PBS Readathon 2012: Week 1 Books & Activities

You will own over 20 ebooks by joining MeMeTales.com. Then starting June 18th, for six weeks, a different set of themed books will be available for you to borrow during that week. The theme for Week 1 is Animals and there are three books you can borrow. These books will be available to read for free all week long. I have activities for each of the books. 

1. The Donkey and the Wolf is a match between brawn and wits. Which one wins? Read this story with your child about a donkey and a wolf to find out.

For free donkey clip art click here.

Comprehensive Questions

• What do you think will happen in this story?
• Which animal was smarter or more clever?
• How did the donkey trick the wolf?
• What did you like about this story?

Vocabulary Words

Gallop, pounce, limp, graze, thorn, hoof, clever, strength, relaxing, peaceful

Extended Activities

• Gallop, pounce, limp, kick, hop, jump, flex muscles then relax taking deep breaths and hold before releasing.
• Do above actions in patterns while counting to 5 or 10
• Read your free ebook The Boy Who Cried Wolf  to compare and contrast.
• Play "Pin the Tail on the Donkey." Children are blindfolded, spun around, and pointed toward the poster holding a tail with masking tape on the back. Reassure the children that the game is just for fun. I was surprised when children cried at my kindergarten Christmas party when we played "Pin the Nose on Rudolph." Some kids thought they were being laughed at when they pinned the nose far away from Rudolph's face. But games are good for teaching children to take turns, share, and have good sportsmanship.

The Donkey and the Wolf

See more at memetales

2. Five Little Ducklings

This rhyming book is wonderfully illustrated and helps to teach reading and counting. Look at each of the ducklings - they all have a little special something about them - the socks, the hat....

Why Rhyme? 
Children enjoy filling in the rhyming word. It is a natural step in reading to either memorize words, rhyme words, or sound them out. Give your child a clue to the first sound of the rhyming word if they need help. Praise them lavishly for their accomplishments.

Extended Activities 

• Print  at. In front of at, print different letters emphasizing the beginning sound to make the words fat, cat, hat, sat, mat, pat, bat, rat.
• Read your free ebook Alphabet for rhyming, letter recognition and sounds.
• Play hopscotch then help your child place the correct number of objects, such as rocks, on the number. Children will be learning through their senses of hearing, sight, and touch. 

Five Little Ducklings

See more at memetales

 3. The Lion and the Mouse

• Expand vocabulary by exploring opposite words: big/little, stop/go, up/down, huge/tiny, left/right, loud/quiet.
• Make My Animal Book. Encourage your child to draw their favorite animals. Underneath the animals, write the name of the animal or write whatever your child says. Slowly move your finger under the words as you read them to your child. Perhaps they can trace over some words making the reading/writing connection.Some children may be able to write their own animal stories with invented spelling or sounding the words out phonetically. Praise increases success.
• Play Follow-the-Leader making animal movements and sounds. Doing this in patterns helps promote math and reading skills. Encourage your child to think of sound, rhythm or movement patterns.

The Lion and the Mouse

See more at memetales

How Can I Read these Books?

You can have access to over 20 free ebooks right now by creating an account on MeMeTales.com only once.Then read together on your preferred platform of computer or apps for iphone/ipad, Android  or Kindle Fire. The books should be available on Nook soon. The PBS Readathon 2012 books will be available June 18th with weekly themes. For more information and to join click: How Do I Participate in Readathon 2012?   

Pinterest Addresses for More Activities:

MeMeTales

Animal Book Activities

Kindergarten & Preschool for Parents & Teachers (Susan Case)

For every child joining the Readathon, MeMeTales is donating a meal to send a hungry child to school via FoodForEducation.org. Want to help? Tweet using hashtags #readforgood, #MeMeTales, and #kidslit. 

There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all. ~Jacqueline Kennedy

To help your child maintain their literacy skills, click on PBS Reading Games. For more free educational games, see my right sidebar under "Kids Free Educational Links." For a glimpse into Kindergarten: see my book.

I love comments and will follow.

Disclaimer: I will be receiving the featured books and in exchange I’ll be sharing activities and ideas related to the theme of the week as well as promoting this program.