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!Bookworm Level Upgrade
Current Months Books
FIRST READING and SECOND READINGS: ILLUSTRATIONS and TEXT – WHAT IF YOU HAD ANIMAL TEETH?
The format of this book requires a unique combination of First and Second Readings. One side of each full-page spread contains a photograph of a wild animal and factual information about the animal’s teeth. The other side contains a humorous illustration of a child with those teeth. As you open to each new animal, discuss the questions about the photograph and the illustration. Then, read the text. The last step will be to discuss the questions about the text. These three steps are to be done before you turn the page to the next animal. Using this discussion format may require two to three story times to reach the end of the book. Don’t hurry. Enjoy!
*The pages in this book are numbered.
First Page of Text:
~This girl is missing her two front teeth. Why do we lose teeth?
~Do any animals lose teeth? Discuss.
READ THE TEXT.
Pages 4 and 5:
~How are the beaver’s front teeth like the boy’s front teeth? How are they different?
~Who or what might have caused the damage that is shown in the illustration?
~Why might the boy be eating the math book? (Paper is made from wood.)
READ THE TEXT.
~chisel: a wedge-shaped tool, wide at the top, narrowing to a cutting edge at the bottom. Why might the shape of a chisel be the perfect shape for a beaver’s front teeth?
~iron: a natural element needed by most forms of life. Iron helps the body perform many important jobs. People need iron, too. How might beavers and people get the iron that their bodies need?
Pages 6 and 7:
~Why might a shark need so many teeth?
~Why might the teeth need to be so sharp?
~Discuss the meaning of the illustration. (The girl is smiling as she thinks about all of the money the Tooth Fairy will be leaving for her.)
READ THE TEXT.
~Are a great white shark’s teeth sharper than human teeth? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.
~Why are a great white shark’s teeth always sharp? (New sharp teeth are always ready to slide into the place of an older tooth that has fallen out.)
Pages 8 and 9:
~How might the long tooth help the narwhal in the ocean?
~Do you think the narwhal has other teeth? Discuss.
READ THE TEXT.
~What’s the difference between a tooth and a tusk?
~How might the tusk help the narwhal survive in the ocean?
Pages 10 and 11:
~Do elephants use their tusks the same way as the boy is using his tusks? Explain why or why not.
~Do you think that the elephant has other teeth? Discuss.
~Why might the tiger look surprised?
READ THE TEXT.
~Are baby elephants born with tusks? Find evidence in the text to support your answer.
~Do all adult elephants have tusks? Find evidence in the text to support your answer.
~If you were a male elephant do you think you would be right-tusked or left-tusked?
Explain your choice.
Pages 12 and 13:
~What might the drops be that are coming from these teeth?
~How does a snake use these long fangs?
~Look at the boy’s t-shirt. Discuss the meaning of the illustration.
READ THE TEXT.
~How are fangs and tusks alike? How are they different?
~venom: a poisonous liquid. How does venom help a snake survive?
Pages 14 and 15:
~How are a naked mole rat’s teeth like a beaver’s teeth? How are they different?
~Why might this member of the rat family be referred to as naked? (no hair)
READ THE TEXT.
~How would having teeth like the naked mole rat help this girl eat?
~How do shovel-shaped teeth help the naked mole rat?
~After reading about the naked mole rat, where do you think this animal might live?
Pages 16 and 17:
~What other animal do you think has teeth similar to the vampire bat? Explain your choice.
~Why might a vampire bat need such sharp teeth?
READ THE TEXT.
~What other animal has teeth similar to the teeth of a vampire bat? How are the teeth similar? (great white sharks and snakes, very sharp teeth)
~Point to the triangle-shaped teeth in the picture.
Pages 18 and 19:
~Why might the hippopotamus not have a full set of teeth?
~Why might the girl be throwing her tooth brush and tooth paste away?
READ THE TEXT.
~Why might the girl be throwing her tooth brush and tooth paste away?
~Point to the teeth that are the long, strong pegs with very sharp edges.
~Why might the hippopotamus’s teeth be powerful weapons?
Pages 20 and 21:
~How many different sizes of teeth does the Bengal tiger seem to have? (3)
~Why might the Bengal tiger need three different sizes of teeth?
~Why might the boy be able to pull such a heavy load if he had teeth like the Bengal tiger?
READ THE TEXT.
~Locate the three kinds of teeth in the Bengal tiger’s mouth.
~Are a Bengal tiger’s teeth stronger than human teeth? Give evidence to support your answer.
Pages 22 and 23:
~Why might the crocodile need such a big mouth with so many teeth?
~What do you think is going to happen to the bird?
READ THE TEXT.
~Do you think the teeth of the boy in the illustration match the description of the crocodile’s teeth? (No. The text says that a crocodile’s front teeth are often different sizes. The boy’s teeth are all the same size.)
~Which animal in the book has teeth most like the crocodile? Give evidence to support your choice.
Pages 24 and 25:
~What kind of teeth must the girl have to bite into a pineapple?
~How might the camel’s teeth help it to survive in the desert?
READ THE TEXT.
~Who has stronger teeth, a camel or you? Explain your answer.
~How do a camel’s teeth help it to survive in the desert?
Pages 26 – 29:
~Would it be better if boys and girls had teeth like animals? Why, or why not?
READ THE TEXT.
~What words would you use to describe human teeth? Think about words to describe shape, strength, and color.
~For each animal, there is an interesting fact about the animal’s teeth. Think of an interesting fact about human teeth.
Pages 30 and 31:
~Whose tooth do you think the boy is brushing?
~The boy has beautiful, healthy teeth. What do you think he does to keep his teeth so healthy?
READ THE TEXT.
~What causes baby teeth to fall out?
~How can humans take good care of their teeth?
THIRD READING: ANALYSIS – WHAT IF YOU HAD ANIMAL TEETH?
Share the reading responsibilities with the listener any way you wish. You may wish to alternate reading pages, or have your child retell the contents of each animal’s page. When your child is retelling the information, help your child use the details in the photographs and illustrations to guide the retelling.
DISCUSSION OPTIONS:
~Which animal’s teeth would you most like to have? Explain your answer.
~Which animal’s teeth would you least like to have? Explain your answer.
~ Use your imagination. What would the perfect design for human teeth be?
~Do humans need teeth to survive? Explain your answer.
ACTIVITY OPTIONS:
~Check out: scienceforkidsblog.blogspot.com/2013/13
This website has great ideas for classroom activities.
~Check out Sandra Markle’s book: What If You Had Animal Hair? This book is written in the same format and has wonderful information.
~On www.youtube.com, search “animal teeth”. So many interesting options appear!
FIRST READING: ILLUSTRATIONS – OLIVIA
The purpose of the illustrations is to give you information about the main character, Olivia. Mr. Falconer uses quite a bit of humor in them which both reader and listener will enjoy. As you move through the illustrations, you’ll be talking about Olivia’s personality traits, her likes and dislikes, and her family.
*Page 1 is the page on which the text begins.
Pages 2 – 5:
Meet Olivia.
~What activities do you see Olivia doing?
~What does this tell you about Olivia? (She is very active and likes to do many things.)
~Do you like to do any of the things that Olivia likes to do?
~On pages 4 and 5, who do you think the little piglet might be?
Pages 6 – 7:
~What do you see Olivia doing?
~How are Olivia and you alike? How are Olivia and you different?
Pages 8 – 9:
~What do you notice about Olivia’s clothes? What might this tell you about Olivia?
~On page 8, note Olivia trying to wear a pair of panty hose. Panty hose might need an explanation to your listener.
Pages 10 – 14:
~Where are Olivia, her mother, and brother?
~What can you tell about Olivia from these illustrations? (She likes the beach. She knows how to swim.)
Pages 15 – 17:
~On page 15, how does Olivia seem to be feeling? Why might she be feeling this way?
~What do you think is happening on these pages?
Pages 18 – 20:
~On page 18, what do you see? Does this give you a clue where Olivia, her mother, and her brother might be?
~On page 19, what do you think Olivia is looking at?
~On page 20, what do you see? What might be happening?
Page 21 – 24:
~What do you see on these pages?
~Why might Olivia be sitting on the steps by herself?
Pages 25 – End:
~ What do you see? What do you think is happening?
~Look at the faces of the characters. How are they feeling? Why might they be feeling that way?
~Is the ending happy? Why or why not?
What did we learn about Olivia’s likes and dislikes from the illustrations?
What did we learn about Olivia’s family from the illustrations?
After looking at the illustrations, some questions that occurred to my grandchildren were simple questions, such as:
~Why is there so much red in the illustrations?
~Why does her mother look like she gets mad at her?
Write down any questions that you have to have them handy for the Second Reading of Olivia. After the Second Reading, your listener will discover that sometimes the text will provide the answers to the questions, and sometimes it won’t. When the text doesn’t provide an answer, it can be a learning experience to talk about what questions weren’t answered. Sometimes the author wants the reader to create their own ideas or answers using clues provided in the illustrations and text.
During the reading of the text, look for information to answer your questions. If you didn’t have any questions, don’t worry. Connect the information in the text to your inferences about the illustrations.
*There are a few vocabulary words that are highlighted.
*Ask the questions after you read the pages.
Pages 2 – 3:
~ wearing people out: getting people tired. What does wearing people out mean?
~Do you wear people out like Olivia does?
Page 4 – 9:
~On page 5, firm: demanding. What does it mean to be firm with Ian?
~Does Olivia do any of the same activities that you do?
~Why might she have to keep moving Edwin?
Pages 10 – 14:
~What does Olivia do well at the beach?
~On page 14, bask in the sun: lie and relax in the sun. What does bask in the sun mean?
~Is basking in the sun a good idea or a bad idea? Discuss.
Pages 15 – 17:
~What do you think she might be saying to her mother about taking a nap? Do you agree with Olivia?
Pages 18 – 21:
~Can you figure out what a museum might be? (a place where art or other objects of value are displayed)
~On page 19, what might Olivia be thinking?
Pages 22 – 25:
~On page 24, time out: for a child: a short break in play or work due to misbehavior. What is a time out?
~Do you think Olivia should have a time out for painting the picture?
~Have you ever had a time out, like Olivia?
Pages 26 – End:
~What do you think Olivia is dreaming about?
~Do you dream about the books that you read?
~Why might Olivia wear her mother out?
THIRD READING: ANALYSIS – OLIVIA
For the Third Reading, read the book all the way through. Share the reading responsibilities with the listener any way you wish. You may wish to alternate reading pages, or have the child retell the story. If your child is retelling the story to you, help your child use the details in the illustrations to guide the retelling and when to turn the page.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Discussion Options will focus on Olivia’s personality.
~Do you think Olivia behaves properly in the book?
~What activity do you think Olivia does the best?
~Give an example of a time in the story when Olivia and you are the most alike.
~Give an example of a time in the story when Olivia and you are the most different.
~To reinforce the vocabulary, discuss times in your life when you:
wore people out basked in the sun were firm with someone someone was firm with you you visited a museum.
ACTIVITIES:
~Use the graphic organizers to record and organize your responses to these questions:
How are Olivia and you alike?
How are Olivia and you different?
or
What do you do well?
What do you want to learn to do well?
~Check out Olivia’s website: www.myolivia.com
~Check out this website for other activities: www.homeschoolshare.com. Search: Olivia.
The format of this book requires a unique combination of First and Second Readings. Each full-page spread contains the illustration about and the letter from each of the colors in Duncan’s box of crayons. As you open to each new color, discuss the questions about the illustration. Then, read the letter or the text. The last step will be to discuss the questions about the letter or the text. These three steps are to be done before you turn the page to the next color. Using this discussion format may require two to three story times to reach the end of the book. Don’t hurry. Enjoy!
*If you’re numbering your pages, page 1 is the first page with text.
*Before you open the book, discuss what it means to quit something. Why might people quit doing something? What might crayons want to quit doing?
Pages 1 – 2:
~What do you see?
~Who might Duncan be?
READ THE TEXT.
Pages 3 – 4:
~Name the objects in the illustration.
~How might Red Crayon be feeling?
~What might Red Crayon be thinking?
~Who might have written the red letter?
READ THE LETTER.
~What is Red Crayon’s complaint?
~Do you agree with Red Crayon?
~What does “I wear myself out” mean? (I get so tired doing all of the work that I do.)
~How might Duncan be able to solve Red Crayon’s complaint?
Pages 5 – 6:
~How does Purple Crayon seem to be feeling?
~What might Purple Crayon be saying in the purple letter? (Its mouth is wide open. It might be yelling.)
READ THE LETTER.
~What is Purple Crayon’s complaint? Do you agree with its complaint?
~Why might Purple Crayon have written some words with all CAPITAL LETTERS, such as: “LISTEN”? (to show you the words to emphasize as you read the letter)
Pages 7 – 8:
~How does Beige Crayon seem to be feeling?
~This illustration has a single object with Beige Crayon. Why might that be?
~Why might Beige Crayon want to quit?
READ THE LETTER.
~What is Beige Crayon’s complaint?
~Can you help Beige Crayon by suggesting other things the Duncan might color beige?
Pages 9 – 10:
~What do you see?
~How does Gray Crayon seem to be feeling?
~Why might it want to quit?
READ THE LETTER.
Look at Gray Crayon’s use of CAPITAL LETTERS.
~Point out which words Gray Crayon wants to emphasize to Duncan. Reread the letter with special emphasis on these words.
~What do you think of Gray Crayon’s suggestion to solve its problem? Do you have any other ideas for Gray Crayon and Duncan?
Pages 11 – 12:
~What crayon might these two pages be about?
~How does White Crayon seem to be feeling?
~Why don’t you see much in this illustration?
READ THE LETTER.
~Discuss feeling empty (a negative feeling, feeling nothing, absence of emotion). Empty is used two different ways in White Crayon’s letter. Find the two different meanings of empty.
~When do you use a white crayon?
~How can Duncan make White Crayon feel better?
Pages 13 – 14:
~Look at the body language of Black Crayon. What does Black Crayon seem to be doing? (begging, pleading)
~What might Black Crayon be saying?
READ THE LETTER.
~What does brighter mean in Black Crayon’s letter? (smarter, more intelligent)
~Do you think Duncan should follow Black Crayon’s suggestion? Discuss.
Pages 15 – 16:
~Name all of the objects drawn with Green Crayon.
~What might Green Crayon want to quit doing?
READ THE LETTER.
~Does Green Crayon want to quit? Why did Green Crayon write a letter to Duncan?
~What does Green Crayon mean when he congratulates Duncan on a “very successful coloring things green career”? (In Green Crayon’s opinion, Duncan has done great work with his green crayon.)
~Who do you think should be the color of the sun?
Pages 17 – 20:
~What’s different about these two illustrations? (coloring book pages, two crayons are shown on the same page)
~Which crayon is talking in each illustration?
~What might the crayons be saying to Duncan in their letters?
READ THE LETTERS.
~How do both Yellow Crayon and Orange Crayon try to convince Duncan of their right to be the color of the sun?
~How would you suggest that Duncan solve the argument between Yellow Crayon and Orange Crayon?
~On page 19, tattletale: a person who tells information about another person for negative reasons. In your opinion, is Yellow Crayon a tattletale? Discuss.
Pages 21 – 22:
~What is different about Blue Crayon’s appearance?
~What might Blue Crayon want to quit doing? What might its reasons be?
READ THE LETTER.
~Do you think Blue Crayon is Duncan’s favorite color? Discuss.
~break: a pause in action or work. How can Duncan give Blue Crayon a break?
Pages 23 – 24:
~Are you surprised by some of the objects on Pink’s page? Discuss.
~What might be Pink’s complaint to Duncan?
READ THE LETTER.
~Do you think pink is a girl’s color? Discuss.
~After reading Pink Crayon’s letter, what emotion do you think Pink Crayon might be feeling?
~Is pink an important color to have in your crayon box? Why, or why not?
Pages 25 – 26:
~What is the color of this crayon?
~Discuss how this crayon seems to be feeling. Why might it be feeling this way?
READ THE LETTER.
~Why might Duncan have peeled off Peach Crayon’s wrapping?
~How should Duncan respond to Peach Crayon’s complaint?
Pages 27 – 28:
~Who do you think opened the letters?
READ THE TEXT.
~If you were Duncan, what would you do after you read all of the letters from your crayons?
Pages 29 – 31:
~On pages 29 and 30, who do you think might have drawn this picture?
~What do you notice about the objects and use of color in this picture?
~Why do you think Duncan drew this picture?
~On page 31, what might be the meaning of this illustration?
READ THE TEXT.
~Did Duncan make each of his crayons happy with this picture?
~Would you give Duncan an A for coloring? Discuss.
~On page 31, creativity: coming up with new ideas. Do you think Duncan’s picture shows creativity?
THIRD READING: ANALYSIS – THE DAY THE CRAYONS QUIT
Share the reading responsibilities with the listener any way you wish. You may wish to alternate reading pages, or have your child retell the contents of each crayon’s letter. If your child is retelling the letter, help your child use the details in the illustrations to guide the retelling.
Help your child with emphasis on words in CAPITAL LETTERS and exclamation marks. There are even a few ellipses (. . .) that appear, indicating a long pause to build interest.
DISCUSSION OPTIONS:
~Discuss additional details that Duncan could add to his final picture.
~Look back at the crayons’ letters. Are there any common complaints shared by any of the crayons? Which letter was your favorite? Explain your choice.
~Pick a color of crayon that you would like to be. Imagine that you are the crayon writing a letter to your child. What would your letter say? Remember to include words that indicate how you are feeling. (happy, sad, exhausted)
~This book is a series of letters. Do the letters make a story? Does it have the elements of a story (characters, setting, problem/solution)? Discuss.
ACTIVITY OPTIONS:
~https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNcVYE8eubY
This reading of the book is well done. Your child can listen to the emphasis but on certain words by a different reader. Hearing different ways to interpret a text helps to increase understanding of the text.
~Pick a toy of your child’s. What might the toy say in a letter to your child?
The fun begins immediately! Starting with the cover, you can begin to look for spirals (a coil made around a fixed point that moves farther away from the point or closer to it).
*If the pages are not numbered, page 1 is the first page with text.
Pages 1 – 2:
~Investigate the illustration. How many spirals do you see? (4)
~What season is it? Why might the animals be underground in spirals?
Pages 3 – 4:
~What do you see in this illustration that is the same as the previous illustration? (same animals, same setting: a forest)
~What do you see that is different? (animals above ground, not in spirals, different season)
Pages 5 – 6:
~Look for spirals. (3)
~Where are these spirals found? (lake, river, or ocean)
Pages 7 – 8:
~Look for spirals.
~How are the spirals in this illustration different from the other spirals? (plants)
Pages 9 – 30:
As you can see, the questions follow a pattern.
~Find the spirals on each full page spread.
~What do the spirals in each illustration have in common? (The settings change. The types of spirals in the different settings change.)
Pages 31 – 32:
~This is the explanatory index. It will have additional information beyond the story text.
Now, you are going to be practicing the Reading Comprehension Best Practice: Reading for a Purpose. Come up with some questions about the spirals in the illustrations that you hope the text will answer.
Some questions that my grandchildren posed:
~Are these the only spirals in nature?
~Why do the millipedes and hedgehogs make spirals?
~Are all flowers spirals?
Write these questions down so that you have them ready for the Second Reading: Text and Vocabulary.
SECOND READING: TEXT AND VOCABULARY – SWIRL BY SWIRL: SPIRALS IN NATURE
The sparse text is free-verse poetry.
We’ll focus on use of the ellipsis (…) to tell us that the idea is either unfinished or the reader is to make a long pause .
There is great vocabulary to describe the spirals.
*Ask the questions after reading the pages.
Pages 1 – 2:
~ coiled: wound in a circle. Discuss what coiled means.
~Point out the ellipsis for the reader to make a long pause. What could the spiral be waiting for?
Pages 3 – 4:
~expand: spread out. Discuss what expand means.
Pages 5 – 6:
~How does the spiral get bigger?
Pages 9 – 12:
~What do these spirals have in common? (to protect)
~ On page 10, protect: defend. How might the spirals protect the animals?
~On page 11, what is another word that means the same as protect?
Pages 13 – 16:
~What word could we use in place of clings tight and grasping? (hold)
Page 17 – 22:
After reading these pages, talk about how a spiral can be clever, graceful, strong, and bold. Discuss other spirals in the book that are clever, graceful, strong, and bold.
Pages 23 – 28:
~On page 27, what does starry arms mean?
~On page 28, the word expand occurs again. What is expanding in the illustration?
~On pages 29 and 30, how is this illustration similar to the first illustration on pages 1 and 2?
Pages 31 and 32:
~These pages provide additional information. Why might certain words be in bold print?
Did the text answer all of your questions? How can you find the answers for any of your questions that remain?
THIRD READING: ANALYSIS – SWIRL BY SWIRL: SPIRALS IN NATURE
For the Third Reading, read the book all the way through. Share the reading responsibilities with the listener any way you wish. You may wish to alternate reading pages, or have the child retell the story. If your child is retelling the story, help your child use the details in the illustrations to guide the retelling and when to turn the page.
DISCUSSION OPTIONS:
~Explain spirals. (Include the purposes of spirals.)
~Review the words used to describe spirals. (clever, graceful, strong, bold, expanding, coiled, clinging, grasping)
~In addition to these words describing spirals, think of other parts of the natural world you could describe using these words.
~Compare a spiral to a circle. How are they alike and different?
~Which illustration did you like the best? Explain choice.
ACTIVITIES:
~Look for spirals both indoors and outdoors. Draw what you discover and use a couple of the new vocabulary words mentioned above to describe them.
~Add a couple of the vocabulary words to your Word Wall. Read about Word Walls in our blog: Practickle Activities.
FIRST READING: ILLUSTRATIONS – Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
During this reading, you will be focusing on the pen and ink illustrations. Older editions of the story are in black and white. A special edition was done in 2009 in which Alexander is in digitally enhanced color.
As you look at each illustration, you will be asking the same questions. The purpose of the questions is to look for information in the illustration that the reader can connect to personal knowledge to form predictions. All of these predictions will combine to answer the question “Why did Alexander have such a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day?”
(Predictions require the reader to announce in advance what is going to happen based on evidence and personal knowledge.)
When looking at the each double-page spread as you go through the reading, ask:
~Where is Alexander?
~How does he look like he is feeling?
~In this setting, what could happen that would make his day terrible, horrible, no good and very bad?
Here are examples of how we take these questions and apply them to the first few pages. Please use these examples to start the conversation with your listener as you go page by page in the first reading.
Page 1:
~Where is Alexander? ( It looks like he is in his bedroom.)
~What does the look on his face mean? (My three-year-old grandson said, “He looks mad because he has to clean up his room.”)
~Would that make his day a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day? (“Yes!”)
~Who’s telling us the story? (Alexander)
Pages 2-3:
~Where is Alexander? (My grandson said, “In his house.”)
~What does the look on his face mean? (“He’s mad.”)
~Can we predict what could be happening here to make Alexander’s day so bad? (“He doesn’t have any food.”)
Repeat these three questions as you move through the book. Now, you have your predictions.
The next time we read, we’ll find out if our predictions about Alexander’s day are correct.
A you read the text, you will notice that some of Judith Viorst’s sentences are very long. Read them as she has them written. Only pause when you come to a comma (a short pause) or a period (a longer pause). Ms. Viorst’s purpose was to make the text sound as a child would say it. For instance on page 1, Alexander doesn’t stop until he has finished his long statement. The effect is to make the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad events that happen to him really stand out.
Pages 2 – 3:
Read the sentence without pause.
~Why does Alexander want to move to Australia? (If the child has no prior knowledge of Australia, share that it is on the other side of the world. Very, very, very, very far away!)
Pages 4-5:
After reading the pages, discuss:
~On page 4, car pool (a small group of people sharing a ride in the same car)
~On page 4, scrunched and smushed (crowded together very tightly, not enough room for everyone to fit comfortably)
~On page 4, carsick(having an upset tummy from riding in the car)
~How would you feel if you were scrunched and smushed in the backseat of the car?
Pages 6 – 11:
While Alexander is at school:
~On page 6, discuss invisible (impossible to see, not visible). Why wouldn’t Mrs. Dickens like Alexander’s invisible castle?
~On page 9, discuss tack. (a short, sharp pointed nail)
~What does Alexander say to Paul? Why? Have you ever had a similar situation with your best friends when you felt left out?
~predict (make known in advance, especially on the basis of special knowledge). Can you predict if Philip will share one of his cupcakes with Alexander? (No, because nothing good is happening to him today.)
Pages 12 – 21:
After school, let’s see what happens to Alexander.
~On page 13, Discuss cavity (a soft, decayed part of a tooth). Is having a cavity a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thing?
~On page 14, crybaby (a complainer who cries easily)
Is Alexander a crybaby? Does he have a good reason to complain and cry?
~Why didn’t anyone in his family answer him when he told them about his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day?
~On page 19, sneakers (shoes with rubber soles; tennis shoes) Use the clues in the illustration. (in a shoe store to buy sneakers) What is another word that names the same type of shoe as sneakers?
~On page 19, Alexander says he isn’t going to wear his new shoes. Is there another way that he could solve his problem?
~On page 20, discuss Alexander’s day. Did Alexander do anything to cause the problems at his dad’s office?
Page 22 – 27:
At home,
~are the things that happen to Alexander terrible, horrible, no good, very bad things?
~how could he turn some of the things that he thinks are terrible into things that are ok with him?
~his mom says some days are terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days. Is she right?
Page 28:
Are there terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days in Australia?
THIRD READING: ANALYSIS – Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
During this 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.” 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.
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.
~jointly read: “….terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day” together.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
~Could this story really happen?
~In what sequence did the terrible, horrible, no good very bad events happen to Alexander? (from waking up to bedtime) If the story continued, predict what would happen next?
~Why did Judith Viorst write a story about a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day? Is there a lesson we can learn from the story?
~Did Alexander behave appropriately? Is there any time in the story when he could have behaved differently? Would this have helped to make the day better? Did he make good choices?
~What did Alexander’s mother say to help him solve his problem? Could she have said something that would have helped him to solve his problem?
~Does Alexander remind you of anyone? How are Alexander and you alike and different?
ACTIVITIES:
~Let’s predict that Alexander wakes up the next morning to the start of a great day! Write a story about his great day. What would the title of your story be? Make it similar to the title of the book with four descriptors for a wonderful day when everything goes well.
~You can also write a story about a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day in your life. How would your day go badly from the time you wake up until the time you fall asleep?
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?
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?
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
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?
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”?
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
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?
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?
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.
FIRST READING: ILLUSTRATIONS – EXTRA YARN
To allow the brain to focus on the information in the illustrations, this reading will look only at the illustrations and the information they provide to the reader. There are no right or wrong answers in this reading. If the pages are not numbered, page 1 is the first page of text.
Look at the cover and title page.
~What do you see? What do you think Extra Yarn might be about?
(Does your child know what yarn is? Is there anything in the illustration to help explain what yarn is? Do you have any connections or memories that have to do with yarn?)
Pages 1:
~What do you think is happening in this illustration?
~What might be in the box?
Pages 2 – 5:
~What do you see on these pages?
~Now, what do you think is in the box?
~Discuss the use of color by the illustrator. Only the yarn has color. Why might that be?
~Look at the faces of the characters. The faces give clues to the characters’ feelings and to what might be happening in the story. What might the boy be saying to the girl? How are both of them feeling?
Pages 6 – 7:
What a surprise!
~What do you see that has changed?
~What might have caused the boy to change his feelings?
Pages 8 – 9:
The setting has changed to what seems to be a classroom. Look at the faces of the characters.
~What might be happening?
~How do the characters seem to be feeling?
~What might the girl be saying?
~Predict what the next illustration will show.
Pages 10 – 13:
~ Were you right?
~Look at the box. What do you notice? (There is still yarn.)
~Predict what the next illustration will show.
~The set of four pages shows how much knitting the girl has done. Does this seem possible to you? Discuss.
Pages 14 – 15:
~What do you see?
~On page 15, what do you think the man might be thinking?
Pages 16 – 19:
~Look at this set of four pages. How might the animals and the buildings gotten yarn sweaters and coverings? Is this possible? Discuss
Pages 20 – 27:
~Why might people be lining up by the girl? Who might the man be standing on the ship?
~On page 23, what might the man be thinking?
~On page 24 and 25, whose house might it be? Why might three ladders be leaning against the house? What is the ship doing?
~Find the dog. Why might he be watching the ship?
~On page 27, what do you think the man will find in the box?
Pages 28 – END:
~Why do you think the box is empty? Why does the man throw the box away?
~On pages 30 and 31, what is happening to the box?
~How does the box find its way back to the girl?
~Do you think that the box is out of yarn?
To conclude the FIRST READING:
~ For the SECOND READING the focus will be the text and vocabulary. What questions to you have that the text might answer for you?
~Do you think the title of the story is a good one? Discuss.
The focus of this reading is the text and vocabulary.There will be opportunities in this reading to connect the details in the illustrations to the information in the text. These connections will help add deeper meaning to the text. You’ll be looking in the text for the answers to your questions from the First Reading.
*Read the pages before you ask the questions.
Pages 1:
~soot: a very fine black ash. Point out the soot in the illustration.
~The text describes the town as “a cold little town”. Think back to the illustrations. What does Annabelle make for the “cold little town”?
Pages 2 – 7:
~On page 4, ridiculous: making fun of someone or something for being unusual, out of the ordinary. Can you tell from the text and picture whether ridiculous is a good thing or a bad thing to say to someone? (Using the looks on the faces and that Nate laughed….it looks like a bad thing to say to someone.) Why might Nate think that Annabelle and Mars look ridiculous?
~On page 4, jealous: unhappy with someone because of something that they have or something that happened to them that you wish happened to you. Do you agree with Annabelle that Nate is jealous? Discuss.
~Discuss times when might have been in a situation similar to Annabelle’s, when someone made fun of you or was jealous of you. How did the situation make you feel? How did you handle the situation?
~On page 6, how does Annabelle handle the situation?
~Once Nate receives a sweater, is he still jealous? Discuss.
Pages 8 – 9:
~Why might Annabelle’s classmates be talking about her sweater?
~distraction: something that causes you to stop paying attention. Why is Annabelle’s sweater distracting?
~Why does Mr. Norman say, “Impossible!”
~Notice the exclamation mark after “Impossible!” Say “Impossible!” the way you think Mr. Norman might have said it.
Pages 10 – 19:
~Think of ways in which the town changed. Think of ways in which the people changed.
Pages 20 – 21:
~remarkable: unusual, extraordinary. Why did people think of Annabelle as remarkable? Why do people want to shake Annabelle’s hand?
~ On page 21, archduke: a royal title, similar to a prince. Why might the archduke sail so far to see Annabelle?
Pages 22 – 27:
~On page 22, miraculous: something that seems to have been done by a supernatural power, extraordinary. Why does the archduke call Annabelle’s box of yarn miraculous? Do you agree with him?
~On page 23, million: a very great number, one thousand times one thousand. Why do you think that Annabelle doesn’t want to sell the box of yarn for this large amount of money?
~Why are there three ladders against Annabelle’s house?
Pages 28 – END:
~On page 29, quivered, shivered, trembled: to shake slightly. Why might the archduke’s mustache have quivered, shivered, and trembled?Have great fun acting this out!
~curse: a wish of misfortune, evil, or doom to come to someone. Why does the archduke put a curse on Annabelle? Does his curse work? Explain your answer.
Do you think Annabelle is out of yarn at the end of the story?
The purpose of this reading is to bring together the information in both the text and the illustrations.
During this reading your child and you will read the book all the way through. Four 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 remember the importance of the relationship between the illustration and the text.
~Your child and you may alternate the pages you “read” to each other.
~Your child and you may dramatize the story. One of you may be Annabelle. The other may be the archduke and other characters. Make it sound as if it is a movie or a play.
~Read and leave out a word. Have your child fill in the blank.
DISCUSSION OPTIONS:
~ Talk with your child about the some of the vocabulary words For example:
~curse: Can you think of any other stories that have curses in them? Why doesn’t the archduke’s curse work? Can there be good curses?
~million: Can you think of anything worth one, two, or ten million dollars? How much do you think the box is worth? Why doesn’t Annabelle take the money? Would you have sold the box? If so, for how much?
~remarkable: Is Annabelle remarkable? Why or why not? Can you think of any real person or character in another book who is remarkable? Explain your answer.
~jealous: Let’s talk about what jealous means. Are any characters in the book jealous of anyone or anything? Who and why? How does Annabelle respond to the jealous characters?
~Talk about how Annabelle handles each of the unpleasant situations that she faces. She deals with each situation in a generous and kind manner. What kind of person is Annabelle? Can you make any connections with Annabelle and yourself or anyone you know?
~Where do you think the box of yarn came from?
To allow the brain to focus on the information in the illustrations, this reading will look only at the illustrations and the headings, not the text boxes. There are no right or wrong answers in this reading. If you are numbering the pages in your book, page 1 is the first page of text.
Tell your listener that the feathers in the illustrations are paintings of real feathers and the size of the feather in the illustration is its real size.
Page 1:
~Look at the feathers and their labels. Do you or your listener recognize any of the feathers or any of the birds named?
Pages 2 – 5:
~On page 2, read the heading. Connect any details in the illustration to the heading. How are the feathers acting like a blanket for the blue jay?
~On pages 4 and 5, how can feathers cushion like a pillow? Which illustrations shows the feathers acting like a pillow?
~Remind the listener that the illustrations of the feathers are life-size.
Your listener may or may not have any ideas about how the feathers act as a blanket. Talk about how the text will provide information to answer to many of the questions that you have. The text is the focus of The Second Reading.
Pages 6 – 9:
~How do the feathers seem to be like an umbrella?
~On page 8, look at the setting. (the desert, during the day) How are sunscreen and feathers alike?
Pages 10 – 11:
~Think about how sponges and scrub brushes work. Identify details in the illustrations to help infer how feathers could be like sponges and scrub brushes.
Pages 12 – 13:
~On page 12, the comparison of the bull fighter’s cape to the junco’s feathers might be difficult. If your listener doesn’t understand the connection between the bull fighter’s cape and the junco’s feathers, remind the listener that there will be lots of information in the text, during The Second Reading.
~On page 13, discuss how camouflage uniforms help soldiers blend into their surroundings for protection. Discuss how the cardinal is camouflaged.
Pages 14 – 17:
~Notice the different shape of the feathers in the illustration.
~Discuss how a whistle works. How might the feathers make a sound like a whistle?
~On page 16, why might the peacock want to attract attention?
~How are the feathers of the peacock and the feathers of the cardinal on page 13 different? (The cardinal’s feathers serve as camouflage. The peacock’s feathers are bright to attract attention.)
Pages 18 – 19:
~Identify and discuss the details in the illustrations that help explain how feathers can be used for digging holes and carrying supplies.
Pages 20 – 23:
~Discuss how the feathers of the swan might help the bird to float.
Pages 24 – 25:
~Looking at the illustrations, discuss how the penguin and ptarmigan feathers might help the birds travel on top of the snow.
Pages 27 – END:
~On pages 28 and 29, look at the Kinds of Feathers. What might the job of each kind of feather be?
There might have been many questions suggested above that your listener didn’t have any ideas or opinions about. Review the questions that your listener is hoping that the text will answer during the Second Reading.
This reading will focus on the text and the vocabulary.There will be opportunities in this reading to connect the details in the illustrations to the information in the text. These connections will help add deeper meaning to the text.
*Read the pages before you ask the questions.
There are many scientific terms in both the headings and the text boxes. Trust your judgement as to the number of vocabulary words that you discuss with your listener. Try to keep the story moving along.
Pages 1 – 5:
~On page 2, fluffing up: to puff out into an airy mass. Do you think that the blue jay in the illustration is fluffing up his feathers? Discuss.
~It looks like the season is winter. The winter air will be cold. How does the air next to the blue jay’s skin get warm? (The blue jay’s body warms the air that is trapped by the fluffed-up feathers.)
~On page 5, pluck: to pull with sudden force. How does the wood duck pluck her feathers?
~On page 5, cushion: to soften a surface. Looking at the Kinds of Feathers on pages 28 and 29, which kind of feather do you think would be the best to use to cushion the eggs in the wood duck’s nest?
Pages 6 – 9:
~On page 6, reflection: similar to a mirror showing an image back toward you. Discuss how the heron’s wings help the heron find food. What does the phrase “block out reflections” mean? (block the glare from the sun) Find the part of the illustration where the feathers serve as an umbrella and block out the reflections from the sky.
~On page 9, delicate: sensitive, tender, soft. Looking at the setting, why might the hawk need thick feathers to protect its delicate skin?
Pages 10 and 11:
~On page 10, quench: to satisfy a thirsty feeling. Why do you think the chicks don’t go to the watering hole with their papa?
~On page 11, brittle: breaks very easily. Discuss how the bittern’s brittle feathers help the bittern clean itself.
Pages 12 – 13:
~On page 12, distracts: causes you to stop paying attention. Talk about how the white tail feathers of the junco distract like the red of a bullfighter’s cape. (Both confuse the attention of an attacking animal.)
~On page 13, dull: the opposite of bright, very plain. Why might it important for the female cardinal to have dull colored feathers? Discuss why some bird’s feathers are dull and some bird’s feathers are very bright.
Pages 14 – 17:
~On page 15, is the manakin male or female? (male)
~Why might the peacock’s display of feathers be called a “fan of feathers”? Who has the beautiful feathers, the female or the male?
Pages 18 and 19:
~On page 18, bill: beak. How does the bank swallow use his bill and leg feathers?
~How is the lovebird different from most birds?
Pages 20 – 23:
~On page 20, graceful: easy and beautiful movement. What words on this page describe the
movements of the swan? (glide smoothly)
~On page 23, discuss what waterproof means. Are the feathers of the sandgrouse on page 10 waterproof?
Pages 24 and 25:
~The penguins glide across the snow. Would you describe them as graceful?
~On page 25, shuffle: to move without lifting the feet. Would you describe the ptarmigan as graceful?
Page 26 – End:
~ On page 27, what does Ms. Stewart say is the most important job of feathers?
~Talk about the six different kinds of feathers. What is the main job of each kind of feather?
Discuss whether the text answered all of the questions that you had from the First Reading.
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 presented about each bird. They will, also, focus on comparing and contrasting the different kinds of birds.
During this reading your child and you will read the book all the way through. Two 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 information about each bird to you. Assist your child in matching the retelling of the text to the illustration. Help your child pay attention to the details in the illustration to remember the importance of the relationship between the illustration and the text.
~Your child and you may alternate the pages you “read” to each other.
DISCUSSION OPTIONS:
~This book is not a fictional story book with characters trying to solve a problem or reach a goal. This book is an informational text with true information on the topic of feathers. Think of other books that you have read recently. Which of them are storybooks, and which are informational texts?
~Go back through the book. Talk about the differences between female and male birds highlighted in this book.
~Go back through the illustrations in this book to determine the kind of feather highlighted for each bird. In which of the six groups would you place each of the feathers shown. For example, the feathers shown on pages 18 and 19 are flight feathers. (Kinds of Feathers – pages 28 and 29.)
ACTIVITY OPTIONS:
~Start a scrapbook of the objects found in nature. You might even choose to continue investigating feathers that you find on walks or in your yard. Copy the format that Ms. Brannen uses: a life-size drawing of the object, research simple information about the object, and compare the object to some familiar object.
~Check out archimedesnotebook.blogspot.com. This is a great science website for children. Lots of additional information on birds. The website, also, reviews books related to other science topics. Feathers Not Just For Flying is reviewed.
~ Pick a bird to research. My granddaughter and I started looking at birds that visit her backyard. We researched each bird on line. She started a notebook about birds. It’s amazing how much she has remembered about the birds we’ve researched.
To allow the brain to focus on the information in the illustrations, this reading will look only at the illustrations and the information they provide to the reader. There are no right or wrong answers in this reading.
Questions about the math concepts:
Below are the questions that you will repeatedly use as you and your child examine the illustrations:
~What do you see on this page?
~How is this page different from the previous page?
~ How many dots are on this page? Count the dots. As your child counts the dots, touch them, one by one. Modeling one-to-one correspondence as your child counts helps build an understanding of sequence and addition.
~ Ask questions that use math vocabulary words, such as: more, less, add, take away, and subtract. Sample questions might be: How many more dots are on this page? Are there more dots on this page or less dots on this page? Did we add dots or take away (or subtract) dots?
~Look for patterns. There are patterns that are obvious. However, your child and you will find additional patterns each time you read this delightful book.
Questions about the primary colors:
Blue, red, and yellow are called the primary colors because they are used to make all the colors that the human eye can see.
~What new colors do you see on the page?
~How do you think the new colors are made?
The reading focus will be on following the directions. Your listener and you have already examined the illustrations. You will be Activating Prior Knowledge when you ask your child to remember how the dots changed after following each direction. In addition to the text and vocabulary, you’ll talk about the punctuation marks. Punctuation marks are used to give directions to the reader.
Punctuation Marks:
Point out the use of the question marks, exclamation marks and ellipses (…).
~Question marks ask a question. You must answer the question.
~Exclamation marks mean that there is extra emotion in the sentence. Practice reading the sentence with excitement and wonder.
~Ellipses mean that you are to pause. Make sure the pause is long enough to be obvious to your reader.
Predictions:
~After you read each page, follow the direction/s.
~Before turning the page, predict the effect of the direction/s on the dots. You’ll be activating prior knowledge from the First Reading. Can we remember what happens to the dots when they follow the directions?
Vocabulary:
~left and right
The text provides explicit directions on the use of left and right. This is great practice on these concepts.
Stress that the directions must be followed exactly. Each word adds important information to the direction.
In the third reading, read the book all the way through. As you and your child read it together, following the directions, talk about why the dots change and how they change. Another option is to have your child read the book to you. You, then, become the listener and questioner.
**Remember to use the math words mentioned in the First Reading: more, less, add, and take away. Encourage your child to use these words.
ACTIVITY OPTIONS:
After the reading, here are several activities that you can do to deepen the comprehension of the concepts emphasized in the story.
~Use the primary journal recommended in the Practickle Book Store to create additional directions for the dots to follow. You or your child can write the directions. Add an illustration. Emphasize the use of primary colors. Play with blending them to see if the results are similar to the blending shown in the book.
~Practice with left and right. You may use the Simon Says format.
~There are two videos on www.youtube.com about the primary colors. They are very short. Your child might get some inspiration from them to create more directions and illustrations using the primary colors. The videos are:
~Primary Colours by Wendy Fine.
~OK GO – Three Primary Colors (This is done by Sesame Street.)
To allow the brain to focus on the information in the illustrations, this reading will look only at the illustrations and the information they provide to the reader.
There are no right or wrong answers in this reading.
If you are numbering the pages in your book, page 1 is the first page of text.
Page 1:
~What animal do you see? Why do you think Mr. Carle has put a green bean and a shoe in the illustration?
~What do you think the cat might be thinking?
Pages 2 and 3:
~Looking at the illustrations of the giraffes, imagine and share your thoughts about why Mr. Lichtenheld loves giraffes.
~What might the birds and giraffes be saying to each other?
Pages 4 and 5:
~What do you think the bulge in the middle of the snake might be?
~Look at the details around the bulge. What might those little lines mean? (movement)
~What do you think this snake might be thinking?
Pages 6 and 7:
~Mr. Sís’s Blue Carp seems to be a combination of animals and objects. What do you think he put together to create his Blue Carp?
~Look at the details in the illustration. Might Mr. Sís be telling you a story in his illustration? Make up a story about what you see in the illustration.
Pages 8 and 9:
~Describe as many of the details in the illustration as you can.
~What might Mr. Raschka’s reason be for picking the snail as his favorite animal?
Pages 10 and 11:
Mr. Bruel has set his contribution up as a comic strip. He is using his character, Bad Kitty. Bad Kitty always ends up in some kind of trouble.
~There are two animals shown. Which animal do you think is Nick Bruel’s favorite animal?
~Try to follow Bad Kitty’s story on page 11. Create a story to go with Bad Kitty’s actions. Remember: Save the text for the Second Reading.
Pages 12 and 13:
~Why do you think that Mr. McCarty might like bunnies?
Pages 14 and 15:
~What is Rosemary Wells favorite animal?
~Like Mr. Bruel, she seems to be telling a story in her series of illustrations. Find the humor in the illustrations.
~Create a story to go with her illustrations. What might the boy be saying to the dog? What might the dog be thinking?
Pages 16 and 17:
~Look at the elephant’s face. What might he be thinking?
~Why might Mr. Smith like elephants?
Pages 18 and 19:
~Why do you think the duck is laying down?
~Why might Mr. Klassen like ducks so much?
Pages 20 and 21:
~What are these horses doing? Where are the horses?
~Why might one horse be in the background?
Pages 22 and 23:
~Why might this little boy like cows so much?
~Why do you think he is smiling?
Pages 24 and 25:
~How many kinds of penguins do you see?
~Why might Ms. Stead choose penguins as her favorite animals?
Pages 26 and 27:
~How do you think the leopard is feeling? Why might it be feeling that way?
~What do you like about leopards?
Pages 28 – END:
These are reference pages to look at if you wish.
Which illustration do you like the best? Did any of the illustrators choose your favorite animal?
The focus of this reading is the text and vocabulary.There will be opportunities in this reading to connect the details in the illustrations to the information in the text. These connections will help add deeper meaning to the text. You’ll be looking in the text for the answers to the questions from the First Reading.
*Read the pages before you ask the questions.
Page 1:
~Why does Mr. Carle have the string bean and the shoe in his illustration?
~fetch: to go get and bring back. Why might Fiffi have fetched the string bean? Why might Fiffi be guarding the string bean?
Pages 2 and 3:
~rare: very unusual, uncommon. Why might it be rare to meet a giraffe?
~amused: entertained by something, causing you to laugh or smile. Mr. Lichtenheld says that the giraffe is easily amused. What might cause a giraffe to be amused?
Pages 4 and 5:
~Find the Amazonian Neotropical Lower River Tink-Tink in the illustration.
~Why might this snake like Amazonian Neotropical Lower River Tink-Tink?
Pages 6 and 7:
~After reading the text, discuss the setting (where and when a story takes place) of the illustration. (in the Czech Republic by the Vltana River on Christmas Eve)
~What is a blue carp? (There is a type of carp called the blue carp.)
~How does the illustration connect to the story that Mr. Sís tells from his childhood?
Pages 8 and 9:
~craft: art. What is the snail’s craft? (working on her beautiful shell)
~What does Mr. Raschka like about the snail?
Pages 10 and 11:
~List the reasons that Mr. Bruel’s favorite animal is the octopus.
~On page 10, camouflage: to trick an enemy by blending into your surroundings so that you are hard to see. Which of the octopuses is using camouflage?
~On page 11, who is speaking the text, Bad Kitty or Mr. Bruel?
~On page 11, jealous: unhappy with someone because of something that they have or something that happened to them that you wish happened to you. Do you think Bad Kitty is jealous that the octopus was chosen as Mr. Bruel’s favorite animal? Have you ever felt jealous of someone?
Pages 12 and 13:
~Do you think that Mr. McCarty’s bunny really does all that he mentions in the text? Discuss.
Pages 14 and 15:
~Do you think Ms. Wells’ dog is real or imaginary? What evidence supports your answer?
Pages 16 and 17:
~pachyderm: an elephant. Does Mr. Smith give any reasons for liking pachyderms?
~Why does Mr. Lane use the big, bold print? (Because he wants you to read these lines louder than the others.)
~show-off: a person who is bragging or trying to seem more important or better than others. Do you think the elephant is being a show-off? Is it a good thing or a bad thing to be a show-off? Discuss.
Pages 18 and 19:
~Why does Mr. Klassen like ducks? Do you agree with him?
Pages 20 and 21:
~Now that you have read the text, explain the reasons for the colors Ms. Jeffers uses and the setting that she puts in her illustration.
~What color would you choose for your horses in your fantasy pasture?
~Why do you think there is one horse in the background?
Pages 22 and 23:
~cowlick: hair that grows in a direction different from the rest of the hair, causing it to stand up instead of lying flat. Do you think that a cow caused Mr. Kellogg’s cowlick? Explain.
~Why did Mr. Kellogg pick cows as his favorite animal?
Pages 24 and 25:
~In the First Reading, why did you think Ms. Stead might have chosen penguins as her favorite animals? Were you correct in your prediction?
~personality: how someone acts or behaves. What does Ms. Stead tell you about her personality? Why does she like penguins? (They are awkward on land and move easily in the water. Ms. Stead tells us that she feels awkward with people.)
~confidently awkward: not bothered by being clumsy. Are the penguins bothered by being awkward on land? Explain.
Page 26 and 27:
~In your opinion, what might be Ms. Cousins second favorite color?
~Do you think a leopard is beautiful?
Now that you’ve read the illustrators’ reasons for choosing a particular animal, which story and illustration is your favorite? Explain.
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 presented by each illustrator.
During this reading your child and you will read the book all the way through. Two 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 illustrator’s rationale 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 remember the importance of the relationship between the illustration and the text.
~Your child and you may alternate the pages you “read” to each other.
DISCUSSION OPTION:
~Go back through the book. Which illustrators chose real animals and which illustrators created imaginary animals? Which illustrators kept the same favorite animal that they had in childhood?
ACTIVITY OPTIONS:
~ Draw your own favorite animal. Give your reasons supporting your choice. You may write your reasons, or someone may write them down for you.
~Go to The Carle Museum website: www.carlemuseum.org . Click on exhibitions. One of the current exhibits is based on this book. Children may submit personal entries until August 1st.
~Go to www.us.macmillan.com/whatsyourfavoriteanimal/ericcarle. Scroll down to the Reading Guide. Download it. You will find some very creative activity sheets for your child that extend thinking about the entries in the book. These activities will work with an age range from three to seven year olds.
~Decide on your own question. For example: What’s your favorite book, food, color, or time of day? Ask people the question and record the answers they give you. Create an illustration to match the answer given by each person you interview.
~There are great vocabulary words in the text to use on your Word Wall. Pick five words from the list below to put on your wall. Remember to use them each day!
fetch rare amuse
craft camouflage jealous
pachyderm show-off cowlick
personality confident awkward