First Graders Talk About Character and Setting

"Henry thought Mudge would be with him always. He thought Mudge made everything safe. He thought Mudge would never go away. And when Mudge did go away, when Henry called and called but Mudge didn't come, Henry's heart hurt and he cried for an hour. But when he finished crying, Henry said, "Mudge loves me. He wouldn't leave. He must be lost."

I read this passage from Henry and Mudge The First Book, to each first grade class at the beginning of reading workshop today. Students have been avidly following Henry and Mudge, listening to a chapter read aloud and thinking about character and setting. In response to this section of the book, Leah said, "Henry cried hard because he was mad when he thought that Mudge would run away." Kayla added that Henry was sad and was missing Mudge. Jevon and Mason were both happy when Henry realized that Mudge would never run away and that he must have gotten lost. Gurbani shared that Henry is looking for Mudge through the same forest that Mudge got lost in. This focused discussion about character and setting at the beginning of reading workshop allows students to work as a group on this reading strategy and then go off to apply the strategy to their just right reading. Reading partners think about character and setting in their just right books that they read and discuss with teachers and then independently show their thinking about their reading in writing.