The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers

In The Heart and the Bottle, a little girl enjoys the wonders of her imagination, the world, and a very special relationship. After experiencing a profound loss, she puts her heart in a bottle to protect it, not realizing that such a drastic act will have unintended consequences. This is a great example of a simple picture book that can serve as a vehicle for a powerful, deep, and engaging lesson with older students.

Possible Strategy Instruction

Comprehension

• Use prior knowledge to connect with text.
• Infer and support with evidence. 
• Make a picture or mental image. 
• Check for understanding. 
• Ask questions throughout the reading process.
• Determine and analyze author's purpose and support with text.
• Recognize and explain cause-and-effect relationships. 

Accuracy

• Flip the sound. 
• Use the pictures . . . Do the words and pictures match?

Fluency

• Adjust and apply different reading rates to match text. 
• Use punctuation to enhance phrasing and prosody.
• Read text as the author would say it, conveying the meaning or feeling. 

Expand Vocabulary

• Tune in to interesting words and use new vocabulary in speaking and writing (curiosities, unsure, notice, awkward, occurred).