In non-fiction text, a mood walk could begin with skimming some of the more “visual” text features like photos, diagrams, flow charts, and graphs. I also think mood walks would be incredibly helpful when discussing historical non-fiction (Revolutionary War or Civil War) or even reading text related to current events. One of the benefits would be helping students make connections from their own lives (living through the pandemic!) to the mood of the nation at different points during the wars. With the right text, a mood walk could amplify those connections. Using graphic organizers similar to the one on pg. 58 would guide the students along and help them focus. but like he says on pg.76--the access lenses help our students harvest information, even when studying a text that has almost no mood.

I’ve been using the book Animals by the Numbers to support our math lessons about data we glean from graphs. One of the infographics is a flowchart showing the choices an animal (I think it’s an armadillo) can make in response to a predator. I think a mood walk of even just that one portion of the book would be interesting. 

I also plan to implement the wonder wall for the Civil War Unit. I am interested to read what questions or wonders they come up with.

 

Now that my eyes have been opened to AoC, I have focused more of my lessons to using visuals to teach comprehension.  My students struggle with writing and tend to use simple sentences.  I have started using a vocabulary chart like figure 3.2 to guide them in choosing adjectives.  I realized they were struggling with reading the vocabulary words, so I started drawing pictures/symbols next to the words.  I am looking forward to using the access lenses graphic organizer to support comprehension when I start teaching the animal unit in the next couple of weeks.