Introducing Read Alouds Through "Text Graffiti "

As we have incorporated many read aloud throughout our units of study, I can't think of a better way to introduce a picture book than through "Text Graffiti."

Melanie Martino's 5th graders collaborate in small groups as they focus on powerful sentences that she has pre selected from the text above, Malala's Magic Pencil. Students are asked to share their wonderings on sticky notes.

Each group of students was given a different sentence to reflect on. As students completed one reflection, they were given another sentence to reflect on. They could affirm what the prior group stated, add to it, or add their own wonderings.

Notice the collaboration back and forth between the groups. Students are engaged in the text before actually reading the story. 

This is also a great way to get students to think about vocabulary words. "Poverty" is one of the tier 2 words that Melanie chose to pre teach for this book.

Students are able to get "snippets" of the plot and start to gain further background knowledge.

Thank you Melanie for such an incredible activity!!