As a Pre-K teacher, I am always looking for new books to read to my students. I recently stumbled upon TumbleBooks. It is a website that has hundreds of books, for reading levels K-5, to read online. Many of these eBooks are read aloud by the authors and have animated illustrations to go along with the readings. My class has been enthralled by "Marsupial Sue Presents: The Runaway Pancake" written by John Lithgow. It is a great story that is very similar to the story of the Gingerbread Man.
In this story, Auntie May makes a pancake, but the Pancake comes to life and runs off down the road. As Auntie May chases after the Pancake, several other animals join in. They all hope to catch the pancake and eat it for lunch. Their plans are foiled, however, by the sly old Fox. The Fox, who pretends to have bad hearing, tricks the Pancake into rolling closer and closer so he can hear the Pancake's song. You'd think that was the end of the story, wouldn't you ... well it isn't! But, I'll stop here because I don't want to ruin the whole story for you.
I think John Lithgow is an excellent author because he uses words like expostulation, decipher, declamation, bray, and apprehend (among others) within the story. Many of these words are not used in everyday language, at least not in Pre-K.
Vocabulary:
stumble (verb) - to discover or meet with accidentally or unexpectedly (usually followed by on, upon, or across)
animate (verb) - to give motion to; to give life to
enthrall (verb) - to captivate or charm
marsupial (noun) - any viviparous, nonplacental mammal of the order Marsupialia, comprising the opossums, kangaroos, wombats, and bandicoots
similar (adjective) - having a likeness or resemblance, especially in a general way
hope (verb) - to believe, desire, or trust
foiled (verb) - to prevent the success of
sly (adjective) - cunning or wily
expostulation (noun) - earnest and kindlyprotest
bray (noun) - the loud, harsh cry of a donkey
Exercise:
1) The donkey's _______ was very loud and startled the young child.
2) During the summer, Johnny and Eva _______ that their mother will take them to the beach.
3) Kangaroos, wombats, and opossums are all ___________.
4) Every teacher hopes their lessons will ________ their students.
5) In spite of my ________________, he insisted on driving me home.
6) The ________ fox avoided the hunter's trap.
7) Our plans for a picnic were __________ by the sudden rainstorm.
8) The stories of "The Runaway Pancake" and "The Gingerbread Man" are ___________.
9) While Mary was going through her emails, she ___________ upon a coupon for free pancakes at IHOP.
10) The history teacher always tried to _____________ her lessons for her students.
Links:
http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/asp/full_book.asp?ProductID=3204
