Because of Winn-Dixie

[ReGina]

I wanted to highlight this book because I think it's a great book for 3rd or 4th grade read alouds. Kids really enjoy the story, they care so much about what happens to the dog, and they really identify with Opal's story. Opal doesn't know what happened to her mom, and kids have an empathy for this character that is kind of amazing. Also, I like to pair read alouds with movies and have the kids write in a graphic organizer to compare and contrast the two. It's very interesting what kids will pick up when you do that. Thoughts anyone?