Aaron's Hair by Robert Munsch - Teaching Ideas

 If you are a Robert Munsch fan you will love this book. Aaron's hair actually runs away from his head! His hair runs all over town wreaking havoc everywhere it lands and the only way anyone can get it off of them is to yell "Hair, I hate you!". This book is very silly and will have your students laughing!

Even though this book is on the silly side, there is still some good reading skills and strategies that can be practiced using this book. Here is what I think can be taught using Aaron's Hair.

Reading level: 3.5

Theme: Pride, self-esteem

Genre: Humorous

Suggested Vocabulary: downtown, statue, fountain

Reading skills and strategies:

• asking questions - {possible questions before}Why is Aaron's hair so long? {possible questions during} Why did Aaron want to look like his dad? Wasn't Aaron's hair long enough? Why did his hair run away? Why did the hair land on the baby? What was the hair doing on the lady's stomach? Why was the hair chasing people? {possible questions after} Why was Aaron's dads hair so long? Why is the hair talking?
• author's point of view - Third person point of view
• author's purpose - to entertain{evidence} hair cannot run away! Hair cannot talk!
• beginning, middle, end - {most important event from beginning} Aaron's hair jumped off his head and ran away {most important event from middle} The hair kept causing problems for everyone it landed on. {most important event from end} Aaron decided he liked his hair so his hair came back to him. {included in packet}
• cause and effect - Why did Aaron want his hair to grow longer? so he could look like his dad. Why did Aaron's hair run away? because Aaron said he hated his hair. Why did everyone keep saying that they hated the hair? because that was the only way to get the hair off of them. Why did everything get all jammed up? because the hair landed on the police officer's face and he couldn't see. Why did the hair come back to Aaron? because he decided he liked his hair. Why did Aaron's hair attach itself to Aaron's chin? because Aaron said he wanted to grow a beard like his dad. {included in packet}
• characterization - describe character {looks like, feelings, thoughts, character}
• compare & contrast - compare and contrast Aaron and his dad or you and Aaron.
• connections - {possible text-to-self connections} students wanting to look like their mom or dad. Having long hair like Aaron. Your dad having long hair or a beard.
• plot - the turning point in the story was when Aaron decided he liked his hair. When he said this his hair came back to him.
• predict - Aaron's hair ran away, where do you think it is going to go?
• problem & solution - {problem} Aaron's hair ran away and he can't catch or find it. {solution} Aaron finally decided that he liked his hair. When he said this his hair came back to him. {included in packet}
• sequencing - Aaron wants to grow his hair long to look like his dad. Aaron had trouble brushing his hair. Aaron said he hated his hair. Aaron's hair ran away. It landed on a baby's head. It landed on a lady's stomach. It landed on a man's behind. It landed on a police officer's face. Everything got all jammed up. The hair was on a stature. The hair ran home and they couldn't find it. Aaron said he liked his hair. The hair came back to Aaron. Aaron decided he wanted a beard like his dad's. His hair moved to his chin.{included in packet}
• story elements - list title, author, character's, setting, beginning, middle, end, or problem & solution.
• strong thought - the kids will be laughing and pointing out the hair throughout the book. They may shout out where they see the hair, especially when it lands on the man's behind!
• summarize - {someone}Aaron {wanted} wanted to look like his dad {but} but his hair ran away {so} so he chased after it. {then} The hair cause all sorts of trouble and {finally} finally came back to Aaron once he said he like his hair.

If you are looking for activities to go with this book I created a packet to go with it. Included are 4 skills and strategies as well as a number recognition match and record and a noun sort and record. I chose the number recognition because when Aaron's hair get to downtown it causes a pile up of different vehicles. The book lists the vehicles that piled up as well as the numbers 1-9. I chose to sort nouns because his hair landed on so many different people and went to so many different places.

Happy reading!