Highlights High Five™ November 2008 Parent/Teacher Guide
Raju's New Book (pages 6 to 9)
- Before reading the story, look at the pictures together. Ask the children to describe what they see.
- After reading the story, ask the children to name the characters and tell what each character did.
- Discuss how Raju might have felt when everyone said they were too busy to read to him.
In this story, the main character comes up with a novel solution to a common problem. Asking people to read only two pages was easier for everyone. Talk about ways people can work together to get things done.
What's Big? What's Not? (pages 18 and 19)
- Before reading the questions, invite children to describe the scene.
- Read the questions, and discuss possible answers. For example, in the second question, some children may say the biggest chair is the one nearest the musicians. But others may suggest that the king's chair, or throne, is the biggest. Then you could decide which throne is big and which throne is not.
- The fourth set of questions offers opportunities for many responses. Children can compare the size of the candles, the candlesticks, the children, the cups, the turrets, the musical instruments, the musicians, the rugs, the balls, and the animals.
To help children begin to understand the concept of relative size, provide more opportunities to compare things. You could help the children count the letters in their names to find out who has the longest name and who has the shortest name. You could also collect sets of objects for children to compare. For example, set out some canned foods. Then ask the children to compare the size or the weight of the cans.
Place Cards for Your Friends (page 30)
- If you are planning a special meal, these place cards provide an opportunity for children to practice writing the names of family members or friends.
- If you don't want to use them as place cards, cut on the dotted and solid lines to make a concentration game.
- To play the game, place the cards facedown in rows.
- Children take turns flipping two cards faceup. If the characters match, they keep the cards. If they are not a match, the player turns them facedown.
- Play continues until all the matches have been found.
These cards help children recognize the names of familiar High Five characters. Here are some questions that will help children look closely at the letters in these names: Which characters have three letters in their names? Which have four letters in their names? How many names begin with the letter B? Which names end with the letter t? What else do you notice about these names?