Aaron Slater, Illustrator
Aaron Slater, Illustrator
Book Title: Aaron Slater, Illustrator
Book Author: Andrea Beaty
Book Illustrator: David Roberts
This book addresses: Difficulties learning to read
Potentially Tricky Vocabulary:
Finds her stride: gets confident
Anguish: lots of anxiety and pain
Questions to ask the student before reading:
Do you like to read?
Do you think that learning to read is easy for everyone? Why or why not?
What was the trickiest part of learning to read for you?
What part of reading is the most fun?
Historical context to give before reading:
Every person learns differently. Sometimes, a person is really smart in a particular class, like math or history. Sometimes, a student struggles in a class. It’s normal that a student struggles a little - or a lot - when they’re learning to read. However, reading is an incredible thing and every person can learn to read with some help and hard work.
(The questions to ask the student and historical content above are interconnected. The historical context is typically going to be a supplement to what your student might not know. Some students may already be knowledgeable about a subject, others may not know much yet. Pay attention to what your student already knows and share the historical context accordingly.)
While reading:
Pay attention to the illustrations. They’re impressive, and they’re an important part of the main character.
After reading:
Do you think that the illustrations were an important part of this book? Why or why not?
How did the illustrations help tell the story?
Follow up activity (time permitting):
Ask your student to think about their classmates. Have your student draw a garden with plants and animals for their class. They should include specific plants or animals that your student thinks that their classmates would like. Your student can think about favorite color or character traits if they’re having trouble deciding on plants or animals to include. (Ex. My friend likes yellow, so I’ll draw a sunflower for her. My friend is curious, so I’ll draw a cat for him.)
All definitions were adapted by Karina Connolly from the Merriam Webster online dictionary.