Read Aloud Plan #2

For my second read aloud, I plan to use a book by my current favorite children’s book authors, Don and Audrey Wood, called The Little Mouse, the Red, Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear. It is about a little mouse, who finds a red, ripe strawberry and must eat it before the big, hungry bear gets it. The solution? Cut it in two and share half with the narrator. The story and illustrations are really cute, but the story takes on a humorous quality when the reader infers that the narrator (who is “helping” the little mouse) is actually the bear himself.

Making inferences is an important skill for young readers to acquire to aid in comprehension, and this book is the best I’ve read to introduce the concept. My daughter’s teacher has agreed to let me use her kindergarten class for the read aloud. The skill is technically a 1st grade TEK, but Honey Elementary is an early literacy campus, and I think the students are sophisticated enough in their listening and thinking skills to get it. And even if they don’t understand the concept yet, I think the book will still be enjoyable for them.

So here’s how it went…

First I talked to my daughter’s teacher, Mrs. Scoggin, about the rumor I heard from Mikea that they have already read my book. Apparently, Mrs. Scoggin did read it to the class a few months ago, but none of them understood who the bear was. She was interested in seeing if any of the kids had matured enough in their comprehension to “get” it.

The kids were so funny. Most of them remembered the book, and several said they had it at home. I told them that I wanted them to look and listen very carefully because I had some questions to ask about the bear. They did a terrific job paying attention. When we were finished, I asked them questions like “Does anybody think the bear got to eat any of that strawberry?” and “Did anybody see the bear in the book?” This is where things got funny, because even though there are absolutely no pictures of the bear in the book, several of the boys were absolutely sure that they could see him on one of the pages, lurking in the background underbrush. Mrs. Scoggin and I worked hard to suppress giggles as they took turns showing me how this shadow and that tree branch had to be the bear hiding.

Now there was one little guy who was right on the verge of understanding. He said that there was just something about that bear; that he was there, but he wasn’t. And he would look at me and vaguely point his finger, like the answer was just on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t quite get it out. He was so close. A few other kids decided that the bear was a faker. I’m not sure what they meant by it, but they were emphatic.

I ended by asking them if any of them had any questions about the book for me. My foolish assumption was that they all had a grasp on what exactly a question is. One girl asked me how the bear was able to “smell a red, ripe strawberry from a mile away,” but the rest of the kids offered up an assortment of statements and observations, some pertaining to the book and some not.

All in all, it was a fun experience. The students were not able to infer who the bear was, but one was really close and a few more of them were on the right track. The illustrations did a great job activating their imaginations; I loved listening to their bear sightings. And I learned that most kindergarteners don’t understand the difference between asking a question and making a statement, at least not in the context of a read aloud.

Wood, Don and Audrey. The Little Mouse, the Red, Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear. Illus. Don Wood. Child’s Play Unlimited: Singapore, 1984.