Pop! The Invention of Bubble Gum

Does your child love bubble gum?  Have you ever thought about how it was invented? Pop!  The Invention of Bubble Gum by Meghan McCarthy shares the very interesting story of how bubble gum came to be!  

This is such a cute story full of information about bubble gum. Throughout the story you begin to wonder if bubble gum will ever be invented.  It was not an easy process!  This story is great for asking questions.  Readers should always ask questions before reading the story, while they are reading the story and after reading the story.  When readers ask questions, it shows they are active in the reading process.  Comprehension cannot occur unless the reader interacts with the text.   

Before reading activate your child's schema (background knowledge) and to get them thinking about gum:

1. Say the following to your child: What do you know about bubble gum?   Let your child answer.  Then share what you know about bubble gum.

2. Say the following to your child:  I wonder how bubble gum was invented.  Let your child share their thoughts and then share yours. 

During the story encourage your child to use some of the following thinking stems to ask questions:

• I wonder...
• What if...
• Why...
• How could...

After the story generate some questions you and your child still have about bubble gum.  What else would you like to know about bubble gum?  Your questions can lead to more learning about bubble gum!  

Be sure to read the end pages!  There is a ton of interesting facts about bubble gum.

Extension Activity:

This book easily lends itself to a science experiment!  

Question:  Do all brands of bubble gum create the same size bubble?

You will need:

1.  At least three brands of bubble gum

2.  Ruler

3.  Paper and pencil for recording findings

• Have your child make a hypothesis.  Do they think all bubble gums are created equal?
• Have your child chew a piece of bubble gum for thirty chews.  
• After chewing thirty times have them blow a bubble.  
• Before the bubble breaks, measure the bubble. 
• Record how big the bubble is on a recording sheet. 
• With the same brand of gum, repeat the process 2 more times (it is best to use a new piece each time). 
• Find the average of your three bubbles.
• Complete the entire process again with each brand of bubble gum!

Let me know what you find out!

Mistakes that Worked

Summer break is just around the corner.  For a lot of kids that means reading will be neglected for a few months.  It is essential you keep reading and sharing books with your child during the summer months!  Did you know children can lose up to two years of reading skills over the course of summer break?


I highly encourage you to make reading a priority.  Since kids are going to be in a play mindset, you are going to have to work a little harder to keep their attention.  Over the next month I am going to share some books I think will keep your child's attention.  I will also share some follow-up activities you can do with your child to keep their mind sharp and fresh.


The first book I want to share is  Mistakes That Worked by Charlotte Foltz Jones.  Kids LOVE this book. This book shares mistakes that turned into great inventions.  Did you know the chocolate chip cookie was a mistake?  So was the slinky and the waffle cone!  Your child will love finding out how some of their favorite toys and food were invented by mistakes!

This is a book you do not have to read cover to cover.  It is a great opportunity to talk about how to use a table of contents! Read through the table of contents with your child and decide what mistake you want to learn about first! Each of the mistakes discussed in the book are only one or two pages long.  Since each story is short your child's attention will not wander.  This book is great for practicing the comprehension strategies of asking questions and determining importance.

Good readers are constantly asking questions about what they read.  They ask questions before reading, during reading and after reading.  When readers ask questions, it shows they are engaged with the story.  Kids love when one of their questions are answered in the text of a story! Sometimes questions are not answered.  However, this just keeps the reader thinking and encourages the reader to do more research to find the answers. Mistakes That Worked encourages kids to question.

Some thinking stems you can use with your child to get them asking questions are:

• I wonder...  
• Why...
• How could....
• What if...

As you read each mistake that worked, be sure to model asking questions.  This will encourage your child to ask questions. Ask genuine questions you have. For example, when I first read about the chocolate chip cookie said, "What if the chocolate chip cookie would have never been invented?  I wonder what Ruth thought the first time she tried the chocolate chip cookie." 

This book is also great for determining importance.  Each story will present a lot of neat information, but what is really important to remember? After reading each story be sure to talk with your child what one thing they want to remember about the invention.  This is also a great way to summarize!  

You can use some of the following thinking stems to help your child determine what is important.

• I want to remember...
• One thing we should notice...
• It's interesting that.

There are lots of way to extend your child's learning beyond the book. 

1. Make or purchase one of the mistakes that worked and explore it with your own hands! Who wouldn't love playing with a slinky after reading about it?  Or making their own waffle cone?  
2. Pick your favorite mistake that worked and do some research about it to learn more. 
3. Visit the United States Patent of Trademark Office Kids' Pages and learn all about past inventions and patents!  Your child can even do a search for patents!
4. Work with your child and create your own invention.  Kids often come up with some of the best ideas!
5. Visit the Invent Now Museum in Akron, Ohio.  It is FREE!  I have never been so I cannot give a review on it.  
6. Sign your child up for a Camp Invention close to your home!

Pink and Say

Many parents (and teachers too) quit reading aloud to children after second or third grade.  I have never understood why this happens.  I suppose many parents and teachers feel after third grade most kids can read text on their own and no longer need to have it read to them.  However, there are many reasons why reading aloud to older students is important.  First, a child's listening vocabulary is two years ahead of their reading vocabulary.  This means they can understand stories that are too hard for them to read on their own  Second, older children still need help comprehending the text.  Even though they may be able to decode the words on the page, they might not understand what they are reading.  Lastly, older children still need to hear you model fluent reading!

A great book to share with an older child is Patricia Polacco's Pink and Say.  It is a beautifully written and illustrated picture book.  The story takes place during the Civil War and it shares the journey of two Union soldiers --  Sheldon Curtis and Pinkus Aylee.  Sheldon is a fifteen year old wounded soldier who is nursed back to health by Pinkus (also a fiftteen year old soldier).  The story takes the reader on an incredible journey of friendship and love.  It is a rather deep and serious book.  In my opinion it is appropriate for children in grades four and higher.  

I guarantee this story will spark a conversation between you and your child.  You probably will not even need the questions below to help you and your child talk about the story.  Pink and Say is a great book to     apply the reading strategy of asking questions and synthesizing information.

Readers often ask questions about a story to help them make sense of what is happening.  Asking questions is a great way to interact with a story and stay focused.  A great question starter to use when reading with your child is "I wonder..." because it shows your curiosity. It is also good to show when you are confused by starting with the stems "I don't understand..." or "I am confused by..."  The answers you ask might not have answers.  The important thing is the thinking behind the statement.


Synthesizing is one of the toughest strategies because it takes so much thinking. Pink and Say  is a great book to synthesize.  As you read the story stop a few times and talk about how your thinking has changed through the story.  After finishing the story, you can think about what the story means to you.


1.  I wonder who are the marauders and why everyone is afraid of them?  


2.  I don't understand what it means to "jump the broom"


3.  Read to "I had no answer for him, but, God forgive me, I didn't want to ever go back to it!"
Stop and talk about the story so far.  You might start by saying, "I'm beginning to think..."


4.  Read to "That night I dreamt of hummin' birds and green pastures full of sunlight and wildflowers.
Stop and discuss your thinking of the story.  You might start by saying, "Now, I am thinking....."

5. How could the marauders hurt Moe Moe Bay?  She was not even fighting in the war!

6.  I don't understand why their would be trouble for Pink if they saw he had a pair of glasses.

7.  Read to "I held him as he had done for me."
Stop and discuss your thinking of the story.  You might start by saying, "My new thinking is..."


8.  At the end of the story ask "What does this mean to us?"

The above questions are just a guide to start a conversation.  When you are reading with your child stop and talk anytime you wonder about something.  Share anytime something in the story confuses you.  Authentic questions are the best!

Please keep reading to your children!  Books provide opportunities for great conversations!  There are tons of picture books that are appropriate for older children.

What is Comprehension?

Comprehension is simply making meaning of text. Reading is an interactive process between the words on the page and the reader.  Children need to understand what the words and sentences mean in order to make sense of a story. Comprehension is all about thinking and it is the key to reading.

Good readers constantly interact with a text using one of six strategies that aid in understanding.

1. Visualizing: Creating mental images as one reads through the five senses.
2. Using Schema (Background Knowledge): Making connections and retrieving prior knowledge before during and after reading.
3. Inferring: Drawing conclusions, making predictions and forming interpretations by using prior knowledge and information read in the text.
4. Questioning:  Generating questions about text before, during and after reading.
5. Determining Importance: Identifying the theme of a text and distinguishing between important and unimportant information
6. Synthesizing: Continually changing thinking as one reads through the text.

In this blog I will share some of my favorite stories from children's literature.  Along with each story, I will post guiding questions for you to ask your child.  Each story's questions will focus on one or two reading strategies.  Remember, reading with your child is a fun experience.  Do not focus too much on the questions.  They are just meant to help guide a conversation between you and your child!