Currents in Literacy

A Lesson From a Tortoise

By Jennifer Haushalter

Last year in my kindergarten class, we did an author study unit on Eric Carle which demonstrated key principles from Ellin Keene and Susan Zimmerman's Mosaic of Thought. At the start of the unit our class read The Grouchy Ladybug and The Foolish Tortoise, both by Eric Carle. After reading The Foolish Tortoise, I asked the class if this book reminded them of anything they had read before. Sarah Joy said that both books have the Ladybug and the Tortoise (the main characters) greeting a different animal on each page. Bobby offered that all of Eric Carle's books must be the same because the Very Quiet Cricket and the Very Hungry Caterpillar also meet animals in their stories. My class was doing exactly what I had hoped: making "Text-to-Text" and "Text-to-Author" connections.

Armed with ideas I obtained from colleagues at the Mosaic of Thought book discussion at Lesley University, I reread The Foolish Tortoise to my class. I stopped to mention how I could connect this book to my personal life, thus modeling a "Text-to-Self" connection. I explained to them that I have a pet similar to the Foolish Tortoise and that my desert tortoise, Myrtle, lives with my parents in California. I wanted to show my class the beginning steps of processing books that may be unfamiliar to them by making a connection between what we read and what we experience. We had a large group discussion of what they already knew about tortoises which started to generate questions in their minds.

We began brainstorming questions to ask my parents about Myrtle. The class went back to their seats and started writing their own questions to be sent as a letter to my parents. Some students were curious about what Myrtle eats and his age. Others wanted to know if he lives in a cage or if he has a baby tortoise. With this activity, I had the children work independently to write their question using inventive spelling. Using one-on-one conferences, I edited the students' questions to convey their intent. For example, one student wrote, "Dr u fnd ham anr the daz" and after talking with the student I wrote underneath her writing the question, "Did you find him in the desert?" The children were very excited when we mailed their letters to my parents.

A few weeks later, my Mom made a surprise visit to our classroom and she brought with her a letter to each child answering his or her question. She read her answer to each child individually and provided an opportunity for follow-up questions. In a large group setting, the class asked her even more questions and were very engaged in finding out everything they could about Myrtle. They were fascinated to hear that Myrtle sleeps in a dog house, eats flowers, is able to roam in our backyard freely, and hibernates in the winter. After hearing the stories about Myrtle, one could easily imagine writing a picture book about Myrtle's adventures, like those of the Foolish Tortoise.

The lesson was a great experience and a fun way to apply the concepts I learned from Mosaic of Thought. I appreciate the great advice I received from my colleagues at the book discussion which made this unit extra special.