enjoy! ...
Next month marks the start of our Books in a Series unit. In reader's workshop students select a series of their choice to explore in book clubs, while also creating and writing adventures about a realistic fiction character of their own in writer's workshop. What better author to use for mentor texts than the one and only, Mo Willems?! His work is dreamy (insert heart eye emoji here)! This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. I consistently choose his work each year to guide my students to explore all the potential there is with author's craft of such few words and pictures. In reader's workshop I use the Elephant and Piggie series during my mini-lessons and look to the Pigeon series in shared reading. As a culminating project, we make these sweet Pigeon headbands that make you go googley eyed at the first sight of them! I had seen them on students while watching Mo Willems speak at an elementary school at the end of one of the Knuffle Bunny DVDs. I am having a hard time locating where you can find the DVD. I took it out at my local library. You can find Knuffle Bunny, Knuffle Bunny Too, and Knuffle Bunny Free on Amazon by clicking the book titles. With this particular craft, I chose to precut the pieces for the students. I got very lucky that the blue paper and blue sentence strips that I had laying around happened to be the very same shade. Unfortunately I do not happen to know the brand of either. However, I have selected two online that I believe to be the closest match. The bright blue in the Astrobrights "bright" assortment pack gives you a great option! Students glued all the pieces for the Pigeon face. Once they were finished gluing, they came to me to assemble the "neck and body." I chose to staple these pieces in effort to save time. One staple to attach two white strips to the head. Then I separated the strips and attached one to each side of the "body." One tip- the longer the white strip, the more likely the pigeon head will lean to one side. I chose to keep them short to prevent this from happening! The body was a blue sentence strip. I did my best to match up the sentence strip color and found this multicolor neon pack from Carson Dellosa on Amazon. I measured each students head before attaching the Pigeon head. I have also seen teachers incorporating curriculum needs by adding writing to the sentence strip. Student can practice adding dialogue tags to what Pigeon says in his speech bubbles. This is the perfect way to incorporate dialogue punctuation as well. Then students can write the whole sentence including the dialogue tag on their sentence strip. Click each Pigeon book title to grab yourself a copy! The Pigeon Wants a Puppy Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus The Pigeon Needs a Bath The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late The Duckling Gets a Cookie!?
HELLO AND WELCOME!
My kids LOVE Mo Willems books. They laugh so hard and so loudly at the characters. The books are hilarious! We started with Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus and then we got Today I Will Fly .
Handprint Pigeon Craft For Kids | Fun Mo Willems idea. Use a free printable PDF template to cut out & make. Great for preschool, kindergarten, + elementary.
Pigeon book study activities unit with literacy printables, reading companion activities, and a craft for ANY Mo Willems Pigeon book in the series K-1
Welcome to our June Summer Virtual Book Club! I am so excited to be joining with 20+ bloggers to share a variety of activities inspired by books written by the awesome Mo Willems! Today I
A blog about teaching, lessons, decor, organizing, interactive notebooks, literacy stations, math stations, classroom set up, etc...
We have been doing an author study of Mo Willems in my kindergarten classroom. It is my favorite study of the year! We LOVE Mo! We've read pigeon books, Elephant and Piggie books, and all the Knuffle Bunny books and we just love them all to pieces! We have been learning to use a lot of what we learn from him through our reading in our own writing. To help with this, we created an anchor chart all about Mo. We learned about direction lines, movement lines, thought bubbles, speech bubbles, big words=loud voice (and little words=whisper voice), and how Mo shows feelings with facial expressions (which we added to the chart after I took the picture). We talked about each thing that Mo taught us and found examples of them in books. Then, I began to see them pop up in student writing...and that's when it gets really exciting for me! Check it out! Oral story: When I went outside with my daddy we played catch. He told me "catch" and it went over my head. Do you notice the speech bubble coming out of Dad's mouth? And can you find the direction line that follows the tennis ball? Awesome! Next, we had to get a little artsy! Each child was given the choice of three projects and signed up to make either an Elephant, Piggie or Pigeon. Here is the display in the hallway. Aren't they just too cute? We just love Mo Willems! Do you?