big blue thing on the hill

once upon a time there was a class that listened to a story. they listened to a book without seeing any illustrations.

it was a story about animals... talking animals.  one day a mysterious BLUE THING arrived and created quite a stir amongst the animals of the forest.  would they be able to figure out what the mysterious blue object could be? would they be able to get rid of it? children will love trying to guess what the BIG BLUE thing on the hill could be.

tiny tips for interactive read aloud:

• cover the book
• children can listen to the first clues and develop a mental image. they can turn and talk or draw their initial image of the object 
• read some more and ask kids to listen for and then share clues.
• let them make predictions (turn and talk) about what might happen.
• let them adapt and change their mental image
• read some more
• again allow students to listen, share and talk about clues and how their mental images change based on more details and information from the story.
• finish the book and give them one more opportunity to talk.
• on day two read the story again. this time allow them to see the actual cover and illustrations throughout the book.
  
  

  project idea: 

  after the first day and reading the book without seeing the cover or pictures, allow your class to draw pictures of their thoughts on " the big blue thing." 
  
  you can create a bulletin board of all the BIG BLUE THING possibilities.  use interactive writing to create a list of clues given in the story.
  
   a thank you to dara gaul for recommending this book to us!
  
  happy reading!
  
  jessica & laura & melissa