We are really enjoying  our Kate DiCamillo author study, and this week I am sharing

The Magician’s Elephant

This beautiful book is perfectly suited to 5th graders who are reading on level and needing to dig deeper into themes and big ideas in their books. If you follow the link on this post (click on the book cover) you can find an interview where Kate talks about how she got the idea for the story. My students were inspired to hear her talk about themes connected to the book. They are reading it together in a small group, and I asked them to spend a lot of time with the first chapter, really practicing close reading. We are using Notice and Note strategies —- just 2, “Again and Again” and later on in the book,  “Memory Moments.” By the end of chapter one they already had so many great ideas about the book. It was a motivating start to their work.