- communicate
- message
- sound
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.
Head Start Outcomes:
Literacy Knowledge/Book Appreciation and Knowledge: Asks and answers questions and makes comments about print materials.
Logic and Reasoning/Symbolic Representation: Recognizes the difference between pretend or fantasy situations and reality.
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: Oscar and the Bat: A Book About Sound #2
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
Stem Key Concepts: Sounds have a source; A sound can be tracked to its source; Different objects make different sounds; Sounds vary in three ways: volume, pitch, and timbre
ELA Focus Skills: Genre, Making Connections, Speaking and Listening, Story Comprehension, Vocabulary
Before You Read
Review what children discovered about animal sounds. Discuss why animals and people make sounds. (to communicate; to send messages)
As You Read
Engage children in thinking and talking about what Oscar and the Bat say about sound. Ask questions such as,
- What did Oscar and the Bat discover about talking sounds?
- How do crickets communicate, or talk, to one another?
- What are some other talking sounds you know? (baby crying, cat meowing, etc.)
Pause often and ask questions to help children make connections to what they have been learning about sound. For example,
- On page 12, ask, What are Oscar and the Bat doing so that they can hear the sounds more clearly? (closing their eyes) When did we do the same thing? (listening walk)
- Have children think about animals they know or have seen. Ask, What animal sounds have you heard before? Have children make the sounds as they respond. If children name one of the animals in the book, open to that page as children discuss.
After You Read
Discuss the genre of the book. Explain that Oscar and the Bat: A Book About Sound is a science book that gives a lot of information about sound. Ask children,
- Can bats or cats really talk with words to explain things like Oscar and the Bat? Explain that the author decided to have animals instead of people explain things, so the information is real, but the talking animals are make-believe. Ask,
- Do you like that the author chose animals instead of people to give us information? Encourage children to respond.