Over in the Meadow illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats

Prompts

Ask the child questions after the second and third readings of Over in the Meadow, to start a conversation about the book. You can prompt the child on every page, using the questions below. If the child says something spontaneously about a picture, expand on it and ask the child to repeat it. There are questions for every one or two pages of the story.

1. Who is this? What is she doing? (This is the mother turtle. She tells her baby turtle to dig.)
2. Who lives where the stream runs blue? (An old mother fish and her little fishes two live where the stream runs blue.)
3. What are the fishes doing? (They are swimming and jumping.)
4. Who lives in a hole in a tree?(A mother bluebird and her little birdies three live in a hole in a tree.)
5. What are the birdies doing? (They are singing.)
6. Who are these animals? (a mother muskrat and her four babies)
7. What are the baby muskrats doing? (They are diving into the water.)
8. What do you see here? (A mother honeybee and her babies are flying around the beehive.)
9. What sound do honeybees make? (They buzz.)
10. What do you see here? (A mother crow is bringing food to her baby crows.)
11. What do the baby crows say? ("Caw! Caw!")
12. What do you see in this picture? (Crickets are living in the grass.)
13. What are these animals? (These are lizards.)
14. Can you point to the mother lizard? Can you point to the baby lizards?
15. What color are the lizards? (They are brown.)
16. Who lives where the clear pools shine? (An old mother frog and her little froggies nine live there.)
17. What are the frogs doing? (They are croaking and jumping.)
18. Can you croak like a frog?
19. Does this picture show daytime or nighttime? (It shows nighttime.)
20. What do you see in this picture? (Fireflies are shining their lights.)
21. Would you like to see a firefly?

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 you think will interest your child. Below are words for every one or two pages of the story.

• mother turtle, baby turtle, leaves, turtle shell, digging
• mother fish, baby fish, water, dragonfly, swimming
• mother bluebird, baby bluebirds, tree, leaves, singing
• mother muskrat, baby muskrats, diving, tails, whiskers
• honeybees, beehive, buzzing, wings, stripes
• mother crow, baby crows, cawing, berries, nest
• crickets, grass, moon, chirp
• mother lizard, baby lizards, sun, gate, basking
• mother frog, baby frogs, leaping, croaking
• fireflies, nighttime, shining