A Trip to the Firehouse by Wendy Cheyette Lewison

Prompts and vocabulary

Prompts
Use the following questions after the second or third reading of A Trip to the Firehouse. There are questions for every 1 or 2 pages of the story.

1. What is happening in the first picture? (The children are coming to visit the firehouse.)
2. What is the little boy trying on? (He is trying on a firefighter's helmet.)
3. What is the dog's name? (The dog's name is Spot.)
4. Is Spot a good name for the dog? Why do you think so? (Yes, because he has lots of spots on his body.)
5. What do firefighters wear when they go to fight a fire? (They wear yellow helmets, jackets, pants, and boots.)
6. How does a firefighter get from the second floor of the firehouse to the first floor? (The firefighter slides down a pole.)
7. Where does Spot sleep? (He has a bed upstairs in the firehouse.)
What is this firefighter doing? (He's pouring coffee.)
8. What is happening in this picture? (The firefighter is showing the children the computer.)
9. Can you point to the bell that rings in the firehouse?
10. What do you see in these pictures? (You can see all the different trucks that firefighters use, and the fire chief's car.)
11. Have you ever seen a fire truck? What did it look like?
12. What are the children climbing on? (They are climbing on a fire truck.)
13. Can you point to the bell that rings on the fire truck? Can you point to the hose on the fire truck?
14. What is happening in these pictures? (The children are helping the firefighters wash a fire truck. A firefighter plays with Spot.)
15. What are the children rolling up? (They are rolling up the fire hose.)
16. What is happening in this picture? (The children are having bagels and cream cheese with the firefighters.)
17. What are the children looking at? (They are watching the firefighters get onto the fire engine to go to a fire.)
18. Would you like to be a firefighter? What do you like about firefighters?

Vocabulary

The words listed below come from the story and its pictures. As you page through the book, point to the pictures and ask the child to name the object or the action shown. This will help the child learn new words. You can use the words below, or you can choose words that you think will interest the children. Below are words for every one or two pages of the story.

• helmet, fire chief, uniform, shaking hands
• fire truck, firefighters, dog, dog dish
• helmets, jackets, pants, boots, suspenders, shelf, hook
• pole, ceiling, looking up, sliding down
• bed, dog bed, kitchen, bagel, coffee, coffee mug
• computer, keyboard, mouse, telephone
• bell, clipboard, tape, board, names
• truck, ambulance, fire chief's car, ladder truck
• steering, two-way radio
• bell, siren, hose, dials
• washing, rinsing, hose, playing ball
• rolling, flasher
• table, chalkboard, rushing, dressing, sliding
• looking out, climbing in
• waving good-bye