- boat
- water
MA Standards:
Literature/RL.PK.MA.1: With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about a story or a poem read aloud.
Literature/RL.PK.MA.10: Listen actively as an individual and as a member of a group to a variety of age-appropriate literature read aloud.
Literature/RL.PK.MA.9: With prompting and support, make connections between a story or poem and one’s own experiences.
Head Start Outcomes:
Literacy Knowledge/Book Appreciation and Knowledge: Asks and answers questions and makes comments about print materials.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 6: Listen to a wide variety of age appropriate literature read aloud.
Read Together: Toy Boat #1
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
ELA Focus Skills: Concepts of Print, Compare and Contrast, Listening and Speaking, Make Connections, Story Comprehension, Vocabulary
Before You Read
Show children the book cover and ask them to locate the title. Read it aloud, tracking as you do. Talk about the cover illustration. Ask children to describe what they see and what the book might be about. Prompt with questions, such as,
- Where is the little boy sitting?
- What is the string tied to? What might happen to the boat if it weren’t tied to the boy? Why?
- What might the boy do with the boat?
Do a picture walk with children. Talk with them about what they know about ocean water. Have them notice the changes in the way the water is drawn and appears. Ask them to describe the water. Encourage them to use terms such as rough, still, and choppy.
As You Read
Read slowly and with expression. Hold the book so everyone can see the pages as you read. As you read, help children track the movements of the boat as it floats in the water.
- Ask, What happens when the wind and rain comes? How is the water moving? Why does the boat bob up and down on the waves?
- Point to the speedboat. Talk with children about how speedboats go very fast. Then say, Why do you think the little boat’s sail quivers? What might happen to the boat?
- Review with children the letter sound /d/ in the word drift. Pause on the page with the sailboats and ask, What does the water look like now? Do you think the boat might tip over now? Why do you think so?
After You Read
Talk about the story with children. Ask,
- Did you like this book? What was your favorite part?
- When was the little boat in the most trouble while it was floating on the water? Why?
- What have you observed about what happens when you put things in water? How is that like the boy and his boat?
Adaptation: If younger children have trouble concentrating, just read the first half of the book and return to the other half at a later time.