Tag Archive for reading activities

Prairie Chicken Little

Written by Jackie Mims Hopkins
Illustrated by Henry Cole

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A delightful spin on a classic story, Prairie Chicken Little provides a fresh look at how panic starts on the wide open spaces of the grasslands when a nervous prairie chicken spreads rumor of a stampede. With no trees around, there are no acorns falling, but these animals fear a stampede more than the sky falling, so “a rumbling and a grumbling and a tumbling” is enough to cause quite a stir. When Mary McBlicken runs to tell her friends on the prairie about the imminent stampede, they are all aflutter until Cowboy Stan and Red Dog Dan come along to calm them down.

This brightly illustrated book would fit nicely in a unit about different ecosystems of North America or a unit about wild animals. There are also several nice lessons about how prepositions like, “over,” “through,” “around,” and “down” guide our imagination and the storyline. Students may even write and illustrate their own colorful story told with a dozen different prepositions. To test the readers’ comprehension after reading this story aloud, students may describe the problem, what Mary wanted to do about it, and how it was finally resolved.

With such a common story line, there are loads of extension activities for the classroom. For a generous collection of activities, visit http://www.myfreshplans.com/2010-09/chicken-little-lesson-plans/. This site offers activities for the language arts, science, character development, and critical thinking. It also links visitors to several audio versions of the classic tale of Chicken Little. Many may easily be adapted to use with Prairie Chicken Little. After reading this updated story, students may also be encouraged to write their own twist on a different classic tale.

  • Prairie Chicken LittleTitle: Prairie Chicken Little
  • Authors: Jackie Mims Hopkins
  • Illustrators: Henry Cole
  • Publisher: Peachtree
  • Reviewer: Sharon Schulte
  • 
Hardback, 38 pages
  • ISBN: 978-1-56145-694-9
  • Genre: fiction/folk tale/Chicken Little

Noisy Bug Sing-Along

Written and Illustrated by John Himmelman

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Each little bug in this creative presentation has a fresh and intricate image and is identified by the noises it makes. The second grade reader will come away knowing exactly what field crickets look like and have a good idea what their “chirp”-ing sounds like. Colorful two-page spreads follow for tree crickets (reee-), mole crickets(dirt-dirt-dirt), click beetles (click), tiger moths (squeaka), dog-day cicadas (ZZZZ), bumble bees (zzzz), mosquitoes (mmmm), butterflies (…), true katydids (ch-ch-ch), bush katydids (tick-tick-tick zeezeezeezee), and grasshoppers (keraack). Last, the author brings all the sounds together in a vibrant chorus, decorated with sound waves.

The illustrations are at least as important to this book as the words. Most children of this age have probably never stopped to take a close look at or listen to different types of bugs. The detail is unbelievable, with each tiny dirt fragment accounted for in the mole cricket drawing. The bat hunting the tiger moth is very genuine. Even the ear into which the mosquito flies is realistic.

The “Listening to the Noisy Bugs” section provides a lot of possibilities for reading activities. For example, readers can go on the publisher’s website, www.dawnpub.com/our-books/noisy-bug-sing-along, and listen to real bug noises. Then, the reader can test herself by guessing what bug she’s listening to. In “About the Noisy Bugs,” the author shares more about each type of bug. For example, dog-day cicadas have hollow abdomens, like drums. They tighten and loosen the muscles there to make the ZZZZ sound. The author’s website, www.johnhimmelman.com, also has resources to use.

  • Noisy BugTitle: Noisy Bug Sing-Along
  • Author/Illustrator: John Himmelman
  • Publisher: Dawn Publications
  • Reviewer: Sue Poduska
  • Paperback: 32 pages
  • ISBN: 978-1-58469-192-1
  • Genre: Picture book, Insects, Nature

 

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