Book Talk Tuesday: My Abuelita

I'm linking up with Mrs. Jump for another Book Talk Tuesday!

Today I'm sharing a book that we use as a mentor text for writing. It is fabulous for teaching figurative languages, specifically similes and metaphors... My Abuelita by Tony Johnston Illustrated by Yuyi Morales

In addition to the beautiful language, the style of illustrations make the pages come alive...

see what I  mean?...

Reading Level:
Grade Level Equivalent 2.6
(This is the only level I could find, if anyone else can find another leveling system, let me know!)

Resources for teaching...

Web Resources:

• Book Discussion & Activity Guide: This resource focuses on the importance of relationships mothers and grandmothers have with their children.
• Making My Abuelita: Find out how the illustrations for this book were made!

Vocabulary: What's great about this book is although MANY Spanish words are used, the narrator defines the words immediately after using them.
A few words you may want to preteach:  limber, robust, jalopy, audience

Activities:
Before Reading: Ask students how they think the illustrations were made. They are so unique that they practically scream out to talk about them! Show the video above to get kiddos excited about the illustrations and excited to hear the story.

During Reading: This story lends itself to working on predictions. I had my kiddos make a prediction about what they think Abuelita's job is (during the whole story she's getting ready for work, but you don't find out what she is until the last page). This story gives students opportunities to adjust their prediction as the story goes on.

After Reading: Have students try to come up with metaphors to describe themselves or someone they know or about an object. I give my kiddos a little help with sentence frames such as: _____ is as white as _______ or _______ is as round as __________. Be sure to remind kiddos to be kind if they are writing about someone.

Think about buying this book, especially if you teach about metaphors/similes or about family!