Earthdance, Roller Coaster and a Writing Lesson

I just adore books that teach a million things at once and leave you with that satisfied, peaceful feeling when you close them.  Earthdance is one of those books.  It is one big celebration of Earth and all those who dwell here.

 The book is fantastic as a read aloud, just for pure enjoyment.  It's also a great addition to an Earth Day celebration.  You could use it at the beginning of the school year to remember that we are part of something bigger and everyone around us is valuable.  I love to celebrate diversity at the beginning of school; it sets the tone for the whole year.

Another great way to use Earthdance is as a mentor text for writing.  The illustrations perfectly capture the structure of a story and lend themselves well to teaching a story map.  It would be great to pair it with Roller Coaster, which I use as a mentor text when I'm teaching small moment stories.  

I've often used it to remind students that our stories really work like a roller coaster.  Earthdance is another great mentor text for the same topic.  This year, I was inspired by Cole Elementary to use this anchor chart, instead of the simpler version I usually create.  (Click on the image to check out their blog.  There are some other great anchor chart ideas there.)

 This really helped my young writers remember the structure of the story.  I especially loved the idea of using the sticky notes to plan and evaluate our stories.  We used them to check a draft I had written and discovered that my story needed some revision - it was missing the action!

The students created roller coasters in their notebooks and used sticky notes to plan and evaluate their own stories.  It was so sweet to see them using their hands to create the roller coaster as they re-told their stories.

I wish I thought to take pictures of their work, but I was way to involved and excited by conferencing with them to think about that!

Anyway, Earthdance is a fantastic follow up lesson, because it shows that the action and excitement of a story can go beyond just the problem and solution.  A book can have a fabulous purpose and carry great meaning by making a simple variation to the story structure.

I can't wait to try it out!