- balance
- float
- sink
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.10: Listen actively as an individual and as a member of a group to a variety of age-appropriate literature read aloud.
Literature/RL.PK.MA.9: With prompting and support, make connections between a story or poem and one’s own experiences.
Head Start Outcomes:
Literacy Knowledge/Book Appreciation and Knowledge: Asks and answers questions and makes comments about print materials.
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 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: Who Sank the Boat? #2
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
STEM Key Concepts: Objects behave differently in water; Some things float; Some things sink; If you add enough weight to a floating object, it will sometimes sink; Solids have physical characteristics that can be observed and described
ELA Focus Skills: Listening and Speaking, Story Comprehension, Vocabulary
Before You Read
Display Who Sank the Boat? and tell children you are going to read it again. Ask children to tell you what they remember about the story. Then point to the title and have children read along with you.
- Have children retell other things they remember from the story. Encourage them to use gestures as they retell the information.
- Direct children’s attention to the cover illustration. Point to the boat and talk about how balanced it is, or floating evenly on the water. Ask children what is making the boat balanced.
- As you read ask children to notice what the animals do to balance the boat, or help keep it on top of the water’s surface.
As you Read
Read slowly and with expression, emphasizing the rhythm of the words. Hold the book so everyone can see the pages. For this second reading:
- Pause on the page where the cow enters the boat and ask, How is the cow balancing the boat as she gets in it?
- Pause on the page where the donkey and the cow are sitting in the boat and ask, How are the donkey and the cow balancing the boat?
- Pause on the page where the pig enters the boat and ask, How are the animals balancing the boat?
- Ask children to raise their hands every time they hear you read a question.
- Have children chant the repetitive line, “Do you know who sank the boat?”
After You Read
After reading, ask questions such as:
- Did you like this story? What is your favorite part?
- How did the pictures help you understand that the boat was getting lower into the water?
English Language Learners: To help children understand the meaning of the word balance, use a homemade balance or one in the Science and Math center. Place four cubes in each pan of the balance. Place a palm under each pan as you explain that each side is at the same height–it is balanced. Say, Each pan has the same amount of weight, so it is balanced. Then add four more cubes to one side. Say, Look what happened to the pans now. One side has more weight in it and it makes the pan go lower than the other side. The cups are not balanced. Let the child continue adding and taking away cubes as she or he begins to understand meaning of the word.