Margie Jackson

RE 3030

Read Aloud Text Talk

Text Talk Lesson

For

The Mitten

Written and Illustrated by Jan Brett

G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1989

Summary:This is the Ukrainian folktale about a boy named Nicki. Nicki wants his Baba to knit him white mittens. While playing out in the snow, Nicki loses one of his white mittens. A mole passes by and burrows inside the mitten to keep warm. That starts a chain of other animals, who stumble upon the mitten, to also keep warm inside. As each animal climbs inside, the mitten grows and grows and grows. A bear even fits inside the mitten. The last animal to climb inside is a little mouse. The mouse finds a place on top of the bear’s nose. This causes the bear to sneeze and all of the animals are tossed out of the mitten. Nicki sees the mitten and gets it back safely.

Focus: This story has two main focuses. The first focus is on how Nicki’s Baba is scared he is going to lose the white mitten in the snow which he does. He spends the whole story trying to find the mitten so that he doesn’t disappoint his Baba. The second focus is on the mitten itself. Throughout the story we watch all the animals find the mitten and crawl inside. This stretches the mitten beyond imaginable. The mouse at the end throws the twist and makes the bear sneeze.

Comments and Questions:

Cover:

Show the cover and read the title. Ask children what they see. Ask children what they think will happen in the story based on what they see on the cover and from the title.

Page 4:

  1. What does Nicki want? (white mittens the color of snow)
  2. Why doesn’t Nicki’s Baba want to make him snow white mittens? (if he drops them in the snow, he won’t be able to find it)

Page 6:

  1. What does Baba tell Nicki she will do when he comes home?(she will look to see if he is safe and sound and then look for the mittens)
  2. Does Nicki lose the mitten? (yes)
  3. Can you find it? (under the tree)

Page 9:

1. Admire means to look with approval. (the rabbit was admiring his coat)

Page 11:

  1. What animals have buried inside the mitten? (a mole, a snowshoe rabbit, and a hedgehog)
  2. Why do they climb inside? (it was warm and cozy)
  3. What does the author mean when he says the rabbit’s “big kickers?” (his feet)

Page 13:

  1. Commotion means violent motion or a lot of movement and noise. (the owl was attracted by the commotion)

Page 18:

1. Investigate means to examine or observe and inquire. (the fox stopped by to investigate)

Page 20:

  1. Can we name all the animals inside the mitten? (mole, rabbit, hedgehog, owl, badger, fox, bear)
  2. Do you really think all of those animals could really fit into the mitten?
  3. Why hasn’t the mitten broke? (because Baba knitted the mitten really well)

Page 21:

  1. What do you think is going to happen with the mouse on the bear’s nose?

Page 29:

  1. Who was in the window? (Baba)
  2. What did she do? (looked to see if he was safe and if he still had his mittens)
  3. What do you notice in the picture about the mittens? (one is really stretched out?)

Wrap Up:

Do you think Nicki was careful with his mitten? (no not really because he lost it right away?) Was he lucky to find it again? (yes) Why did the bear sneeze and make all of the animals shoot out of the mitten? (Because the mouse sat on the bear’s nose and it tickled his nose)

Vocabulary:

Admire

Commotion

Investigate

Admire: In the story, the snowshoe rabbit stopped to admire his winter coat. Admire means to “look at with approval.” Say the word admire.

- I am going to say some things to see if you think they would be admired. If you think they could be admired say “that could be admired.” If you don’t think that could be admired say “no way.”

-Yourself in the mirror? (admired)

-Dirt? (no way)

-Your parents? (admired)

-The lunch at school? (no way)

-Your favorite toy? (admired)

What’s our word? Admire

Commotion: In the story the owl was attracted to the commotion going on with the mitten. Commotion means “a lot of movement and noise.” Say the word commotion.

-Let’s think about things that might make a commotion. Which would make or cause a commotion?

-A party or reading a book? (party)

-An accident or a nap? (accident)

-Dropping something or tip-toeing across a room? (dropping)

-Yelling or whispering? (yelling)

What’s our word? Commotion

Investigate: In the story, the fox stopped by the mitten to investigate what was going on. Investigate means “to examine, observe or inquire (wonder).” Say the word investigate.

-Let’s think about some things we might investigate:

-Would you investigate if you heard a strange noise outside? (yes)

-Would you investigate if you heard a noise and knew what it was? (no)

-Would you investigate something that looks suspicious? (yes)

-Would you investigate something you already knew? (no)

What’s our word? Investigate

We talked about three words: Admire, Commotion, and Investigate. Let’s think about them some more.

-Which would you admire more? Jewelry or plastic? (jewelry)

-Which would cause a commotion? Someone tripping and falling or someone standing still? (tripping and falling)

-If you were investigating something, what would you be doing? (examining or observing something)