Book Talk Tuesday – One of my favorites!

Madeline is an award-winning  story by French author Ludwig Bemelmans.  It is the story of a little girl with red hair who lives at what seems to be a boarding school for girls, run by Miss Clavel. Madeline is an independent and spirited girl. She is brave in the face of danger and responsible when others need her.

I loved all of the books about Madeline when I was little but as a teacher my favorite is the original. Do you know how I use it in my class? I use it during the first or seond week of school with my second graders as a read aloud in MATH class! Yes, you read it right, math class! You know how the girls in Madeline are described as 12 little girls in 2 straight lines? Well I read the book and usually kids enjoy it and pick up on fun characteristics like the rhymes, but I ask, “how many girls were there?” “How many lines were they in?” “How many in each line?” Then we got back and look through the pictures and find places where they are in 2 groups of 6- in line, at the dinner table, in their bedroom, and so on! Then we do an activity about making 12 and the students think of as many ways as they can to make 12 besides 6+6. This is a great start to the school year and it is a good introduction to those Name Collection Boxes in Everyday Math (where they have to write 5 names for a number, for example). 

Here are some other Madeline resources you might enjoy !

This is a nice read aloud – plus the young girl who reads it is adorable!