Pair a Book with An Activity: Fancy Nancy, Gerald & Piggie, and a Spike Lee Book Plus Related Activities to Faciliate Learning

As usual, baby bookworm and I are still attending our weekly toddler storytime at our local library.  This Fall they have added a craft at the beginning of the storytime that is in line with the theme for the day.  I like the idea of the craft very much because it adds more meaning for the kids to the stories being read (not to mention interest too, because let's face it, 11 moms with their toddlers in a room can get a little crazy sometimes).

So, at our last storytime, we made a dog puppet (I would share a picture, but it got lost somewhere in the storytime room!?).  He was cute, although, baby bookworm wasn't so interested in the coloring part of the activity as in the gluing part.  All of the toddlers then used their dog puppets in the rhymes and stories for the day. 

Of course, after storytime we had to check out as many books as our little canvas bag could carry.  Here are a few that are particularly noteable in my humble opinion. 

And, as a way to make these take-home stories more meaningful to baby bookworm too, I paired them with a bunch of activities!

Fancy Nancy

Fancy Nancy
by Jane O'Connor

This is a story about a little girl, Nancy, who likes everything to be fancy - from her bedroom, to her dolls, to her food.  She even likes French because everything in French sounds fancy!  What I love about this book is that it uses lots of "fancy" words like plume, fushia, tiara, and stupendous (can you say a vocabulary lesson in disguise?).  As a little girl this book would have been one of my favorites, and as a mom I don't mind reading it 10 times a day at all!  Nancy is an adorable, lovable character who is full of spunk, attitude, and personality. 

Not sure why we hadn't checked out this book earlier because baby bookworm is such a girly girl.  And not surprisingly, Fancy Nancy has become her new best friend. "Ooh, la, la" has also become the expression of the week.

Do I think a little boy would love Fancy Nancy just as much?  I'm honestly not sure.  But it can't hurt to try.  At the very least he may develop an appreciation for the "fancier" things in life, and learn a few new words.

Activities we did based on this book:
Since Fancy Nancy is full of fun, fancy vocabulary words, I came up with a few arts and craft projects to really help baby bookworm understand these words from this book even more.

• We made a Fancy Nancy puppet with a boa

Fancy Nancy puppet- we used construction paper for the face; crayons to
decorate; pipe cleaners wrapped around a finger made the curly hair; glittery
foam paper made the crown; and feathers made the BOA

• We decorated our own tiara

The TIARA was made from a crown bought at a craft store; we used stickers, feathers,
and pom poms to decorate

• We made a plume

We made a PLUME pencil from colored feathers and
masking tape.
I kid you not - she now asks for her PLUME to write with.

Other suggested reading: Fancy Nancy's Favorite Fancy Words: From Accessories to Zany. 

For other ideas on vocabulary learning, check out my other posts on Big Words and Rare Words.

I Will Surprise My Friend
by Mo Willems

A Gerald and Piggie Book.  Another cute one.  Oh, wait, they all are cute.  Why?  Because kids love these characters, and parents love the somewhat adult humor.  I Will Surprise My Friend is a book exactly about what the title suggestions.  These two best friends decide to surprise each other by a rock (each sitting on one side, not seeing the other), only to realize that maybe it wasn't such a great idea after all.  What I love about this book is how each character's personality shines......you have the worry wort Gerald who is polar opposite to happy-go-lucky Piggie. 

I think it's safe to say that baby bookworm loves all Mo Willems' books, especially those from the Gerald and Piggie series.

My Friend is Sad
by Mo Willems

Well, since the Mo Willems books are generally checked OUT of the library, when I saw ANOTHER one on the shelf, I had to (of course) get it too.  My Friend is Sad is about Piggie's adventures in trying to cheer up his good ol' pal Gerald, who is sad.  Piggie tries everything - dressing up as a clown, cowboy, and a robot - but nothing works.  When Piggie shows up, though, Gerald finally shows his happy face.  There is an adult level of humor to this book, too, which makes it clever and fun for both adults and children alike.

Baby bookworm has grown to love this humorous duo to say the least!

Activities we did based on these books:
At an age when tantrums are common (I wouldn't know anything plenty about that), these books provide a great opportunity to talk about feelings and to build communication skills in toddlers.

• We talked about what the characters in each book were feeling at particular moments; I pointed out Piggie and Gerald's expressions and how that corresponded to their feelings; we also talked about what actions contributed to each character's feelings
• We made a list of different feelings (I kept it fairly simple, though): Happy, Sad, Surprised, Angry, Excited, and Shy and we talked about things that make baby bookworm feel each emotion.  For example, baby bookworm feels sad when she doesn't get an oreo cookie, and excited when she goes swimming or to the library.
• Lastly, we cut pictures of faces with different expressions out of magazines; we glued the faces on popcicle sticks and filed them in a feelings folder.  Next time baby bookworm throws a tantrum, I plan on getting them out so she can show me how she feels. 



Baby bookworm gluing her faces on the popcicle sticks



I added labels on the sticks.  We found happy, sad, shy, angry, excited, and surprised.

Other suggested reading: The Pigeon Has Feelings Too!

please, baby, please
by Spike Lee & Tonya Lewis Lee, illustrated by Kadir Nelson

This is a tale that most parents of a toddler can probably relate to; it takes the reader through the joys and the frustrations of a single day bringing up a baby who is on the move.  How many times in a day do you say "Please baby please?"  The vibrant and detailed illustrations in this book really brings the story to life.

Baby bookworm thinks this book is funny because the toddler does all the things she's not supposed to do.  I don't THINK she's getting any ideas....

Activities we did based on this book:
This book provides a good opportunity to teach your child about routines, times of the day, and decision making.

• We talked about all of the things baby bookworm and I do in a typical day - we eat breakfast, go to the playground, go to an activity such as story time, take a nap, eat lunch, and so forth

I recorded all of the things we do in a day and then cut each activity out

• We categorized our activities into things we doing in the morning, things we do in the afternoon, and things we do at night.

I made 3 categories: morning, afternoon, and night and we categorized
each thing we do in a typical day; baby bookworm needed a lot of guidance
but enjoyed herself 

• If you find yourself saying "No" or "Please baby please" quite often throughout the day like the mom in the book, when the opportunity arises, try to get your child to make his own decision.  Ask him, "would you like waffles or toast for breakfast?" or "would like to play with blocks or with puppets?" Offering choices helps to teach decision making and to eliminate conflicts.  We'll be trying this tactic out this week!

Don't forget that young children need supervision and guidance in all of these

activities, which will maximize learning!

Have fun with these ideas, or pairing your own favorite books with an activity.  Feel free to share your ideas!



Making Connections with Books on Fall for some Fall Learning Fun

Fall is by far my favorite time of year.  Not because of Sunday football, picking pumpkins, bonfires, spiked cider, or scary movies.  No, Fall is my favorite time of year because I associate it with learning.  There is something about "back to school" that has always excited me.  It could be the fresh start, new textbooks, or the thought of writing papers, but whatever it is, I fell in LOVE with being "back to school" (and school in general) at a very young age.

I've been "back to school" in some way every Fall for as long as I can remember.  There was grade school, then high school, followed by college, masters program, then doctoral program.  Once I was done being a student, I worked in a school, and also taught as an adjunct professor.

This year is different, though.  For the first time I'm not "back to school" in ANY way, shape, or form.  So to give me that back to school feeling, baby bookworm and I played school this week.  I guess you can say we play "school" all the time, but we tend to do many activities on the fly, and not necessarily organized around a theme. 

In honor of back to school, baby bookworm and I worked our way through eight "subjects" with a bunch of Fall inspired learning activities. 

Here's a recap of our "school" schedule:

Subject 1: READING

For reading "class" we are read books about Fall (shocker, right?) such as....

Fall
Bright baby touch and feel

This is a touch and feel, first-word "baby" book that is full of Fall words and objects. Even though I imagine this book is meant for a much younger audience than my baby bookworm, since she LOVED this book last Fall I thought we would take a look at it again.  Repetition enhances learning, as you probably know.  Plus, it's kind of amazing to me that in one year's time she can now say all of the words in the book, and "read" it on her own. 

The bottom line: If you have a newborn or baby under the age of one, I highly recommend this book as a good way to introduce the season and work on receptive vocabulary. If you have a toddler, I think it's still a good book for expressive vocabulary and even to do a little sight reading.

Boo to You! by Lois Ehlert

This is a book about a bunch of mice who are preparing for a Fall harvest party and trying to keep a cat from ruining their fun.  In order to do so, they decide to scare that "scary cat".  Boo to You! has great illustrations that are incredibly crafty.  Ehlert mixes different textured papers, string, and photographs to make beautifully artistic characters in this book.  Baby bookworm loves the part of the book where they scare the cat, and also loves the last two pages that list a bunch fall items (many of which were new to her such as a gourd, pecan, and sycamore fruit).  You and your baby bookworm might want to read this book cuddled up under a blanket with a warm cup of hot chocolate - it just gives you that kind of a feeling.

Arthur Jumps into Fall by Marc Brown

Baby bookworm has been on an Arthur kick lately.  Some of the other Arthur books in the series can be quite lengthy, but I found this one to be the perfect compromise between too easy and completely overwhelming.

In this story, Arthur is given the task of raking leaves from their yard - which he doesn't find very fun!  But with the help of a few of his best friends, he finds the job done in no time, and they all end up enjoying themselves along the way.

I Know It's Autumn by Eileen Spinelli and illustrated by Nancy Hayashi

This is a great book to help get you in an Autumn mood because it reminds you of all of the fun things you can do, only during this time of the year.  The story repeats the line, "I know it's autumn when...." which is a fabulous way to begin a discussion with your baby bookworm about how the two of you know when it's autumn. 

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While reading these books to your baby bookworm don't forget to work on concepts of print, and explicitly point out and talk about any new vocabulary you may encounter (for strategies on how to do this, visit here). 

Also have a discussion about Fall, and remember to refer back to these books if you do any other Fall inspired activities.  Making connections between old and new knowledge is one easy way to help aid learning.  Read on to see how I've used these books to make connections among different aspects of baby bookworm's knowledge.

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Here's a list of some of the Fall vocabulary we learned with the help of these books:
Gourd, Autumn, Jack-o-lantern, Harvest, Squirrel, Bonfire, Rake, Mum, Acorn, Hayride, Apple, Indian corn, Pile of leaves


Subject 2: MATH

For our math lesson we played a sorting counting game.  What I did was assemble little acorns out of construction paper ahead of time, and marked each one with either an uppercase A or a lowercase a.  Then I had baby bookworm place each into one of two baskets that were labeled with an uppercase A or lowercase a.  We counted the acorns as she went along.  We talked about "more" and "less" as well (our uppercase A basket had more than our lowercase a basket). 



In addition to this being a math lesson, it snuck in a little phonemic awareness too, which is an important pre-reading skill! 

Making Connections: Baby bookworm learned the concept of an acorn one day while we were at a garden that we frequent.  When we read Boo To You! I pointed out the acorns to baby bookworm in the pictures and said "remember when we picked up acorns at the garden".  She said "yes, like a hat" - referring to a conversion we had had previously about how the top part of the acorn seemed like a hat.

Now when we did this math activity I referred back to both of her previous experiences with acorns.  We got out Boo To You! again and I said, "Look, mommy made pretend acorns that we can play a game with". 

This activity was a great way to use a word that we had learned before but in a new context. 

Subject 3: SCIENCE

Our science "class" consisted of a taste testing and apple "dissection" (by the way, baby bookworm knew the word apple before this lesson, but not in the context of Fall).  I bought one granny smith apple and one red apple and cut them up into small bites.  We then tasted each one and talked about how they tasted different.  I introduced the words "sour" and "sweet" to baby bookworm.  We also talked about the different parts of the apple like the skin, stem, and seeds and discussed how apples grow.  Then we "dissected" the apple by peeling off the skin and cutting it open to reveal the "star" and seeds (which baby bookworm found fascinating). 

Baby bookworm and I also compared apples and arranged them from biggest to smallest, talked about how the biggest apple felt heavier than the smallest apple, and discussed the shape of the apples (which she exclaimed were "round").

This activity is a great ACTIVE way to learn new vocabulary, and has lots of hidden math lessons too.  If you want to branch this out as a math activity, you could pair this lesson with the book Apple Countdown (for a summary of it, visit here).

Making Connections: An apple was not a new object to baby bookworm; but here I expanded her understanding of this object.  We talked about how apples come from trees and that apple picking is a Fall activity.  We got out I Know It's Autumn and discussed the front cover making the connection back to a familiar learning context.

Subject 4: SOCIAL STUDIES 

Our social studies lesson wasn't too involved, but a good time nevertheless!  All we did was use baby bookworm's map of the US to talk about the different regions of the country and what Fall might feel and look like in that region.  In this particular puzzle that we have, the pieces are actually divided up by region (not state), so it paired very nicely with my lesson.  We got it pretty cheap too from a Borders bookstore that was going out of business.

Subject 5: RECESS

For "recess" I wanted to get baby bookworm running around to work out some of that energy even on a rainy day (seriously, what is WITH this rain - it's been non stop for days on end).  So I made up a leaf pick-up game.  What I did was I used some fake leaves that I had gotten at the craft store (for another project, but why not use them twice?) and we pretended to rake them into a pile (just like Arthur does in Arthur Jumps Into Fall).  She loved the raking part and even correctly used her newly learned vocabulary while doing this activity.

Then baby bookworm and I had a race to see who could run over to the pile and pick up a leaf first.  Recess would have been better outside, but we had a blast anyway.  I actually worked up a sweat, and baby bookworm got in some exercise while working on her gross motor skills.

Raking leaves like in Arthur's book

Making connections:  We made the obvious connection with this activity back to the book we had read, and it made her want to go read the book again!  We also talked about the color of the leaves; we took a peek outside on this dreary day and I pointed out that our leaves were still on the tree and green.  I asked her what color Arthur and her leaves were and she told me "oranges" (yes, like the fruit).  Then I explained more about the season of Fall and that soon enough our leaves outside would turn colors.  I think she's looking forward now to jumping into a real pile of leaves!  And when she finally gets her chance, trust me, I will remind her of this very activity.

Subject 6: ART

Art class consisted of a few projects. 

Free style painting with apple "stampers" --
making the connection back to our apple tasting

Fall collage made from a Family Circle magazine --
making the connection back to the collage in Boo to You!

Apple mosaic made with contact and tissue paper  --
not sure if there was a connection here other than back to
apples being a Fall object

Art is a great way to enhance fine motor skills.  For a few other ideas and more information, read this old post.

Subject 7: MUSIC

We learned this song for music.  Baby bookworm LOVED it.  WARNING: your child will want to watch this no less than 20 times in a row and you will hate me for it. 

Making Connections: I connected this song back to Boo to You! where there is a page of jack-o-lanterns (pumpkins).  I actually think I may also do an art project with baby bookworm based on this song.

Subject 8: THEATER

For our "theater" class we played house.  I had baby bookworm put on her apron and we pretended to cook a Fall harvest meal (like in Boo to You!) on her play kitchen.  We pretended to make corn on the cob, a turkey, and apple pie!

Cooking

Carving the turkey

Enjoying the feast!

AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITY

For our after school activity we played dress up, which baby bookworm LOVES to do.  She was SO proud of herself in her cheerleading outfit!  We tossed around a stuffed football for added fun! 

Supporting both Mommy and Daddy's favorite teams

Pretend play is a fantastic way to build language skills, so you might want to get those Halloween costumes out a little early.  To learn more about the benefits of pretend play, click here.  Playing ball is a great way to foster the development of gross motor skills.

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So what is the Ed Psych 101 "back to school" lesson for YOU?

Happy back to school everyone!  And happy learning!

Do You Know What a Haberdashery Is? My Toddler Does: 5 Fun Ways to Learn Vocabulary

I came across two very fun books at the library that I couldn't pass up:

Big Words for Little People

by Jamie Lee Curtis and illustrated by Laura Cornell

AND 

13 Words

by Lemony Snicket and illustrated by Maira Kalman

At first glance I wasn't sure if baby bookworm would be "into" these books since they are on the longer side and the story lines are a lot more involved than your typical baby/toddler book.  But, to be honest, while baby bookworm loves her lift-the-flap and board books, she's really outgrown them.  I even think she might be outgrowing some of her "simplistic" picture books too.  So, I thought we'd give these "advanced" books a try.  I am a firm believer that children should constantly be challenged, and that they should be engaged in some activities that are actually slightly above their ability level.  Plus, I could tell these books would be a super fun way to sneak in a lesson about vocabulary, which is also super important. Why is learning vocabulary so important?  Well, vocabulary knowledge is related to success in school; children with larger vocabularies tend to have better success in Kindergarten.  Vocabulary knowledge is also related to reading comprehension; children with larger vocabularies are better able to understand what they read.

Teaching your child new vocabulary words doesn't have to wait until he is in first grade and has a first vocabulary test!  In fact, you may not realize it, but things that you are doing with your newborn and/or toddler are influencing his vocabulary development every day. 

There are a few easy "tricks of the trade"- however - that can help to speed your baby bookworm's learning along. 

1. Talk.

In fact, talk your child's ear off!  Research conducted by psychologist Janellen Huttenlocher has shown that babies whose mothers talk to them more have larger vocabularies in toddlerhood than babies whose mothers were less talkative. The difference between the two groups amounted to 131 words at 20 months, and a whopping 295 words by the age of two. 

Secondly, use varied vocabulary.  Research published in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology (Nov/Dec 2006) has revealed that fathers of two year olds who used more varied vocabulary when speaking with their children showed better expressive language skills at three years of age.

Need ideas of conversation starters?
*While you are bathing your newborn, narrate exactly what you are doing:

"Let's wash now behind your ears.  Now let's scrub that tummy of yours.  How about those dirty chubby toes?  Let's count them...." 

Of course, you can extend this activity to just about anything you are doing.  When baby bookworm truly was a "baby" I loved to narrate while I was cooking dinner. 

*While sitting down for dinner, recap the activities of the day with your child.  Baby bookworm and I do this daily - it's our way of bringing daddy bookworm up to speed on what he might have missed. I usually begin by saying something like,

 "Tell daddy what we did today,"  or "tell daddy about the animals we saw at the zoo," or "daddy wants to know about the books we read today...."  

Then we ask daddy about his day.

*Talk about your memories.  Talking about something in the past not only helps a child to remember that event, but he also gains important narrative language skills and new vocabulary.  I feel like I'm constantly saying to baby bookworm something like:

"Remember when we visited the beach and you had an Easter egg hunt?" or "Remember the day you got lucky money for Vietnamese New Year? Do you remember what color the envelope was?"

2. Label.

This shouldn't be too difficult if you have a toddler because I'm sure you have heard the words, "What'z that?" or "What's this?"  Toddlers are so naturally curious about their surroundings.  When baby bookworm was about a year, I'm pretty sure these were her favorite words. 

Take advantage of your baby's curiosity as a way to introduce new vocabulary.  You will be surprised at some of the words that your baby can actually understand and say.  Productive vocabulary grows at an incredible rate between 18 months and 2 1/2 years. Children as young as two also use a process known as fast mapping, where they can infer a word's meaning from the context (both linguistic and nonlinguistic) in which its used to make a quick and accurate guess.  It's amazing when you really think about it!

3. Play. 

Break out those dress-up clothes, trucks, cardboard boxes, and play kitchens and pretend away!  Research conducted by psychologists Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn has shown that children who engaged in more pretend play over the course of a three year time span scored better on tests of expressive and productive language development than children who played more with non-pretend toys (e.g., puzzles, blocks, peg-boards). 

It turns out that pretend play provides more opportunities for vocabulary enriching-interchanges. 

4. Do. 

Children often learn through doing.  While many of your child's first words will be nouns, as your child's productive vocabulary increases, verbs, adverbs, adjectives and function words are likely to make more of an appearance.  While it's easy to point to something like a ball or a chair to teach your child the words for them, abstract words might be more difficult to grasp.  Here's a few fun ways to help your child understand new vocabulary.

Want to teach action words?
*try using them in a song.  For example, ring around the rosie is a fun way to learn the phrase "all fall down".  The itsy bitsy spider and open, shut them are also full of action words that are associated with hand movements. 

Want to teach a few new adjectives?
*try doing a "hands-on" learning project.  For instance, if you want your child to know the word rough, get out a piece of sand paper and run his fingers along it.  If you want to teach the word cold, play with some ice cubes.

Want to teach emotion words?
*try using the words in context and acting things out.  For example, if you want your child to learn the word sad, tell him about a time you were sad, and show him your sad face. 


.......................................and drum roll please........................................................

5. Read. 

Oh, you saw that one coming, did you?  Well, this is a blog about learning through books so I guess there aren't many surprises.  And truthfully though, reading is one of the best ways to learn new vocabulary. Check out my post on rare words for several methods to increase vocabulary knowledge through reading. 

Or, better yet....Check out these two fabulous books where the authors have done a lot of the hard work for you.  These books specifically highlight some pretty fun vocabulary words; while some of the words in these books are simple like bird, cake, or love, others are more grandiose such as despondent, stupendous, or panache.  I even promise you that you'll learn a new word too (I mean, I didn't know what a haberdashery was until I read 13 Words). 

In BIG WORDS, the vocabulary is written in a different style or colored font in order to stand out.  Definitions of the words are learned through the context of a wonderful rhyming story.

13 WORDS actually numbers each of the 13 words.  New vocabulary is also learned through context and pictures in this quirky (um...very quirky) tale about a bird (word number 1) who is despondent (word number 2) and how his friends try to cheer him up with cake, hats (from the haberdashery - word number 9), and a song from a mezzo-soprano (word number 13). 

I would say that baby bookworm truly understands now what it means to be "irate," "despondent," and "stupendous" thanks to these books.  Oh, and her new favorite word by far from these books is disgusting, which she tells me means "ick like poops in a diaper".  I highly recommend both of these vocabulary-teaching tales!  


Read these books already or hungry for more? 

You might want to check out A Rattle of Bones: A Halloween Book of Collective Nouns by Kipling West.  It's highly appropriate for this time of year, and highlights fun words for groups of things.  Apparently a group of crows is actually called a "murder".  I didn't know that!

One Foot, Two Feet by Peter Maloney is also on our to-read list.  It's a counting book that cleverly introduces irregular plural nouns. 

Now go show off your new vocabulary, and I hope someone tells you how "stupendous" you are.   

Rare Words: Building Vocabulary for Success in School

Baby bookworm, of course, isn't the only one around here doing all the reading.  While I'm not a huge fiction reader (although I do read the occasional mystery novel), I do love psychology textbooks and education-related informational books, so to speak (particularly about language development and literacy).  I think I enjoy these kinds of books lately because it makes me feel like I'm keeping fresh in my field which I need to do since I'm not currently working full-time (well, you know, the mom gig is much more than full time, but I'm not working for a paycheck).  One of the books that I'm currently reading is the national best-seller, The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease (sixth edition, copyright 2006) - you might have heard of it.  Overall the book has great suggestions for parents (and policticans if they're reading) and outlines some astounding research on literacy.  If I can't persuade you to read, read, read to your child - this book will certainly scare you into it (as well as make you want to throw your TV away).  Anyway, I feel the need to quote from his text because I found what he wrote to be very interesting, informational, and inspiring (for this blog topic).  This quote is on the topic of skills necessary for Kindergarten:

"There is one prekindergarten skill that matters above all others, because it is the prime predictor of school success or failure: the child's vocabulary upon entering school.  Yes, the child goes to school to learn new words, but the words he or she already knows determine how much of what the teacher says will be understood.  And since most instruction for the first four years of school is oral, the child who has the largest vocabulary will understand the most, while the child with the smallest vocabulary will grasp the least." (pg. 13)

Umm...that makes perfect sense.  To me anyway.  I have made it a practice to try to "teach" baby bookworm new vocabulary words, but had never really considered the fact that some vocabulary words are more valuable than others.  Trelease goes on to say that understanding "rare words" really plays a crucial role in learning to read and succeeding in school, as opposed to "common" vocabulary that is mostly used in regular conversations.  So where does a little child learn these "rare words"?  You guessed it - books, of course.  But how does a child learn these "rare words"?  That's what I'm about to tell you.

Baby bookworm is 16-months and I know you're probably thinking that aren't ALL words pretty rare to her right now?  And they are to some extent.  But my guess is that baby bookworm  has hundreds of words in her expressive vocabulary (words she can actually say), and might have reached the infamous "vocabulary spurt" that generally occurs around 18-months slightly early.  Baby bookworm has even entered the telegraphic speech stage of language development which generally occurs in children around age 2.  In this stage toddlers begin to put together 2 words at a time (like a telegraph, hence the name) to convey a whole sentence.  For instance she might say "more water" or "daddy home" (my husband's favorite).  So I think it's as good a time as any to make sure I'm doing my part in helping her learn rare words.

So here's a few examples of some rare words that baby bookworm has recently learned, and the strategies I used to help her to acquire this new vocabulary.  These strategies aren't rocket science and are probably things you do anyway.  But, that said, there has been research to show that many adults just read books to children cover to cover without any attention or explanation given to the rare words.  I'm just here to remind you to not fall into that category.   

1). Give the definition or a synonym

Book: David Goes to School, by David Shannon
Rare Word: Tardy

This is a delightful book in the David series where David learns the ins and outs of what to do (and not to do) in school.  This book would actually be great for a teacher to read to his or her class at the onset of a new school year.

Basically, when we got to the page where the teacher says, "David, you're tardy" I explained to baby bookworm that the word tardy means late.  Believe it or not, every time we get to this page she says "he's late".  (I told you this isn't rocket science)

2). Use inference or comparison

Book: Lily's Potty
Rare Word: Whisk
 
This is a lift-the-flap potty training book that baby bookworm really enjoys (as is the case with most lift-the-flap books).  The main character Lily looks for her potty and the reader has to lift the flap to see if the potty is found.  Not surprisingly, Lily finds her potty in the bathroom (not in the garden).

In one of the pictures in the book Lily's mom has a tray full of cookies, and Lily is holding a whisk.  Now, the text does not contain the word "whisk" but baby bookworm kept pointing to the whisk and saying "spoon".  I could have said nice job baby bookworm and moved along, but it was the perfect opportunity to introduce a new word.  So, I explained that it was a "whisk" - which is very much like a spoon because it's a utensil and stirs things but looks a little bit different.

3). Refer to an illustration

Book: The Very Hungry Catepillar by Eric Carle
Rare Word: Cocoon

This book is a classic, and Eric Carle a children's book legend.  In the story a little caterpillar eats his way through a week's worth of food, spins a cocoon and eventually becomes a beautiful butterfly (introducing yet another rare word: metamorphosis).

Can it be any easier than this?  Yes, if you come to a rare word, just point out the illustration that refers to the word! 




4). Use the child's experience

Book: Pumpkin Eye by Denise Fleming
Rare Word: Jack-o-lantern

This is a fun Halloween picture book.  The illustrations have an eerie feel to them but it's a great book for the Fall season.

Not exactly sure if jack-o-lantern falls into the "rare" words category but it's the best I could come up with to illustrate this strategy.  Despite this being a Halloween book we read it all the time, and baby bookworm asks for it by name. The word jack-o-lantern is used throughout this story and not only did I point to the picture of the jack-o-lantern (hence using strategy #3) but I reminded baby bookworm that we carved jack-o-lanterns back when it was Halloween.  I even got out the picture I took of her next to her newly carved pumpkin to help her with this word.

That's it.  Simple, and yet we might be doing these things less than we should be.  Feel free to share your own strategies!  These were adapted from some research I read about in a book called

Beginning Literacy with Language. 

To quote myself in the first paragraph, I hope you have found this post "interesting, informational" and last but not least, "inspiring".     

Going on a Bear Hunt: Read and Reenact to Build Gross Motor Skills

Baby bookworm and I not only check out books from the library, but also lots of CDs.  As having a baby gives me an excuse to relive my childhood, at some point in time I had checked out a classic version (i.e., 70s or 80s) of Sesame Street songs.  Not really to my surprise, baby bookworm took to these songs, despite their being decades old.  Recently, though, after listening to a song on this CD sung by Grover called Over, Under, Around, and Through....I thought, wow, that reminds me of that book We're Going On A Bear Hunt  (I'm constantly looking for inspiration and connections from our daily lives that I can reinforce through books). I can CLEARLY remember sitting at circle time chanting We're Going On A Bear Hunt in my first grade class with my teacher, Miss Custer.  So at this week's trip to the library, I decided to revisit this fun, chanty, sing-a-long kind of story with an element of excitement.  My learning agenda with this book was threefold: I could reinforce those prepositional words from Grover's song (i.e., enhance vocabulary/comprehension), further develop her gross motor skills in a fun way by recreating our own bear hunt, and teach her about onomatopoeic words. So, alas, here we are going on a bear hunt....and he's our learning experience.

Of course, as I have mentioned in my Read Aloud Tips, I always read the book through at least once with no learning agenda so that I don't disrupt the flow of the book and baby bookworm can get acquainted with the story and characters.  I tried the first and third objectives below on the second read through.  The second objective was more of a reenactment of the story and I didn't try to "read" the book at the same time....we did it from memory. 

1) Comprehension/Vocabulary - The words over, under, and through are used frequently throughout the story because the story line is repetitive in nature (which makes this a great book for infants, toddlers, and school-aged children).  Rather than just reading these words, I specifically pointed them out to my baby bookworm.  So, for instance, in the story when they get to the river and say, "we can't go OVER it"...I put real emphasis on the word OVER and asked her to repeat it (she's really getting the hang of this talking thing).  Then I basically had a conversation with myself (using some dialogic reading techniques), "how would they go OVER the river?" "When do we go OVER rivers? How?" Then I did the same sort of thing with under and through...

2). Gross Motor Skills - Let's face it, most people (and kids) learn by doing.  Learning theorists such as Piaget and Vygotsky have long suggested that taking an active, rather than passive, role in learning is critical to the process of acquiring new knowledge (this is known as a constructivist view of learning).  So, I decided to act out the story with my baby bookworm so that she would actually be going OVER, UNDER, and THROUGH....  I got my inspiration for this activity from a great book called Read! Move! Learn! Active Stories for Active Learning by Carol Totsky Hammett and Nicki Collins Geigert.  Baby bookworm and I created a river (which was really her bathtub filled with water and a toy fish and crab), a snowstorm (which was really bubbles), we pretended we came across mud and took our shoes and socks off to go THROUGH the mud, a cave (made out of a dark basket with a bear, of course), and then we climbed UNDER our covers like in the book, to get away from the bear.  This is just what I had around, but use your own imagination to create a bear hunt that caters to your child.  She had lots of fun climbing over, under, and through (while at the same time enhancing motor skills).

Our "river"

Our "cave" and bear

Back to safety under the covers like in the picture in the book (shown below)

From some Baby Einstein flashcards we have....it has great information about bears we read on the back of the card

3). Onomatopoeic words - Each time the characters in this book go THROUGH something (like the river) it makes a fun sound (e.g., splash, splosh!).  Baby bookworm and I had a blast saying these words, and they helped her to learn about letter blends in words. 

I hope you all "catch a big one"!