Welcome to Dinsmore the World's Greatest Store

Book Bag Activities for
Welcome to Dinsmore the World's Greatest Store
By: Sarah White

Boniface, William. Welcome to Dinsmore the World’s Greatest Store (1995). Illus. Tom Kerr. Andres and McMeel.

Rationale:

This book is packed with strange and interesting things, events, and places. Ideas from geography to music to writing jump off the page, but it is all hidden within a well-written story that brightens the eyes of any child.

Author Information:

William Boniface grew up in a small town in South Dakota, where department stores were almost always small one story brick buildings. He now lives in New York City, quite the opposite of the town he grew up in. (As one can see, there is a minimal amount of information on Willam Boniface.)

Questions to use with the story:

Before:

Can you tell us about a time when you were looking for something? (application)

During:

Who is showing the boy around the store? (knowledge)
What is the name of the store? (knowledge)
Can you retell me what the fourth floor was like? (comprehension)

After:

Suppose the boy was looking for a gift, how do you think the story would have changed? (synthesis)
Do you think Dinsmore IS the World’s Greatest Store? Why or why not? (evaluation)
What do you think the boy was thinking as he saw all these strange things? (analysis)

Activities:

WHAT DO YOU KNOW – Students will work in pairs to discover the meaning of any words they do not know. Provide a number of resources for them to complete this including a dictionary, thesaurus, prefix and suffix definition sheets, maps, atlases, and internet access. Discuss with the students how to use the context clues within the text to choose the best resource to find more information on that word. Words may include but are not limited to – molts, aunt, flaunt, locomotives, scarce, nutritious, massaging, agile, capable, impression, and orchestra.
DIORAMA – Students work in small groups (3-4) to create a diorama of one of the floors of the store. Assign each group a floor. Stack the dioramas on top of one another so all the students my view each of the floors consecutively.
FIELD TRIP – Take a field trip to a local department store. Have students compare and contrast the two stores in a chart.
EXPANDING OUR SOCIAL STUDIES HORIZONS – Have each student find the location of one of the geography and history based words in the book using an atlas, globe, encyclopedia, book, or if necessary, the internet. Then, bring the class back together as a whole and have each student present what they found out about their location. Include the following words/places in your list – D.C., Maine, Hawaii, Manhattan, Alps, Spain, Big Ben, Marianas, Peru, Crete, Quigg, Andes, Bahamas, Bedouin, Circe, King Louis, Helen of Troy, Sheik, Catherine the Great.
I FOUND IT – Have students pretend that the small boy was not just looking for the bathroom and write an alternate ending to the story. Was he looking for a present? Did he find it? What floor was it on?
MY FLOOR – If you worked at Dinsmore and you were given the opportunity to help design the tenth floor, what would it look like and what could be bought there? Write a one page description and make a floor plan for your boss to look at.
WHAT DO YOU DO? – Have students go to a local store (department, grocery, or other) and interview a clerk. Be sure to have them prepare their questions prior to going and have them approved. They can ask things such as what they do on a daily basis, where all the stuff in the store comes from, what is the strangest day they’ve ever had, and what is the strangest item they sell at the store.
WHO OR WHAT IS DINSMORE? – Read/copy the description of each floor (one per student) with out the accompaniment of the picture and have students imagine what the floor looks like or the people that work on that floor. Have the either make a paper-bag puppet of a character or cut-and-paste craft of an item to demonstrate the floor they are on. The re-read the book as a class and attempt to match the items with their descriptions.
JOURNAL – Pose the following question to students – Have you ever been looking for the perfect gift or item for yourself but you just can’t seem to find it? Have students imagine this item now and to journal a paragraph about how, when, and where they found it when they visited Dinsmore the World’s Greatest Store.
PROPS ARE US – Divide the class in half and have each group turn the book’s text into a short skit depicting the story. Encourage students to re-read the book several times and create dialogue between the clerk, the boy, and the people on each of the floors. Have the groups present to each other after a few days of practice.
DO YOU HEAR IT – (not so much an activity) Play Strauss’s D-Sharp or other classical music and allow the students to view the musical instruments or pictures of them as they listen. Can they identify the sounds of each of the instruments? Try to encourage them to listen to one instrument at a time as all of them play.

Props:

World Map
Encyclopedia
CD of Strauss in D-sharp or other classical music
Music Instruments (or pictures of them)
Funny Red Dinsmore Hat
Mustache/Beard
Sale Signs – “FOR SALE”; “$4.99”
Restaurant Menus
Signs for each of the floors
Furry seat cover and fuzzy slippers for cafe

Bibliography of other related books:

Other books by William Boniface

Books on Similar Topics

Hermy the Hermit Crab Goes Shopping by Andrea Weathers

Assessment Plan:

This book is not as “deep” as some may want to chose, but it promises fun in learning through a variety of subjects. After students complete the activities have them choose two they would like evaluated that they believe demonstrates their strengths as a student. Discuss their choice with them prior to grading to make sure they have made the best decision.

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