The Old Mans Mitten Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Old Mans Mitten - Essay Example Unlike most girls her age, Mary does not like the colors pink and purple and movies or cartoons that have fairy characters. Instead, she likes chocolates, running on the grass and gymnastics. Her current interest is teaks with a yo-yo.   Mean people, bullies, falling over, mushrooms, nuts, and onions are among the things that Mary does not like. She does well in subjects like Science and Technology, Literacy and Creative and Practical Arts. However, Mathematics, Personal Development, Health and Physical Education are among her weaknesses.   Mary has been my neighbor for 9 months now. We talk about her progress in school about once a week. The reading activity took place in my house, where she had to come over on Thursday at 5:00 in the afternoon. Her father was not present during the activity so there was just the two of us. I had her seated behind a big dining table with the window on her left. To avoid distraction from the changes in the daylight, I turned on the lights for her and sat beside her, on her right. To make her feel comfortable and more relaxed, I asked the child to pretend that I am a student and she is the teacher giving me a reading lesson. Mary loved the idea and was even enthusiastic about it. She asked me to sit on the carpet in front of her while she moved her chair in the middle of the dining room. Before moving on to the activity, I told her if it was Ok to record her reading since she is such a good reader. I then gave her two different books to read.   For stage 1 of the activity, I gave her the book â€Å"Alison’s Dad is Lost† by an unknown author. Mary did not find any difficulty in reading and she did not commit any mistake. For the second stage, she read a traditional tale entitled "The Old Mans Mitten" by Yvonne Pollock, with illustrations by Trish Hill (Pollock, 1994).