Book Lesson Plans
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Book Review & Lesson Plan: Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site
(This post contains affiliate links. A purchase through these links supports Preschooligans at no additional cost to you and helps us continue to provide free educational resources. Thank you!) Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site (find at your local library or purchase from Amazon) is one of those perfect little gems that we visit when exploring construction-related themes like Building, Roads, Community Helpers and Towns or Cities. Sherri Duskey Rinker’s soothing rhymes are gentle and relaxing — two words you are generally unlikely to associate with construction themes, but which are nonetheless appropriate. Tom Lichtenheld’s muted illustrations have oodles of personality and set just the right tone for a calming read.
Gentle? Relaxing? Calming? So, if it could put your kiddos to sleep, do you really want to read it to your class? It’s true, this one is a perfect bedtime story. But it’s also a super-relaxing book, and it makes for a great quiet-time read or a good transition when your goal is to come down from boisterous activity. We have read it after large-group, centers or movement activities and it helps that transition perfectly.
The story starts at the end of the day at an active construction site. The vehicles one-by-one finish their work and turn in for the night and the reader says “good night” to each of them. The words are so descriptive — Crane Truck stretches his boom to place his last beam, Cement Truck slows his whirling and pours his last liquidy load, Dump Truck drops his bed, Bulldozer puffs one last gust from his stack and Excavator stows his scoop. It shows us that everyone, even busy construction vehicles, has to slow down and reset at some point.
We love this book for 2s, 3s and Pre-K
(Below please find a list of reading comprehension questions and vocabulary words. This list is not exhaustive, and it may spark additional questions from your kiddos. As always, we recommend that you scaffold based on your age group and the wigglies of your kiddos.)
*Downloadable/printable copy of lesson plan is below
Reading comprehension questions:
Before reading: Show the cover. What is happening on the cover? What do you think this book might be about?
After reading title: What do you think it’s about now? Is that the same as what you thought before we read the title?
As you read: Explain that the story says the construction trucks are building a building and making a road. After we read all of the story, let’s talk about which trucks we think are building the building and which are building the road.
After reading: Which of these trucks do you think helps to build a building? Why? How about a road? Why? Do you think that construction trucks look like the ones in this book — with eyes and mouths? Why do you think the illustrator drew them that way? Do you think that construction trucks actually go to sleep at night? What do you think happens when the construction workers leave the construction vehicles for the night?
Vocabulary words:
- might
- beam
- boom
- churning
- whirly
- weary
- chute
- drum
- dims
- grade
- level
- thunderous
- stack
- beneath
Enrichment Activities:
Art: Check out our free tutorial: Construction Vehicle Painting, inspired by Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site, to create some cool process-based art!
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Book Review & Lesson Plan: Bear Snores On
(This post contains affiliate links. A purchase through these links supports Preschooligans at no additional cost to you and helps us continue to provide free educational resources. Thank you!) We all have our favorite books — those stalwarts we always try to work into our lesson plans throughout the preschool year. Bear Snores On (pick this book up at your local library, or purchase from Amazon) is one of those books for us. Whether we’re studying animals, friendship, hibernation or winter, we always manage to squeeze in a few readings of this adorable modern classic from author Karma Wilson and illustrator Jane Chapman.
There’s so much to learn from this story about Bear, who is asleep in his cave while a winter storm howls outside. An assortment of wildlife gathers in his warm cave and holds a party right under his nose. Chapman’s charming illustrations highlight a story that teaches valuable lessons about kindness, friendship amongst diverse individuals, and the importance of not prejudging someone based on their looks. The bouncy rhyming prose opens up the opportunity to talk about words that sound alike, and numerous challenging vocabulary words expose preschool kiddos to words that may be new to them.
We love this book for 3s and Pre-K
Watch Liz Loves Books reading Bear Snores On on Youtube.
(Below please find a list of reading comprehension questions and vocabulary words. This list is not exhaustive, and it may spark additional questions from your kiddos. As always, we recommend that you scaffold based on your age group and the wigglies of your kiddos.)
*Downloadable/printable copy of lesson plan below
Reading comprehension questions:
Before reading: Show the cover. What do you think this story is about? Why do you think Bear is sleeping? Explain concept of hibernation and that some animals hibernate during colder months. What do you think the other animals on the cover are doing?
After reading title: Have you ever heard someone snore? Can you snore? What does it sound like?
As you read: What do you think Hare means when he says “Long time, no see!” to Mouse? Why do you think the animals look so scared when Bear wakes up? What do you think the animals were thinking at that moment? What do you think will happen once Bear is awake, what do you think he will do?
After reading: Were you surprised at what Bear said and did when he woke up? How did you think he would react? Why did you think he would react that way? How did his new friends make him feel better? Why do you think Bear couldn’t sleep at the end of the book? Why do you think his friends were so tired?
Vocabulary:
- lair
- wee
- spark
- coals
- hare
- scuttles
- divvy
- mutters
- gnarls
- blubbers
- blustery
- tall tales
Enrichment & Small Group Activities:
Small group activity: Spedtacularly Au-Some offers a cute and free Bear Snores On set for story retelling.
Art project: School Mum features a free tutorial on how to make a simple and very cute origami bear that looks just like Bear in the story!
- Blog, Book Lesson Plans, Books About Animals, Books About Colors, Books About Emotions, Circle, Colors, Literacy, Reading
Book Review & Lesson Plan: Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes
(This post contains affiliate links. A purchase through these links supports Preschooligans at no additional cost to you and helps us continue to provide free educational resources. Thank you!) Oh Pete the Cat, don’t we all just love him to bits? In this first installment of the Pete saga, Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, (find at your local library or purchase from Amazon) written by Eric Litwin and illustrated by James Dean, our favorite cool cat is walking along in his fancy white shoes, singing a groovy song, and feeling all good.
But then, oh no, Pete steps in a pile of strawberries! Now what color are those white shoes? Does Pete cry? Goodness, no! Pete doesn’t cry over the fact his once-white shoes are now red, he embraces the change — and alters his song to match. “I love my red shoes, I love my red shoes.”
Pete’s adventure leads him to step in a number of colorful items, until he washes clean his shoes at the end.
We love this story for 3s and older 2s
Watch Litwin and Dean read the story and sing Pete’s groovy song in this Youtube video.
*Downloadable/printable copy of lesson plan below
(Below please find a list of reading comprehension questions and vocabulary words. This list is not exhaustive, and it may spark additional questions from your kiddos. As always, we recommend that you scaffold based on your age group and the wigglies of your kiddos.)
Reading comprehension questions:
Before reading: Show the cover. What do you think this story is about? Pete the Cat is the main character of our story. What is a “character” in a story? How about a “main character”? What is Pete the Cat wearing? Do cats usually wear shoes? What color are his shoes?
After reading title: Have you ever had white shoes? Do white shoes usually stay nice and white? What usually happens to white shoes? How do you think Pete feels about his white shoes?
As you read: Allow time for the children to answer the questions that are posed as part of the story. Soon they will be answering and singing along with Pete.
After reading: Why don’t you think Pete cried about his shoes changing colors? What do you think Pete is trying to tell us with this story?
Vocabulary:
- character
- main character
- brand new
- cool
- puddle
- moral
Enrichment Activities:
Small Group/Large Group: Prekinders offers this free Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes color and matching activity.
Art: Books And Giggles features a tutorial of how to make Pete the Cat button slime.
- Blog, Book Lesson Plans, Books About Animals, Books About Construction, Books About Counting, Counting, Literacy, Reading
Book Review & Lesson Plan: Frankie Works the Night Shift
(This post contains affiliate links. A purchase through these links supports Preschooligans at no additional cost to you and helps us continue to provide free educational resources. Thank you!) Oh the giggles we get when we read about Frankie, a mischievous cat who lives in hardware store, in Frankie Works the Night Shift, (find at your local library or purchase from Amazon) written by Lisa Westburg Peters and illustrated by Jennifer Taylor.
As the title indicates, Frankie works the “the night shift,” meaning he’s up when his owners are sleeping. In this sweet 1-10 counting tale, Frankie wreaks havoc all night long, knocking over wastebaskets (in the name of emptying trash), and turning loose the garden hose in the backyard (he’s watering the geraniums, of course!).
Halfway through the night, he discovers a tiny four-legged “intruder,” and the chaos that follows provides even more hilarity.
We like this story as part of lesson plans in counting, animals and construction for 3s and Pre-K (4s and 5s)
Watch Angel Gantnier read Frankie Works the Nightshift on Youtube.
(Below please find a list of reading comprehension questions and vocabulary words. This list is not exhaustive, and it may spark additional questions from your kiddos. As always, we recommend that you scaffold based on your age group and the wigglies of your kiddos.)
Reading comprehension questions:
Before reading: Looking at the cover, what is Frankie wearing? What do you see the title letters are made out of? Where might you find these items? What do you think the tools that make up the letters have to do with the story?
After reading title: What is the “night shift”? What do you think Frankie’s job is at night?
As you read: After Frankie discovers the mouse, challenge children to find it on each page.
After reading: Do you think Frankie was really working? What was he actually doing all night (creating more work and waking up his owners). Why do you think Frankie is so tired in the daytime? Do you think he ever caught the mouse?
Vocabulary:
- wastebasket
- geraniums
- inspects
- intruder
- ignores
- duct tape
