Storytime Plan Theme 5
Talking about the foods we like
Launch the Theme Introduce the Poster Welcome children to the “Munch a Bunch!” theme. Explain that they will explore food and where it comes from. Ask children what foods they like. Start with healthy snacks such as those seen on the “Munch a Bunch!” poster. Be sure to check for food allergies children may have. Then hang the poster.
The stories in this theme focus on food. These books, with genres ranging from fantasy to photographic nonfiction, provide opportunities to talk with children about their food preferences and how to choose healthy food. The books’ content progresses from something known—an apple—to something as potentially unfamiliar as the food choices of a chameleon. Skills Focus • Vocabulary: Food Words • Comprehension: Fiction & Nonfiction • Print Motivation: Enjoying Books • Social & Emotional: Personal Preferences
TM & © Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved. Illustrated by Linda Bleck.
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What kinds of foods are shown? Are they good for you? Which of these foods do you like? Why?
Use Food Words Encourage children to talk about their favorite foods.
What are some of your favorite things to eat? Where do the foods you like come from?
Resources
Make a Healthy Menu As children explore different types of food, they become more aware of their food choices and which foods are good for them. Help children create a healthy menu for the week. Distribute pieces of paper labeled with the days of the week. Invite children to look at the poster for ideas and write or draw what they would like to have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on each day. Play the CD Play the song “I Like It Like That” from the New Orleans Playground CD. Invite children to sing and dance along.
• Big Book: I Am an Apple by Jean Marzollo • Read-Aloud: How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? by Jane Yolen • Read-Aloud: Chameleon! by Joy Cowley • Music: New Orleans Playground • Character Cards: Stages of Growing Apples • Poster: Munch a Bunch! Refer to the Program Guide for Family Time and additional activities.
First Language Support • Provide translations of key words that will help children better enjoy and
understand the stories. For example, for Spanish speakers: apple = la manzana ; danger = el peligro ; juicy = jugoso/a • Post these words on a food word chart.
1111 STORYTIME 1
After Reading Aloud Talk About It! Discuss how the apple’s phases are part of an ongoing cycle. Encourage children to use the last page to tell a story about an apple. What is the apple in the beginning? What happens to the bud? What helps it grow and change? How do we use apples? Why is the seed important? Food I Like The cut-paper art brings a very dynamic dimension to the book I Am an Apple. Invite children to make their own cut- or torn- paper food. Also provide paper plates and images of food cut out of magazines. Invite children to choose their favorite foods to glue onto the paper plates. Label the plates with the name of the child and his or her favorite food. Reread Distribute the punched-out character cards to children. As you reread the book, invite children to hold up the relevant images when you read the related part of the book. English Language Development Focus on the page that shows the red, redder, and reddest apples. Share other comparison words that end in the same way, such as big, bigger, and biggest; fast, faster, and fastest; and hot, hotter, and hottest. Use gestures to help illustrate the meanings of the words. Sharing common word structures helps English learners recognize meaningful patterns in the new language. Research Connection Studies show that children’s curiosity is a predictor of later academic successes. Foster children’s natural curiosity by relating it to trying new foods. Invite children to share stories about a time they tried a new food and how they felt when they tried it. Challenge students to try even one bite of something new next time it is offered to them.
I Am an Apple explains the life cycle of an apple from bud to tree and everything in between. The pictures show children the meanings of unfamiliar words.
Ask children if they like apples. Have they ever seen apples grow on trees? Invite them to perform a fingerplay that tells how apples grow. Apple Tree Way up high in the apple tree, (hands above the head, swaying like a tree) Two big apples smiled at me. (big smile, looking down) I shook the tree as hard as I could. (shake the tree) Down came the apples, (arms above head and then“fall down”) Mmmm—they were good! (pretend to eat apple and then pat stomach) Share the Big Book Introduce I Am an Apple Bring in a real apple to show the children. Cut the apple in half and pass it around for children to touch and smell.
I’m so glad we’re together and will be talking about food that we eat. Who likes apples? Today we will read a book about apples.
Read Interactively This book focuses on phases of an apple’s growth. Ask children if they have ever seen the buds or the blossoms on an apple tree. Read the beginning slowly, pausing to see if children understand the apple’s growth starting from the bud.
What is happening to the apple now? How has it changed?
STORYTIME 2
In How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?, children may recognize some eating behaviors shared by friends, family members, or even themselves.
This dinosaur is being very rude. What makes his behavior rude? How do you think this person feels when the dinosaur behaves like that? Why? Which dinosaur makes the best guest? After Reading Aloud Talk About It! Page through the book and show children pictures of dinosaurs misbehaving.
Activate children’s imaginations and make connections between the theme and the book. Invite children to pretend they are dinosaurs eating different kinds of food. Decide whether to give each child a turn or do the exercise as a group. Dinosaur Dinner! (Child’s name), show me how a dinosaur might eat pizza. (Child’s name), how would a dinosaur eat grapes? Share the Read-Aloud Introduce How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food ? Once you say that the book is about dinosaurs, you will have the children’s undivided attention! Ask children who are dinosaur experts to name as many different dinosaurs as they can and to share what they know about dinosaurs. I can tell by the title and the illustration on the cover that this is a make-believe story. I know that dinosaurs lived a long time ago. I think this will be a silly story. How can we tell? Would a dinosaur really eat at a table? Would a dinosaur wear a bib? Read Interactively This book is filled with silly and rude examples of table manners. Children may focus on the antics of the dinosaurs. This is a good indicator of their level of comprehension. Engage children in discussion about the dinosaurs’ behaviors while reading the book aloud.
How is the dinosaur misbehaving? How could the dinosaur act politely instead?
Dinosaur Dinner Have pairs of children act like little (or big!) dinosaurs being polite at dinner. Together make a list of things the dinosaurs do to be polite (such as saying “please” and “thank you,” sitting still, trying new foods). Invite different children to act out a scene in which they incorporate one or more of these ideas. Reread Read this story in an exaggerated way. The dramatic reading of the words can bring more meaning to the story as well as develop creative listening skills. This dynamic telling helps highlight the humor in the book. English Language Development Model emphasizing rhymes when reading this story. Then reread selected phrases or sentences one at a time and have children repeat the words after you. Remind children to stress the rhymes. Research Connection As children gain more experience listening to stories read aloud, they begin to distinguish between real and make-believe. Discuss some differences between I Am an Apple and How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? . Although both stories are about food, one is about something real (growing an apple) and the other is about something made up (dinosaurs’ table manners).
STORYTIME 3
After Reading Aloud Talk About It! After reading, guide children to retell which animals the chameleon encountered on its search for food and what happened each time. What was the chameleon looking for? What animals did the chameleon meet? Which looked scary? Which would really harm it? What did the chameleon find in the new tree? Yummy Table Guide children to imagine a big table of food. Ask them to name their favorite foods and pretend to place them on the “Yummy Table.” Or, point to the “Munch a Bunch!” poster to find out which foods they want to go on the Yummy Table. Ask volunteers to use their best table manners and pretend to take some food or share some food with another child or an adult. Reread Read the book again, focusing on picture details. Invite children to describe each new animal the chameleon meets. How is it like the chameleon? How is it different? English Language Development The author uses the phrase “step by step” to describe the chameleon’s movement. Be sure to read this phrase slowly in order to emphasize the chameleon’s slow, creeping movement style. You may also wish to have children act out the phrase to be sure they understand its meaning. Research Connection One way children’s vocabularies develop is by hearing and learning new words in context during read-alouds. For example, as you introduce the book Chameleon! , explain that a chameleon is an animal known for changing colors. Then revisit and clarify words as you read. Finally, use new words often to reinforce them.
In this nonfiction book, children follow a real chameleon on his journey to find food.
Start an action rhyme with the familiar melody, “Frère Jacques.” Are You Munching? Are you munching, are you munching? (eating motion) Healthy food, healthy food? (rub tummy)
Your body needs to eat it. Your body needs to eat it. (show strong bicep) Munch a bunch! Munch a bunch!
Share the Read-Aloud Introduce Chameleon! Contrast the cover of Chameleon! with that of How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? . Talk about how you know that Chameleon! is a book filled with information and is not make-believe. This is a photograph of an animal called a chameleon . In this book, we’ll see pictures of many different colorful animals. How can we tell this book is real, not make-believe?
Read Interactively As you read, focus on who the chameleon meets on its search for food.
Who is the chameleon meeting now? What do you think will happen?
Connect the Stories Display the books and talk about how all three books relate to food.
What did you learn about food from each book? Where does food come from? How do people and animals find food?
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