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.

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?

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?