Highlights High Five™ May 2008 Parent/Teacher Guide
Riding a Camel (page 4)
- Read the poem and ask children what they noticed about it. Some possible answers might be: "It rhymes." "Some of the words are not straight."
- Reread the poem, clapping along with the rhythm. Encourage children to join in.
- Help children think about the meaning of the poem by asking: Why do you think the poem says "I don't know when I'll ride the camel back home again"?
- Timbuktu is often thought of as a mythical place, but in fact it is a city in the West African country of Mali.
Poems like this, with a simple rhyme scheme and predictable rhythm, are easy to memorize. Once children have memorized it, encourage them to follow along as you read aloud. Explain that the first lines of each stanza are curved to help the reader "see" the camel's hump. Poems written in the shape of the subject matter are called shape poems.
Secrets (pages 12 and 13)
- After reading the poem, help children describe how the birds on page 12 are alike and different.
- Encourage children to find and name the birds that appear on page 13, using the small illustrations on page 12 as a reference.
- Help children describe how and where these four birds build their nests. Invite children to describe any other birds' nests that they may have seen.
- Field guides to North American birds will provide additional information about birds and their nests.
These detailed drawings will help children distinguish between nests—something that is harder to do outside. However, a trip outside could be an opportunity to observe birds in the neighborhood.
Playing "I Spy" (page 35)
- Before reading this story, explain how to play "I Spy." You begin by saying something like "I spy something round and red." Help children learn how to ask questions to discover what it is you see. When they get the hang of it, let children take turns being the leader.
- Read the story aloud, and before turning to page 32, ask the children to guess what it is that Grandpa sees.
Before reading the English translations of the Spanish words, ask the children to guess what the words might mean. Using context to figure out what a word might mean is an important reading skill that all children need to develop.