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Fish Eyes: A Book You Can Count On, by Lois Ehlert
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Take a picture walk to talk about fish and what they look like. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. Where do you think the beautiful fish would go if it could? (Possible responses: down rivers; to splash in the sea)
2. What colors are the smiling fish? (purple, yellow, red) How many spotted fish are there? (5)
3. What rhymes with scales? (tails) With see? (me)
4. Have you ever seen a fish in a pond or a tank? What do they do? (Possible responses: They swim around; They make bubbles in the water.)
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Down by the Cool of the Pool, by Tony Mitton
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Take a picture walk to talk about ponds and pools. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. What do you think the animals will do in the pool? (Possible responses: swim; splash; play)
2. What animal came to see what Frog was doing? (Duck) Who came after Duck? (Pig)
3. Read the title. What rhymes with cool? (pool)
4. Which animal’s dance would you most like to do? Show me that dance. (Responses will vary.)
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I Get Wet, by Vicki Cobb
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Take a picture walk to talk about getting wet and how it feels. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. How do you think people will get wet in this story? (Possible response: They can take a bath or go swimming.)
2. What is the shape of water when you fill a cup or a bucket? (It is the shape of the container.)
3. How many words are in the title? (3) Which words rhyme? (Get, Wet) What other word do you know that rhymes with wet? (Possible responses: pet, jet, let)
4. What is your favorite way to get wet? Explain. (Responses will vary.)
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We Use Water, by Robin Nelson
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Take a picture walk to talk about water and why we need it. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. How do you think water helps people and animals? (Possible responses: It helps when we are thirsty; It helps us get clean.)
2. How do firefighters use water? (They use a big fire hose to squirt water on a fire to put it out.)
3. Read the title. What two words begin with the same letter? (We, Water) What sound do they begin with? (/w/) What letter makes that sound? (w)
4. What is your favorite way to enjoy water? (Responses will vary.)
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Swimmy, by Leo Lionni
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Take a picture walk to talk about fish and what they look like. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. What kind of problem could Swimmy have in this story? (Possible responses: He might get lost; A big fish might want to eat him.)
2. How did Swimmy show the red fish how to hide from the big fish? (He taught them to swim close together to make a big shape that scared the fish away.)
3. Read the title. Name each letter. What letter is a capital letter? (S) How many times do you see the letter m? (2)
4. If you were a fish, how would you stay safe from bigger fish? (Possible responses: I would swim away fast; hide in the seaweed.)
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In the Small, Small Pond, by Denise Fleming
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Take a picture walk to talk about ponds and pond life. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. What kind of animals do you think live in a pond? (Possible response: fish, turtles)
2. What do you think these animals will do? (Possible response: They will swim, play, and jump in the water.)
3. What story word rhymes with jiggle? (wiggle) Dip? (flip)
4. Have you ever seen a pond? What does it look like? What did you do? (Responses will vary.)
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Precious Water: A Book of Thanks, by Brigitte Weninger
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Take a picture walk to talk about water and how we use it. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. Where do you think water comes from? (Possible response: the sink; rain)
2. Why is water important? (Possible responses: We drink it; Animals drink it; We make food with it.)
3. Count the letters in each word of the title. How many letters are in each word? (8,5) Which word is the longest? (Precious) How did you figure that out? (I counted the letters.)
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Mud, by Mary Lyn Ray
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Take a picture walk to talk about mud and what it is like. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. What do you think will happen as winter melts into spring? (Possible responses: The ice and snow will melt; The dirt will get muddy.)
2. Why do you think the story says “happy mud”? (because mud is fun to play in)
3. What sound does mud begin with? (/m/) What letter makes that sound? (m) What other word begins like mud? (Possible responses: Mike; my; mother; mat)
4. What things have you done with mud? (Responses will vary.)
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The Very Quiet Cricket, by Eric Carle
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Take a picture walk to talk about crickets and what they look like. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. Why didn’t the little cricket answer the big cricket? (It didn’t know how.)
2. Who did the little cricket see after the bumblebee? (a dragonfly)
3. Say the word cricket. What sound does it begin with? (/k/) What letter makes that sound in this word? (c)
4. Did you ever hear crickets chirping? When? (Possible responses: I heard them at night; at camp.) How do they sound? (Children should attempt to duplicate the sound if they can.)
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Five Little Ducks, Pam Paparone
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Take a picture walk to talk about ducks and ducklings and what they look like. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. Why do you think the little ducks went over the hills and far away? (Possible responses: to see their friends; to see the other side of the hill)
2. What did Mother Duck do each time the ducks came back? Why? (She counted them to see if they were all there.)
3. Listen to these words. Which words rhyme? quack, duck, back (quack, back) went, day, away (day, away)
4. What would you have done if your little ducklings didn’t come home? (Responses will vary.)
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Hello, Fish!: Visiting the Coral Reef, by Sylvia Earle
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Take a picture walk to talk about a coral reef. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. What do you think you might see in a coral reef? (Possible responses: fish; shells)
2. What keeps the clownfish from being stung by a sea anemone? (the slimy goo on their fins and tails)
3. Say the word fish. What sound does it begin with? (/f/) What letter makes that sound? (f) How many times do you see the letter f on the front cover? (2)
4. Which fish would you rather be? Why? (Responses will vary.)
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What's It Like to Be a Fish? (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science), by Wendy Pfeffer
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Take a picture walk to talk about fish and what they look like. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. Where do you think fish live? (the ocean, a fish tank) Where can’t they live? (in the cold, out of water)
2. What are fish doing when they open and close their mouths? (They are breathing.)
3. Trace over the words in the title with your finger. Why do you think the words are in a wavy line? (Answers will vary, but should indicate in some way that they resemble the ocean’s movement.)
4. What two fish on page 4 or 5 would you pick to put into a fish tank? Why? (Responses will vary.)
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Harbor, by Donald Crews
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Take a picture walk to talk about harbors and ships. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. What kind of boats do you think come into a harbor? (Possible response: big boats that carry things)
2. Why is the tugboat the busiest ship in the harbor? (It pushes and pulls boats to the docks.)
3. Look at the story title. What letter is in this word two times? (r) What sound does it make? (/r/) Where do you hear that sound: in the beginning, middle or end of the word? (middle and end)
4. What ship in this book would you like to ride on? Explain. (Responses will vary.)
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Splash, Joshua, Splash! by Malachy Doyle
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Take a picture walk to talk about how water can be fun. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. Where do you think Joshua will be splashing? (Possible responses: in the bathtub; in the rain)
2. Why didn’t Joshua and his grandmother notice the bus splashing through the streets? (They were too tired.)
3. Read the title. Find the two letters that appear in every word. What are they? (sh) Point to them in each word.
4. What kind of splashing do you like to do best? Explain. (Responses will vary.)
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Sail Away, by Donald Crews
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Take a picture walk to talk about sailing and how good weather can help sailors. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. What kind of weather is best for sailing? Why do you think so? (A windy day; because a sailboat needs wind to push it.)
2. How did the ocean look different when the skies got dark? (The waves got big.) What did the family do then? (They went home.) Why? (It is dangerous to sail in a storm.)
3. Point to the front cover and the back cover. Point to title.
4. Have you ever been on a sailboat or other boat? What was it like? (Responses will vary.)
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Boat Book, by Gail Gibbons
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Take a picture walk to talk about different kinds of boats. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. Do you think that Boat Book is a good title for this book? Why? (Possible response: Yes, it tells me what the book will be about.)
2. What are three things that help boats move? (oars, wind, engines)
3. Say the word boat. What sound does it begin with? (/b/) What sound does it end with? (/t/)
4. Which boat would you most like to ride on? Why? (Responses will vary.)
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Elliot's Shipwreck, by Andrea Beck
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Take a picture walk to talk about sailing and what could happen. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. How do you think a shipwreck can happen? (Possible response: They can crash into something.)
2. Who saved Elliot and Socks? How? (Amy; She found a lifeboat with a paddle, and put it in the pool where they fell in.)
3. Point to the front and back covers of the book. What is Elliot doing on the back cover? (reading) How do you know? (He is holding his book the right way.)
4. What kind of ship would you like to build? Where would you go? (Responses will vary)
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Somewhere in the Ocean, by Jennifer Ward and T.J. Marsh
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Take a picture walk to talk about ocean life and what it looks like. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. What animals do you think you will see in this book? (Possible responses: fish; turtles)
2. What did the mother crab tell her babies to do? (Dress!) What did that mean? (find a new shell)
3. Read the title. Count the e’s. How many are there? (5) Count the n’s. How many are there? (2)
4. Which illustration is your favorite? Why? (Responses will vary.)
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What Lives in a Shell? (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science), by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
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Take a picture walk to talk about animals that have shells. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. What do you think will happen when an animal grows too big for its shell? (Possible response: Its shell will get bigger, too.)
2. What animal looks for a new shell when its old one is too small? (a hermit crab)
3. Listen to these words. Clap your hands to show how many sounds you hear. Snail (1), tur-tle (2), shell (1), her-mit (2), crab (1)
4. Would you like to carry your home with you everywhere you went? Explain. (Responses will vary.)
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A House for Hermit Crab, by Eric Carle
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Take a picture walk to talk about crabs and what they look like. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. How do you think Hermit Crab will find a new home? (Possible response: Maybe he will find one in the ocean.)
2. Why did Hermit Crab feel scared when he climbed out of his shell? (Possible responses: He was afraid of big fish; He had no house.)
3. Point to each capital letter in the title. Name each one. (A, H, H, C)
4. If you were Hermit Crab, how would you decorate your new house? (Responses will vary.)
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Float and Sink, by Robin Nelson
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Take a picture walk to talk about what floats and what sinks. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. How could you learn what floats and what sinks? (Possible responses: You could read about it; You could try things out in water to see.)
2. What things on page 7 do you think will float? Sink? (Possible responses: The orange and the penny will sink; The sponge and ball will float.)
3. Do the words float and sink begin with the same letter? (no) Do they end with the same letter? (no) What letter does each begin with? (f, s) Say the sounds you know for each word.
4. Did you ever float on a raft? Describe how it felt to float. (Responses will vary.)
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Animal Babies in Ponds and Rivers, by Jennifer Schofield
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Take a picture walk to talk about animal babies that live in ponds and rivers. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. Do you think the animals in this book will be good swimmers? Why? (Possible response: Yes, because they all live in or near the water.)
2. What animal came after the frog in the story? (the otter) After the hippo? (the duckling)
3. How many words are in the title? (6) Read the words you know.
4. Which animal in the story do you think it would be the most fun to be? Which would be the least fun? Why? (Responses will vary.)
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The Pig in the Pond, by Martin Waddell
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Take a picture walk to talk about how farm animals might have fun. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. What do you think the pig might do for fun? (Possible responses: It might go to town with Neligan; It might go swimming.)
2. What happened to the other animals when the pig went into the pond? (The ducks and geese were splashed out of the pond.)
3. What two words in the title begin with the same sound? (Pig, Pond) What letter do they begin with? (P) What sound does p make? (/p/) Listen to this word: stamp. Where is the /p/ sound in this word? (at the end)
4. What is your favorite picture in this story? Why? (Responses will vary.)
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You Can Swim, Baby Duck! by Amy Hest
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Take a picture walk, pointing out Baby Duck, Mr. and Mrs. Duck, Hot Stuff, Grandpa, and the members of the swim team. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. Why is Baby Duck scared? (She is afraid to jump in the pool because she cannot swim well.)
2. Grandpa sat with Baby Duck. Then Baby Duck stood with her toes on the edge of the pool. What do you think will happen next? (Possible response: Baby Duck will jump into the pool and swim away.)
3. Where do I begin reading this page? (Children should point to the first word at the top of the page.)
4. Have you ever felt a little scared to try something new? What did you do? (Responses will vary.)
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Make Way for Ducklings, by Robert McCloskey
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Take a picture walk to talk about ducks and where they live. Then track the print as you read the story aloud. Pause to ask questions such as these:
1. Why do you think the ducks looked at so many different places to live? (Possible response: They wanted to find a safe place to have their babies.)
2. What did Mrs. Mallard teach her baby ducks? (how to swim; to dive; to walk in a line; to come when she called)
3. The ducks were named Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Pack, and Quack. What is the same about their names? (they rhyme)
4. What would you have done to keep the ducks safe? (Responses will vary.)
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