Grandpa’s Girls

Brainstorm and complete a word web with the class to record their ideas of a special place or favorite things to do. Have them draw a picture of their favorite activity or special place. Ask students to share their pictures in small or large groups, explaining why this activity or special place is important to them.

Curriculum Connections: Visual Arts

To activate prior knowledge of spending time with grandparents, Indigenous people, and culture, create a KWL chart with students. This chart will serve as a visual reference for students. The first two columns will be completed before reading the story. The third column will be completed after the story has been read aloud.

Before beginning the Read Aloud, take students on a “picture walk.” Show students the front cover of the book with the title covered or visible. Ask students to make predictions about the story from the front cover and to record those predictions on chart paper or on the Smartboard. Continue with the picture walk as they look through the pages of the book.

Create a Think Aloud chart. (Use a piece of chart paper and put the title of the book at the top. List the following questions and record students’ answers.)

What do you notice as you are looking at the illustrations in the book?

What do the pictures tell us about the people in the story?

What clues do you have about who they are, where they come from, or what culture they might belong to?

What do the pictures tell us about what events or activities might happen in the story?

How do pictures help us to understand stories? What do they add that the words might not?

In Grandpa’s Girls, the grandchildren love spending time with Grandpa and exploring the farm. This story is inspired by the author’s memories of visiting her own grandpa’s farm. His resilience and determination as a person who attended Indian residential school created a home full of love, sharing and teaching for the next generation. Where does your family come together?

Describe where you live. (E.g., near freshwater springs like Grandpa, beside the railway tracks, close to fields or major roadways, in the city.)

Do you have a root cellar in your house? What makes your home special to you?

How do you stay safe where you live? (E.g., keep doors locked, look both ways before crossing the road, have a fire safety plan.)

What makes your family unique? (E.g., language spoken, food, traditions celebrated, dynamics of the family.)

Curriculum Connections: Social Studies (Communities, Cultures, Celebrations)

Write this excerpt from the story on chart paper or display on the Smartboard.

“Grandpa has a secret room.
The lights are always out; the curtains always closed.
Old trunks and wooden boxes line the walls,
dusty and mysterious.
Step, step, step …
We step sneaky steps on tiptoes
across the creaky floor.
Our favorite place to look is inside an old wooden trunk.
It has worn brass handles and wooden drawers.”
While reading the story aloud to students, pause when you come to this page.

Ask students to draw a picture based on the mental images that are created as they listen to the text being read aloud (visualizing). Students will then compare their illustrations to the picture in the book. Students may share with a partner, in a small group or with the class.

Curriculum Connections: Visual Arts

Revisit the KWL chart and complete the “What We Learned” column. This completed chart is a visual reference of student learning.

Ask students: What is the author’s message? Have them think about what the story reminds them of or what they were thinking about as they listened to the story. Hand out a brown paper bag to each student. Ask students to choose an item from home (e.g., a photo, a small toy, a keepsake, a newspaper clipping, a book) that they feel reflects what the author wants them to know about treasures in the home, and to place the item in the bag. Students will share their bags with the class in a sharing circle. If a student is nervous about sharing with the class, rather than passing their turn (Right to Pass), the student has the option to “call a friend” to share for them (i.e., whisper their ideas to the person beside them).

Have students suggest a different title for the book (e.g., Grandpa’s Secret, Grandpa’s Farm), and explain their thinking.

Invite an Elder to the classroom to share his or her experiences with the class. In Indigenous cultures, the Elder is held in high regard as a role model in their community and is considered the keeper of knowledge. A gift must be prepared by the person making the request for the visit and offered to the Elder at the time of the request. Storytelling is an important part of Indigenous culture, and a visit from an Elder is a wonderful way to bring this experience to students. Students may then create their own story to retell orally.

Curriculum Connections: Social Studies (Indigenous Peoples, Cultures, Celebrations, Communities)

Ask students to think about a favorite activity they enjoy doing with family members, friends or even a pet. This could be an oral or written response, a drawing or a painting.

Curriculum Connections: Visual Arts

Ask students to research the roles and responsibilities of community members (e.g., farmer, firefighter, teacher, police officer, doctor, mail carrier). Have them create a poster or class mural to present their findings.

Cross-curricular Connections: Visual Arts

Have students build a diorama of their favorite or special place using a variety of materials (preferably recyclable materials).

Cross-curricular Connections: Visual Arts

Reading Rockets — Features a variety of graphic organizers and other literacy resources for teachers.
http://www.readingrockets.org/

Danks, Fiona, and Jo Schofield. Nature’s Playground: Activities, Crafts, and Games to Encourage Children to Get Outdoors. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2007.

Harvey, Stephanie, and Anne Goudvis. Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement, 2nd Edition. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers, 2007.

Miller, Debbie. Reading with Meaning: Teaching Comprehension in the Primary Grades. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers, 2002.