Unit 2: Emergent Storybooks

Unit​ ​2:​ ​Emergent​ ​Storybooks In this unit, children will reread storybooks to help them develop their oral storytelling skills. They will study and label the pictures in their books during the re-reading process. They will have conversations with their peers as a means of sharing their ideas and questions. At the end of the unit, they will celebrate their work by reenacting their books or creating videos of their favorite stories.

Unit​ ​Outcomes:

  • I can re-read like a storyteller.
  • I can re-read to learn more about my book.
  • I can have fun with my partner sharing our star books.

Independent

Projects:
Choose a book from home or the library. Practice reading it out loud. Study the pictures carefully.

Family

Games & Activities:

  • Choose an emergent storybook and read it aloud to a family member (see list in articles and resources)
  • Create a beginning sound poster: Find and cut out small pictures of familiar objects from magazines, old workbooks, catalogs. Collect several pictures with words that start with the same letter, such as book, bed, basket, boy).
  • Mix Up, Fix Up: Using a familiar sentence or refrain from the emergent storybook (see list in articles and resources), print the sentence on a large card. Then prepare the individual cards for each word. At first, start with only three or four word sentences or phrases. When the child is comfortably mastering this you can add more words, up to about six.  First, read the sentence or phrase with the child, and lay out the cards in order. Ask the child to read the sentence with you pointing to individual words. Then mix up the cards and ask the child to reorder them. The child may use the master card as a prompt, or may prefer to try it alone and then check. See an example here.

Projects:

  • Puppet Show: Create puppets for a story you read in class. Then be a storyteller and reenact the story with your puppets.
  • ShadowPuppet Edu App: Choose a book from the storybook list and create a shadow puppet video. Take a picture of each page. Look at the pictures and tell the story.

Videos:

Articles & Resources:

Emergent Storybooks:

  • Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkin Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham
  • Bunny Cakes by Rosemary Wells
  • Corduroy by Don Freeman
  • Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton The Three Bears by Byron Barton
  • The Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone
  • The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone
  • The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Paul Galdone