Wordless Books for Inferring

There are some lessons that I get really excited to teach each year.  Tanny McGregor's lesson from Comprehension Connections fall into that category for sure.  The excitement comes from the lessons being so concrete and hands on.  But the excitement also comes from the prospect of how the lesson will change from year to year.  No lesson is ever the same...and that is why I love this profession so much.

This past week we formally introduced inferring with Tanny McGregor's concrete ideas of shoes and trash.  I shared our routine for this part of the lesson over on Classroom Tested Resources.  We also used some alphabet books to help students practice "reading between the lines" or inferring.  I shared these books over at Adventures in Literacy Land. But today, I wanted to focus on two new books that we tried out this year.

Okay...here comes a little honesty...I was super nervous to use these two books.  They are wordless. I have not really incorporated many wordless books into my teaching.  Lita Judge is an author that will be at the Mazza Museum this summer (I will also be attending) and as I became acquainted with her books, I realized these two would be perfect for a first grade lesson on inferring.

Yep...they were!

We started with Red Sled.  It is a sweet story about a bear that takes a child's sled during the night hours to enjoy with some animal friends.

On the following day we moved on to Red Hat.  Again...so sweet.  This was about a baby bear and many woodland animals enjoying a day with a red hat.  The great thing about using both books was that the students used evidence from BOTH books to make their inferences.

Now that I have had my first experience with wordless book (hard to admit!), I am ready to use more of them!  Next on my wordless book horizon: Sidewalk Flowers!

Fire Up Inferring with The Bedspread

 As I sat down to write this post about these beautiful two characters, Maud and Amelia (do you know them?), it struck me that I may have written about this book before.  Have I?  Well....I would really enjoy writing about it again, if I have.

First of all, my book is a mess!  The pages are literally falling out, there are stains all over it from its years at the library, and there is no longer a cover.  But just look at this title page.  It is beautiful.

There are two characters in this book.  They are sisters and they sit in a long bed all day long.
Maud and Amelia.

 Can you infer many things about these two sisters just from the images above?

The entire story illustrates these two sisters decorating their white quilt.  They are trying to make their childhood home and expect that it will look very symmetrical when it is complete.  This is FAR from what it turns out to be!

I love this story.  You learn so much about these two characters through the stitches that they sew.  It would be a great book to use for inferring or to discuss the characteristics of Maud and Amelia.

Check out the link below for some other books that you can use in your classroom during this upcoming year!