In this video, we will be studying how the author George McClements uses speech bubbles in his book Night of the Veggie Monster to make his characters talk and their stories come to life.

This book is a great mentor text for reading and writing because there are so many opportunities to stop and have a discussion about the topic ALONG with adding a writing about reading piece afterwards OR creating an interactive opinion writing book using the students in your classroom..."Room ____'s Favorite Vegetables" or "Meet the Veggie Monsters in Room _____'s."

The minilesson was adapted from the 1st grade UOS Session 14. This is my version of the lesson.

Connection: We just read Night of the Veggie Monster and George McClements did something special in his book that we can try in our own writing.

Teaching Point: So today I want to teach you that we can write just like George McClements by adding speech bubbles in our stories to make our characters come to life and then adding it to our words.

Active Engagement: Now it's your turn to try with your stories you brought to the carpet. Find a place where you can write just like George McClements by adding a speech bubble where your characters are talking to make them come to life.

Link: Today and everyday, when you're writing and want to make your characters talk, you can add a speech bubble to make your characters come to life.

I would start to create a chart with the different craft moves from George McClements so students have a place to refer to when they're writing independently.