Interactive read alouds are really important especially when the text you use is wonderfully written and can be used as a resourceful mentor text. I used Patricia Polacco's book When Lightning Comes in a Jar because my students were working on personal narratives and they were learning how to write a enticing story based on their own real life experiences. This book from Patricia Polacco is essentially a personal narrative on her time spent with her family catching fireflies. I spent my time with the students reading the book and enjoying it while we questioned, predicted and infered what lightning in a jar meant. I also had students jot down words that Patricia Polacco used that they might want to use in their own text. She uses a lot of descriptive verbs and adjectives that help the reader see a more vivid image and my students were told to be detectives in finding those words and phrases while I was reading to them.
I think that this lesson went really well because students had gigantic lists of words and phrases that they wanted to use in their own writing. Something I would change would be that I would want to ask them at the end of the read aloud to turn and talk with a friend to share how they would use one of these words in their stories. They would have to give an example and the context of their own personal narrative. This would allow them to connect more to the lesson and their own writing.
I think that this lesson went really well because students had gigantic lists of words and phrases that they wanted to use in their own writing. Something I would change would be that I would want to ask them at the end of the read aloud to turn and talk with a friend to share how they would use one of these words in their stories. They would have to give an example and the context of their own personal narrative. This would allow them to connect more to the lesson and their own writing.