Social skills 2

Pfster, M. (1995). Rainbow Fish to the Rescue. New York, USA: North-South Books Inc.

ISBN #:9-7807358141-3

“Rainbow Fish To The Rescue” by Marcus Pfister is about rainbow fish who has to make a very tough decision of whether he leaves his friends to play with the poor little striped fish or to stay with his friends? Feeling guilty and ashamed rainbow fish plays with his friends, and leaves striped fish on his own. When the shark appears all the flashing scaled fish run for cover. In the open water striped fish is in danger of the shark. Rainbow fish is scared for him, and knows that he must convince the other fish to help. They manage to save the striped fish’s life. They invite stripped fish to play fin tag instead of flash tag so that they can all play with the striped fish. 

This book is very appropriate for three to five-year olds because it’s about including others no matter what their appearances are. I think ages three to five-is the right age to be reading this kind of material because it’s a crucial time for learning about inclusion, and that just because someone is different doesn’t mean we leave them out. 

The illustrations in this book are very captivating with vibrant colors, and sparkling scales. The pictures give us a sense of what the fish feel because of the emotional features shown on the faces of the fish. The illustrations give us a sense of who is the clang and who is the outsider because of the great detail of the fish with sparkling scales compared to the stripped fish, so it’s all easy to spot. 

In term of a provocation for this book I would most likely have an activity where I put colored and non-colored fish around the room, and have find the fish that match, then come back to the circle, and I would read the book to them. 

When reading the book to the children I would ask them to find in the big pile of fish the one I’m pointing to. Then I would stop at page 8 where we would talk about how scared the little stripped fish must have felt being all alone, and how brave it was for the rainbow fish to take charge and help him when he needed help. 

For extensions I would have different types of fish pictures that all look different. The children can paper mache as many as they would like, and we will put them up in the classroom and talk about how different they look, but yet so beautiful in their own ways. I would get some songs we could sing that have to do with friendship and helping others. I would probably go into the friendship book, and do extend on the theme of friendship. 

Social skills 2

Horvath, D. (2009). Just Like Bossy Bear. New York, NY: Disney Hyperion Books.

ISBN# 9-78142310336-3

“Just Like Bossy Bear” by David Horvath is a book about a bear that is very disrespectful and is mean to other characters in the book. Turtle is bossy bear’s best friend. He looks up to bossy bear for guidance and knowledge therefore he watches, and imitates how bossy bear interacts with other animals and copies bossy bear’s language and attitude when he gets the chance. Once bossy bear realizes how turtle is speaking to the other animals, bossy bear doesn’t feel very good about the way he has been treating his friends, and decides to be a better role model for turtle. 

I would use this book for three to five-year olds because the meaning of the book, and the language is easy for this age group to understand, also I think this book will give children a better understanding what this world really means, and how being bossy can affect your friends and the people who look up to you as a role model in their life. 

A place I would stop and think for minute with the children is on page five where to this page it was only bossy bear being bossy, and in every page till then we see turtle looking up to bossy bear just watching intriguingly. Then on page five it says “then, one day?” this I would say to the children “oh!! I wonder what might happen?” and leave it open for someone to comment on or just move on, but to give them that thought of “I wonder what’s going to happen?” 

The illustrations in this book are very simple but yet gets’ straight to the point and is easy to follow and understand.  The bright colors helps bring children’s attention to the interesting picture as they read along, and this gives a dramatic feel to the story, which we want in order to make it feel real. Also the illustrations have bossy bear and his friend turtle on every page. Thus shows that turtle copies every movement and word said by bossy bear. This is seen very clearly in the illustrations, which help children to really get a feel through the pictures on how this is affecting his friend. 

For provocation on this book I would makeup a song that has to do with both bossy bear and bossy turtle. This way I am telling the story through a song that gives children a bit of a background to the story. 

The way I would present the book afterwards is by making a felt story with bossy bear, bossy turtle, and some furry friends. This way the children can either help me use words to describe what bossy bear, and bossy turtle using what they remember from the book or simply their own words. This will give the children the opportunity to get to say what they think is bossy to the animal I will be showing them at the time.  This way I can see what children understand the meaning of “bossy”, and what some children may need a bit more help to understanding. 

After reading the book, and moving on I would follow up with leaving the felt board out for children to go and play with. Also I would make a human game out of it for example using the children as the characters in the book. I will ask who wants to be who and maybe add some other furry creatures if need be. I would give each child/furry creature a toy, art materials, and other things in the care. Then I would make the bossy bear and the turtle move around to each station together where bossy bear would shout out what the child/ furry animal had that he wants then after they have reached every animal then the turtle would have a turn to say the same thing at each station. Afterwards bossy bear would see what bossy turtle has become, and would go around to all the stations again and say what he wanted in a nice way, and once completed then turtle would do the same thing. If children want to also be turtle or bossy bear then we keep playing till all the children have had a turn with a creature they want to be. This activity would give children even more clarification of what bossy means and what being nice means. 

Another extension we could do is a discussion of what they have seen that’s bossy towards others or what they have done that’s bossy towards others, and how we could say it in a nicer way. I would send them to the art area where they would make their own books of their own true stories or made up stories of being bossy. 

Social skills 2

Isol. Translated by Amado, E. (2010). Petit, the monster. Toronto: Groundwood Books. 

ISBN #: 978-0-888-99-947-4

Petit, The Monster is about a little boy who is good but happens to do bad things sometimes, like tell a lie. He doesn’t mean to be bad and sometimes he is just bad at what he does, such as math. He wonders a lot about his behavior because he doesn’t know why they are bad. He questions his behavior and also wonders about others. Petit, tries to be a good but sometimes it just ends badly. Petit gets frustrated and doesn’t know how he is a good boy but bad at the same time. He asks himself “Am I some kind of not-yet-discovered type of monster”. 

I think this book would be helpful to teach kids the behaviors that are not so nice. Helping them fit in with the other children by not doing some of the things that are seen as bad, such as lying and pulling girls hair. It also shows that young children are not always sure about what is seen as good or bad.

The sketchy drawings in this book are simple yet detailed to show Petits situations and expressions. 

Provocation: 

1. Put up a picture on the wall of a little boy and a big Monster beside him. (Asking the children before story time what or Who they think this monster is, if he’s nice or mean etc) 
2. Have the children turn to the person they are sitting beside and tell them something helpful that they do at home.
3. Put a big picture of Petit on the outside of the door and on the inside put up a picture of the Monster. Hoping the children will ask questions about who’s on the door or if they will notice when they walk in. 

Presentation:

1. I would stop at some of the pages where Petit does nice things and bad things. I would ask the children what they think Petit will do next. 
2. I would provide each child with two pictures on a stick. The first picture would be a happy face and the second would be a sad face. I would ask the children to hold up the happy face anytime I read out something nice that petit did and hold up the sad face every time they thought petit did something bad.

Extensions:

1. Have the children make a card for someone in their family and get them to draw a nice picture and/or write a message ( I would help them write a message). 
2. Have the children finger paint, ask them to paint a monster. If they were to look like one would they look like a nice monster, a pretty one, a mean one, what color they would be etc. 

Social skills 2

Lloyd, S. (2007). Mr. pusskins and little whiskers another love story. New York: Atheneum Books. 

ISBN #: 978-1-4169-5796-6

This story is about a little girl named Emily who had a pet cat named Mr. Pusskins. The two were very happy with each other but one day emily thought it would be a nice surprise to add a third member. One day Emily brought home a lovely surprise for Mr. Pusskins. However, the surprise wasn’t so lovely, it was a pesky little kitten named, Little Whiskers. Little Whiskers looked nice and innocent but he was destroying Mr. Pusskins life. Doing all these mean things such as eating his food and pulling his tail. One day Little Whiskers, did something horrible and made it look like Mr. Pusskins did. Mr. Pusskins got in trouble and was sent outside in the cold, he was furious because Little Whiskers was taking his place. Soon enough Little Whiskers felt bad, and came up with a plan to bring Mr. Pusskins back inside. Little Whiskers apologized to Mr. Pusskins. Everything worked and Emily now has TWO pet cats.

I would use this book because I think a lot of children could relate to having sibling’s that annoy them. I find that the children could also benefit from learning how to get along with someone they might not get a long with at first. 

The illustrations in this book are colorful and humorous. The details within the language is transferred into the pictures. 

Provocation: 

1. I would bring a fun looking box to circle and have the children guess what might be in the box before I start the story which I wont open it till after. It will be a stuff kitten
2. Have the children sing along with the short verse of “ Dum diddley dum dum, doo doo doo, Sharing magic moments, just us two” in the beginning and singing “Dum diddley dum dum, doo doo doo, Sharing magic moments, just us three!” at the end. 
3. Bring in two hamsters during circle time. 

Presentation:

1. Using puppets, Emily(little girl), Mr. Pusskins(Cat) and Little Whiskers(kitten) will tell the story.
2. change from two different cat masks while reading the story

Extensions: 

1. Face painting, get their face painted as a cat, dog, etc
2. Making paw molds on clay
3. Play a game, Everyone in a circle, I will call out different animals and everyone will imitate what sounds and movements that animal does. 

Social Skills 2

Eaton, M. (2007). The adventure of max and pinky best buds. New York: Random House

ISBN #: 978-0-375-83803-3

The Adventure of Max and Pinky Best Buds. A story about two best friends who do everything together. Although they may not be similar in some ways, they keep each other company through all their adventures. However, one day Pinky goes missing and Max is now on his own adventure to find out where his best friend is. He searches all their favorite places, he asks all their animal friends in the forest but no luck. In the end, his imagination brought him to find Pinky.

A great story to help young children understand the importance of having and building friendships. The various activities best friends might do together, it shows that friends care about each other and help one another out. 

I thought the illustrations were adorable. I felt that children would really enjoy the simplicity of the characters and be drawn to the many adventures that were in the story. 

Provocation:

1. Set up different settings such as; a tent, water tables, and a little house. Each area would represent the different places where Max and pinky shared their adventures. So that during the story the children might notice that the tent reminds them of Max and Pinky’s adventure at camp.
2. Print out pictures of all the different animals that were in the book and stick them all around the class room. It would include all the animals that Max asked for help while searching for Pink.
3. Have all the children choose a picture of the animal they would like to be during the story. 

Presentation:

1. Using finger puppets of Max and the different animals he talks to in the story. 
2. Using felts to tell the story. Including felts of Max and Pinky, the various locations they hung out at; lake, forest, home, etc, all the different animals; chicken, horse, fish, polar bear, etc.
3. I would stop at the pages where Max looking and asking different animals to find out where Pinky might be. Wonder and ask with the children about where they think pinky or what he may be doing

Extensions:

1. Have a stuff animal pig hidden around the class room and have the children look for Pinky at the end of the story
2. Plan activities such as fishing at the water tables or setting up a big tent outside for children to play in similar settings as Max and Pinky did. 
3. Have children make masks of the animal they would like to be from the story.

Wordless Picture Books

Hogrogian. N (2009). cool cat. NY: Roaring Brook

ISBN-13:978-1-59643-429-5
ISBN-10:1-59643-429-5

This book is a very sweet book about a cat "cool cat" who is tired of living in a dirty barren wasteland. So cool cat decides that he will paint a paradise, so off he goes painting and throughout the book many of the other animals come to help cool cat paint the paradise,That will be for everyone who wants to live or play in the beautiful paradise they all helped to paint.
I found that the illustrator of the book really captured the story, so all the pictures look as if cool cat has painted them himself, and that is one reason I believe that this story is good for 3-5 year old children, because they can make the connection that cool cat has made the book himself. Also I believe that the book is perfect for this age group is because they get to see all the animals working together and everyone one is happy when they reached the goal they desired.

Provocations
1. Paint brushes can be placed around the room where they normally are not suposed to be, same with photocopied pictures of cool cat can be stuck all around the room so the children can see these objects and explore them.
2.A big picture of the barren wasteland can be put up in the morning before the children arrive so they can see it when they are playing, then while the children are sleeping at nap time the picture can be changed from the wasteland to the paradise so again the children can see it while they are playing. Then when the story is read to them they can make the connection between the picture and the book.

Three ways to present the story.
1. Read the story with the children and encourage them to ask questions and wonder (each page can be used for wondering)
2. Act out the story and how all the animals are working together nicely to reach their final goal.
3.I think this story can easily be done as a felt board, the characters are simple enough that they can be made by the teacher or animals can be collected from many differnt felt stories and brought into this one.

Extensions
1. One extension that can be done with the children is that we can teach them about keeping their enviorment clean and a happy place for everyone. One way this can be done is by teaching them about recycling or taking them on a nature walk to explore and taking in the beauty of our world.
2. This book is really good for doing a big group project, that involves everyone. One big project that can be done is story, where each child gets a page to decorate and when its all finished we can put them all together and then have the children each take a turn telling the story. Or the same idea of a group project the children can all do a big piece of artwork that they can hang on the wall so they can see it and the teacher can encourage the children to make a story about their artwork that they can tell their partents.
3.Because there are many animals in this story, one option is doing a theme on animals and there natural habitats. One way the children can learn about this is by going on a walk to a pet store and learning about the animals in the store, but on the way to the store they can look to see if they see any animals, and if they know what they are and anything else about them.

cumulative and circular book 2

Little White Duck

Zaritzky, B. (1950) Little White Duck. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company

ISBN: 9-780316-032278

This story is about different animals enjoying in the water and making different voices. The characters used in this picture book are mouse, duck, frog, bug and a snake. The mouse is the narrator of the story, who sings it as a song while strumming a guitar. He sings that there is a little white duck that takes a bite of a lily pad in the water, and then comes frog that jumps off the lily pad in the water and then a black bug who tickles the frog. While they all were enjoying and making voices in the water a snake comes, he frightens everyone away and eats the bug. Now there is no one in the water but the lily pad and the mouse is all sad. On the last page all four of the characters (duck, frog, bug, snake), plus the guitar-strumming mouse narrator takes a bow and waves at the reader showing it as a play act.

I would choose this book for 3 to 5 year old children as it has bright, bold, dynamic illustrations that bring the story to life. The children will have fun reading along and they can also quack, buzz, glug, and hiss along with the main characters, while learning the names of animals and colours along the way.

Provocation:

I would place a water tub in the class with floating animals as duck, snake, bug and frog in it. This will make all the children wonder about why the animals are in the water and what they are doing.

Presenting the book:

• Present the story as a felt board story. I would make a lily pad, mouse, duck, frog, bug and snake by felt and then tell the story on the felt board. You can also buy felt pieces for any story from 3H Craftworks, Vancouver.
• I would present this story by making stick puppets of the duck, frog, bug and snake. The pond would be made from a blue board that would act as a stage. All animals can move from behind board with the stick and I can sing the story while moving the stick puppets.
• This story can also be presented by using props. We can get duck, frog, bug and snake stuffed toys. Lily pad can be made from a green paper or cloth and the pond by placing a blue blanket on the table or floor. I would then make the stuffed animals move on the blanket according to the story.

I would stop on every 6th page and say “I wonder what sound this animal makes?”

Extensions:

• The children can bring their stuffed animals and tell the class about it and what sound it makes. Children can then draw their favourite animal on a paper and colour it. This could be great activity for children to learn about different animals.
• We can talk about other animals living in water; ask children what they think about marine life. A trip to an aquarium can be made with the children so they can learn more about animals living in water. Children can have a fish or a frog as a class pet and observe how they live in water.
• We can read more stories related to the mouse, duck, frog, bug and the snake. Ask children if they have any stories to share about animals.