Ackerman, K. (1988). Song and dance man. New York, NY: Scholastic INC.
This magnificently told story is about a show-stopping grandfather and his easily entertained grandchildren and their trip down memory lane as the "Song and Dance Man" (the grandfather) relives his glory days on the stage as a performer.
The story takes place in a dusty attic that holds treasures from Grandpa's past. He carefully takes each memory out of a box and brings it to life for his grandchildren. He sings, dances, tells jokes, pulls quarters from their ears. All the while his grandchildren claim they enjoy this show more than anything they might see on television. The story is told in third person and the characters are not extremely developed, however students could use the illustrations to infer the character traits and personalities of the grandfather easily. The illustrations paint him as happy, glowing and laughing.
This book would be great to use as a method for improving fluency, students could listen to the story on tape, tape themselves and use repeated readings. It is also good for inferring character traits and making connections. I was immediately drawn to this story because of the amazing illustrations, they are incredibly life-like and done in color pencil. This story is a Caldecott Medal recipient.
Some questions to ponder are:
Do you think Grandpa misses his former life?
Do you think you would like to know Grandpa?
Can you make any text-to-self connections between this text and your own life?
This is a great read and I am really excited to use it in my classroom!
No comments:
Post a Comment