All the World



Author: Liz Garton Scanlon

Award: Caldecott Honor Book

Genre: Poetry

Subject Area: Multicultural

Grade Level: First to Third

Theme: The book helps illustrate that every moment spent with friends and family should be savored and remembered. We tend to take some things for granted such as seeing family members and hanging with friends, but we should take every moment spent with these people very seriously.

Pre-Reading Strategies:

Questions:

 

What can you predict this book will be about?

 

Can the title give us a hint about what maybe will be the main idea of the story?

 

What do you notice about the cover of the story?

 

Do you notice that there is a strong bond between the two characters on the book cover?

Activity: Have the students make a list of what they do with their family and friends during the weekend. How do they spend their time with their loved family members during the weekends or after school? Record all the students’ answers on a white board. Make a chart and have the students categorize the activities that cost money and that don’t cost money. Which list is longer? Discuss with the students why some of the most fun activities are the activities that have no expenses involved.

Post-Reading Strategies:

Questions: What are the children building at the beach? What does the girl find? What things are made or grown at the farmer’s market? What experiences or lessons did you learn from reading the story that you did not know before?

Activity: After reading the story, the students will practice the skill of making and using a Venn diagram for compare and contrast reasons. I will draw a very large Venn diagram and have the general topic be the many differences and similarities between a farmer’s market and a supermarket. The students previously learned what a farmer’s market is from listening to the story and they already know what a supermarket is. Each student (if it’s a small class size) will come up to the white board and add either a difference or similarity between a supermarket and farmer’s market. This will help test their previous understanding of the short story All the World, as well as practice the skill of using a Venn diagram successfully.

Summary: As humans, we tend to be very busy every day and tend to miss the small and importance aspects of everyday life. This story is about a circle of family and friends who help show and understand the importance of all things, whether they are great or small. This story emphasizes that every moment is to be savored and is special. The story follows a family and group of friends from morning until dawn showing their daily routines and highlighting importance aspects of their lives that we would tend to miss as busy Americans today.

Assessment: Understanding a compare and contrast activity.

Reflection: This book is an excellent view of how since we are very busy with our daily lives, we miss the finer things in life. This story tries to highlight the small things that we miss.

Scanlon, Liz Garton. (2009). All the World. New York: Beach Lane Books. Grades 1-3.