Dotty by Erica S. Perl

I am so happy to be part of the Connect with Dotty: The Erica Perl Blog Tour which is going on right now!  In addition to ways you can use Dotty in the classroom (here!), you can also read about ways to make imagination part of your child’s everyday, by the author herself, at Literacy Toolbox today!  I’m also offering a GIVEAWAY at Literacy Toolbox! One lucky reader will win a copy of Dotty!  So after you read about Dotty here, head over to Literacy Toolbox and check out what Erica has to say!

Theme: Creating a Classroom Full of Readers and Writers

Writer’s Workshop: Organization/ Varied Endings

Recommended Grades: 3^rd -5^th grade

Dotty is a fantastic new book by Erica S. Perl.  Ida brings her imaginary friend, Dotty to school with her each day.  When her friends begin to tease her, she finds an unexpected ally in a surprise ending.

Lesson Idea: Read aloud this book at the beginning of the year to help build your classroom community. Discuss with students how imagination can be an important part of our daily lives and how imagination can help us become better readers and writers.

Writer’s Workshop Lesson Idea: You can use this book in Writer’s Workshop to teach students how to write varied endings.  Dotty has a special surprise ending and I think students will love it!  Use this as a model, but incorporate other models of surprise endings as well, such as The Old Woman Who Named Things and Night in the Country, both by Cynthia Rylant.  After providing students with plenty of models of books with surprise endings, ask them to write their own surprise ending to a writing piece.

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