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Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree Companion Activities
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Book Review & Lesson Plan: Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus!
(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’re pretty sure, if you spend any time around preschoolers, you already know Pigeon. And those who know Pigeon, love Pigeon. Yes, we’re talking about Pigeon from Mo Willems’ Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus (find at your local library or purchase from Amazon) and many other Pigeon stories. We love Pigeon here, and we love Pigeon books, and hey, we love pretty much ANY Mo Willems book, but those are blogs for other days.
Back to Pigeon, if you aren’t familiar with him, Pigeon is a slightly cranky, slightly self-absorbed, very persistent protagonist who really just wants to drive a bus. Never mind that Pigeon doesn’t have opposable thumbs, isn’t in possession of a valid Class B Commercial Driver’s License, and that his feet don’t reach the pedals. None of this matters to Pigeon, who simply wants to drive the bus.
Now Bus Driver has been down this road before. Clearly, he has had run-ins with Pidge and knows that as soon as he leaves to get his cup of coffee or whatever he has to go do, Pidge is gonna show up and try to go all Sandra Bullock and commandeer the bus. So to head off this eventuality, Bus Driver asks us, your friendly and conveniently located onlookers, to make sure that Pidge doesn’t try to drive the bus.
It’s a simple request, right? We will probably just sit here and chat and only half pay attention to the bus. Kinda like when mom asks you to watch her purse while she runs to the ladies room, right? Sure, Bus Driver, you got it. Now where were we?
Heh heh. Well now, if that’s what happened, we’d have no story, would we?
Opportunistic Pigeon recognizes a tenderfoot when he sees one. And he is all over that in a heartbeat. In fact, he’s probably been lying in wait all this time. First he tries to be coy, chummies up to us readers, and delicately asks if he can drive the bus. This question is generally met with an explosion of “NOs” from your real-life audience. And so it begins.
We love this book for 3s and Pre-K!
Pigeon, affronted at being shut down so unceremoniously, proceeds to throw at us a litany of wheedling preschoolisms: “Pleeeease, I’ll be careful!”/”I’ll be your best friend!”/”Just one time around the block!” before he desperately resorts to cash-money bribery, followed by threats of going over our heads to mom, rounds it out with a healthy dose of good old-fashioned guilt, and finally ends with the full-blown mother-of-all-toddler-reactions — the screaming tantrum.
All the while, your joyous and raucous audience is generally howling in amusement at his gradual descent into full, unfettered, completely unhinged meltdown. (Because they’ve certainly never been the ones to do this before, right?) And this is the hook. Pigeon displays all of the reactions, feelings, emotions and unfiltered angst that every preschooler can relate to.
It’s why Pigeon books are so popular with the preschool crowd. Pigeon displays a slightly-lower-than-the-average-preschooler’s sensibility, so the preschool crowd instantly recognizes “Hey, I’ve got it together way more than this guy.” They see the fallacy in his logic and they’re empowered to tell him what to do and what not to do.
And man, he’s funny. He makes us laugh. His failures and frustrations make us laugh. He’s also a little bit naughty. And he doesn’t listen so well. And he’s fairly confident that he’s right (when he’s not). Plus, he’s totes adorbs. And all of that, folks, is a winning combination.
*Downloadable/printable copy of lesson plan 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? What is a pigeon? Have you seen a pigeon before? Did it look like this pigeon? Did it talk? Do you think it could drive a bus? Why or why not?
While reading: Whenever Pigeon asks a question, encourage the children to answer him. Encouraging the dialog puts the children in control and empowers them as rules enforcers. Draw parallels between Pigeon and the children. When Pigeon says “I never get to do anything!” ask the students if they ever feel that way? What made them feel better?
After reading: Did this book turn out the way you thought it would? How was it different? How was it the same? What was your favorite part?
I like to do an enrichment activity immediately after this book is done and ask the children “Why do you think the Bus Driver didn’t want the pigeon to drive the bus?” It’s a question that’s never really answered in the story, so we answer it on our own. The key here is asking them separately so they can’t hear others’ answers and parrot. So, I generally do it as a transition activity, for example, if we read the book and then go wash hands for lunch, I’ll call each one up individually and ask them quietly, record their answers, then dismiss them to go wash hands.
Another enrichment activity that gets the kiddos thinking and talking, is asking them “What would be a better choice for the pigeon rather than driving the bus?” It gets them thinking about things birds do, things that are safer for birds and non-adults to do, and again it empowers them to make “better choices” for the Pigeon. A free downloadable copy of the “Better Pigeon Choices” enrichment activity and other follow-up activities are below.
Vocabulary words:
- pigeon
- careful
- steer
- cousin
- almost
- block (as in a city block)
- five bucks
Enrichment Activities:
Better Pigeon Choices Freebie Literacy & Reading Comprehension: “Better Pigeon Choices” — What do you think would be a better choice for the pigeon to do instead of driving the bus? Free downloadable pages (below) for recording and displaying dictation. In this freebie, we’ve included a one-pager with a built-in headline and lines/spaces to write in children’s names and responses. The second page is just the headline question in large font so you can print & cut it out and affix it to a large sheet of paper to create your own dictation record.
Art: The Best Children’s Books has an adorable Pigeon directed drawing activity, check it out here.
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Book Review & Lesson Plan: The Book With No Pictures
(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!) The Book With No Pictures (find at your local library or purchase from Amazon) is exactly what the title says — page after page of nothing but words. But what it lacks in illustrations, it more than makes up for in gut-clutching preschool- and kindergarten-level humor. Long story short, even if your head is made of blueberry pizza, you’ll still love this book.
To be certain, the “silly” is the best part of this book, but amidst it all, there are lessons here for kiddos. First and foremost is that even before you can read, you can still enjoy a book that doesn’t have illustrations. And a couple of deeper lessons that kiddos may not realize they’re learning from this book are the importance of listening, and that words are powerful for eliciting emotions.
Words can make you happy, sad, scared, excited, surprised. And in the case of this book, they can make you laugh. A lot. They can make grownups say funny things. Against their will. It’s more of an (air quotes) “Against their will,” but you get the idea.
It’s funny to watch kids’ faces when you first start reading this book. When you explain to them that this book has no pictures and that might seem like “no fun” as the story says. The faces droop a little and glaze over a bit. You can see in their expressions, they’re sure this book is gonna be bleh. And then you read that line that goes like this:
“Here is how books work:
Everything the words say, the person reading the book has to say.”
So now, we have a set of rules laid out that our reader is unswervingly required to follow, because of this on the next page:
“No matter what.”
Well now the deal is sealed with those three foreboding words. The fate of the reader has been set and mass chaos will certainly follow, because “no matter what,” you now know you’re about to make a monkey of yourself. (And you’re going to be admitting that you are a monkey, one who taught itself to read, and you are reading this book with your monkey mouth in your monkey voice. And then there’s robots. But I digress.)
This hilarious story is from the mind of BJ Novak, who you may recall as “Ryan” on the U.S. adaptation of the television show The Office. All throughout the story the reader is required to read hysterical words and sounds, and then must immediately lament the craziness of those words. And beg to stop reading — which, as you’d expect, the roaring children listening to the story, will not allow.
It puts the children in the audience in the delicious position of watching an authority figure essentially self destruct. And that is glorious.
This fabulous read doesn’t particularly fit into any curriculum, it’s just plain fun. We read it during down times or slow days, or as an end-of-the-school-year “fun” book. We have read it after large-group, centers or movement activities and it helps that transition perfectly. But honestly, there’s really no bad time for a full-fledged belly laugh, so it’s a good read any time.
We love this book for 3s and Pre-K on up to adult!
(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 is happening on the cover? Are there any pictures? 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? Do you think this sounds like it will be an interesting book? Do you think you will like this book? Explain that when we read books with no pictures, we have to imagine the pictures in our heads.
After reading: Did this book turn out the way you thought it would? How was it different? How was it the same? What was your favorite part? At the end, why do you think the reader asks the kids to choose a book with pictures next time? How did the book make you feel? What did you imagine as you listened to the words? (This is a great segue into our enrichment activity, “Illustrating The Book With No Pictures,” below).
Vocabulary words:
- boring
- serious
- trick
- ridiculous
- hippo
- history
- entire
- utterly
- preposterous
Enrichment Activities:
Art: Encourage your kiddos to illustrate lines from The Book With No Pictures with our free printables. (Combine for a fun class book!) Download “I am a Robot Monkey” and “My head is made of Blueberry Pizza” below.
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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!
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Uh Oh! What Did Pete the Cat Step In?
Like most preschool teachers, we love us some Pete the Cat. Pete with his white shoes, Pete with a new friend, Pete losing his buttons … you name it. We love Pete. So, naturally, we also love this adorable printable color and matching activity from Prekinders. This printable is a fun way to extend learning after reading Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes.
In the story, Pete’s white shoes turn different colors as he steps in assorted items. This free activity, great for large or small group learning with 3s and older 2s, works on color identification and matching. In addition to the printable, Prekinders offers directions on multiple ways to play the game.
For preschool vocabulary and reading comprehension questions, visit our Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes book review.
Free Preschool Math, Science, Literacy, Reading, Writing and Art Resources for Teachers and Parents
