{"id":193,"date":"2008-09-02T14:34:15","date_gmt":"2008-09-02T19:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/archives\/193"},"modified":"2008-09-02T14:34:15","modified_gmt":"2008-09-02T19:34:15","slug":"teaching-process-skills-with-childrens-literature-lunch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/2008\/09\/02\/teaching-process-skills-with-childrens-literature-lunch\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Process Skills with Children’s Literature: Lunch"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"lunch.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Have you been looking for a book about sensory descriptors that will actively engage students?\u00a0 Author and illustrator, Denise Fleming, meets this need\u00a0 with her book Lunch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Denise Fleming's Lunch<\/em> is a clever story that teaches about the senses through a mouse's journey to eat lunch.\u00a0 Using bright, bold illustrations, originally created in handmade paper, the pages of Lunch<\/em> easily catch the eye of the reader.\u00a0 Fleming plays off the mischievous nature of a hungry mouse who escapes the hole in the wall to fulfill his hunger.\u00a0 The mouse begins using his nose to "sniff, sniff" around the table.\u00a0 As the story progresses, the mouse encounters new fruits and vegetables to nibble.\u00a0\u00a0 Fleming plans the placement of the text in order to gain anticipation from the reader.\u00a0 She begins "he ate a crisp white\u20ac\u201d" and continues on the next page, "turnip."\u00a0 Along with each short description, she includes half of an illustration of the food.\u00a0 Using this technique, the reader is encouraged to guess what snack the mouse will eat next.\u00a0 The reader can use the sensory descriptions of colors, texture, and taste to predict the upcoming fruit or vegetable.\u00a0 As the mouse nibbles from one food to the next, he covers himself with particles of what he eats.\u00a0 The story ends when the mouse finishes his lunch, covered with yellow corn on his nose, green peas on his tail, and purple grapes on his toes.\u00a0 Fleming writes, "Then, he took a nap until\u20ac\u00a6dinnertime!"\u00a0 Similar to the first page, the last page shows the mouse coming out of his hole in the wall, sniffing for foods for dinner!<\/p>\n

Curriculum Connections<\/strong>
\nNot only entertaining in its illustrations, the adventure in Lunch<\/em> is equally useful as a concept book.\u00a0 This book is great for students learning how to describe objects using their visual, tactile, tasting skills.\u00a0 \u00a0Fleming uses phrases such as "tender green\u20ac\u201dpeas," "tart blue\u20ac\u201dberries," and "shiny red\u20ac\u201dapples" in the text; using these adjectives, a child can learn how to describe using touch, taste, and sight.<\/p>\n

This book perfectly correlates with instructing students in process skills and scientific investigation.\u00a0 Specifically students in Kindergarten and first grade will benefit from Lunch<\/em>.\u00a0 Lessons using this book can emphasize sensory descriptors such as sweet, sour, hard, soft, bright, dull, and colors.\u00a0 Students can also use their observation skills to predict the mouse's next snack in the story.\u00a0 In Virginia, this book works nicely with the K.2b SOL and the 1.1f SOL.<\/p>\n

Additional Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n