My partner and I were given Thank You, Mr. My classmates and I were paired up and given books to read and present on in our choice from a list of formats. Last fall our literacy teacher did an author study of sorts with Patricia Polacco. This year we’re seeing the publication of The Art of Miss Chew where Tricia is able to connect with an art teacher as well. In 2010 she published The Junkyard Wonders in which Tricia finds her tribe. Polacco returns time and again to her own youth for inspiration. Using the same characters and themes, Ms. It has some sequels, so to speak, of its own. All the more reason to check out this lesson plan called Digging Deeper: Developing Comprehension Using Thank You, Mr. It is undoubtedly the best-known (and probably best period) picture book featuring a dyslexic child we’ve ever seen. FALKER, MY HERO, MY TEACHER, NOT ONLY STOPPED THIS BOY FROM TEASING ME, BUT HE ALSO NOTICED THAT I WASN’T READING WELL AND GOT A READING SPECIALIST TO HELP.” THAT BOY CHANGED MY LIFE AND MADE ME FEEL SO UNSAFE AND SO SAD THAT I DIDN’T WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL ANYMORE. Polacco addresses this saying, “I REMEMBER FEELING DUMB, THAT TERRIBLE FEELING ABOUT MYSELF WAS COMPOUNDED BY BEING TEASED BY A BULLY. Although dyslexia is never mentioned in the book, this story will provide great reassurance to children who struggle to overcome learning disabilities.”Īs you may already know, the book is autobiographical for the most part. Finally, in fifth grade, she is lucky enough to have a teacher who recognizes Trisha’s incredible artistic ability - and understands her problem, and takes the time to lead her to the magic of reading. Her classmates make matters worse by calling her dummy. The description from the publisher reads, “In this autobiographical story, Little Trisha, overjoyed at the thought of learning how to read struggles when she finds that all the letters and numbers get jumbled up.

Thank you mr falker cover