Saturday, April 9, 2016

Category Story

Another favorite book made the rounds with my PreK SLP crew last month.  I love FIVE CREATURES by Emily Jenkins because it just begs to be interactive.  Told from the perspective of a little girl it starts "Five creatures live in my house...three humans and two cats."  From there the story  sifts and sorts the traits and preferences of pets and people in a variety of appealing ways.  


The story has a simple, accessible format which mixes basic vocabulary targeting many of my students' goals (concepts like tall, short, long, under, high) with exposure to higher level language (like creatures, humans, allergic, and knack).

The pictures by Tomek Bogacki support the text beautifully and allow preschoolers to problem solve and organize these creatures into all kinds of unique categories.   Sometimes I pull out props and manipulatives to make the sorting more concrete.

Three don't like to take baths.  (You can tell by the look on one "creature's" face).


Four can climb on high stools....only one fits under the refrigerator?


One of my favorite parts of the story is a two page spread that  shows "creatures" chasing, feeding, watching, and listening to birds in the backyard.  The little girl says "All of them like birds, but not in the same way." It's just one of many pages that lends itself to rich problem solving about who fits into the categories this little narrator comes up with.

If you are checking out this book with young learners, check out the free PDF that I created for props. The PDF is created thanks to some fun Creative Clips Clip Art by Krista Wallden.



Enjoy! I would love to hear about your experience with FIVE CREATURES!





  


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