22 Sep.2014

Third Reading: Peter Rabbit

THIRD READING: ANALYSIS – THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT

During the Third Reading, your child and you have prior knowledge of how the text and picture fit together. Now, your interaction with the story will move to a higher level of thinking. The activities and questions below are considered “higher order thinking questions.” Activities and questions like these give the brain practice in being open to new ideas and creative thinking habits. Open-ended questions strengthen the brain by building new synapses (new connections and information).

For this reading you have the choice of how you read the story:

~reversing roles. Your child tells/”reads” the story, and you become the listener and questioner.

~ alternating the reading of pages with your child.

~pausing to allow your listener to fill in the next word or complete the sentence.

Work on matching you child’s retelling of the story to carefully match the illustration on the page. Practice knowing when to turn the page to go to the next illustration.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

~Discuss what Peter will do the next time that he goes off with Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail.

~What is the moral (the lesson) of the story?

~Develop a plan to help Peter get his jacket and shoes back. Remember this is the second outfit that he has lost in a fortnight.

~Talk about words that describe Peter. He is naughty. However, he was, also, strong, fast, smart, etc. Are there any words that describe both your child and Peter?

ACTIVITIES:

~Check out the Blog entry: Practickle Activities: The Value of a Word Wall. Pick some of the highlighted vocabulary to add to the wall. Encourage your child to use some of the specific vocabulary words that you discussed during the Second Reading:

camomile tea fortnight scuttered

kertyschoo sieve dreadfully

naughty currant buns mischief

lippity

~Check out the website: www.peterrabbit.com It is full of activities and additional story connections.

~There are many versions of this tale on: http://www.youtube.com

One that I recommend is The Tale of Peter Rabbit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yBqBPdqXho

Additional dialogue has been added and the illustrations are based on Ms. Potter’s lovely paintings. The video is 10 minutes long.

~Beatrix Potter wrote many other books. You may want to read The Tale of Benjamin Bunny by Beatrix Potter. Compare Benjamin to Peter. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14407/14407-h/14407-h.htm

This site has a complete copy of the book at no cost.

22 Sep.2014

0 Comments

Second Reading: Peter Rabbit

SECOND READING: TEXT AND VOCABULARY – THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT

As you read the text, you’ll notice on each page that Miss Potter has skillfully matched her illustrations to the text. There are some great vocabulary words to highlight. Look for clues in both the illustrations and the text that might help to explain the highlighted vocabulary.

Pages 7 – 9:

~Why might mother be telling the little rabbits not to go into Mr. McGregor’s garden? Make a prediction based on what we saw in the illustrations during the First Reading.

Pages 12 – 28:

*If you notice any details in the illustration or the text that might help explain the highlighted vocabulary words, point it out to your listener.

~On page 12, mischief: minor trouble, misbehavior. – What’s another word that we could use in place of mischief that means the same thing? (If your listener doesn’t have any ideas, try: trouble or danger.)

~On page 15, currants: small, seedless grapes. Why did Mrs. Rabbit buy five currant buns?

~On page 19, naughty: behaving disobediently. On page 19, why is Peter described as naughty?

~On page 23, we’re told what Peter eats in Mr. McGregor’s garden. Can you find each vegetable in the illustration?

~On page 24, why would Peter be looking for some parsley if he is feeling sick? (Parsley can soothe an upset stomach.)

~Why is Mr. McGregor calling Peter a thief? Do you think that Peter is a thief?

Pages 31 – 32:

~On page 31, dreadfully: extremely unpleasant. How frightened is Peter? Can we think of a word that would mean the same as dreadfully? (We can infer that Peter is very, very frightened since Mr. McGregor killed his father. Words that mean the same as dreadfully: horribly, terribly, or awfully.)

Pages 35 – 39:

~On page 35, implored: begged, urged.

exert: use great power or effort.

What might the birds be doing if they implored Peter to exert himself?

~On page 39, sieve: a tool made of wire mesh used for straining. Look for the sieve in the illustration on page 38.

~Why does Peter leave his jacket behind?

Pages 40 – 47:

The suspense builds as Mr. McGregor searches for Peter!

~On page 43, kertyschoo: Miss Potter made up this word to sound like a sneeze. What might have caused Peter to sneeze, “Kertyschoo!”

Pages 48 – 51:

~On page 48, lippity: created by Miss Potter to sound like slow hopping. Why is Peter going “lippity – lippity” instead of racing away?

~Why might Peter be crying?

Pages 52 – 60:

~What might Benjamin Bunny have told Peter about cats?

~On page 55, Miss Potter, has used words that are made up to represent sounds. What are they? (scritch, scratch)

~On page 55, scuttered: to move with a clattering sound. What does scuttered mean? What words could we use in place of scuttered? Use the picture and the sense of the text to help.

~On page 59, currant: a small, seedless grape. We see the word currant again. Do you remember what it means?

~On page 60, do you think Mr. McGregor’s scarecrow is frightening the birds? Why or why not?

Pages 63 – 69:

~On page 64, how do you think Peter lost his other jacket and pair of shoes?

~fortnight: two weeks. What would your mother think if you lost two sets of clothes in a fortnight?

~On page 67, camomile tea: drink made from camomile leaves and flowers. What do you think camomile tea is? Can you find the words that tell you it might be like a medicine?

22 Sep.2014

0 Comments

First Reading: Peter Rabbit

FIRST READING: ILLUSTRATIONS – THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT

During the First Reading, your child and you will study the illustrations to infer what they tell us about the story. You will look at the evidence in the prints to form predictions about who the characters are, what the problem in the story is, and how a solution is reached. If the pages in your book are not numbered, the page on which the text begins is page 1. The story’s first illustration is on page 6.

Talk about what tale means. (a story about some event)

Page 6:

~How many rabbits are in the picture?

~Who do you think the large rabbit is?

Page 9:

~Who do you think is happening here?

~How does the bunny in the blue jacket seem to be feeling?

Pages 13 – 29:

Make up a little story about this set of illustrations. Include: who the rabbits are, where they are, and what they are doing. Also, include any information about how they might be feeling in the illustrations. When you come to an illustration that focuses on a character’s face, talk about the emotions and what the cause of the emotions might be.

Pages 30 – 33:

The lone shoe is a perfect place to make a prediction about why the shoe is in the illustration all by itself.

~What might the bird be thinking?

Pages 34 – 38:

~What is happening to Peter in these illustrations?

~How are the birds involved?

~Whose hands are in the illustration?

~How does Peter escape from the net?

Pages 41 – 46:

~What is happening in this set of illustrations?

~Whose shoe is shown on page 45?

~It looks like Peter is wet on page 46. How did he get wet?

Pages 49 – 50:

~Looking at the evidence in the illustrations, what is happening?

~How is Peter feeling? Why?

Pages 53 – 58:

Make up a little story to explain what is happening to Peter in this set of illustrations.

Page 61:

~What do you see?

~Who hung the jacket and the shoes on the wooden poles? Why?

Pages 62 – 69:

~Where are these illustrations taking place?

~Find Peter in each illustration. Is he in the illustration on page 69? Where could he be?

~How does the story end?

22 Sep.2014

0 Comments

About: Peter Rabbit

The Tale of Peter Rabbit

by

Beatrix Potter

This classic children’s book is one of the best selling picture books of all times. First written by Miss Potter in 1893, her familiar images of Peter Rabbit have been commercialized in many different formats, such as: games, dishes, wallpaper, stuffed animals, and bed linens. In fact, my daughter’s baby dishes bore reproductions of Miss Potter’s warm watercolor illustrations. The ageless Tale of Peter Rabbit has been printed in thirty-six languages.

Peter is a mischievous and disobedient little bunny. The story follows Peter for a day as he goes his own way against his mother’s wishes. He comes face-to-face with life-threatening danger as he tries to escape Mr. McGregor brandishing his lethal rake. Peter bears the consequences of his disobedience as he looses his clothes and seeks safety in a partially filled watering can. At the end of the day, he’s suffering both emotionally and physically. This leads to a wonderful discussion with your little ones on the importance of making good decisions.

There are many book formats available, such as pop-ups and board books. I suggest the original format. The original format is a smaller-than-usual picture book selected by Miss Potter to make the book easier to be opened by little hands. The small size fits so nicely with the text structure. Each double-page spread includes Miss Potter’s illustration and the text that matches it. The sentence structure is sophisticated with some lengthy sentences extending to the next page. Composed by a British author in the late nineteenth century, there is difficult vocabulary, such as mischief and dreadfully.

After you have read this classic the Practickle way, ask your child’s opinion as to why this book has been loved for over one hundred years.

22 Sep.2014

0 Comments

Third Reading: Emeraldalicious

THIRD READING: ANALYSIS – EMERALDALICIOUS

During this reading, your child and you have prior knowledge of how the text and illustrations fit together. Now, your interaction with the story will move to a higher level of thinking. The activities and questions below are considered “higher order thinking.” Activities and questions like these give the brain practice in being open to new ideas and creative thinking habits. Open-ended questions strengthen the brain by building new synapses (connections that increase our recall and retention).

For the third reading you have the choice of how you read the story with your listener:

~reversing roles. Your child tells/”reads” the story, and you become the listener and questioner. Encourage your child to use the details in the illustration to aid in remembering the story and knowing when to turn the page.
~alternating the reading of pages with your child.

~pausing to allow your listener to fill in the next word or complete the sentence.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

~You read the wishes that Peter wanted to make. If you had Pinkalicious’s magic wand what wish would you make?

~How are Pinkalicious and Peter alike? How are they different?

~What is the main idea of the book? Does Ms. Kann have a message about junk and garbage?

ACTIVITIES:

~Check out the www.thinkpinkalicious.com website. Ms. Kann has written other books dedicated to a color. Use the Practickle approach to read these other books.

~Which of the vocabulary words highlighted in the Second Reading would you like to add to your Word Wall? Figure out ways that you can use these words in your everyday life.

strolling tiara transformed

hue moat twine

recycle emerald

22 Sep.2014

0 Comments

Second Reading: Emeraldalicious

SECOND READING: TEXT AND VOCABULARY – EMERALDALICIOUS

As you read the text, you’ll discover information to evaluate your First Reading predictions. Take time to discuss how the text explains the illustration. Talk about some of the vocabulary words that you’d like to highlight. Words such as strolling will be fun to add to your daily conversations, building the word into your listener’s long-term vocabulary. Watch the punctuation marks. Putting emphasis on sentences that end with an exclamation mark aids comprehension. (Miss Kann uses quite a few exclamation marks!)

TIP: Miss Kann uses words to tell you how the characters are talking. Use these words to enhance your reading. These different sounds aid comprehension and recall.

*Read the pages before you ask the questions.

Page 1:

~strolling:to walk slowly. From the text and the illustration, can we come up with a word to substitute for strolling that keeps the meaning the same?

~We now know who the boy is. Who is he?

~Who’s telling the story?

Pages 2 – 3:

~Watch for exclamation marks. Read these sentences with extra feeling and emphasis.

~tiara: her crown. Ask the reader what a tiara could be?

~What is more important to the girl, her tiara or her wand?

Pages 4 – 5:

~What causes the wand to sparkle? (loving and kissing the wand)

~Is the wand magic?

~What is the girl’s name?

Pages 6 – 7:

~Who made Pinkalicious’s crown and cape?

~What other word in the story means the same as crown? (tiara)

Pages 8 – 9:

~Why might the tree be sad?

~Do you think this is still Peter’s favorite park? Discuss.

Pages 10 – 11:

~Can you find the three items that Pinkalicious mentions in her rhyme? (They are in the throne.)

~transformed: changed. Why do you think the magic wand did transform the garbage into a throne?

~Why didn’t the magic wand make a castle for Pinkalicious?

Pages 12 – 13:

~Explain how the wand works.

~Can you find the three items that Pinkalicious mentions in her rhyme?

~hue: color. Miss Kann uses hue to complete her rhyme. Did the wand make flowers in every hue?

Pages 14 – 15:

Pinkalicious tells us the steps to follow to make the magic wand perform its magic.

~Were you correct when you made your observation about how the wand worked?

~Can you find the grapefruit, girdle, and glove? Your listener made need some help identifying girdle.

~What would it sound like on this page if you were standing with Peter and Pinkalicious?

Pages 16 – 17:

~tassel: a bunch of threads tied together and hanging as an ornament. Can you locate the television, towel, and tassel? The tassel might be the hardest to locate. Your listener might need you to explain what a tassel is.

~moat: a deep trench surrounding a castle for protection. Locate the moat.

Pages 18 – 19:

~Ms. Kann uses a variety of punctuation marks to tell us how to read the dialogue, such as: … (ellipsis). An ellipsis is used when something is unfinished or interrupted. When you come to an … make a long pause.

~twine: a strong thread made by several strands of thread twisted together. Discuss Pinkalicious’s new outfit being made of twine and old telephone cords.

Pages 20 – 23

~On page 21, recycle: to reuse something, sometimes in a new way. Find the recycled hairbrush, hanger, harp, and high heel.

~On page 22, why might Pinkalicious look unhappy?

Pages 24 – 25:

~emerald: a clear green gem stone. What is an emerald? Why would Pinkalicious make the garden emeraldalicious instead of pinkalicious? (Green is the color associated with recycling and taking care of Earth.)

~How does Peter feel about the garden?

~transformed: changed in appearance. Look at the tree in the illustration. Has it transformed?

Pages 26 – 27:

~What are the sparkly seeds?

~Do you agree with Peter that the magic is gone?

Page 28:

~What will an EMERALDALICIOUS world be like?

~What might greenerrific mean?

22 Sep.2014

0 Comments

First Reading: Emeraldalicious

FIRST READING: ILLUSTRATIONS – EMERALDALICIOUS

During the first reading, you’ll be forming inferences and making predictions. You’ll be inferring what the characters might be saying to each other and predicting what the magic wand will make next. You’ll enjoy studying the wand’s magical creations. The illustrations are full of old objects that can probably be found in a junkyard or recycling collection center. Take time to look at the objects in each illustration. Some are new and some are from the past. Predict what the magic wand will put together for Pinkalicious and her brother, Peter.

Enjoy the beautiful illustrations in the front of the book. They will prepare your listener for the wonder of the illustrations to come.

*If the pages in your book are not numbered, page 1 is the page on which the text begins.

Page 1:

~What do you see on this page?

~How do the characters seem to be feeling?

Pages 2 – 3:

~Looking at the details, where do you think the characters are? Does this forest look like a regular forest?

~What has happened to the girl? How do you think it might have happened?

~Why might the boy have a smile on his face?

Pages 4 – 5:

~Where do you think the wand came from?

~Look back at pages 2 – 3. Do you see the wand there?

~What do you think the girl and the boy might be saying to each other?

Pages 6 – 7:

~How did the girl get her cape and crown?

~What might the boy be saying?

Pages 8 – 9:

~Where to you think the characters are now? How might they have gotten there?

~Take time to look at the objects. Your listener might not recognize some of them old objects. If you have some special memories connected with some of the objects, share the memories with your child.

Pages 10 – 13:

~On pages 10 and 11, what objects to you see in the throne?

~What might have caused the throne to appear?

~On pages 12 and 13, look at the children’s faces. What might they be saying?

Pages 14 – 17:

~On pages 14 and 15, what is different about the birds?

~On pages 16 and 17, discuss the objects used to make the castle. Some of them are out-of-date. Share your knowledge and memories connected with any of the objects.

Pages 18 – 19:

~Why does the boy have one look on his face and the girl have a very different look?

~How do you think the girl might have gotten her new outfit? What is it made from?

Pages 20 – 23:

~On pages 20 and 21, discuss some of the objects used to make the magic carriage.

~The boy has a smile on his face on these pages. Why might he be smiling?

~On page 22, how does the girl seem to be feeling?

Pages 24 – 25:

~There is a lot to discover on these pages. Enjoy discussing the magic and the objects in Emeraldalicious Garden!

~Add sensory information. What might you hear in Emeraldalicious Garden? What might the children be saying? Would there be any special smells in the garden?

Pages 26 – 27:

~What seems to be happening to the wand? Can you predict why this might be happening?

~What might the children be saying to each other?

Page 28:

~What do you see?

~Why might the children be so happy?

22 Sep.2014

0 Comments

Third Reading: Millions of Cats

THIRD READING: ANALYSIS – MILLIONS OF CATS

During this reading, your child and you have prior knowledge of how the text and illustrations fit together. Now, your interaction with the story will move to a higher level of thinking. The activities and questions below are considered “higher order thinking.” Activities and questions like these give the brain practice in being open to new ideas and creative thinking habits. Open-ended questions strengthen the brain by building new synapses (connections that increase our recall and retention).

For this reading you have the choice of how you read the story:

~reversing roles. Your child tells/”reads” the story, and you become the listener and questioner.

~ alternating the reading of pages with your child.

~pausing to allow your listener to fill in the next word or complete the sentence.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

~Is this story a fairy tale?

Fairy tales are a kind of story that usually begin with “Once upon a time…..” and end with “they lived happily ever after.” Fairy tales usually have a problem that the characters solve. Fairy tales frequently have talking animals.

~If so, can we think of other fairy tales like Millions of Cats?

~The very old man wanted to pick a beautiful cat for the very old woman. Then, the cats quarreled over which cat was the prettiest. Is that the way that you would choose a cat? Is beauty the most important characteristic when picking a pet? How would you describe beauty?

~Was the very old man’s and the very old woman’s solution for picking a cat a good one? How would you have decided on which cat to keep?

~Discuss the math words: hundreds, thousands, millions, billions, and trillions. Can you and your child think of anything that there are hundreds of, thousands of, millions of, billions of, or trillions of?

ACTIVITIES:

~Below is a very simple graphic organizer, a visual way to organize information.

Each column represents a quantity. Have your child put marks such as x’s, dots, or tally marks to represent the quantities. Having an exact number isn’t important. In the hundreds column, there should be quite a few dots. In the thousands column, there should be many more than in the hundreds column. Continue with each column having many more than the previous column. Our goal is to illustrate that each word starting with hundreds is many dots, but less than thousands. Thousands is a larger number of dots, but less than millions. Each column is to have more dots than the previous column. Stress the order of: hundreds, thousands, millions, billions, trillions.

HUNDREDS, THOUSANDS, MILLIONS, BILLIONS, TRILLIONS

22 Sep.2014

0 Comments

Second Reading: Millions of Cats

SECOND READING: TEXT AND VOCABULARY – MILLIONS OF CATS

As you read, you’ll discover whether the inferences and predictions that you made based on the illustrations match the text . There are some great vocabulary words to highlight. Look for clues in both the illustrations and the text that might help to explain the highlighted vocabulary.

Pages 1 – 3:

~On page 3, trudged: to walk wearily, to plod along. What word could we put in the sentence to keep the meaning of the sentence the same? (walked)

Pages 4 – 5:

~Read this page with rhythm.

~Talk about the quantities: hundreds, thousands, millions, billions, and trillions. Keep the explanations very simple: Hundreds is quite a few cats. Thousands would be a lot more than hundreds. Millions is many, many thousands. Billions is many, many millions, and so on. Do you think the old man could count that many cats?

Pages 6 – 11:

~By the time you have read page 11, how many cats has the man chosen? What reason does he give for choosing each cat?

~On page 11, bear: tolerate. What does the word bear mean in this context? Why couldn’t the very, old man bear to leave any cat behind?

Pages 12 – 13:

~Stress the order and the rhythm of ”hundreds and thousands and millions and billions and trillions of cats.”

~How would you react if you saw “hundreds and thousands and millions and billions and trillions of cats” following a very old man? Would you laugh? What would the cats sound like?

Pages 14 – 17:

~Enjoy repeating the refrain with rhythm: “Hundreds of cats, Thousands of cats, Millions and billions and trillions of cats.”

Pages 18 – 19:

~Point out the exclamation mark. It means that the sentence is spoken with extra feeling and importance. How might the very old lady say, “My dear!”?

~On page 19, how do you think the very old woman might be saying this?

~Can the very old man and woman keep the cats? What problems might occur?

Page 20 – 21:

~What does “They will eat us out of house and home” mean? (The cats will eat everything!)

~On page 21, quarrel: fight. What does quarrel mean? Are there clues to the meaning of quarrel in the illustration and the text?

Page 22 – 23:

~Note each of the exclamation marks. Make sure to read the sentences ending in “!” with feeling.

~Could the cats have eaten each other? If not, what do you think might have happened to the cats?

~On page 23, scraggly: shaggy, not taken care of. What might have caused the kitten to be scraggly?

~Remember why the very old man chose the first cats. (They were beautiful.) Do you think the man and the woman will keep a thin and scraggly kitten?

Page 24 – 28:

~On page 24, homely: not attractive or good looking. What does homely mean? Can you find clues in the text that tell you that homely means the opposite of pretty? (The other cats didn’t bother the little kitten as they fought to determine who was the prettiest.)

~On page 27, plump: chubby. Can you tell from the illustrations what plump means? Can you think of a word that means the opposite of plump? (thin, skinny)

~What words described the kitten when they found it? (scraggly, homely, thin)What words described the kitten after it had been with the very old man and woman for a while? (plumb, pretty)

~What made the kitten “the most beautiful cat in the whole world”?

19 Sep.2014

0 Comments

First Reading: Millions of Cats

During the first reading, your child and you will study the illustrations to infer what they tell us about the story. You will look at the evidence in the prints to form predictions about who the characters are, what their problem is, and how a solution is reached. You will be repeating the questions that the brain needs answered in order to form an inference or prediction. The basic questions are the two questions that you see below for pages 1 – 3.

Page 1 – 3:

~What do you see?

~What do you think is happening?

Page 4:

~What do you see?

~ How many cats do you see in the illustration? Could this illustration have a connection to the title?

~What would it sound like if this many cats are all together?

Pages 6 – 9:

~What do you see? (It looks like the man is picking out some cats.)

~By looking at the man’s face, can you tell how he feels about cats?

~Count the cats in each of the illustrations. How many cats is the man holding? Do you think he will pick up the cat on page 9? Why or why not?

~Why is the old man picking up the cats?

Page 10 – 13:

~How many cats is the old man holding on page 10?

~What is he going to do about all the other cats in the picture?

~On page 12, where is he going with the cats?

~On page 13, can you tell from the illustrations how the old man is feeling about being followed by so many cats?

Pages 14 – 15:

~Where are they? (by a pond)

~ On page 15, what has happened to the pond? Why do you think the water has disappeared?

Pages 16 – 19:

~On page 18, look at the woman’s face. How do you think she is feeling about all the cats?

~What might the man and the woman be saying to each other?

Page 21:

~What do you think is happening? Why might the man and the woman be running?

Pages 22 – 23:

~What do you see?

~Where might all the other cats have gone?

Pages 24 – 27:

~On page 24 and 25, what do you see in the illustrations?

~On page 25, look at the faces of the man and the woman. What might they be saying to each other?

~Look at the pictures of the cat. How does the cat change from the first picture to the last?

Page 29:

~What do you see?

~How would you describe the ending of the story?

Parent Links

Practickle: Where Reading Is Made Run!

Third Reading: Peter Rabbit

Second Reading: Peter Rabbit

First Reading: Peter Rabbit

About: Peter Rabbit

Third Reading: Emeraldalicious

Second Reading: Emeraldalicious

First Reading: Emeraldalicious

Third Reading: Millions of Cats

Second Reading: Millions of Cats

First Reading: Millions of Cats