Elizabeti’s School – Compare/Contrast Response to Literature

Materials needed:

Web Resources:

Vocabulary:

fidget, twirled

Lesson: (this lesson may take several days)

Before this lesson, the children need to have heard the book Wemberly Worried. The children need to be familiar with the story and the character of Wemberly. Use of  techniques from Words Come Alive will help students better understand the feelings that Wemberly has had. This techniques will also be used  in this lesson.

Ask the children what they remember about Elizabeti from the other Elizabeti books that we have read (Elizabeti’s Doll and Mama Elizabeti). Tell the students that today we are going to read another book about Elizabeti. This time she will be starting school for the first time. How did you feel before starting school? Have the students share some feelings. Read the story.

Discussion points:

  • page 3 – What did Elizabeti do that showed she was excited?
  • page 8 – Why did Elizabeti slow down as they got closer to the school?
  • page 12 – How is Elizabeti feeling on this page? How do you know?
  • page 20 – Why did Elizabeti decide she didn’t want to go back to school?
  • page 28 – What were the new things she had shown Mama and Baba? Why did her feelings about school change again?

After reading the book and the discussion, have the children use the activity Character Moves from Words Come Alive to show how Elizabeti’s feelings change throughout the story. Make sure to show her excitement, her nervousness, her loneliness, and her proud feeling of accomplishment at the end.

Next, compare and contrast the characters of Wemberly and Elizabeti. How were they similar? How were they different? Write down ideas on the chart paper.

The children will then work on writing a response to literature comparing and contrasting the two characters. You can write an introduction and conclusion with the children or you can use the frame provided (see materials list above).

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