- color chart
- Eating the Alphabet (book)
- plant
MA Standards:
Literature/RL.PK.MA.1: With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about a story or a poem read aloud.
Literature/RL.PK.MA.9: With prompting and support, make connections between a story or poem and one’s own experiences.
Literature/RL.PK.MA.10: Listen actively as an individual and as a member of a group to a variety of age-appropriate literature read aloud.
Head Start Outcomes:
Literacy Knowledge/Book Appreciation and Knowledge: Asks and answers questions and makes comments about print materials.
Literacy Knowledge/Alphabet Knowledge: Recognizes that the letters of the alphabet are a special category of visual graphics that can be individually named.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 6: Listen to a wide variety of age appropriate literature read aloud.
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 7: Develop familiarity with the forms of alphabet letters, awareness of print, and letter forms.
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 10: Engage actively in read-aloud activities by asking questions, offering ideas, predicting or retelling important parts of a story or informational book.
Read Together: Eating the Alphabet #2
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
ELA Focus Skills: Alphabet Awareness, Color Identification, Concepts of Print (Parts of a Book), Listening and Speaking, Vocabulary
Before You Read
Ask children to name the plant foods that were used to make recipes in Chicks and Salsa. Record children’s responses on chart paper. (tomato, onion, garlic, cilantro, avocado, bean, chili, scallion, pepper, lime, grapes)
Tell children you are going to reread Eating the Alphabet with children. Read aloud the title and ask if children can recognize and name any of the letters. Tell children you are going to pause on the plants that the Chicks and Salsa characters used in their recipes so children can call out the name after you read it. Set a reading focus for children by having them think about what plant roots/stems/seeds/flowers/leaves from the book they would like to put in a recipe.
As You Read
- Point to the beginning letter in each food name so children can associate it with the alphabet letter in the corner.
- Pause after each food used in the Chicks and Salsa recipes (tomato, onion, avocado, bean, chili, pepper, lime, grapes) and ask children to name the plant. You may want to tell which recipe the plant is used in.
- Encourage children to name other plant foods they know that begin with the letter on the page.
After You Read
- Encourage children to choose a food plant in the book and describe it using descriptive words. You may want to help children recall the words from Chicks and Salsa, such as savory, spicy, succulent, delightful, delicious, saucy, sweetness, etc.
- Ask children which plant foods in the book they would like to use to make a recipe. Ask, What plant roots/stems/seeds/flowers/leaves would you want to put in your recipe? What plant roots/stems/seeds/flowers/leaves would you not want to put in a recipe? Why?
- Do you have a favorite recipe that your family makes with a plant food in the book?
Adaptation: Challenge older children. Say the sound of a letter and then ask children to name a fruit or vegetable that begins with that sound.