Dear Blog,
Today, I read Norton Juster's The Hello, Goodbye Window (2005). The Hello, Goodbye Window is illustrated by Chris Raschka. Raschka received the Caldecott Medal in 2006 for his illustrations, which portray the happiness and joyfulness one feels when visiting their grandparents' house.
In summary, The Hello, Goodbye Window tells about the experiences and adventures a little girl encounters when visiting her grandparents' house. The kitchen window brings her and her grandparents such joy. At the window, they can wave, make silly faces, watch for special deliveries, or watch the sun set and rise. These treasured moments cause the little girl to wish for her very own hello, goodbye window.
I would use this book to teach character analysis and text-to-self connections. Questions I would ask are: "How does the window make the characters feel?" "What in the story tells us the characters are happy?" "What other emotions do you think the window can bring?" Once we have worked to analyze the characters and their feelings, we would then discuss what things or experiences in our own lives bring us joy.
It is important for students to make text-to-self connections in order to build deeper comprehension. The Hello, Goodbye Window is a great resource to implement when making personal connections to a story.
I have never heard of this book before, but after reading this literacy letter, I want to go get it right now! I always loved going to my grandparents houses because of all the reasons listed above. I can definitely see students creating that text-to-self connection while reading this story. Based on the cover, I can tell the illustrations are intriguing. It is no surprise that it won a Caldecott Medal in 2006.
ReplyDeleteI can not wait to look more into this book! Thank you for sharing!
Hello! I have also never heard of this book. This has sparked my curiosity though and I look forward to looking into it! I love using connection to discuss feeling and emotions! Thank you so much for sharing this!
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