by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin
Sure, they can type, but did you know that Farmer Brown’s animals can sing?
Duck and his friends are at it again. But this time they’re pooling their considerable resources to win a local talent show, because the first prize is a trampoline! Students will enjoy trying to predict what the farm animals will do next to get ready for the county fair competition without Farmer Brown finding out their plan.
Strategies/Skills Used
Reading Strategy 1: Access background information.
Reading Strategy 2: Predict what will be learned or what will happen.
Reading Strategy 7: Determine the most important ideas and events and the relationship between them.
Reading Strategy 9: Identify and interpret literary elements in different genres.
Reading Strategy 10: Summarize what has been read.
Writing Skill 2: I organize my ideas based on my purpose for writing.
Writing Skill 4: I write so my thoughts flow smoothly and are easy to read.
TEACHING THE ACTIVITY: PRE-READING
(1) Begin by showing students a visual of the twelve Reading Strategies. Emphasize that today, students will focus on Strategy 2: “I predict what will be learned or what will happen.” Emphasize that predicting is making an educated guess of what will happen based on what we know.
(2) Using the Building From Clues activity, show the students actual objects from the story, using the PDF presentation to engage students in a discussion of what the story may be about.
(3) Record student predictions on the Building From Clues Graphic Organizer as each clue is presented.
(4) Present the following clues to the students:
- Slide 2 of the presentation (images of the characters – ducks, cows, Farmer Brown, etc. – from Cronin’s first book in the series, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type.)
- Slide 3 (images from Dooby Dooby Moo. After observing the image, click on the globe icon. This will play the song “Dooby Dooby Wah” by Ritchie Valens.)
- Slide 4.
(5) Encourage students to make connections between the clues to predict what Dooby Dooby Moo may be about. Use prompting questions such as “What do you think Farmer Brown’s animals are up to now?”
TEACHING THE ACTIVITY: DURING READING
(6) Hand out the Story Map 1 Graphic Organizer. Explain to students that they will be thinking about setting, characters, beginning, middle and end as they listen to the story.
(7) Read the story Dooby Dooby Moo. Pause at various points in the story and allow students to work with a partner to draw and/or write the main ideas in sequence in each bubble as you go along.
(8) Stop and point out the pictures in the book that are the same as the ones on the PowerPoint slides. Refer back to the Building From Clues graphic organizer and ask students if their predictions were correct.
(9) Finish reading the book and lead a group discussion to share and compare the main ideas that the students recorded on their story map. Give them time to add in any details or make any changes they feel are appropriate.
(10) Ask students if they were surprised that the character of Duck won the contest. Is this what they were expecting? Have them explain why or why not.
TEACHING THE ACTIVITY: POST-READING
(11) Using the Snatching a Series activity, pre-select three or four images from a new book in Cronin’s series (such as Thump, Quack, Moo or Giggle, Giggle, Quack) for students to observe and manipulate in order to predict the next adventure of these familiar characters.
(12) Have the students discuss in partners what is happening in each illustration and how the images might fit together sequentially in the story.
(13) Have students write and record their predictions in the form of a story for sharing.
(14) Allow students to share their ideas to expand story ideas even more.
(15) Read the actual story in a follow-up session, and have students compare their story predictions to the author’s story.