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Developing a sense of time, the repetition of the seasons, and the
cycles of life using
Over and Over |
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In
Over and Over
a little girl begins to discover that time exists, that events occur in
it at regular and repeating intervals, that there are seasons. Teachers
and librarians can easily open up many lines of inquiry and exploration
from this book, as well as countless seasonal-and-holiday-related
activities (the
Over and Over
page includes one from elementary school librarian Kimberlee Ent). |
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Questions a class might consider (depending on age
level): |
 First
grade: what season is it now? How can you tell? Are there other
seasons? When will they come, and how ill you know it? Why did the
little girl in the book want to know “What’s next” What do you
think is next? |
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Second
grade: What day of the week is it? What month? Why do we
have days, weeks, and months, and why do we number them with dates?
What year is it? Do you remember when you first began to know that
some things happened “over and over”? If you do, do you remember
what made you think about it? Now it’s (season). What was it before,
and “what’s next?” What is your favorite part about (season), and
what is your least favorite part? If you were a tree, what would
your favorite and least favorite season be, and why? What about if
you were a bird, or a butterfly. |
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Third-fourth grade: If
fall was a color, what color would it be? If it was a sound, what
sound would that be? What taste? What “feel” (as in texture, touch)?
What “feeling” (as in emotion)? Why? When you think about a year and
the things that happen in it “over and over” and you think about
“what’s next?” what do you anticipate with joy and happiness, and
what don’t you like to think about? Are there any important parts of
the year and what happens “over and over” that the little girl or
her mother left out? |
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Fourth-fifth
grade: The little girl is all mixed up in her mind about time,
but you aren’t… you know the days of the week and the months. But do
you know how they got their names? (This leads directly into Greek
and Norse mythology, as well as astronomy). Can you figure out, from
the story, what part of the world the little girl lives in? What
would happen “over and over” if she lived in a different continent?
In a different country? Practiced a different religion or was part
of an ethnic group that had different celebrations and holidays?
(This leads directly to geography and social studies / multicultural
studies). What if the little girl were a Native American; what might
her mother say to her? Or, what if she was born in colonial times,
or at the turn of the century --- what would be the same and what
would be different each year?
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| A season journal |
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Depending on age, students could create a “season journal”, which the
teacher hands out to them on the first and third Monday (or whenever) of
each month, in which they make notes on how “things” have changed since
their last entry. Temperature, precipitation, what clothes they are
wearing, what family birthdays or anniversaries are coming up as well as
general holidays, how they feel about all this could be part of it, as
could illustrations, photographs, something from the natural world (a
bright red maple leaf pressed, for instance). It could also be
structured around the questions listed above under third grade --- that
is, each time, they write the date, the color, taste, sound, etc.
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