A few years ago, I took it a step further with my kids in the library.  I created thought bubbles with the different parts of a story that I wanted them to be thinking about as they read (Characters, Setting, Plot, Events, Solution).  The first thing I did was hot glue the thought bubbles to popsicle sticks, and then I added a Velcro circle to the end of each popsicle stick.  I put the matching Velcro circle around the rim of the brain hat.

     As I took out the book for the library lesson that day, I told them that it’s important to get your brain turned on before you read.   I put my actual brain hat on, I had them pretend to put theirs on as well.  Then I put the first popsicle stick on for “Predict”, and we talked about how to make a good prediction of the story.  This also helped us get our brain ready to look for words that may come up, or connections we could make about the story and our life.  As we began to read the story, I would pause and put a popsicle stick on the hat, and we would talk about the new information we knew (Characters, Setting, Plot, Events, Solution.)   By the time the story was done, my brain hat was filled with all kinds of information.

 

     After we finished the book, I would go through each of the popsicle sticks again, this time taking them off as we described what we remembered or learned from the story.  I reminded them that when they retell a story, they need to include information from all the different brain thoughts that we had just put on our hat. 
     When they came to check out their books, I gave their teacher a Brain Thinking Map for each student so that they could practice in their classroom.  I also gave them a bookmark with these same strategies to help them remember to use them as they read their book.

     After a few weeks of practicing the story parts, I moved onto the second set of Though Bubbles which coincided with their classroom study of higher level thinking reading strategies.

    Again, we practiced together with the library book for the week, and then I gave their teacher a class set of the new Brain Thinking Map to practice with their own books that they were reading during DEAR time.   I also gave them their a new bookmark with the Story parts on one side, and the Higher Level Thinking Strategies on the other to keep handy.

 

     I’ve done these activities with my 1st and 2nd graders, as well as my upper grades and they all seem to respond well to it.  But I’m SUPER EXCITED about this SUPER COOL WEBSITE that I just found that allows you to download either a color or black-and-white copy of the brain that the kids can make out of paper!  I plan on making copies of the black-and-white version and will give them out to my 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade.  I think this could also lead into a fun research project about the different areas of the brain and how they all work together to help us learn.