Sunday, June 30, 2013

Back to School Mentor Text: Miss Rumphius

I love back to school mentor texts-this is our chance to hook them with reading! One of my favorite parts of my reading block are read alouds. I call my students to the carpet (yes, 4th graders love this too!) so they can get up close to the text and be fully engaged. One of the first books I share during that first week is Miss Rumphius. The illustrations are beautiful and the message is inspirational.


Amazon's Description: The narrator's great aunt, Alice Rumphius, wanted to travel the world and do the one thing her grandfather told her she must do. He told her she must do something to make the world more beautiful. Miss Rumphius travels the world and comes back to live by the sea where the story began. She discovered her way of making the world more beautiful was scattering flower seeds so everyone could enjoy the beauty of the colorful flowers. The story ends with Miss Rumphius telling her great-niece that she must do something to make the world more beautiful.
 
Alice is told that there are three things she must do in her life:
1) She must travel to far away places.
2) She must live by the sea.
3) She must make the world more beautiful in some way.

After reading Miss Rumphius, I ask my students to think about how we could make our classroom more beautiful. I get several responses (keep it clean, decorate, move furniture, straighten the books) until I get the one I want...posters!
For my first few years of teaching, I spent hundreds of dollars on premade posters from teacher stores and catalogs, then I thought my students could make their own posters!
 
Each student selects an inspirational quote and interprets the meaning of the quote to illustrate it for a poster. I've done this activity for years and it gives students a sense of ownership of our classroom and it's great for community building.
 
They really brighten our classroom and it "MAKES IT MORE BEAUTIFUL!"
My students make extra for the front office to make our school more beautiful too.
They love that our class gets "orders" for additional posters!
 
 

This picture book is the perfect reminder for teachers that we are making the world a more beautiful place with every student "blooming" in our classroom. It's a great life lesson that we should all do our part to make the world a better place, being example citizens. This book would be great for Earth Day: students could plant flowers (like Miss Rumphius) if you want to revisit this book or wait until Earth Day to read it.

So excited to link up Miss Rumphius with my sweet friends Amanda & Stacia for their mentor texts: back to school linky!
 Last day to enter my giveaway!
Google Reader goes away tomorrow! Please follow with Bloglovin'!



 


23 comments:

  1. This looks like a fantastic book and activity. I'm going to have to add this book to my wishlist! What a wonderful way to build a community as a classroom and as a school.

    Hunter's Tales from Teaching

    ReplyDelete
  2. I read this book to my classroom every year. It is one of my favorites. I love the posters your students made for your classroom. I am adding it to my to do list for next year. Thanks for sharing.

    Foreman Teaches

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is a new one for me. :) I'm adding it to my list!
    ~Brandee
    Creating Lifelong Learners

    ReplyDelete
  4. I so love this book. We travel all through Maine a few weeks ago and you would not believe the amount of lupines that are growing everywhere!!! I can't wait to share the book this year!

    Diane
    Teaching With Moxie

    ReplyDelete
  5. I've never heard of this book, but I love the message and the poster activity you do! I want to echo Bethany...what a great way to build community. Thanks for sharing!

    -Amanda @ Teacher at the Wheel

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've never heard of this book... But on my list it goes! Sounds like a great one!
    Jivey
    ideas by jivey
    Follow Me On Facebook! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is a new one for me as well! I love the activity - such a neat idea!
    ~Courtney
    Polka Dot Lesson Plans

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is one of my yearly reads as well! Love this book!

    Sweet Rhyme – Pure Reason

    ReplyDelete
  9. My friend in grade 1/2 reads this book every spring and does a beautiful art lesson with it. I love how you use it as a way to discuss how to make your classroom more beautiful (and I love how you have to wait for the answer you are after, always the way). That poster idea is fantastic. They are so bright and colorful. I too have spent a lot of money in past years and I am really trying to make as much as I can on my own or with my students. Thanks for the great ideas!

    ReplyDelete
  10. My 4th graders are always on the carpet!! I like them up front and center! :O)

    I have seen this book but I don't think that I have read it. I love how you use it and you are right, the message is wonderful, especially for the beginning of the year! I love that they make posters to help beautify the classroom!

    Thanks so much for linking up!!
    Amanda
    Collaboration Cuties

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is such a precious story--one of my favorites. Thanks so much for sharing what you do with your kids...

    Sarah @ Hoots N Hollers

    ReplyDelete
  12. This was one of my oldest daughter's favorite books! I'm always collecting quotes that I like (pinterest, here I come!) and collecting pictures, but I love, love, love the idea of having kids make the posters to go with a quote. I think I'm going to have to steal this idea!
    Marion
    MentoringintheMiddle

    ReplyDelete
  13. We do a Miss Rumphius activity as well in my 3rd grade class! I love that book!! Here's a link to what we did: http://adventuresinthirdgrade-brown.blogspot.com/2012/08/miss-rumphius.html
    Erin

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love that you had the students make posters for the classroom! That is so much more meaningful than pre made posters. What a beautiful message this book has, especially for the beginning of the year!
    ~Holly
    Fourth Grade Flipper

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love, love, love those inspirational posters! Pinning for next year. They will be a "must do."

    Jennifer
    Mrs. Laffin's Laughings

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thank you for sharing your great idea. Love the idea. I will be doing something very similar the first days of school and plan to blog about it. I will have the students think of ways they want to change the world (now or in the future) and make a poster of it to inspire them all for the year. This will be a way of gathering ideas about themselves for writing workshop. I am eager to see what they come up with. I will model some ideas I had a child and now as an adult for them to get them started. I will be sure to include your blog in mine. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  17. After the vacations when students are leave for school then they looked a little bit sad but some students are looking very happy as they are going to meet with their classmates. It is pretty difficult to teach some students like special or kindergarten but if you assign writing work or dissertation to buy online from writing services then it become pretty easy to get excellent grades or appreciation from others.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Love this idea and will be using it this year! My question is where do the students get the quotes? Do you give them a list or do they find the quotes themselves? What resource do you recommend?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Back to school is one of the time when we feel little bit tired. Whenever there's end of August we start preparation for school. statement of purpose example

    ReplyDelete
  20. It is easy to get great info in the shape of picture, videos and books.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Miss Rumphius travels the world and comes back to live by the sea where the story began. She discovered her way of making the world more beautiful was scattering flower seeds so everyone could enjoy the beauty of the colorful flowers. minibus hire glasgow
    minibus taxi hire
    cheap minibus coach hire
    minibus hire blackpool
    minibus hire with driver

    ReplyDelete
  22. Exploring Back to School Mentor Text is an inspiring way to engage students in the learning process. These texts serve as valuable tools for educators, providing rich content to enhance various subjects. Additionally, for those seeking extra support, reliable coursework help can complement mentor texts, offering assistance.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...