A-Z Picture Book Strategies

CONSERVATION
Ross, Tony. I’M COMING TO GET YOU.
Turpin, Lorna. SULTAN’S SNAKES . op

SERIATION
Allen, Pamela. BERTIE AND THE BEAR.
Lobel, Anita. THE ROSE IN MY GARDEN.
Robart, Rose. CAKE THAT MACK ATE.

Is This a House for Hermit Crab? by Megan McDonald. Illustrated by S.D. Schindler. Orchard, 1990.
Hermit Crab is looking for a new home. Scritch, scratch he goes along the shore, by the sea, in the sand. But each home he finds has something wrong with it.

Poetry Pattern
I saw a ___________and the _______saw me.
It was ___________ along in the deep, blue sea.
______ goes ______ ______ ______

The Napping House by Don and Audrey Wood. Sing a phonics song.
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. What can you do with a steam shovel?
What can’t you do with a steam shovel?

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmens.
Write a doctor/nurse song.
Is It Dark, Is It Light by Mary Lankford.
Use words from the book as clues to the subject.
You Read To Me and I’ll Read to You by Mary Ann Hoberman. Read together the 3 pig story
Frog & Toad Series by Arnold Lobel

ONCE THERE WAS WHO WAS
A hungry toad eating lunch
A 3 legged spider looking for gold
A lost chick walking in the woods

AND THEN SO
It began to rain End the story however
A prince rode by you wish.
A magic ring was found

CLASSIFICATION
Craig, Jean. MAN WHOSE NAME WAS NOT THOMAS.
Hoberman, Mary. HOUSE IS A HOUSE FOR ME
Rockwell, Ann. THINGS THAT GO

REVERSIBILITY
Cribbin, June. INTO THE CASTLE.
Numeroff, Laura. IF YOU GIVE A MOOSE A MUFFIN.
IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE. 1990. HarperCollins.

Little Old Woman and the Hungry Cat by Nancy Polette.
(Tune: Are You Sleeping?)
_____________________________cat
_____________________________cat
_____________________________(where?)
_____________________________(where?)
_____________ and ____________(doing what?)
_____________ and ____________(doing what?)
Read this book. Read this book.

We Like:
_______ _________ ________ _________
_________ _________ ________ _________
_________ _________ ________ _________
Eat, little children, eat.

ABC Books
Albert B. Cub and Zebra by Anne Rockwell.
As Albert searches for his friend, Zebra, count all of the items on a page that begin with each letter of the alphabet.

Pot Luck by Anne Shelby
‘Christine came with carrot cake and corn on the cob.’
Alison’s Zinnia by Anita Lobel.
‘Beryl bought a begonia for Crystal.’
The Hole by the Apple Tree by Nancy Polette.
Travel with Harold into fairy tale land.
Tomorrow’s Alphabet by George Shannon.
‘A is for seed, tomorrow’s apple.’
Off Beat Mother Goose Editions
William Wegman’s Mother Goose
Charles Addams Mother Goose

ALPHABET
Marimba! Animals from A-Z by Pat Mora. Name an animal & food beginning with the same first letter. ‘Gorilla brought grapes.’ (Beginning letter sounds)

BEARS
Share The Bear Came Over to My House by Rick Walton.Use as a pattern for writing. Predicting Rhyming Words

CATERPILLAR
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
by Eric Carle. List words that end in AT (brat) A misbehaving caterpillar is a bratterpillar.
Associative Thinking

DESSERTS
Share Cookies by Amy Rosenthal.
A clevere introduction to big words. Use the same words to create scenarios with a ball
Vocabulary

ELABORATE
Share: Hoots and Toots and Hairy Brutes by Larry Shles.
Elaborate: What else could Squib be? Elaboration Available from: www.hootsandtoots.com

FROGS
Frog & Toad by Arnold Lobel
How can Frog use a rose, a book, popcorn, a feather, a pan of water to get Toad out of bed?
Flexible Thinking
What could you add to Toad’s bathing suit so every animal would want one like it?
Elaboration

GRANDMAS
Share: Grandma’s Patchy Pocket by Nancy Polette. (Kaeden Books)
In Grandma’s patchy pocket
You can find a twinkling star.
Now run to town to trade it
For a crunchy candy bar.
Analysis leading to writing

HOW THINGS CHANGE
Share Isn’t It Strange by Nancy Polette. (Kaeden Books)
Look at the ____ that grew from a ______
Slowly, slowly from a _____. In the ______
it grew and grew. Look at the __________
It’s brand new.
Transformation

ICE
Can’t Catch Me by John & Ann Hassett.
What uses would an ant, a mouse and a goose have for an ice cube?
Flexible Thinking.

JUDGE
Share The Trial of Cardigan Jones by Tim Egan
The class acts as the jury.
Inductive Reasoning

KNIGHTS
Share The End by David LaRochelle .
A tale that goes from end to beginning.
Excellent for Cause and Effect. (Scholastic 2007)

LISTING
Share The Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis.
Create a pumpkin chant.
Attribute Listing

MATH
Share: The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins.
Children participate in the telling of this tale of cookies and unexpected guests.
Mathematical Reasoning

NATURE
Share: What a Treasure ! by Jane and Will Hillenbrand.
Objects in nature turn out to be great treasures. Use as a writing model.

OCCUPATIONS
Share: Madeline by Ludwig Bemmelmans
(Use this pattern) Tune: London Bridge
Nurses are _____________ and ____________
_________________ and _________________
________________ and _________________
Nurses are ___________ and _____________
And they ______________________________
Creative Writing

PERFORMING A STORY
Share: Manana Iguana by Ann Paul (Group two part reading.)
Or share: You Read To Me, I’ll Read To You by Mary Ann Hoberman. (Five familiar tales for two part reading)
Reading, Fluency

QUIZ
Share: Nine Magic Wishes by Shirley Jackson.
Ask: What would these things wish for? Trees,
paintbrushes, snails, tomatoes, pigs, stars?
Flexible Thinking

REBUS STORIES
Share: Inside A House That Is Haunted by Alyssa Capucilli.
Create a rebus story about a feeling.
Creative Writing

SKILLS
From: The Little Old Woman And The Hungry Cat By Nancy Polette. Recalling the story. Sing to ‘Skip To My Lou’

We Like
___________ _______ _______ _______
Adj. noun ing word prep. phrase
___________ _______ _______ ______
Adj. noun ing word prep. phrase
___________ _______ _______ ______
Adj. noun ing word prep. phrase
Eat, little children, eat!
Sentence Expansion

THEATRE
Share: The Gold Miner’s Daughter by Jackie Mims Hopkins.
Group responds at appropriate times with boos, cheers etc.
Attentive Listening/Group Participation

UNDERGROUND
How many reasons can you think of to dig a hole in the ground?
Brainstorm Share: The Diggers by Margaret Wise Brown. Compare your list with all the diggers in the book.

VOCABULARY
Share A Frog in the Bog by Karma Wilson.
‘A frog sat on a log in a bog.’
Expand the sentence by adding words before ‘frog’ ‘log’ and ‘bog.’
Substitute words for frog, sat, log and bog.
Sentence Expansion, Word substitution

WRITING MODEL
Peanut by Linas Alsenas
Mildred was lonely. One day she found a stray puppy. She decided to take him home. She offered him a bone but the puppy seemed to like only one thing. So Mildred named him Peanut. Peanut was quite useful around the apartment. He watered Mildred’s plants. He was a great couch warmer. And he was terrific at squashing cereal boxes.
On sunny days Mildred took Peanut for walks in the park. He was different from the other dogs. He didn’t roll over. He never fetched and he didn’t bark. Even so, Mildred loved Peanut dearly.
One day a man from the circus stopped. ‘Madam,’ he cried, ‘You have found our missing elephant.’ He thanked her and took Peanut away. Mildred was lonely but she knew Peanut liked being home with his family. Then one day she found a stray….
Creative Writing

EXTRAORDINARY WORDS
A Seed Is Sleepy by Diana Aston.
How many words describe a seed?
Generous, secretive, clever, gracious, proud, optimistic, creative, courageous, trustworthy, hospitable, pessimistic, open-minded.
Vocabulary

YOUR GUESS
Share: She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round the Mountain by, Philemon Sturges. A surprise ending to this western version when we find out who ‘she’ is!
Inductive Reasoning

ZANY STORIES
Hoots and Toots and Hairy Brutes by Larry Shles. See www.hootsandtoots.com Squib, the owl, learns his toot is as important as an other owl’s hoot.

RESOURCES
Books by Nancy Polette available from Pieces of Learning 1990 Market Road, Marion, IL 62959 (Free catalog call 1-800-729-5137)
A-Z Activities for K-2 Students Gr K-2
Activities for Any Picture Book Gr K-3
Amelia Bedelia Thinking Book Gr K-3
The Best of Nancy Polette Gr K-8
Eight Cinderellas Gr 2-5
Flying With Mother Goose (all ages)
Frog and Toad Thinking Book Gr K-3
Perfect Patterns for Reporting Research Gr 1-4
Pfunny Phonics Gr K-2
Reading and Writing Non Fiction in the Primary Grades Gr K-3
School Librarians’ Grab Bag Gr K-6
What Is This Thing? All ages

From Kaeden Publishing : Toll free: 800-890-7323 Isn’t It Strange and Grandma’s Patchy Pocket