Reading strategies and activities

for teaching English vocabulary

and grammar with classic

children’s books

Teaching ESL with Children’s Books

Family LiteracyDane County Parent

Council2096 Red Arrow TrailMadison, WI 53711

Table of Contents

BIG RED BARN.............................................................................................................................6

BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR, WHAT DO YOU SEE?.............................................................7

A BIRTHDAY BASKET FOR TIA...................................................................................................8

CAPS FOR SALE..........................................................................................................................9

CARROT SEED...........................................................................................................................10

A CHAIR FOR MY MOTHER......................................................................................................11

CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM................................................................................................12

CAT IN THE HAT.........................................................................................................................13

FEAST FOR 10............................................................................................................................15

FROM HEAD TO TOE.................................................................................................................16

THE GINGERBREAD BOY.........................................................................................................17

GOODNIGHT MOON..................................................................................................................18

GROWING VEGETABLE SOUP.................................................................................................19

GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU.............................................................................................21

I WENT WALKING.......................................................................................................................21

IT LOOKED LIKE SPILT MILK....................................................................................................22

THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD..........................................................................................24

MAMA, DO YOU LOVE ME?.......................................................................................................24

MARGARET AND MARGARITA.................................................................................................25

THE MITTEN...............................................................................................................................26

MY MANY COLORED DAYS......................................................................................................27

MY TRUCK IS STUCK................................................................................................................28

ONE DUCK STUCK.....................................................................................................................29

POLAR BEAR, POLAR BEAR.....................................................................................................29

RAINBOW FISH..........................................................................................................................30

THE SNOWY DAY.......................................................................................................................31

SWIMMY......................................................................................................................................31

THE THREE BEARS...................................................................................................................33

THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF..........................................................................................33

THE THREE LITTLE PIGS..........................................................................................................34

TODAY IS MONDAY...................................................................................................................35

THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR........................................................................................36

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE..............................................................................................36

WHERE’S SPOT.........................................................................................................................37

Ventures Topics and Related Books

Personal InformationMargaret and Margarita

At SchoolFriends and Family:

A Chair for My MotherMargaret and MargaritaA Feast for 10A Birthday Basket for Tia

HealthFrom Head to Toe

Around TownMy Truck is StuckOne Duck Stuck

Time and Daily Routine/ActivitiesBig Red BarnGoodnight MoonToday is MondayThe Very Hungry Caterpillar

Shopping, Food, Money: Food

Carrot SeedToday is MondayThe Very Hungry CaterpillarA Feast for 10Growing Vegetable Soup

MoneyCaps for SaleA Chair for My Mother

Work and SkillsA Chair for My MotherCaps for Sale

Daily Living and HomeThe Cat in the HatA Chair for My MotherWhere’s Spot?The Three Bears

Leisure Margaret and MargaritaA Birthday Basket for Tia (holidays and celebrations)

Additional Topics and Related BooksABCs

Chicka Chicka Boom BoomAnimals: Big Red Barn, Brown Bear, Polar Bear, Panda Bear, Baby Bear, The Mitten, The Hat, One Duck Stuck, My Many-Colored Days, I Went Walking, From Head to ToeClothing

The Jacket I Wear in the SnowThe HatMargaret and Margarita

FeelingsMy Many-Colored DaysMama, Do You Love Me?Where the Wild Things Are

NumbersA Birthday Basket for TiaOne Duck StuckThe Very Hungry CaterpillarA Feast for 10

Grammar Topics and Related Books“Can” Questions: From Head to ToeConditional: Mama, Do You Love Me?Contractions: It Looked Like Spilt Milk, The Gingerbread BoyCount and non-count nouns:Future tense: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Feast for 10Imperatives: The Cat in the HatPast continuous: Big Red Barn, Caps for Sale, A Chair for My MotherPossessive adjectives: Margaret and MargaritaPrepositions: Where’s Spot, Feast for 10Present continuous: Brown Bear, A Birthday Basket for TíaQualifiers with non-count nounsSimple past tense: Big Red Barn, Caps for Sale, A Chair for My Mother, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, The Cat in the HatSimple present: A Birthday Basket for Tía, A Chair for My MotherSimple present of to have Singular and plural nouns: Feast for 10Wh- questions: Where’s Spot, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?Yes/No questions

Big Red BarnWritten by Margaret Wise Brown and Illustrated by Felicia Bond

Subject: farm animals, times of dayKey Parts of Language: past simple, past continuous

Summary: A day in the life of a farm and the animals who live on it.

VOCABULARY Animals: cow (heifer, calf, bull), pig (sow, piglet), sheep (lamb, ewe, ram), chicken

(hen, rooster, chicks) Time: all day, the sun went down, the end of the day, all night long, moon, dark night

sky

ACTIVITIES Past simple vs. past continuous: Have students note which tense the verbs take

and explain why. Time: Ask students what time it is in each picture, note the phrases for time in the

book This/these: Bring in toy representations/pictures of each animal. Say, “These are the

animals. What are these?” Motion for the learner to repeat. Then go on to specific animals, saying “This is a cow” and having the learner repeat.

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS Speaking practice: Have pairs of students each select a kind of animal and pretend

they are starting a farm with that animal. Have them learn more vocab for that animal—for instance, if they have a dairy farm, have the pair learn heifer, calf, and bull. Ask each pair to decide what they will produce with their animals (milk, wool, eggs) and how they will sell it.

The animals look very peaceful and friendly in the story as they head up the hill to the barn. Do you think all the animals would get along with each other?

How does your family wake up in the morning? (alarm clock, parent waking you up) Talk about what a farm looks like in different cultures and different times. What

buildings are common among cultures? How are they alike and how are they different?

& Ventures Basic: Unit 6, Time, Lesson D. Time of day; this fits perfectly because Big Red Barn starts at dawn and goes through midnight.

* Some activities adapted from the Geneseo curriculum

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?Written by Bill Martin and Illustrated by Eric Carle

Subject: standard and pet animals, colorsKey Parts of Language: “What do...?” questions, present continuous

Summary: Each page features a colorful animal looking at another colorful animal. The rhythmic text uses call and response with the question, “What do you see?” Teachers often use this book at the beginning of the year, making a class book to help students get to know one another.

VOCABULARY Animals: bear, bird, duck, horse, frog, cat, dog, sheep, goldfish Colors: green, yellow, red, blue, brown, black, purple, white, yellow, gold Talk about animals at a farm vs. animals at the zoo. Create a Venn diagram

comparing and contrasting which animals are found where.

ACTIVITIES Vocab Game: Give the students 60 seconds to write down every animal they can think

of. Then give them 60 seconds to write down every color they can think of. They get a point for each animal or color they came up with that no one else wrote down.

Class Book: Especially good for getting to know one another. Take pictures of each student. Compile the pictures in a class book and label each child’s individual page accordingly: Julie, Julie, who do you see? I see John looking at me. John, John, what do you see? I see Vanessa looking at me. (can do during Ventures Personal Information unit—include personal info about each student on his or her page)

To Be, Simple Present (see worksheet): Adapt the above vocab game into a grammar exercise for the simple present of to be by having students write simple descriptive sentences using their word lists. Have them write about a specific animal vs. that animal’s species. This can also be tailored to work on the vs. this and words that don’t follow the usual rules for pluralization (sheep, fish). For example:

The/this bear is brown. Bears are brown, black, and white.The/this horse is blue. Horses are brown, black, and gray.The/this sheep is black. Sheep are white or black.

Present Continuous: Brown Bear always has an animal “looking” at the previous animal; read this book along with Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? and Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?, which have other verbs in the present continuous. Play charades and have students guess what action the actor is doing by saying “s/he is ____ing” (“he is swimming,” “she is dancing,” etc.).

Read with: Polar Bear, Polar Bear (zoo animals) Panda Bear, Panda Bear (endangered animals) Baby Bear, Baby Bear (North American animals)

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS

Second Conditional: If you were an animal, what would you be? What color would you be?

Where do these animals live? (on land, in water, on land and water; see worksheet)

How does each animal move? (four legs, two legs, fins or wings; see worksheet) What sounds does each animal make? What do you know about each animal? What would you like to know? (habitat,

size, diet, color...follow up with the answers next time if the class doesn’t know them)

& Ventures 1: Unit 3, Friends and Family, Lesson B present continuous.

A Birthday Basket for TiaWritten by Pat Mora and Illustrated by Cecily Lang

Subject: birthday, time, numbersKey Parts of Language: simple present, present continuous

Summary: It’s Cecilia’s great-aunt’s 90th birthday, and Cecilia and her mother and cat are helping prepare a surprise party.

VOCABULARYThis book has an average of a short paragraph per page, more than most in this curriculum.

Numbers: ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety (ninetieth, as it’s the great aunt’s ninetieth birthday),

Food: cooking, cutting, mixing bowl, dough, cookies, tea, refrigerator, candy, cakes Many active verbs: draw, jump, cook, swing, collect, find, laugh

ACTIVITIES

Wh- questions: Make a note of all the wh- questions in the book (What is today, Cecilia? is the first; there are six). There are also a couple of “Can...” questions.

Imperatives: When cooking, Tía says to Cecilia, “help me stir the cookie dough” and “help me roll the cookie dough.” Make a list of polite ways to ask for help and then make a list of ways to command someone to help you or do something.

Simple present vs. present continuous: Have students note which tense the verbs take and explain why.

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS Do you celebrate birthdays? How? When is your birthday? What will you do on it?

& Ventures Basic: Unit 3, Friends and Family, Lesson F & Ventures Basic: Unit 5, Around Town, Lesson F - a birthday party invite &

Caps for Sale Written and Illustrated by Esphyr Slobodkina

Subject: peddler selling caps for 50 cents each; monkey see monkey doKey Parts of Language: past tense, past continuous

Summary: After failing to sell any of the caps from his towering stack, a peddler tacks a nap and monkeys steal his caps. When he tries to get them back, the monkeys imitate his actions.

VOCABULARYThis book has more text than most in this curriculum.

fifty cents, peddler, wares, tree-trunk, refreshed, branch, angry, stamp feet, monkeys, disturb, balance, shake fists

ACTIVITIES Selling Discussion: Ask questions about the book that draw on shopping vocabulary.

For example, the question “What could the peddler do to sell his caps?” could trigger a conversation about having sales, coupons, and advertisements. Especially good in groups where many students work in retail.

You be the Peddler: Give half the students something to sell (hats, cups, small thing). They can decide how much their item costs and then choose a way to call out its price (“One dollar fifty!” “A dollar and fifty cents!”). The other students each get fake money and can choose to buy some of the vendors’ objects. Talk about sales pitches and marketing language. You could expand this by bringing in coupons from the local grocery store to read. This can also become a grammar activity if you want to focus on asking and answering the question, “How much does cost?”

Simple past vs. past continuous: The text is written in the past tense and includes many instances of was, as well as “carried,” “walked,” “went,” “called,” “began,” etc. The past continuous intermingles with the past tense (“...he walked down the street calling,” ‘You monkeys, you,’ he said, shaking a finger at them”).

Exclamations: The peddler repeatedly yells “You monkeys, you!” Explain this as an idiomatic phrase and make a list of angry exclamations in English that aren’t swears.

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS Discuss whether specific items are cheap or expensive. Is it cheap or expensive to live

in the US compared to the student’s countries of origin? Notice how the monkeys do everything the peddler does. When do you copy what

someone else is doing? (can segue into playing Simon Says) A peddler is someone who walks around selling things on the street instead of staying in

a store all day. What other things do people sell on the street? (ice cream, hot dogs, balloons, food at the farmers market or food carts). If you were a peddler, what would you sell?

When the peddler is angry, he yells, shakes his fist, stamps his feet, and then throws his hat on the ground. What do you do when you’re angry?

& Ventures I: Unit 7, Lesson D - making change

Carrot SeedWritten by Ruth Krauss and Illustrated by Crockett Johnson

Subject: growing a carrot seed, overcoming obstaclesKey Parts of Language: past tense

Summary: The book tells of a little boy who is told his carrot seed will not grow. Despite everyone’s predictions, he still tends to it patiently, and the seed finally sprouts into an enormous carrot.

VOCABULARY(This very simple story has only nine sentences, some of which are quite short)

Growing: plant, seed, sprinkled, weeds Family: mother, father, big brother

ACTIVITIES Simple present + sequencing and transition words: Using sequence pictures, tell the

story of a seed growing from a seed into a plant to practice the verbs plant, grow, and eat. Incorporate words from this list: first, next, before, after, then, second, third, last, and finally

Adjectives: Write down these words on the board: hard, fresh, sad, happy, red, green. Then write down, “Is the lettuce ___________?” “The tomato is___________.” “The pepper is ___________.” and “The carrot feels ___________.” Have students fill in the blanks to make sentences.

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS Have you ever had to wait for something you really wanted? What was it? Was it worth

the wait? What would have happened if you had given up?

& Ventures Basic: Unit 3, Friends and Family, Lesson B & Ventures Basic: Unit 9, Daily Living, Lesson B Outside chores

* Some activities adapted from the Geneseo curriculum

A Chair for My Mother

Written and Illustrated by Vera B. Williams

Subject: getting help, community members help, saving money, furniture shoppingKey Parts of Language: simple past/past continuous (majority), present simple/continuous (some)

Summary: This is a heartwarming story about a little girl saving money to buy her mother a new chair after all of the family’s possessions were burned in an apartment fire.

VOCABULARY(This book has a lot more text than most in this curriculum)

Food: salt, pepper, ketchup, onion, soup, diner, tomato, banana, pizza, cake, ice cream, pots, pans, silverware, dishes, cut

Money: buy, pay, count, exchange, change, tips, coin, bargain, quarter, dimes, paper wrappers (for coins), ten-dollar bills, bank, shop

Furniture: table, kitchen chairs, bed, rug, curtains, sofa, furniture stores, T.V., light

ACTIVITIES Shopping: Have students “shop” for a chair by using newspaper advertisements and

catalogs from furniture stores. First, have them cut out pictures of different types of chairs and classify them into groups, such as “comfortable chairs,” “chairs for work,” “rocking chairs,” “chairs for sitting in while eating,” “good chairs for napping,” “recliners,” or other categories the students choose. Have them note the prices of the chairs next to the pictures and discuss the value of different types of chairs (adapted from Reading Rainbow curriculum). Or, expand this into a dream house activity: have students clip pictures from home magazines and create a collage for their dream house. Ask them to describe the house to the class.

Getting help + wh- Questions: As a class or in pairs, go through common problems that demand outside help and talk about where and how to find that help. Phrase each problem as a wh- question. For example, Where do you go when you need to get your car fixed? The mechanic. What do you do when your car breaks down? Call AAA, a friend, etc. Who can you call if you need someone in the middle of the night? My mother.

Directions: Look at emergency fire route maps. Have students describe routes for someone to escape from their map’s building if there was a fire.

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS What is something special you want to save your money to buy? After the family in the story lost their home, the whole neighborhood helped them

recover. What could you do to help a family in your neighborhood? What is something you would like to start saving for? If your house was burning down, what one thing would you save?

& Ventures Basic: Unit 3, Friends and Family, Lesson B & Ventures Basic and I: Unit 5, Around Town& Ventures 1: Unit 3, Friends and Family, Lesson A, emergency phone numbers

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Written by Bill Martin and Illustrated by Lois Ehlert

Subject: ABCsKey Parts of Language: past tense, past continuous, present tense, future tense

Summary: Lowercase letters climb up a coconut tree, but they all fall out of it and injure themselves. Uppercase letters come to take care of them.

VOCABULARY meet, beat, tag-along, cry, tangled, knotted, looped, stooped, full moon, dare, enough,

out of breath As adjectives: skinned-knee, stubbed-toe, patched-up, black-eyed, and loose-tooth Family: mama, papa, uncle, aunt, little dear

ACTIVITIES Alphabet vocab lists: The book’s rhythm and repetition works well for learning the

alphabet, and the teacher can uses echo reading to see how the students are absorbing the information. After reviewing the alphabet with the class, go through each letter having students think of words in English that begin with each letter. Make sure to make copies of the list of words to give to students later.

Future Tense: The letters speak in the future tense with conjunctions: “I’ll meet you at the top of the coconut tree” and “I’ll beat you to the top of the coconut tree.” The narrator asks, “Will there be enough room?” Practice talking in the future with the conjunctions I’ll, she’ll, he’ll, we’ll, and they’ll. Have individuals describe their dream vacation: “I’ll fly to Paris and my sister will meet me there. We’ll eat lots of baguettes.”

Passive Voice: The passive voice comes up a lot: “H is tangled up with I” and “L is knotted like a tie.” Talk about is + verb + ed and is + verb + ing adjective constructions.

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS The tree in the book is a coconut tree. What are other kinds of trees? What else grows

on trees? In the pages after the letters fall, they have injuries. Talk about how the letters change

after they get hurt (some have Band-Aids, others are tangled or about to cry). What happens when you fall down? Who helps you when you’re hurt?

o Letter d has a skinned knee in the story. Have you skinned your knee?o What happens when you stub your toe like e? o What happens when you get a loose tooth like t?o What would you do if you got a black eye like p?

& Ventures Basic: Welcome, Lesson 1, Write the letters. Chicka Chicka starts out with all lowercase letters and then introduces uppercase.

Cat in the HatWritten and Illustrated by Dr. Seuss

Subject: chores, cleaning, furniture, leisureKey Parts of Language: past tense, should not/do not, expressing likes and dislikes

Summary: When two children stay inside on a rainy day and their mother goes out, they end up with an overly energetic and mischievous visitor who messes up the entire house as the pet fish protests.

VOCABULARYSeuss’s editor challenged him that he couldn’t write a book using 50 words or fewer. The Cat in the Hat uses 225 and is quite simple—most of the words are very short. Seuss used exactly 50 words in Green Eggs and Ham.

Weather: sun, shine, wet, cold, sunny Cleaning: mess, pick it up, put them away play ball, did nothing, fun, fish, cat, book, ball, cup, fear, fall, cake, milk, hop, fox, box,

thing, bite, shake hands, pat, tame, kite, gown, bed, net, shame, mess, bump, jump, mat

ACTIVITIES

Bad Weather Activities: The weather is terrible the day the Cat in the Hat comes to the house, which is why the children can’t go outside to play. Make a list of activities you can do outside for fun and ones you can do inside. Alternatively, make lists of activities to do depending on the weather (a list for sunny days, one for snow days, rainy days, windy days, etc.).

Should/shouldn’t: The book ends with the children asking the reader’s advice about whether to tell their mother about the Cat in the Hat’s visit: “Should we tell her about it? Now, what should we do?” Have students debate: half argue that they should tell the mother, the other half argue that they shouldn’t.

Contractions: There are no contractions in this book. As you come upon places that could have contractions, contract the words. Talk about why Dr. Seuss doesn’t use them (rhyme and rhythm)

Conditional: The book also asks the question, “ell...what would you do if your mother asked you?” Have students write or discuss their answers.

Imperatives: Have students fill in a chart like the one below, giving them a list of moral dilemmas and having them fill in what the Cat in the Hat (the bad influence, the rebel) would tell someone in that situation to do and what the fish (the conscious, the politically correct) would tell someone in that situation to do.

What would he tell you to do...

if you break a vase? (glue it back together, hide it)

(tell the owner, buy it if you’re in a store)

if you lose something you borrowed from someone else?

(tell them you already returned it)

(replace it)

if someone asks you if you like their new coat and you don’t?

(lie and say you like it) (lie and say you like it)

...if another kid hits your child on the playground?

(hit him or her back) (say, “We use our words when we’re angry. Why are you upset? What do you want?”)

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS

What rules do you have at your house to keep your children safe? The fish says to Sally and her brother, “Tell that Cat in the Hat you do NOT want to

play.” When have you not wanted to do something with someone else? Have you ever had someone try to make you do it anyway? What did you do?

& Ventures Basic: Unit 9, Daily Living, Lesson A - household vocabulary and chores

Feast for 10 Written and Illustrated by Cathryn Falwell

Subject: counting book; shopping, food, eatingKey Parts of Language: prepositions, future tense

Summary: In this counting book, a family goes to the grocery store to buy ingredients for a feast, then go home to prepare the food and eat it.

VOCABULARY Numbers: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten Food: cart, grocery store, pumpkins, pie, chickens, fry, beans, greens, dill pickles, jar,

tomatoes, potatoes, cook, taste, empty, pots, pans, carrots, share plump, ripe, hungry, wash, peel

ACTIVITIES Setting the Table: bring in plates, forks, spoons, knives, and cups. Have students

practice naming each as they set it up in a Western place setting (can use a template). You could also encourage students to bring in snacks on this day to have a meal.

Rhyming Game: cook/look (schwa), pie/fry (long i); beans (ea), greens (ee) (long e). Play a game where one person names a food and then, going around in a circle, everyone else has to name something that rhymes with it.

Alphabet Phonetics Game: The first person says, “I’m going to the supermarket to buy [food beginning with the letter A]. The next person has to say, “I’m going to the supermarket to buy [food starting with A named by the first student] and [food beginning with the letter B].” Continue to build the list. If a student misses an item or can’t think of one to add, he or she is out; the last one remaining wins. If you’ve gone through the alphabet, go back to letter A and continue through the alphabet again. Student can get creative, naming imaginary or strange things such as zebra meat, a xylophone-shaped cake, etc. You can also omit letters q, x, and z if they are too challenging.

Plan a Feast: Get maps from a grocery store. Have students plan a feast, writing down a shopping list of ingredients to buy and perhaps directions for where they to find them (the produce section, aisle 3, etc.). You could also assign each pair of students a kind of party to plan (dinner party, birthday party, quinceañera, etc) and have them make a shopping list for that event, including foods, decorations, and anything else. Then have them share their plans for the event with the class. To make this a more advanced activity, give students a budget, such as $100, that they must stay inside. Then provide food ads from a local store or have them estimate the cost of each item on their list.

Plurals: Introduce plurals; show pictures of various food items and say the singular, then the plural, of the object as a class. Then sort the pictures of food into food groups.

Future Tense: Practice subject pronoun + will + verb constructions. Have each student share something he or she will do this weekend, then share something they will do this summer, next year, etc. Or, have a group make a plan to cook a meal together. Get them to write down who will perform each task (“Rosa will go shopping,” “Jamie will wash the potatoes,” etc.).

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS

Talk about family food and nutritional traditions, celebrations and practices (eating, cooking, etc.), family members’ contributions to these. Use at Thanksgiving time to reinforce other traditions of being thankful (daily)

What grocery store do you like to go to? Do you grow any of your own food? What do you cook?

Who eats meals with you? Who sets the table, who cooks, and who cleans up afterwards?

The family in the story is talking, eating and having a good time. (Show picture of the feast at the end). What could you do to make family mealtime happy and fun for everyone?

If you eat a meal at a restaurant, where do you like to go? Do you ever eat at a friend or relative’s house? Where do you go? If students have children: What is it like shopping with your children? What do you do if

they want to leave the store or try to persuade you to buy certain things? What does a grocery store cashier mean when they ask, “Paper or plastic”? Which kind

of bag do you like to get? Why?

& Ventures Basic: Unit 10, Shopping, Lesson E. Making a shopping list

From Head to ToeWritten and Illustrated by Eric Carle

Subject: body parts, animals

Key Parts of Language: body parts, “Can...?” questions

Summary: On each page, a new animal introduces itself on each page by saying, “I am a ____” and shares something they do (“I bend my neck,” “I raise my shoulders”), then asks, “Can you do it?” A child responds by demonstrating the action and saying, “I can do it!”

VOCABULARY Body parts: head, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, chest, back, hips, knees, legs, foot,

toe Body action verbs: turn, bend, raise, wave, clap, thump, arch (back), wiggle, bend,

kick, stamp Animals: penguin, giraffe, buffalo, monkey, seal, gorilla, cat, crocodile, camel, donkey,

elephantACTIVITIES

Body Parts: Label a cut out of a body together and/or small paper bodies for each student. Then label animal bodies.

Active Reading: While reading, it’s fun to have the students join in and try to do the actions. Ask them to point to the body parts mentioned in the book when they come up.

Sing: This book goes well with the “Head, shoulders, knees and toes” song when practicing body vocabulary.

“Can you” Questions/Question Verb Order: This is a great chance to work on verb order of asking a question, as “Can you...” and “I can...” is repeated so many times. After reading, have students introduce themselves to the class and share something they can do (sing, dance, make a mean chalupa, etc) and ask the others if they can do it.

Simple Present of to Have: Each time you read a body part in the book, pause and have the students say, “I have (number and/or adjective) feet/legs/arms” then say about the person next to them that “He/she has (number and/or adjective) feet/legs/arms” and finally say as a group, “We have (number and/or adjective) feet/legs/arms.” (“I have two strong arms,” “He has two skinny arms,” and “We have six arms”).

This/that and Subject Possessives: Read off specific body parts (leg, head, arm, etc.) and have students point them on their own bodies. Then point to your own (leg, head, arm, etc.) and ask the class “What is this?” They should respond using “that” (“that is your head.”) or “those” (“Those are your eyes.”)

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS What can you do well? What can other members of your family do well? With a list of animals: Ask “If you were a(n) (animal), what could you do?” (fly, swim,

clap, etc.)

&Ventures Basic: Unit 4, Health

The Gingerbread BoyRetold and Illustrated by Paul Galdone

Subject: folktale, hubris (pride comes before the fall)Key Parts of Language: contractions, quantity expressions

Summary: In this traditional folktale, a little old lady bakes a gingerbread boy who comes to life and tries to run away so he won’t be eaten.

VOCABULARY ginger, gingerbread, cinnamon, dough, crumble, raisins, threshers, mowers, strutted,

pranced

ACTIVITIES

Practice body vocab: Bring in gingerbread men. Give the students frosting and tell them to draw eyes, nose, ears, etc. Tell students to eat the head, then the arms, then the chest, then the stomach, etc.

Food vocabulary: Read a recipe for gingerbread. Talk about the English abbreviations for measurements (cup = C., etc.) and vocabulary for common baking ingredients.

Quantity expressions: “Run, run, as fast as you can!” Teach “as _________ as”, “more than”, and “less than”. (Can read in conjunction with Guess How Much I Love You, which also has quantity comparisons)

Contractions: Have students write five sentences in the following format: “You can’t ______, I’m ______.” (“You can’t tell me what to do, I’m grown up!” “You can’t have this, I’m eating it!”)

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS

Have you ever run from something (real or imaginary, physical or abstract)? Parent Discussion: It’s important to teach your children to think through your choices,

as exhorted by the expression, “look before you leap.” It’s also important to keep perspective and stay grounded, as exhorted by the expression, “pride comes before the fall.” Think about examples of not doing this, such as the Gingerbread Boy chanting to taunt his pursuers. Compare the fate of the Gingerbread Boy to real life experiences your child might have.

Goodnight MoonWritten by Margaret Wise Brown and Illustrated by Clement

Hurd

Subject: bedtime routines, greetings/goodbyes, daily livingKey Parts of Language: past tense, a vs. the

Read with Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett!

Summary: As night falls, it’s time to say goodnight to every object and creature in the house and room.

VOCABULARY(Extremely simple English and the limited number of words make this a very accessible book)

Adjectives: great, green, red, little, young, full, quiet, old Daily Living: room, telephone, picture, chair, pair, mittens, comb, brush, bowl, clocks,

socks

ACTIVITIES

Room vocabulary and adjective placement: Have students who are parents draw or take a picture of their child’s room and label all of the objects they could say goodnight to with both the object name and an adjective or number. Then have them practice their own Goodnight Moon story with their child each night.

Routines: Discuss routines that you do every day. This can be an introduction or review of the simple present tense. Example: 1) My alarm clock rings. 2) I wake up. 3) I get out of bed.

Time: Make a paper clock. Use it to practice saying what time it is.

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS

Do you have a bedtime routine with your child? What time do you go to bed? When would you like to go to bed? Why?

& Ventures Basic and I: Unit 6, Time, Lesson B – time and routine discussions; expand from bedtime routines to describing day routines

Growing Vegetable SoupWritten and Illustrated by Lois Ehlert

Subject: gardening, foodKey Parts of Language: Present tense (we are going, we’re ready) – one example of the past (it was)

Summary: With just seven simple sentences that span from cover to cover, Ehlert describes the growth of vegetables from seeds to soup.

VOCABULARY

Learn the names of different vegetables and fruits that can be grown in a garden (food alphabet booklet)

Gardening verbs: give (dar), wait (esperar), weed/dig up (arrancar), cultivate (sembrar), carry (llevar), cut (cortar), put (meter), cook (cocinar), eat (comer)

Sequential phrases: until, then, at last

ACTIVITIES

Gardening Labels: In addition to the main text of this book, there is additional print in the illustrations with the tags for each plant. If possible, actually go outside and practice English while gardening in a communal or private garden. Have students label tongue depressors for each plant.

Setting the Table: bring in plates, forks, spoons, knives, and cups. Have students practice naming each as they set it up in a Western place setting (can use a template). You could also encourage students to bring in snacks on this day to have a meal.

Rhyming Game: cook/look (schwa), pie/fry (long i); beans (ea), greens (ee) (long e). Play a game where one person names a food and then, going around in a circle, everyone else has to name something that rhymes with it.

Alphabet Phonetics Game: The first person says, “I’m going to the supermarket to buy [food beginning with the letter A]. The next person has to say, “I’m going to the supermarket to buy [food starting with A named by the first student] and [food beginning with the letter B].” Continue to build the list. If a student misses an item or can’t think of one to add, he or she is out; the last one remaining wins. If you’ve gone through the alphabet, go back to letter A and continue through the alphabet again. Student can get creative, naming imaginary or strange things such as zebra meat, a xylophone-shaped cake, etc. You can also omit letters q, x, and z if they are too challenging.

Plan a Feast: Get maps from a grocery store. Have students plan a feast, writing down a shopping list of ingredients to buy and perhaps directions for where they to find them (the produce section, aisle 3, etc.). You could also assign each pair of students a kind of party to plan (dinner party, birthday party, quinceañera, etc) and have them make a shopping list for that event, including foods, decorations, and anything else. Then have them share their plans for the event with the class. To make this a more advanced activity, give students a budget, such as $100, that they must stay inside. Then provide food ads from a local store or have them estimate the cost of each item they want to buy.

Sequential phrases: Give students a series of pictures showing plant growth from seed to fruition. Have students describe the progression from picture to picture while using words from this list: first, second, then, next, after, before, finally.

Plurals: Introduce plurals; show pictures of various food items and say the singular, then the plural, of the object as a class. Then sort the pictures of food into food groups.

Simple Present and Past: o Prepare sentence strips for the lesson using the sentence fragments below.

Print each sentence part – the beginning, the middle, and the end – on a different color paper. After reading the sentence fragments together, ask the adult to reconstruct the mixed up sentences. Say, “These sentences made sense when they were written but now, like vegetable soup, they are all jumbled together. They need to be reconstructed.” There are many possible combinations that will work. Some combinations may be silly or strange, but any combination that is grammatically correct is acceptable.

Beginning Middle End

The children bring in the oven.

The potatoes carved broccoli.

Onions rolled tears to my eyes.

Mary sliced in the refrigerator.

My brothers cooled on a stalk.

Corn ate the tomatoes.

John tastes under the table.

Create several (4-6) sentences with the sentence strips. Then use the sentences you created with the sentence strips to write a short essay about vegetables. Create more sentences if needed. Make it silly or serious, just as you please. Give your essay a title.

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS What does your ideal garden look like? What do you like in your soup? Do you garden here? How is gardening here different from gardening in other countries? Would you rather have a flower garden or a vegetable garden? What tools do you need to garden?

& Ventures Basic: Unit 9, Daily Living, Lesson B Outside chores

* Some activities adapted from the Geneseo curriculum

Guess How Much I Love You Written by Sam McBratney and Illustrated by Anita Jeram

Subject: family, feelingsKey Parts of Language: past tense, hypothetical structures, how much/how many, comparatives and superlatives

Summary: Little Nutbrown Hare asks Big Nutbrown Hare the titular question, “Guess how much I love you?” and the pair go on to use progressively larger measurements to show how much they love each other in response to the question.

VOCABULARY Words from the text: wish, tree trunk, branches, thorn bushes, across, over, lane,

big/little nutbrown hare, sleepy, moon Verbs from the text: said, held, wanted, was listening, stretching out, thought, tumbled,

reached, swinging, laughed, bouncing, hopped, touched, looked, closed, kissed, lay, whispered

Size and distance vocabulary: long/longer, wide/wider, high/higher, far/farther, short/shorter, tall/taller

Comparative phrases: as much as, more than, less than

ACTIVITIES Terms of Affection: Make a list of terms of affection in English (sweetie, honey, cutie,

dear, etc.). Compare them to terms of affection in other languages. How much/how many: Discuss when to use “how much” vs. “how many” by introducing

the idea of countable nouns (books, apples, trees, etc.) and non-countable nouns (love, food, etc.). Explain that we use “how many” with countable nouns and “how much” with non-countable nouns. Have students fill in the blanks of sentences “how much” or “how many.”

Quantity expressions: Practice using “as much as,” “more than,” “less than,” and “fewer than.” Use pictures showing different amounts of objects and money and have students write sentences describing the pictures while using the quantity phrases. (“This basket has fewer apples than the others,” “Juan has as much money as Gina,” etc).

Superlatives and Comparatives: Give students a list of adjectives and then have them fill in columns for a comparative and superlative can go with each (greengreenergreenest)

Hypothetical Structures: I wish I could...

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS What are names that express affection in English?

I Went WalkingWritten and Illustrated by Sue Williams

Subject: animals, clothesKey Parts of Language: past continuous, present continuous, wh-questions

Summary: A toddler plays silly games with the animals he meets and gradually sheds his shoes, socks, and jacket while he’s out on a walk. The call and response is “What did you see?” and “I saw...”.

VOCABULARY Animals: cat, horse, pig, cow, duck, dog

Colors: black, brown, red, green, pink, yellow

ACTIVITIES Present tense: Create a sentence strip that says “The ____ is walking.” Point to the

horse in the book and say “The horse is walking.” Do the same with other animals, then walk yourself and say “I am walking.” Once the learner can repeat and produce this kind of sentence, add “with the ___” to the sentence strip. Say “The girl is walking with the duck” and point. Continue using different people and animals who are walking together.

Past continuous: talk about “I went” as a setup for a gerund. Have students talk about where they went frequently as children. Take it up a notch by turning these into biographic paragraphs—“When I was little, I went swimming, I went to the park, and I went to see my aunt every Sunday.”

Wh- questions: The book’s refrain is “What did you see?” and the answer is “I saw....”. Pair students up and have them ask/tell each other about a trip or walk they took and what they saw during it.

Irregular past tense verbs + wh-questions: Focus on see saw. Show students Rorschach blots, holding each one up quickly and then putting it down; after putting it down, ask, “What did you see?” and have students respond with “I saw...”

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS Discuss the neighborhood where your class is located.

o What do you see when you walk around the neighborhood? o What does each student see when they walk around their own neighborhoods? o Generate vocabulary words with the class based on these questions. o Discuss how you get to each place in the neighborhood-do you need to turn right

or left? o This can also be a great time to talk about giving and receiving directions.

* Some activities adapted from the Geneseo curriculum

It Looked Like Spilt MilkWritten and Illustrated by Charles G. ShawSubject: clouds, perception

Key Parts of Language: comparisons, contractions

Summary: This book, written and illustrated by a modernist artist, shows bright white shapes accompanied by the text, “Sometimes it looked like spilt milk (or whatever shape is on the page), but it wasn’t spilt milk…” The reader doesn’t learn until the end of the book that all the white shapes are just clouds floating in the sky.

VOCABULARY

spilt, great horned owl, rabbit, bird, tree, ice cream cone, flower, pig, birthday cake, sheep, mitten, squirrel, angel, cloud

ACTIVITIES Pictionary: Play “Pictionary” using common nouns. This will give students a chance to

draw things in their own way and others to guess what it is they are trying to depict. But: Introduce the function of “but” in English. Write a few sample sentences (“She was

nice, but lazy,” etc.) and have students brainstorm more. Give them sentence strips to pair together with “but” in-between them.

Contractions: start with I’m, you’re, he’s and she’s and then move on to negative verb contractions: can’t, won’t, wasn’t, shouldn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t. Have students pair up; have partner A ask the other to do something and partner B refuse using a contraction (this can be simple, “Can you dance?” “No, I can’t” or more complicated, “Can you dance?” “Yes, but I won’t”).

Frequency: Sometimes, always, never – write these words on the board and discuss what they mean. Have students write down one sentence for each that describes themselves (I sometimes drink tea, I always sleep late, and I never dance). Collect them and read each aloud, having students guess who wrote which set of sentences.

Capitalization: In the book’s text, the nouns are capitalized, possibly because it was written by an artist. Talk about the rules of capitalization, how the text violates them, and why Shaw might have chosen to capitalize them anyway.

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS What does the sky look like today? Are there clouds? What do they look like? What is your favorite kind of weather?

The Little Engine That CouldRetold by Watty Piper and Illustrated by George and Doris Hauman

Subject: persistence, belief in yourself, helping out othersKey Parts of Language: Past tense, especially past imperfect (thought, could)Summary: A little train tries to carry a load of toys and treats over the mountain to boys and girls in the valley, but breaks down. Enginge after engine passes by, unwilling to help, until the Little Engine That Could comes along and puts her mind to it and saves the little train.

VOCABULARY Onomatopeia: chug, puff, ding-dong, hurray Verbs: rumble, jerk, cry out, steam, snort, break down, load, cheer up, chug, switch,

seem, hitch

Adjectives: happy, little, jolly, golden, red-cheecked, creamy, fresh, after-meal, merrily, funny, indignantly, dingy, rusty, kind, weary, steadily

Other: train, tracks, load, wheels, cars, engine, passenger engine, sleeping cars, berths, dining-car, parlor cars, plate-glass windows, roundhouse, freight engine, machine, valley

ACTIVITIES Discuss the difference between “can” and “could”. “Can” demonstrates ability, whereas

“could” means there is only the possibility of something.

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS When did you do something that took a lot of belief in yourself? Have you helped someone else when no one else would?

Mama, Do You Love Me?Written by Barbara Joosse and Illustrated by Barbara LaValle

Subject: family, loveKey Parts of Language: present tense, conditional tense

Summary: This book begins with a little girl asking, “Mama, do you love me?” and following up with “How much?” Her mother gives her lots of examples—“more than the raven loves his treasure, more than the dog loves his tail,” etc.—and then the little girl comes up with hypothetical situations and asks if her mother would still love her in them. The mother’s answers start with “I would...” and always reassure her daughter.

VOCABULARY

Read with Papa, Do You Love Me? by Barbara Joosse!

raven, puffin, musk-ox, walrus, bowhead whale, ptarmigan, salmon, lemming, urmine, treasure, igloo, lamp, umiak, howls, parka, mukluks, Eskimo/Inuit, arctic

Glossary of Inuit words in the back of the book

ACTIVITIES Conditional “What if...” Questions: The little girl is continuously asking her mother

what if, and the mother responds using would. Introduce the conditional and have students interview each other about what they would do in different situations. You can also have them all respond to the same situation—for example, have them all share what they would do if the world was about to end.

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS Talk about how in different cultures people greet each other in different ways. Describe

how people in the United States typically greet one another. What is unconditional love? Who do you love unconditionally? Who loves you

unconditionally? This book takes place in the Arctic. Would you like to visit the Arctic? Why or why not? The little girl and her mother wear parkas and mukluks out into the snow. What do you

wear when it’s snowy outside? Do you recognize the animals in the book? Which ones?

Margaret and MargaritaWritten and Illustrated by Lynn Reiser

Subject: friends and family, compliments, playing outside/leisureKey Parts of Language: present tense, future tense (at the very end), negation

Summary: In this bilingual book, two little girls from different cultures who speak different languages meet at the park, observe their similarities and differences, and become friends.

VOCABULARY hello, friends, sweet dreams, party, nap, hurrah!, goodbye, smile, eye, dress, shoes,

ribbon, kitten, rabbit, oh dear, beautiful

ACTIVITIES

Negation: Written in the present tense, the text has great examples of negation—“What a beautiful day to go to the park,” “NO. It is NOT a beautiful day.” Practice negation with “is” and “is not.” Give each pair of students a picture; have the first say false things about it (“the sky is green,” “the girl is sleeping”) and have the second negate those things (“the sky is not green,” “the girl is not sleeping”). If working on contractions, rewrite the sentences with them.

Likes and dislikes: Margaret and Margarita exchange compliments with each other. Pass out pictures of people dressed in all kinds of ways doing interesting things (an acrobat, someone with a green Mohawk, etc). Have pairs take a picture and write compliments for the person in it, staring with “I like...”. Then have them write dislikes.

Introductions/Interviews: Have students come up with questions they’d like to ask other people in the group and then practice asking them. Write the questions out so that each student can “interview” another class member and then introduce them to the rest of the class.

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS What are ways to communicate without using words?

& Ventures Basic: Unit 1, Personal Information, Lesson F on possessives. This ties in well because the girls in the book use many possessives while contrasting their differences and complimenting each other. You can work this into a lesson on compliments, such as “I like your purple ribbon” and a response of “I like your green ribbon.”

& Ventures Basic: Unit 10, Leisure. What you like to do, talking about same and different

The MittenRetold and Illustrated by Jan Brett

Subject: personal space, animalsKey Parts of Language: past tense, transition words

Summary: When a little boy loses his mitten, a whole slew of animals find it and snuggle inside to try and stay warm.

VOCABULARY Animals: snowshoe rabbit, hedgehog, black bear, mole, fox, badger, owl, field mouse Animal features: glinty talons, whiskers, kickers, prickles, diggers, shiny teeth Verbs: burrowed inside, wiggled in, tunneling along, swooped down, disappear, snuffling

along, muzzle, investigate, trotting, lumbered by, jostled, wriggled, tickled, admire, knit, stretch/swell/bulge

Transitional words: once, wasn't long, then, as soon as, quickly, along came

ACTIVITIES

Read with The Hat, also by Jan Brett!

Nicki wants snow-white mittens. Make a list of hyphenated adjectives for each color, using objects that are usually that color (if you want to get fancy, you could staple a rainbow of papers together and write down the hyphenated adjectives on each sheet whose color they describe). For example:

o Apple-red o Sunset-orange, pumpkin-orangeo Sun-yellowo Leaf-greeno Sky-blueo Eggplant-purple

What do you wear in winter to stay warm? Make a list of clothing items. Make a list of transition words and phrases together. Then tell a story about a group of

animals. Read the companion book The Hat and compare the language in each story. Use a

Venn diagram to compare the transitional phrases in each, the animals in each, or the plot similarities and differences in each.

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS What do you wear in the winter to stay warm? What presents can you make for others? What presents have other people made for you?

My Many Colored DaysWritten by Dr. Seuss and Illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher

Subject: colors, feelings, animalsKey Parts of Language: present tense of to beSummary: On each page, a new animal appears with a new mood and color to represent the mood.VOCABULARY

Colors, animals, and moodso red: energetic (horse)o yellow: busy (bee)o purple: sad, lonely (dinosaur)o black: mad (wolf)o grey: watchful (owl)

o brown: low, slow, down (bear)

o orange: playful (circus seal)o green: cool, quiet (fish)o pink: happy (flamingo)

Feelings: frustrated, embarrassed, sad, happy, mad, nervous, proud, scared, loved, lonely (Use the CSEFEL Feelings Chart)

Other words from the text: flap, growl, groan, howl, drag, circus, sudden

ACTIVITIES Emotions charades: Play charades with the feelings vocabulary; the CSEFEL Feelings

Chart is useful for parents, because teachers often use this with their children. Follow up with a few games of hangman to practice spelling.

Present tense of to feel o Show pictures of people that illustrate the emotion sad to the learner. Say: He

(she) feels sad. How does he (she) feel? He (she) feels sad. Ask again: How does he (she) feel? Motion to the learner to repeat: He (she) feels sad. Repeat the procedure 3 times. Use the same procedure to introduce the remaining vocabulary words: happy, angry, scared, tired, surprised.

o Get a hand mirror. Make a sad face in the mirror. Say: I feel sad. Give the mirror to the learner. Say: I feel sad. Motion to the learner to make a sad face in the mirror. Ask: How do I feel? I feel sad. Ask again: How do I feel? Motion to the learner to repeat: I feel sad.

Present tense of to be: Make a list of I am statements, focusing on roles in life (I am a woman, I am a mother, I am a student, etc).

Spirit Animals: Have each animal write down and draw an animal they feel connected to and share why. You can also use the Chinese Zodiac to show students what the animal was for the year they were born and have them explain if they think they fit those animals’ characteristics or not.

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS What is your favorite color? What does it remind you of? What is your child’s favorite

color? What makes you sad? Happy? Frightened? Excited?

& Ventures I: Unit 8, Lesson B – to be in the past and present tense

* Some activities adapted from the Geneseo curriculum

My Truck is StuckWritten by Kevin Lewis and Illustrated by Daniel Kirk

Subject: transportation, emergenciesKey Parts of Language: sequential vocabulary, ordinal numbers, present tense

Summary: When a delivery truck gets stuck, the drivers try to signal nearby creatures for help.

VOCABULARY Verbs: grind, travel, drive, deliver, heft, hall, lurch Nouns/adjectives: rotten, steep, inch, engines, youngsters, mechanic, travelers Discussion Vocab: cargo, phone booth, prairie dogs, moving van, jeep, license plate,

tow truck, dump truck, vehicle

Read with One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root!

ACTIVITIES Transportation grammar and vocabulary: discuss modes of transportation and

traveling on foot, by bus, etc. Work on giving and understanding directions; hand out maps of the neighborhood and discuss about the ways to get from place to place, and/or have the students practice giving directions about how to get to their homes.

Does…? Questions G-dropping: Mention the comin’ and haulin’ in the text and talk about pronunciation of

“ing” Transportation emergencies: have the students’ role play a car breaking down. What

should they do? Who should they call or text? What would they say in their message or to a person who stopped to help them.

Practice sequential vocabulary (first, next, after, before) and ordinal numbers (first, second, third...)

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS Have you gotten stuck somewhere? Where? Who helped you? If you were stuck

somewhere now, who could help you?

& Ventures Basic: Unit 5, Around Town

One Duck StuckWritten by Phyllis Root and Illustrated by Jane Chapman

Subject: numbersKey Parts of Language: present tense, numbers, present participles, onomatopoeia

Summary: This counting book follows a duck who gets stuck and increasingly large bands of other animals trying to help him get free. The refrain is “Help! Help! Who can help?” The rhyming text makes it a fun read aloud book.

VOCABULARY Animals: duck, dragonfly, possum, moose, skunk, cricket, snail Actions: nibbling, zooming, munching, plod, nibbling, Onomatopoeia: much, marsh, swamp, thickets

ACTIVITIES Work on changing singular nouns to the plural form, talk about irregular plural nouns.

Read with My Truck is Stuck by Kevin Lewis!

Who....? questions: Give each pair of students a slip of paper describing a troublesome situation (their car has broken down, etc). Ask, “Who can help?” Have them write down a list of ideas. Discuss local emergency services.

Present participles: Find a large picture with lots of people doing different things. Have students describe the tableau while using the actions the people are doing—for example, “There are five girls jumping, two men swimming, and four frogs hopping.”

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS Have you gotten stuck somewhere? Where? Who helped you? If you were stuck

somewhere now, who could help you?

& Ventures Basic: Welcome, Lesson 2, Write the numbers (numerals and then written out words). Pictures of sets. One Duck Stuck has numerals and written out numbers and shows the quantities in sets of real objects.

Polar Bear, Polar BearWritten by Bill Martin Jr. and Illustrated by Eric Carle

Subject: animalsKey Parts of Language: wh-questions, present continuous

Summary: Each page features a colorful animal looking at another colorful animal. The rhythmic text uses call and response with the question, “What do you hear?”

VOCABULARY Animals: polar bear, hippopotamus, lion, flamingo, zebra, boa constrictor, elephant,

leopard, peacock, walrus Sound verbs (in the present continuous): growl, roar, snort, flute, bray, hiss, trumpet,

snarl, yelp, bellow

ACTIVITES Introduce the present continuous by using the examples in the book (“I hear a

hippopotamus snorting in my ear”). Make sure to compare the present continuous with the simple present.

Read with: Polar Bear, Polar Bear (zoo animals) Panda Bear, Panda Bear (endangered animals) Baby Bear, Baby Bear (North American animals)

Talk about onomatopoeia and ask for examples of these types of words in the student’s languages.

Animal SoundsMake a chart of animals that you hear at night and day; introduce new sound verbs for each.

bees buzzingdogs barkingbirds singing

squirrels chattering

crickets chirpingowls hooting

cicadas buzzingmosquitoes whining

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS What animal sounds do you hear at night? (crickets, owls, cicadas, mosquitoes buzzing) What animal sounds do you hear during the day? (birds, dogs barking) If students are from another country or a rural location: What animal sounds did you hear

in that you don’t hear here? What do you hear here in Madison that you didn’t hear there?

Rainbow FishWritten and Illustrated by Marcus PfisterSubject: sharing, friendshipKey Parts of Language: past simple, past continuous

Summary: A fish finds friendship and happiness while learning to share.

VOCABULARY Marine words: fin, scale, coral reef, cave, octopus, sea, starfish, ink Verbs: glide, whiz, shock, admire, delight, amaze, swim (swam), turn away, give away,

help, disappear, give way, touch, waver, think (thought), miss, bubble, tuck, flash, surround, fill,

Adjectives: silver, dazzling, sparkling, shimmering, glittering, deep blue, deep (cave), shiny, loneliest, wise, dark, playfully, prized, ordinary, beautiful, little, wonderful, upset

Other: advice, cloud, possessions

Read with Swimmy by Leo Lionni!

ACTIVITIES Have students describe what colors they are wearing. Review different colors, talk about using “light” or “dark” to describe colors. Make a list of objects that are red, then a list of ones that are orange, etc.—continue

until you’ve got a few words under each color of the rainbow. It’s great to do this on sheets of paper that are actually the color of the objects you’re listing.

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS What was a time when you didn’t feel like sharing? What do you think it means to be a good friend? How can you show someone you want to be a friend?

The Snowy DayWritten and Illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats

Subject: outdoor winter activities (good for a cultural discussion)Key Parts of Language: Except for one sentence, the entire book is in the simple past tense.

Summary: On a snowy day, Peter goes out to play. He watches a snowball fight, makes snow angels and a snowman, and slides down a hill before coming home.

VOCABULARY Words from the text: melt, adventure, smack, snowsuit, drift, mountain, snowball fight,

pocket, tracks Words for discussion: snow drift, melt/freeze, snowflake, icicle, snow pants, snow

blower, snow shovel, snow plow, thermometer, weather report, blizzard

ACTIVITIES Bring in a local weather report for the upcoming week and discuss the language they

use. Discuss the things that Peter does on the snowy day and the verbs used (walk, sink,

drag, smile, etc.) Are there any other verbs you can think of to describe what one can do in the winter?

Discuss the other seasons and activities that can be done in each of those. Think of different verbs that can be used for each season.

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONSCause and effect questions:

Why did Peter put on his snow suit? So he could go outside and play. Why did snow fall on Peter’s head? Because he was knocking the tree with a stick and it

all fell off. How come Peter did not join the snowball fight? Because he thought he was too small. Why did Peter pick up handfuls of snow? Because he wanted to save some snow for

later. Why was Peter’s snowball not in his pocket anymore? Because it melted. Why did Peter call his friend? So he could have someone to play with.

General Open-ended Questions: Question of the Day My favorite thing about the winter When I look out the window during winter, I see _______ What would happen if it was winter all year long? Trees in winter look like _________ What would it be like to be an animal that lived outside during the winter? The best way to stay warm in the winter What if I wore snow boots in the summer and flip flops during the winter? What it would be like to have winter somewhere where there was no snow?

Group Discussion Brainstorm all the fun things parents and children can do together in the winter. Make a

list of outside activities and one of inside activities. Talk about the reasons people might be reluctant to go outside and emphasize that it’s good for children get outdoors even when it’s cold.

Talk about different cultural approaches to winter weather and activities. For example, Nordic mothers often think even a baby should be taken outside every day in the winter for the benefits of fresh air, while other people avoid cold all together or think it’s dangerous. Ask any students from warmer climates to share their own responses to experiencing snow for the first time, or how they have dealt with adjusting to winter weather.

SwimmyWritten and Illustrated by Leo Lionni

Subject: animals, appearancesKey Parts of Language: past tense

Summary: A little fish named Swimmy gets his school of small fish to outsmart a big fish.

VOCABULARY

Read with Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister!

Adjectives: swift, fierce, hungry, scared, lonely, invisible, and happy Strong verbs: darting, gulp, escaped Sea creatures: tuna fish, jelly fish, lobster, sea weed, eel, sea anemones, predator

ACTIVITIES Similes:

o Looked like: As Swimmy goes around the ocean, he encounters many things that are described with the phrase “looked like” descriptions. Read in conjunction with It Looked Like Spilt Milk. Then have students make their own mini books of modern artwork, Rorschach blots, or other abstract pictures and title each with a sentence starting with “It looked like...”.

o Clichés: Give students a list of clichéd visual descriptions and discuss what they

mean and how “like” can work in many ways.

Dropped like a hot potato. Grow like a weed. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, it must be a duck.  Like a duck out of water. Like a hot house flower.Like looking for a needle in a haystack.Like nothing on earth. Like peaches and cream.Like talking to a brick wall. Like there's no tomorrow. Like white on rice.Shake like a leaf.Make like a tree and leave

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS What are activities that can be done in groups and what are activities that can be done

individually? When do you like to do things in a group, and when do you like to do them alone?

The Three BearsRetold and Illustrated by Paul Galdone

Subject: rules/trespassing, sizes of objectsKey Parts of Language: superlatives, “too”Summary: Goldilocks invades the house of the Three Bear while they’re out and tries out their food, chairs, and beds.

VOCABULARY big, middle, little; hot, warm, cold, chilly; soft, hard; porridge, bears

ACTIVITIES Adjectives: List three categories—large, medium, and small—and brainstorm adjectives

that can fit for each. o Large (enormous, huge, massive, etc.)o Medium (just right, normal, average, etc.)o Small (little, tiny, petite, etc.)

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS

Work on comparative and superlative adjectives: Big, bigger, biggest, small, smaller, smallest, etc.

Give students grouped pictures of beds, chairs, and other furniture. Have them choose the one item they would buy from each group, given the chance. Have the each student why they rejected the other items (“this chair is too bright,” “that table is too big,” etc.) and then explain why they chose the one they like best (“this one is just right”).

The Galdone version of the tale really emphasizes each step of the story in its illustrations, making it possible to follow the story even if you can’t understand the words.

The Three Billy Goats GruffRetold and Illustrated by Paul Galdone

Subject: facing fears, size conceptsKey Parts of Language: past tense, prepositions

Summary: Three brother billy goats want to cross a bridge and outsmart the troll who lives underneath it and wants to eat them.

VOCABULARY Prepositions: up, down, over, on, in, under, across Words from the text: troll, gobble, billy goat (male goat), meadow, bridge, clover, ugly,

wait, groaned, tramping, tiniest, daisies, trampled, be off with you, valley, river, mean, creaked, tale, youngest, decided, butted, tossed

Onomatopoeia: trip trap, hiss, buzz

ACTIVITIES Prepositions: Take plastic animals and a bridge and reposition them, creating new

sentences to describe the animal’s place or what they’re doing each time: “The goat is on the bridge,” “The bridge is over the water,” “The goat is under the bridge,” “The goat is going across the bridge,” etc.

Future Tense: Discuss life goals. Where do you want to be in 1 year? In 5 years? What do you want for your children? Discuss what steps need to be taken to achieve these goals and how to start taking those steps. This is a great activity for the New Year.

DISCUSSION/JOURNAL QUESTIONS Use the above future tense discussion to jump off of. What are current obstacles in your life? How can you surpass them? Who helps you accomplish your life goals? The troll in the book is drawn to appear especially gruesome. How do you feel about the

illustrations? How do you think children might react to him? Segue from this to a discussion about fears and the violence children encounter on television, in video games, etc.

Think about situations in which you played the role of each of the billy goats. What was a time when you had to go first? When did you come second? When were you the one to face something after everyone else had encountered it? Have you ever been the hostile obstacle for others to face, like the troll?

Has your family had to do “dangerous” or risky things to get to a better place in life? (When you ask this question, ask families to think about this, but only invite them to share if they’re entirely comfortable doing so)

The Three Little PigsRetold by Luz Orihuela and Illustrated by Maria RiusSubject: homes, familyKey Parts of Language: comparisons

Summary: Three little pigs try to build shelters that will protect them from a wolf who will huff and puff and blow their houses down.

VOCABULARY home, shelter, straw, sticks, bricks, huff, puff, wolf, chimney

ACTIVITIES Ask students to tell you what room certain pieces of furniture belong in. Idioms: go over idioms derived from/related to the three pigs, such as the following:

o You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s earo Wolf at the dooro When pigs flyo House of strawo This place is like a pigsty

Discussion/Journal Questions: What do you like most about your home? What makes a house or apartment a home?

(go over definitions of house vs. home)

Today is MondayWritten and Illustrated by Eric CarleSubject: days of the week, foodKey Parts of Language: present tense

Summary: Based on a much older popular children’s song by the same name, this book pairs each day of the week with a colorful animal eating a common American food such as spaghetti or chicken. After each food comes the chorus, “All you hungry children, come and eat it up!”

Vocabulary Days of the Week Food: string beans, spaghetti, soup (zoooop), roast beef, chicken, fresh fish, ice cream

Activities Meal Plan: Have each student make a meal plan for his or her week. Alliteration: This book is full of alliteration and rhyme. Take a list of food words and add

alliterative or rhyming adjectives (good greens, black beans, rotten radishes, chunky chicken, nice rice, etc.). Or, have one person name a food and then go around in a circle, having each next person name something that rhymes with it (bread, fed, red, said)

Simple Present: Practice using the simple present tense by describing what you usually do on each day or in each month. “I go to the store on Saturday.” “I go to the park in spring.”

Song: Listen to the song that this book was based on. Pass out lyrics and have students fill in blanked out words or just sing along.

Recipes: Read a recipe together as a class. Then have pairs write their own recipes for simple foods.

Setting the Table: bring in plates, forks, spoons, knives, and cups. Have students practice naming each as they set it up in a Western place setting (can use a template). You could also encourage students to bring in snacks on this day to have a meal.

Alphabet Phonetics Game: The first person says, “I’m going to the supermarket to buy [food beginning with the letter A]. The next person has to say, “I’m going to the supermarket to buy [food starting with A named by the first student] and [food beginning with the letter B].” Continue to build the list. If a student misses an item or can’t think of one to add, he or she is out; the last one remaining wins. If you’ve gone through the alphabet, go back to letter A and continue through the alphabet again. Student can get creative, naming imaginary or strange things such as zebra meat, a xylophone-shaped cake, etc. You can also omit letters q, x, and z if they are too challenging.

Plan a Feast: Get maps from a grocery store. Have students plan a feast, writing down a shopping list of ingredients to buy and perhaps directions for where they to find them (the produce section, aisle 3, etc.). You could also assign each pair of students a kind of party to plan (dinner party, birthday party, quinceañera, etc) and have them make a shopping list for that event, including foods, decorations, and anything else. Then have them share their plans for the event with the class. To make this a more advanced activity, give students a budget, such as $100, that they must stay inside. Then provide food ads from a local store or have them estimate the cost of each item they want to buy.

Plurals: Introduce plurals; show pictures of various food items and say the singular, then the plural, of the object as a class. Then sort the pictures of food into food groups.

Read with Feast for 10 by Cathryn Falwell!

Discussion/Journal Questions: What are your favorite foods? How do you prepare them? What grocery store do you like to go to? Do you grow any of your own food? What do you cook? Who eats meals with you? Who sets the table, who cooks, and who cleans up

afterwards? If you eat a meal at a restaurant, where do you like to go? Do you ever eat at a friend or relative’s house? Where do you go? If students have children: What is it like shopping with your children? What do you do if

they want to leave the store or try to persuade you to buy certain things? What does a grocery store cashier mean when they ask, “Paper or plastic”? Which kind

of bag do you like to get? Why?

& Ventures Basic: Unit 1, Personal Information, Lesson D. Expand lessons on days of the week and time to include calendar learning.

Unit 2, At School teaches the days of the week

The Very Hungry CaterpillarWritten and Illustrated by Eric CarleSubject: food, transformation, days of the week, numbers

Key Parts of Language: past tense,

Summary: Each day of the week, the caterpillar eats more and more, until he binges on all kinds of junk food. Then he spins himself a cocoon and transforms into a butterfly.

Vocabulary

Days of the Week Food: apple, pear, plum, strawberry, orange, chocolate cake, ice cream cone, pickle,

Swiss cheese, salami, lollipop, cherry pie, sausage, cupcake, watermelon caterpillar, cocoon, chrysalis, hungry, slice, nibbled, butterfly

ActivitiesThis book, written in the past tense, contains the days of the week and multiple sentences containing “he ate...”.

Practice the past tense of to eat. Have students discuss what they ate when they were little, as opposed to what they eat now.

Talk about what foods are healthy and what foods are unhealthy. Is it better to eat ice cream or apples? Which food will help you grow?

Practice using the word “still” in various contexts (“he was still hungry”). Have each student write a sentence that contains “but I was still...” (I ate three pizzas, but I was still hungry”).

Discussion/Journal Questions:How are you different from when you were a child? How have you changed and why?

& Ventures Basic: Unit 2, At School teaches the day of the week

Where the Wild Things AreWritten and Illustrated by Maurice Sendak

Subject: feelings, imaginationKey Parts of Language: past tense

Summary: When Max gets in trouble with his mother, she sends him to his room without dinner. That night, in his dream, he sails to the land of the Wild Things. Even though they’re scary at first, Max impresses them and becomes their king.

VocabularyPast tense verbs: wore, called, said, was sent, grew, hung, became, sailed, rolled their eyes, roared, gnashed, showed, frightened, tamedAdjectives: wild, terrible, lonely, privateOther words from the text: Teeth, eyes, claws, mischief, wolf suit, forest, vines, ceiling, ocean, staring, blinking, rumpus, dream, nightmare, daydream, night, day, in and out, almost over, magic trick, supper, until

Activities

Discussion/Journal Questions: Future tense discussion: Where is a place you want to visit? Why? What are you going

to do there? How are you going to get ready to go there?

Where’s SpotWritten and Illustrated by Eric HillSubject:

Key Parts of Language: prepositions

Summary:

Vocabulary:

Discussion/Journal Questions:

This question and response book contains all kinds of prepositions to describe where Spot is (on, above, under, etc.).

& Ventures Basic: Unit 2, At School, Lesson C. Prepositions.

OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS:

Go, Dog, Go!Oh, The Places You’ll Go!Green Eggs and HamFox in Socks