The purpose of this reading is to bring together the information in both the text and the illustrations. The discussion and activity options focus on analyzing the main idea, theme, character traits, setting and how all of the story elements fit together.
During this reading your child and you will read the story all the way through. Three ways that you can add fun and improve recall during this reading are:
~You may switch roles and become the listener and the questioner as your child “reads” (retells) the story to you. Assist your child in matching the retelling of the story to the illustration. Help your child pay attention to the details in the illustration to know when to turn the page. Point out the punctuation marks and the special type. These writer’s tools tell you which words and sentences to say with more emphasis for greater enjoyment and comprehension.
~Your child and you may alternate the pages you “read” to each other.
~Since there is very little dialogue in the story. Your child and you may create dialogue. George never speaks, but he might make monkey sounds that could be imitated. The sounds made by George can be made to show his feelings. The humans can speak to each other.
DISCUSSION OPTIONS:
~Read other stories in this collection. How are the stories similar? (setting, problem, solution to problem, characters) How are they different?
~Is curiosity a good trait to have? Discuss.
~Does George make good decisions? Discuss. Would you like George for a friend?
~Which story about Curious George do you like the best? Why?
ACTIVITY OPTIONS:
~Go to www.curiousgeorge.com and www.pbskids.org. These two websites have great activities to connect to Curious George. Some are simple worksheets, but many are quite creative.
~Using your story paper, write your own story about George. Make sure that you begin your story with: This is George. “He was a good little monkey and always very curious.” In your story, there must be a problem caused by George’s curiosity. Of course, there must be a happy ending!