Knuffle Bunny

I am the sort of teacher who does a great deal of planning for each of my classes—some might call it excessive.  The funny part is that I rarely stick to my plans.  On Saturday afternoon, I think that I have so many great ideas, but on Tuesday morning, I come up with better ones.  To a casual visitor in my classroom, it would seem that I really enjoy flying by the seat of my pants.  What I most enjoy, though, is seeing the kids learn.  So if it means changing my plans five minutes into a class, I’m happy to do so.

Last weekend, I chose a book to read to Juan, Gaby, and Saúl during this week’s story time sessions.  The book is called Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems.  I love this author, and I love this story.  It’s about a little girl named Trixie and her stuffed rabbit—Knuffle Bunny.  They go with Trixie’s dad to the Laundromat.  She winds up leaving the bunny there.  She realizes it halfway home, but can’t communicate this to her dad because she hasn’t started talking yet.  She throws a tantrum all the way home, and as soon as mom opens the door for them, she knows what the problem is.  They all run back to the Laundromat where dad finds the bunny in the washing machine.  Trixie then speaks her first words: Knuffle Bunny!

My favorite part of the book is the type of illustrations.  The backgrounds are black and white photographs, and the characters are drawn in the foreground.  I had a great idea for a post-reading activity involving magazine photos and the kids inventing their own stories.  But when I was sitting in my storytelling beach chair in the middle of reading Knuffle Bunny, I knew that was not going to work like I had planned.  So I switched gears and had the kids act out the story instead.  This is a common activity for story time, but I wanted to make it a little more sophisticated.  We got props, Stefanie provided costumes, and we practiced.  Then we captured it on video.  The kids had so much fun, and I was most encouraged to see how well Juan understood the story and played his part. 

So sit back, relax, and enjoy the show…