Block 14

Exploring Words:
Option 1

Communication / Language

Informal Gathering

Skill and Goal

Receptive language, Expressive language, Awareness of differences in sounds
Toddlers participate in a book sharing focused on the concepts of noisy and quiet.

Materials
Needed

  • Mommies Say Shhh! by Patricia Polacco

Key
Concepts

  • Noise
  • Quiet

Also
Promotes

  • Cognitive

Begin:

[Invite several toddlers to join you in reading a book. Show the cover of the book and point to people and items you describe.]

Explain:

There is a mommy and a baby and an older sister shown on the cover of our book. The mommy and sister are saying “shhh.”

Sometimes when we say “shhh,” we put a finger by our mouth. Let’s all put a finger by our mouth and say “shhh.”

[Demonstrate the finger placement as you say “shhh.” Encourage toddlers to do the same.]

The mommy and sister are putting a finger by their mouth. They want something to be quiet. We cannot hear something when it is quiet. Something must be making a noise. The mommy and sister want the noise to go away.

Let’s look inside our book to find out what is making a noise.

Act:

Mommies Say Shhh! book cover[Use the following strategies to engage toddlers in the book:

  • Explain that the family lives on a farm. There are many animals on the farm. The animals on the farm are noisy!
  • Use your own words to describe pictures. Draw attention to picture details that are not familiar to toddlers or may be difficult to see, such as birds in a tree.
  • Emphasize sounds made by animals with your voice and with repetition. Invite toddlers to say the animal sound with you, such as oink, oink.
  • Invite toddlers to point to images in a picture that you name, such as a goat or dog.
  • Recognize a toddler’s pointing. Repeat and extend words or other vocalizations. Examples: “You said ‘woof,’ Brandon. A dog says ‘woof.’ There is a dog in our story.” “You said ‘birdy,’ Aniyah. There are birds in the tree. The birds say ‘cheep, cheep!’”
  • Spend more time on pictures that seem to be of particular interest to toddlers.
  • Help toddlers connect book information to their own experiences. Example: “The baby in our book is going to sleep. The mommy is saying ‘shhh’ to the animals because they are making noise. The noise may bother the baby. You have a baby at your house, Tameka. Do people ever say ‘shhh’ when your baby brother is going to sleep?”]
Recap:

We looked at pictures of a family and the animals that live on their farm! The family has a baby. Why did the mommy say “shhh” when it was time for the baby to go to sleep? (The farm animals were noisy!)

What to Look For—Option 1

Toddlers enjoy looking at and talking about pictures of animals. Use the farm animal noises and the “shhh” requests to strengthen toddlers’ awareness of the concepts of noise and quiet. The opening segment’s request to put a finger by our mouth while saying “shhh” will appeal to many toddlers. You may wish to incorporate this action into appropriate parts of the book sharing. You also may wish to build into the book sharing an opportunity for toddlers to point to bunnies shown on almost every page, as suggested in an Enrichment tip. This active engagement practice can help toddlers pay attention to picture details.

Scaffolding tips

More Scaffolding Tips—Option 1

Extra support

  • When you show the book cover, point to the baby. The image of the baby may be difficult for toddlers to easily see. You may wish to pass around the book cover for a closer look.
  • When you show the book cover, point to and name the bunnies shown toward the bottom of the cover. Point out there is a large bunny and a lot of small bunnies. Emphasize large and small.

Enrichment

  • Talk with toddlers about noisy and quiet times in your room.
  • Invite toddlers to point to the bunny/bunnies shown on pages of the book.
Block 14

Exploring Words:
Option 2

Communication / Language

Informal Gathering

Skill and Goal

Receptive language, Expressive language, Awareness of differences in sounds
Toddlers participate in a book sharing that includes opportunities to make different kinds of animal sounds, including quieter versions of the sounds.

Materials
Needed

  • Mommies Say Shhh! by Patricia Polacco

Key
Concepts

  • Pictures
  • Animals
  • Sounds

Also
Promotes

  • Cognitive
  • Self-Regulation

Mommies Say Shhh! book coverInvite several toddlers to read with you the book about noises made by farm animals. Show and describe the book cover. Put your finger near your mouth and say “shhh” when you describe the actions of the mommy and older sister on the book cover. Explain that there are noisy animals on the farm where the family lives. The mommy and girl want the farm animals to be quiet. It is time for the baby shown on the book cover to sleep. The noisy animals can keep the baby awake. Talk with toddlers about why we want our room to be quieter when it is rest time.

Use your own words to describe book pictures. Emphasize the sounds made by farm animals with the following approach:

  • Make the animal sound.
  • Invite the toddlers to make the sound with you.
  • Encourage the toddlers to put their finger near their mouth and say “shhh.”
  • Invite the toddlers to say the animal sound again, this time with a quieter voice.

Repeat this process with all farm animals of interest to the toddlers in your gathering.

At the end of the book sharing, ask toddlers whether each animal made the same sound. Explain that each animal makes a different kind of sound. Make several animal sounds, previously introduced, to demonstrate a contrast in sounds. Then put your finger near your mouth, say “shhhh,” and invite the toddlers to repeat the sounds you made using a quieter voice.

What to Look For—Option 2

Helping toddlers pay attention to differences in sounds can support the development of later skills in speaking, listening, and reading. Making animal sounds is an engaging way to promote awareness of sounds. The current activity option includes the additional practice of making quieter versions of different sounds. It is not necessary to make the sounds of the many different animals featured in the book. The goal of the activity can be pursued by selecting a small number of farm animals that are of interest to the toddlers and make distinctively different sounds. Toddlers who participate in Option 1 may more readily engage in the current option, which gives more attention to sounds than to details shown in the pictures.

Scaffolding tips

More Scaffolding Tips—Option 2

Extra support

  • Using a quieter voice to repeat an animal sound may be a self-regulation challenge for some toddlers. Offer gentle reminders and consider sitting next to a toddler who finds it difficult to say a sound with a quieter voice.

Enrichment

  • Review the sounds with the picture of all animals near the end of the book. Point to animals for which you made sounds during the book sharing and encourage toddlers to make the sound with a quieter voice.

Interest Area

Materials Needed: several books with pictures of farm animals (such as Mommies Say Shhh! by Patricia Polacco), assortment of people and animal figures, toy barn

Arrange the books and play materials on the floor. Invite several toddlers to hold the people and animal figures. Review the book, emphasizing the names of the animals and other things of interest in the pictures. Help toddlers find animal figures that correspond to animals pictured in the book. Invite toddlers to repeat the animal names.

Family Child Care

Family Child Care

Materials Needed: Mommies Say Shhh! by Patricia Polacco, assortment of animal and people figures

Older children who join toddlers in Option 1 or 2 may enjoy describing some of the details of the richly-illustrated pictures to younger children. Infants may enjoy holding a farm animal figure or stuffed animal during the book sharing. As a follow-up to the book sharing, invite children to play with people and animal figures in the block area. Watch for opportunities to connect children’s play to pictures and actions shown in the book.