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Chelsea MuellerELD 307: Emergent LiteracyProfessor RichJanuary 19, 2013

Children’s Literature ExplorationTheme: Farm Animals

Books:

Gurman, Saran and Kavanaugh, Missy. Farm Animals. New York: Sandy Creek, 2009. Tickle, Jack. Funny Farm. New York: Sandy Creek, 2012. Jordan, Mary Ellen and Welden, Andrew. Lazy Daisy, Cranky Franky. Australia: Albert Whitman

& Company, 2011. Cronin, Doreen. Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type. Illustrated by Betsy Lewin. New York:

Simon & Schuster, 2000. Lester, Alison. Noni the Pony. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010. Gibbons, Gail. Pigs. New York: Holiday House, 1999. Clark, Leslie Ann. Peepsqueak Wants a Friend! New York: HarperCollins, 2013. Allen, Jonathan. The Little Rabbit Who Liked to Say MOO. New York: Sterling Publishing, 2008. Schertle, Alice. Little Blue Truck. Illustrated by Jill McElmurry. Orlando: Harcourt, 2008. Cowley, Joy. Mrs. Wishy-Washy’s Farm. Illustrated by Elizabeth Fuller. New York: Philomel

Books, 2003.

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Farm Animals (Non Fiction)By: Missy Kavanaugh and Sarah Gurman

Grade: Kindergarten

Farm animals is a picture book with real photography throughout the book of the

animals. The animals that are mentioned are horses, cows, goats, ducks, chickens, turkeys, sheep,

and pigs. Each animal has a description of either what they look like or what they like to do.

Standard: RL.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.

Objective: The students will be able to reenact story events.

First, by looking at the cover of the book the students will be able to predict what

the story will be about. They will also share personal experiences related to either animals in

general or farms specifically in order to make connections to the text prior to reading. Students

will be directed to pay attention to what the animals do. Next, the teacher will read the book

aloud to the class. Following the reading the teacher will hold up a stick puppet of each animal

and the students will elicit the action taken by each of the animals in the story. In order to make

the text meaningful to the students they will be involved in several activities. The students will

be asked to imitate the actions taken by each animal. They will also be asked if they know of

people who act the same way as the animals do.

After reading a class chart will be developed with the students showing a picture of the

animal, its name in written words, and the action that it takes in the story. This chart will be used

as a reference during the activities to correlate the written word with the student activities.

These activities support literacy development by actively engaging students in activities

that directly relate to the text. By having the students relate the actions of the animals to people

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that they know allows them the opportunity to see the relationship between the written word and

real life experiences

Picture Animal Action

Horse Runs

Cow Rests

Goats Nosy

Ducks Waddle

Chicken Strut

Turkey Show Feathers

Sheep Gather

Pigs Sleep

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Funny Farm(Fiction)By: Jack Tickle

Grade: Kindergarten

Funny Farm is a book with pop up animals. Each animal comes with a description of the

sounds they make. This book mentions a rooster who loves the mornings, a pig who rolls in the

mud, a donkey who eats thistle, a sheep who skips to and fro, a cow who grazes in the flowers,

and a sheepdog who watches over all of the animals.

Standard: RF.K.2a Recognize and produce rhyming words.

RF.K.3a Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences

by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each

consonant.

RL.K.9 With prompting and support, compare and contrast the adventures and

experiences of characters in familiar stories.

RF.K.2e Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable

words to make new words.

Objective: Students will be able to recognize rhyming words in a story.

First, show the students the cover of the book and tell them the title of the story along with the

author. Hold up the previous book Farm Animals and ask the students how they think the books will be

alike. Then, ask how they think the stories will be different. Prompt the students until the following points

are discussed:

The book Farm Animals has a true life picture of animals on the cover, while the book Funny

Farm has an animated illustration.

The title of the book Farm Animals lets you know that it is factual; while the title of Funny Farm

lets the students know ahead of time that this book may be fictional.

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A guided oral reading of text will then take place. A discussion of what makes this book a “funny farm”

will take place after the reading. In order to emphasize the rhymes in the book the teacher will tell the

class that authors often use technique of rhyme to make their writing playful. The teacher will revisit each

page and the students will elicit the rhymes used throughout the story. As the students do this the teacher

will make a list of the rhymes on chart paper. Tell the students that many times words that rhyme are

spelled almost the same way. Have them examine the list of the rhyming words to see which words are

like that. Go through the list and identify the rhyming word pairs that differ by only one letter in their

spelling. Circle the letter that is different in each word and ask the students to think of other words that

may also rhyme with those words. The students can be encouraged to create silly words to fit the rhyming

pattern as well as real words.

These activities support literacy development by showing students that authors write for

difference purposes, such as for informational text and for entertainment. The students will be able to see

the patterns in words by examining their letters and spellings while noting initial consonant sounds.

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Rhyming Words

Look—Book New—Doo Giggle—Wriggle Long—Song Fro—Hello Chew—Moo Bark—Dark Night—Tight

Lazy Daisy, Cranky Frankie(Fiction)

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By: Mary Ellen Jordan and Andrew WeldonGrade: Kindergarten-1

This book is about all of the farm animals and how they do what they are not supposed to

do. The cow does not eat grass, instead she eats jelly. The pig does not roll in the mud; she looks

at herself in a mirror. The chicken does not lay eggs because she is too busy dancing around in

her underwear. There is also a dog who watches TV rather than chasing sheep. The only time

that they animals do what they should is at night when they sleep.

Standards: W.K.1 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion

pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about

and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite book

is...).

Objective: Students will be able to create a silly sentence based on the actions of a farm animal

with an included illustration.

The teacher will introduce this book by telling the students that it is another rhyming

book about animals on a farm. To build the anticipatory set the students will be told that the

animals behave differently than we would expect them to. Give the students a purpose for

reading by asking them to listen to how each animal behaves and think about how the animal

should behave. The teacher will then read the book aloud. The class will chart the names of the

animals and tell how they should behave and how they did behave. Then have the students add

names of animals to the chart that are also found on a farm and how they should behave. The

students will use a teacher made handout to create their own silly sentence and illustrate it. The

finished products will be bound into a class book entitled Lazy Daisy, Cranky Frankie

Continued.

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This activity connects to literacy development because the students will be adding

originally created pages to a book. It shows them that they can be authors too.

Animal Should Behave

Actually Behaves

Cow Eat grass Eats jellyPig Like Mud Looks in

mirrorChicken Lay eggs Dances

Dog Chase sheep Watches TV

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Name: _____________________

My animal is a ___________________________________. It should ___________________________ on the farm, but instead it __________________________________.

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Click, Clack, MooCows That Type (Fiction)

By: Doreen Cronin Pictures by: Betsy LewinGrade: Kindergarten

Farmer Brown has a farm with cows, hens and ducks. These animals type notes to Farmer

Brown and post them outside of the barn. The different notes to the farmer are about the cows

not giving milk until they get electric blankets. The hens also want electric blankets so they do

not give eggs. The ducks are the peace keepers and decide to tell Famer Brown that they will get

the type writer from the cows if he gives the cows electric blankets. Farmer Brown gives electric

blankets and the ducks keep the type writer because they want a diving board.

Standards: L.K.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being

read to, and responding to texts.

Objective: The students will be able to write notes based in an informal friendly letter format.

Students will be able to compare technology today to past technologies for the same

outcome.

First, students will look at the cover and try to figure out what the cows are looking at.

After they give their predictions the teacher will tell them that it is something called a typewriter.

It has letter keys on it that when pressed will allow words to appear on paper. Ask the class to

break into small groups to determine what we use today that would do the same thing. Have the

students share their responses and then read to find out why the cows are huddled around the

typewriter on the cover illustration. After reading, discuss the answer to the question. Then tell

the students that they are going to become Farmer Brown and write their own letter in response

to the animals. While modeling the proper friendly letter format students will create a class letter.

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It will be dictated by the students and recorded by the teacher. The students will then write a one

sentence letter to a family member asking them for something.

This activity will help with literacy development by showing students that writing is a

form of communication.

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Noni the Pony(Fiction)By: Alison Lester

Grade: Kindergarten

Noni is a pony who lives on a farm and likes to gallop around. Noni has two best friends

Dave Dog and Coco the cat. They play hide-and-seek and jump around the creek. Noni is nice to

her friends and always brightens their days. Noni is never frightened except sometimes at night.

When Noni gets scared her friends Dave Dog and Coco the cat come and lay with her.

Standards: RL.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and

understanding.

RL.K.7 With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and

the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

Objective: Students will be able to create a paper doll friendship chain that tells the qualities of a

good friend.

Talk to the class about who is their friend and why they like them. Tell them we are

going to read a story today about two friends that help one another. Read to find out how they

help each other. After reading the book students will dictate to the teacher qualities that are

important to being a good friend. The teacher will record these qualities on one side of a paper

doll. Then the students will decorate the other side to represent their friend. Each child can share

their doll with the class and talk about the quality they chose. When they are finished presenting

the teacher will hang up the dolls around the classroom.

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This connects to literacy development because it helps them see that spoken language

correlates to written language. It will also show that in books illustrations are used to highlight

the written text and what they are doing highlights their own words that have been written about

their illustrations.

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Pigs(Non-fiction)By: Gail Gibbons

Grade: 2-3

This book Pigs is a critical literacy book that teaches the students all about pigs. First it

describes what the common thoughts are about pigs. The book talks about the history of pigs and

where they came from. It also discusses different breeds and the basic characteristics of pigs. The

names of pigs; such as before a female pig has a baby and after, and the name of a male pig are

talked about. Also, what pigs do on farms and their behaviors are discussed. To go along with

farms, it mentions where pigs will live on farms and their different kinds of housing. Piglets and

their development are also discussed. Lastly, the uses of pigs are mentioned.

Standards: RI.K.4 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown

words in a text.

Objective: Students will be able to use context clues to determine the meaning of a word.

This book is going to be placed in a center for two to three days prior to reading. A sticky

notepad will be made available to students at the center. Students will be directed to visit the

center upon completing their work and to skim through the pages of the book. Each child will be

given page numbers from which they can find four words that they are unfamiliar with. When

the students find a word that they are not familiar with they will record the following on the

sticky note:

1. Their name

2. The page number

3. The unknown word

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4. The sentence the word is used in

5. What they think the word might mean

6. Explain why they think that might be the meaning of the word

The students will place the note in a box located next to the book. Prior to reading, the teacher

will separate the sticky notes and group together all of the words that students had in common.

Students will then meet in collaborative groups and discuss/share their predictions as to what the

word means and why. Then as a class they will listen to the book being read by the teacher. The

list of words will be discussed again as they appear in the reading. At that point, the remainder of

the class will have the opportunity to share what they believe the word means and the class will

come to a consensus as to the meaning of the word.

This activity will help support literacy development by using context clues to determine

the meanings of unfamiliar words when presented in independent reading activities.

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Peepsqueak Wants a Friend!(Fiction)By: Leslie Ann ClarkGrade: Kindergarten-1

Peepsqueak Wants a Friend is about a chick named Peepsqueak who is looking all around

for a friend. This is a math related book, because the children are being introduced to pairs.

Throughout the book each animal Peepsqueak encounters is a pair and has a friend. Peepsqueak

sees chicks, hedgehogs, red birds, raccoons, a giant foot prints. Peepsqueak goes into the cave

where the foot prints are leading. Then, Peepsqueak goes back to the barnyard with his new

friend, a bear. He realizes that now they make two which is a pair.

Standards: K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a

text.

Objective: Students will be able identify characters encountered by the main character

Peepsqueak in the story.

First the students will discuss as a class what kind of friend they think Peepsqueak is

looking for. Then as the story is read students will be listening to determine who Peepsqueak

meets and if they become his friend. After reading the teacher will discuss how many of

something makes a pair, what are things that come in pairs and as they go the teacher will record

their responses. Remind students that Peepsqueak thought that friends only come in pairs, but at

the end he learned that you can have more than one friend. This fact will then be used to

demonstrate a simple math equation how 1 person + 1 person = 2 people (The pair). It will be

further demonstrated through the use of story text that just like friends don’t always come in just

twos, that numbers can be joined together to make larger groups as well. A simple number

sentence will be shown on the board and the answer will be determined by the class. Students

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will then be encouraged to then create their own number sentences by using manipulatives. Then

they will record their number sentences on paper.

This activity supports literacy development by making connections between math and

their reading. It will also allow them to see that stories are a combination of the actions of one or

more characters.

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The Little Rabbit Who Liked to Say MOO(Fiction)

By: Jonathan AllenGrade: Kindergarten

This book is about a rabbit on a farm who says “Moo”. A calf asks him why he says

“Moo” since he is not a cow and the rabbit tells him because he likes it and that rabbits don’t

make a big noise. Then he decides to say “baa” because he likes it. Then he meets a lamb, this

continues with a piglet, a baby donkey, and a duckling. All of the animals say that their sound

that they make is their favorite and the rabbit says that “WOOF!” is it’s favorite.

Standards: RF.K.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding

words.

Objective: Students will be able to identify initial consonant sounds and create words containing

the given consonant.

Students will be able to identify the sounds made by various farm animals.

The students will discuss the title of the book and determine what is wrong with it. Then,

the teacher will read the book aloud to the class. The students will predict which animal comes

next by using context clues. Then, students will pick an animal and determine the sound that they

make. They will then identify the sound that the initial consonant makes by that animals calling.

Then each student will be given three cards with a consonant on it. They will identify a sound

made by an animal that starts with the same initials consonant. They will then share these sounds

and the name of the animal that makes them as a class.

This activity supports critical literacy because students will recognize that words are

made of letters and that letters stand for sounds. This is a phoneme grapheme correspondence.

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Little Blue Truck (Fiction)By: Alice Schentle Illustrated by: Jill McElmurry

Grade: Kindergarten

Little Blue Truck is about a truck that drives by farm animals and beeps. He sees toads,

sheep, cow, pig, chicken, chick, goat, hose, and duck. Then as the truck is driving a dump truck

honks and says he needs to get through fast. He ends up getting stuck in the mud. The dump

truck honks for help but all of the farm animals ignore him. The little blue truck comes around to

help and gets stuck too. All of the animals come running and start to push the little blue truck,

which is pushing the dump truck. Then the toad came to help push and the trucks became free.

The dump truck realizes that friends help each other. All the animals then hop into the little blue

truck and drive away.

Standards: SL.K.4 Describe familiar people, places, things, and events and, with prompting and

support, provide additional detail.

Objective: Students will be able to sequence story events.

First, ask the students to think about a time where they helped someone, what did you do,

how did it make you feel, and how did it make the other person feel. Tell them that in this story

the animals and the little blue truck work together to solve a problem. Read the book aloud to the

class. Give each student a picture and corresponding word card of each of the characters in the

story. Students will be asked to line up according to the order in which the characters appeared in

the story. After, ask the class what they think would have happened if the little blue truck never

decided to come and help. They can rewrite their own ending to the story as if the little blue

truck did not come to help.

This is helps literacy development because it helps the students learn about cause and

effect, and the importance of the sequence of events.

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Mrs. Wishy-Washy’s Farm (Fiction)By: Joy Cowley Illustrated by: Elizabeth Fuller

Grade: Kindergarten

Mrs. Wishy-Washy has a farm, with a barn, house, truck and animals. Next to her barn

she has a tub where she washes all of her animals. The cow, pig, and duck are tired of getting

washed by Mrs. Wishy-Washy and run away. The animals go to the city because they think the

barns are big there. They see that in the city it is wild, and there is nowhere for them to go. They

go into a restaurant and hardware store. Then they get picked up by the animal jail and sit in jail.

Then Mrs. Wishy-Washy comes to get the pig, cow and duck. The animals run to the barn and

love getting washed. They realize that their home is the best.

Standards: L.K.1d Understand and use question words (interrogatives) (e.g., who, what, where,

when, why, how).

RL.K.2 With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.

Objective: Students will be able to reenact the events in the story by putting on a class play.

Students will look at the title of the book and think about why someone with the name

Wishy-Washy would be associated with a farm. After the discussion the students will listen to

the book as it is read aloud by the teacher. Upon completion, the students will be given assigned

roles and they will reenact the story. Once they are given their role they must decide the key

literary interrogatives for their character. Without scripts the students will perform an add-lib

version of Mrs. Wishy-Washy’s Farm.

This helps with literacy development because it allows the students to verbally discuss

the book. It also helps the students with the understanding of question words.