Thunder Cake

This morning I was awoken by claps of thunder and strikes of lightening.  I am not a big fan of thunderstorms.  There is just something about them that scares me.  Do you have a child who does not like thunderstorms?   If so, you have to read Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco!

Thunder Cake is a touching story about the relationship between Patricia Polacco and her Grandmother.  Patricia loves spending her summer days at her Grandma's farm in Michigan, but she is scared of thunderstorms.  The sound of thunder scares her more than anything.  Patricia's Grandma helps her overcome her fear of thunder by distracting her during a storm.  They wander outside and gather the ingredients to bake a Thunder Cake!  When the cake is in the oven Patricia's Grandma shares how brave  Patricia is by recounting the events of the day.  As the storm rolls in, Grandma and child share a nice slice of Thunder Cake.

This story is just full of teaching ideas!  It is great for making text-to-self connections to help build schema (background knowledge).  If your child is afraid of thunderstorms, or has been in the past, they will easily make connections.  The story also explores the relationship between grandmother and grandchild.  Many kids will be able to make connections to the relationship Patricia has with her grandmother.  You and your child will also easily make predictions when you are reading this story.  You will want to know what happens next and will use your background knowledge and text clues to make educated guesses about the upcoming events.  At the end of the story you will determine importance by coming up with the big idea of the story.

A few questions to guide your conversation:

1.  Read to "Looks like a storm coming to me."  Ask your child:  What do you think a Thunder Cake might be?


2.  Read to "It's only thunder you're hearing."  Ask your child:  Why do you think the child is under the bed? Have you ever been afraid of a thunderstorm?    


3.  Read to "It scared me a lot, but I kept walking with Grandma" Ask your child:  Patricia has been scared to gather the eggs, collect the milk and walk to get the dry ingredients.  Do you think she will be able to gather the courage to finish making the cake?  What makes you think this?  How does her Grandma help her?


4.  Read to "We've got everything but the secret ingredient".  Ask your child: What do you predict might be the secret ingredient?  Make sure you share your prediction with your child!

5.  Read to "Only a very brave person could have done all them things!"  Ask your child: Patricia was very brave.  Even though she was scared of the thunder, she went outside and gathered supplies for the thunder cake.  Can you think of a time when you did something that was brave?   If your child has a hard time thinking of an example, you can share a time when you noticed he or she was brave.

6.  Read to "From that time on, I never feared the voice of thunder again."  Ask your child:  What do you think Patricia will do the next time their a thunderstorm?


7.  Ask your child:  What lesson is the story trying to teach us?

You cannot read Thunder Cake without actually making the cake - that is the BEST part of the story.  The recipe for Thunder Cake is in the back of most versions of the book.  However, I am sharing it below just to make sure you have it.

How to Make a Thunder Cake

Cream together, one at a time the following ingredients:
1 cup shortening
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs, separated ~Blend yolks in. Beat whites until they are stiff and then fold in)
1 cup cold water
1/3 cup pureed tomatoes

Sift together the following ingredients:
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup dry cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Mix dry mixture into the creamy mixture.  Bake in two greased and floured 8 1/2 inch round pans at 350 degrees for 35 -40 minutes.  Frost with chocolate frosting and top with strawberries!

Yummy!  This is a really good cake!  I have made it several times and have never been disappointed.  Making the cake with your child is really a great extension to the story!  It helps your child make real world connections (text-to-world).

Let me know if you make the yummy cake!

The Results Are In!

I used Random.org to put in the numbers 1-8 to find out who the lucky winner is!  However, I could not get the picture of the winning number to transfer to my blog.  So, you are just going to have to trust me that the number three comment was the winner.  Congratulations to Breezi! She has just won a copy of Interrupting Chicken!  Her favorite children's book is Dexter Bexley and the Big Blue Beastie.  I have not read this book before, but it is now on my list of must reads!

Thanks for leaving a comment and checking out the blog.  I had a lot of fun with the giveaway, so I am sure I am going to do it again soon!

Bartholomew and the Oobleck

Do you like to celebrate birthdays?  I do!  I love any excuse for cake and ice-cream.  March 2nd is Dr. Seuss' birthday.  Take a few minutes and celebrate by reading aloud one of his books.

One of my favorites to share with kids is Bartholomew and the Oobleck.  It was first published in 1949 and the message it shares is just as important today as it was sixty years ago!    King Derwin loves to look at the sky, but he tires of seeing only snow, fog, rain and sunshine.   He calls upon his magicians to create something new to fall from the sky that no other kingdom has seen before.  His royal magicians create oobleck - a green, gooey substance that ends up creating disaster throughout the kingdom.  Bartholomew, the king's page boy, tries to help out, but in the end the king needs to mutter three simple (yet magic) words: "I am sorry."  


The story is so much fun to read aloud; however, it is a rather long picture book.  Be prepared to take about twenty minutes to share this one!  It is a great book to help kids determine importance.  Determining importance is really just deciding what matters most-- finding the big idea.  The story also lends itself to creating inferences.


A few questions to help boost you conversation about the story.


1.  Read to "But, Your Majesty, I still think that you may be very sorry."  Ask your child: What do you predict is going to happen?


2.  Read to "He poked his head  out through the little trap door."  Share what you think is going to happen.  Start with the following thinking stem to share your prediction: It could be that...


3.  Read to "I'll blow the loudest alarm that's ever been heard in the Kingdom of Didd!"  Ask your child: What do you think is going to happen when the royal trumpeter blows on his horn? 

4.  Read to "Shaking his head sadly, he stepped back inside."  As your child:  How would you feel if you lived in the Kingdom of Didd?  What would you do if you were Bartholomew?


5.  At the end of the story as your child:  What is one thing we should remember about this story?  If your child has trouble coming up with a big idea, you can say I want to remember.....

Half the fun of sharing this book is making your own oobleck!  It is really easy and I guarantee your child will LOVE it!  Making and investigating the oobleck is a great science experiment.  To make oobleck you just need the following ingredients: 1 cup of water, 1 1/2 cups of cornstarch (maybe a bit more) and a few drops of food coloring.   Mix all the ingredients together and prepare to get messy! 


Enjoy celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2nd! I cannot wait to hear your oobleck experiences.


Today is the last day to enter into the giveaway!   

Mike Mulligan And His Steam Shovel

Time to rewind to an oldie, but a goody!  Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton was first published in 1939.  It is one of those rare books that has stood the test of time.  It is just as popular today as it was seventy years ago!  Young children (especially boys who like tractors and large machines) love this book!

Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel, Mary Anne work together for years cutting through mountains and building skyscrapers.  One day their services are no longer needed because of new and faster technology.  However, Mike and Mary Anne do not give up!  They leave the city and head to the country to try and complete a job in one day that would take 100 men an entire week to complete!  Will they be able to complete the task?  You will have to read the book to find out!

This is a great story for making text-to-self connections.  There are several places where you and your child can relate to what Mike and Mary Anne are experiencing with something that has happened in your own life!   This story also is great for making predictions (guesses) about what is going to happen next.  An inference is really just a prediction based on clues from the text that are merged with the reader's background knowledge.   

1.  Read to the end of page 11.  Mike and Mary Anne provide an important service to the community.  What are a few jobs Mike and Mary Anne do that are helpful?

2.  Read to the end of page 13.  Mike and Mary Anne work faster and better when people watch them.  Can you think of a time when someone watched you work and you did a better job?  


3.  Read to the end of page 14.   How do you think Mike and Mary Anne feel when they no longer have any jobs?


4.  Read to the end of page 20.    Henry B. Swap does not think Mike and Mary Anne can dig the cellar in a day.  What do you think?   


5.  Read to the end of page 26.  What do you think now?  Has your thinking changed?


6.  Read to the end of page 35.  How do you think Mike and Mary Anne feel?  Do you remember a time you felt proud of yourself for completing a really hard task?


7. Read to the end of page 37.  Hmmm....I wonder how they will get out?


8.  Read to the end of the story.  How do you think Mike and Mary Anne feel at the end of the story?  


 Enjoy the story!

P.S.  Don't forget to enter in the giveaway!

Giveaway Time

I have secretly been working on getting this blog up and running for the last two months.  Now that I have several posts, I feel comfortable sharing it with the world!

Before I became a mom of twins, I spent my days teaching children.  My favorite part of teaching was sharing stories with my students.  I loved it when I would stumble across a good story that would captivate my students' attention. Even though I am no longer teaching, I still enjoy reading children's literature. My goal for this blog is to share quality children's literature with parents, teachers and kids!

Not only do I want to share some good books with you, but I also want to lend a helping hand to parents and teachers.  When I was teaching, I always told parents how important it was they carve out some time in their day to read aloud to their child.  However, I never had the time to teach parents how to aid their child's understanding of the story.  On this blog,  I will list questions you can ask your child to enhance their comprehension.

Since this is my first "live" post, I wanted to start it off right!  So, I am having a give away!  I am going to give away a copy of this year's Caldecott Honor Book Interrupting Chicken!

To enter to win you need to do the following:
  *Leave a comment telling me your favorite children's book!


The winner will be selected on Thursday, February 24th by random selection using Random.org.  Be sure to check back on February 25th to see who the winner is!

* You must have a screen name that is unique.  If everyone comments as anonymous, I will not know who the winner is!

Interrupting Chicken

Oh my goodness!  I LOVE the Caldecott Honor book Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein.  It has a unique story line.  Who thinks of chickens telling bedtime stories?  This book even has its' own trailer - just like a movie!  Take a sneak peak!

This is truly a great bedtime story!  Papa Chicken attempts to read Little Chicken a bedtime story.  However, Little Chicken keeps interrupting and changes the end to each story.  Papa Chicken runs out of stories to tell, so Little Chicken creates his own story to tell Papa Chicken.  

This is a great story to work on schema (background knowledge).  The reader needs to be familiar with the stories of Hansel and Gretel,  Little Red Riding Hood and Chicken Little.  Little Chicken changes each of the stories so they have a happy ending.  This is a great opportunity for your child to make text- to-text connections.  They can compare the original story with the new version of the story Little Chicken creates.  

Many children (and adults) can relate to this story.  Children are notorious for interrupting stories.  You might not think so, but it is really a good thing when children interrupt the story.  It shows they are interacting with the text and are comprehending (understanding) the story.  Encourage your child to interrupt when you share a story!  

Read this story at bedtime!  

A Sick Day for Amos McGee

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Phillip Christian Stead is this year's Caldecott Medal winner.  The Caledecott is awarded yearly to the most distinguished picture book by the American Library Association.  Each January I get excited to see which picture book will be awarded the Caledecott Medal.  This year, when the announcement was made, I immediately ordered a copy of A Sick Day for Amos McGee.  Because of the demand for the book, I had to wait a couple weeks for my Amazon box to arrive.  However, it was well worth the wait!

Amos McGee is an elderly man who works at the zoo.  He spends time each day with five of his friends: elephant, tortoise, penguin, rhinoceros and owl.  One day Amos is sick and cannot go to the zoo to visit with his friends.  His friends decide to take a trip from the zoo to visit Amos at home.  The story is truly about the bond of friendship and loyalty.  Children (and adults) can easily relate to this story.  It is a great story to talk about the qualities of friendship.

Because it is easy to relate to this story about friendship, it is a great story to make text-to-self connections.  There are also several places in the story where it is easy to make an inference.  There are a few pages where no text is present - only illustrations.  The reader needs to use background knowledge (from earlier in the story) and clues from the pictures to understand what is happening.

Some questions to guide your  conversation are listed below.

1. When introducing this book to your child talk about the title.  What happens on a sick day?  Think about a time you have had a sick day.  What did you feel like?  What made you feel better?


2.  Read to the tenth page of text.  Ask your child:  Would you like a friend like Amos?  Why or why not?  


3.  Read to the twelfth page of text.  Ask your child:  How do you think the animals feel when Amos does not come visit?  


4.  Read to the page that reads "Late that day..." and ask your child:  What are the animals doing? Have your child narrate the pages without text.  See if they pick-up that the animals are following the same path Amos takes to the zoo every day (but in reverse).

5.  Read to the page that reads "Hooray!  My good friends are here!"  and ask your child:   How do you think Amos feels when he sees his friends?  How do you feel when your friends visit you when you are sick?


6.  At the end of the story ask your child:  This is a story about friendship.  Amos took time out of his day to always visit with his friends.  When he was sick his friends came to help him feel better.  What do you think makes a good friend?  Can you share a time when you were a good friend to someone?

Mirror Mirror

I love it when I find a new book!  Mirror Mirror by Marilyn Singer is mesmerizing!  I could not put it down. The book is composed of poems about fairy tales.  However, they are not your typical poems.  They are reversos.  A reverso is a poem you can read from the top to bottom and from the bottom to the top!  This form of poetry is great for sharing two sides of one story.  When the poem is read from top to bottom the reader learns one side of the story.  When the poem is read from the bottom to the top the reader learns another side of the story. 

The book is like nothing I have read before.  It is truly one-of-a-kind! The pictures are stunning.  This book is going to be a favorite of librarians, teachers, and children!  It has become a favorite of mine.  


In order for your child to understand the poems in this book, it is important they have a working schema (background knowledge) of fairy tales.  So, make sure you and your child have read the original version of each of the fairy tales presented in this book.

Since each of the poems share two sides of a story, this is a great time to talk about point-of-view with your child.  After reading each poem, talk with your child about who might be the narrator.  How does each story differ when told from another point-of-view?

This is such a fun book to share with your child.  You both are going to love it!  It is going to make you think a lot.  Make sure you take the time to synthesize your thinking as you read.  You can do this by just talking with your child about what you are reading.  Pay attention to the punctuation.  How does it change and how does that impact the meaning of the text?

If you and your child get really adventurous, you can try and write your own reversos!  It is more challenging than you might think!

Enjoy!

How Georgie Radbourn Saved Baseball

It seems like all it has been doing around here lately is snowing.  Unfortunately, even though it snows all the time we have not had a fun snow.  Ohio is just stuck in gray misery! Can you imagine if it was always winter?

In the book How Georgie Radbourn Saved Baseball by David Shannon it is always winter!  Those poor characters! Boss Swaggert, a former baseball player outlaws baseball and sends The United States into everlasting winter.  Young Georgie Radbourn goes on trial for shouting baseball sayings.  He challenges Boss to a baseball game.  If Georgie wins, baseball will no longer be outlawed.  Will it also be the end of winter?

This is a great read aloud to share with your child. The plot and beautiful illustrations pull the reader deep into the story. Readers have a lot of background knowledge about baseball and about the four seasons. This background knowledge helps the reader make text-to self connections.  The book also easily lends itself to making inferences.  There are so many places in the story where the reader naturally makes predictions (or guesses) about what might happen next. An inference is really a prediction based on clues from the text merged with your background knowledge. It is also a great story to make text-to self connections because of the empathy felt for the characters.

Below are a few questions you may ask when sharing this story with your child.

1.  Read the first page of text.  Ask your child: Would you like it if it were always winter?  How would our lives be different?


2.  Read the second page of text.  Ask your child: Why do you think Boss Swaggert's heart became mean?  How would you feel if people called you names?


3. Read the fifth page of text.  Ask your child: Does this sound like a place you would like to live?  How would you feel about having go to work when you were nine?


4. Read the seventh page of text.  Ask you child: Why do you think Georgie's neighbors are nervous?  


5.  Read the tenth page of text. Ask your child: Do you think Georgie will receive a fair trial? Why or why not.


6.  Read the sixteenth page of text.  Ask your child:  Why do you think the sun comes out when Boss Swaggert strikes out?