
Each week, students collectively examine the transformation of characters in Kevin Henkes’s books. Independently, students create weekly pages to be housed in their literary accordion and bookmark books. The first story explored is Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse. Through collage and drawings, students observe Lily’s five emotional transformations as she deals with the consequences of disobeying her teacher by showing off her purse during lesson time. She moves from embarrassed to angry to vengeful. Finally, she becomes remorseful and makes amends. The second book investigated is Chester’s Way, in which students observe and interpret Chester’s transformation as he learns that sometimes it is nice to alter one’s meticulous routine and try new things. Chester’s Way incorporates a variety of art forms, including printmaking, crayon resist, and metallic drawings.
Standards
CCSS English Language Arts
RL 1.1, RL 1.2, RL 1.3, RL 1.4, RL 1.7, RL 1.9, W 1.2, W 1.5
CA Arts Standards
1.VA:Cr1.1.1a, 1.VA:Cr1.2.1a, 1.VA:Cr1.1.2a, 1.VA:Cr1.2.2a, 1.VA:Cr1.1.3a, 1.VA:Cr1.2.3a
Grade Level
1Teaching Artist
