by Elaine Gallagher     

Finally, to end this topic, here are three Reading aloud stories for the 5th and 6th graders.

These stories definitely are NOT intended to be used as a quiz, homework, or class assignment!

READING ALOUD is a stimulating technique to promote oral listening and spoken fluency for children of all ages. DAILY reading aloud, for all ages, is our goal. The same story can be read several times during a week. The students actually enjoy hearing them over and over, because the tale will begin to make more sense, and fluency builds

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Grades five or six

Vocabulary:    died, was, were, wanted, ate, happened, made, drank, extinction, bigger, longer, smaller, taller, bone 

Cats in history

            Cats have been around almost as long as men. Because they are highly adaptable animals, extinction was never a problem for cats. No matter what has happened with the Earth’s  changes, cats have survived for thousands of years.

            More than 5,000 yearsago, humans began domesticating cats.  They wanted cats for their pets. From tigers to Siamese cats and all types in between, cats have been pets of  humans.

            Cats have been found in the burial sites of ancient Egyptians. When cats died, they were mummified and buried with their owners.

            In ancient times, cats ate meat, such as rats, mice, and snakes, and drank water. Today they still like forms of meat, such as fish or canned food or meat and dry cat food made from meat or fish flavor.

            There are many different kinds of cats today that have evolved over thousands of years.  Some cats are bigger than others; some are smaller than others. There is a wide variety. Some cats are taller, some are longer. From a wild tiger, to a tame baby kitten, we are looking at all the different types of cats in the world today.

            There are more cats in humans’ homes than dogs. We hear about dogs being “man’s best friend”, but it appears that worldwide statistics show that cats are really humans’ best friends because there are many more cats in homes than dogs.

            In ancient Egyptian days, the cat was a symbol of royal power. As time went on, cats became symbols of witches.

            Superstitions developed, and people believed that if a black cat crosses in front of your path, you will have bad luck.

            Another superstition is that cats have nine lives. That is not true.  What is true is that cats are very agile and can jump from high heights without breaking a bone.  But they don’t actually have nine lives.

            In the 21^st Century, superstitions became less important, and people began to value cats for their independence and their aloof type of companionship. Many people who wanted a cat as a pet are happy they decided to get one.

            Cat shows, competition for the most beautiful cats, became important in developing the sophistication of cats today.

            People become very attached to their pet cats.  Cats even sleep in the same beds with their owners in some households!  They are real family members!

            Since cats live about 14 years, many people have several cats in their lifetime.  Some people even have several cats at the same time.

            There have been books and movies made about cats.  One famous book, was also made into a movie. It is called, “Thomasina.”  Maybe you can rent the movie and learn about the life of Thomasina.

            An interesting survey you can do is to poll your classmates to see how many pets they have, and what kinds: dogs, cats, fish, turtles, and so on. Make a graph to show the number and kinds of pets your classmates or your neighbors have. You can discover:  What is true: Are there more pet cats or dogs in your neighborhood?

THE END

 NOTE TO TEACHERS:

  Art project:   You could have students make a cat collage, cutting, and pasting cats from magazine pictures.

 Another idea: They could stuff a bag with newspapers, glue on ears and whiskers, and a tail, and have a cat.

 Emotional Intelligence: Do you like cats? Explain. What is your favorite animal? Why do you think people have pets? Can people love a pet as much as they love other humans?  Is this weird or natural? Explain. Do you think that pets can have «love» for their owners? Explain. Give examples for your ideas

Another idea: Have students work in teams to produce a virtual project about cats that they decide to do. They will not actually need to do the project (unless they decide to).The major goal is to have them talk about how it feels to work in a group, as a team.  Discuss the positive and the negative sides of working in teams and working independently. Under which circumstances are some activities better suited for group work or for independent work?  Discuss.

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Grade six

Vocabulary:    boring, exciting, fun, hard, interesting, silly, faster, longer, shorter, younger, older, fastest, longest, slowest, meter, winner, trophy, palapa.

Whales  in  Acapulco

             The Greenlaw family went to Acapulco for their Christmas vacation. Since Acapulco is warm all year long, they wanted to rest in the sun  away from the winter cold of  New York City. They had two weeks after Christmas, to enjoy their vacation at the beach.

            Each day they sat in the chairs under the palapas along the ocean.  They played, read books, swam, and relaxed, enjoying the beauty of the ocean.

            On the fifth day of their vacation, there was a lot of noise  and excitement with many people along the edge of the water!  Richard and Kathy Greenlaw ran to the crowd.  The people were pointing  to the water.  There, as clear to see as the sun in the sky, was a whale in the ocean.

            “Wow!!! Look at the whale.  I have never seen one in my life” exclaimed Richard.

            “I haven’t seen one either,” shouted Kathy.

            They continued to watch the whale. As he shot up water from his blowhole, the crowd of people was amazed. It appeared that the whale was putting on a show for them.

            “I guess the whale wanted a vacation in Acapulco, too.  Maybe he wanted to escape the cold winter up north,” said a tall man watching the whale swim in a big circle. Everyone laughed.

            Then, to their amazement, a second, smaller whale swam next to the big whale.  They both moved quickly in a big circle.  Then, as the crowd continued to watch, the two whales swam off together, side, by side.

             Richard and Kathy said to each other, “I guess this was NOT a boring vacation!  This was interesting! We got to see two whales.”

            “What do you think was happening, Richard?” asked Kathy.

            He answered, “They were probably a family, migrating from the northern cold waters to here for the winter. Maybe they got separated on the journey.  The big whale made lots of noise when he blew water from his blowhole. Maybe the sound reached the smaller whale, who found the family.”

            Kathy exclaimed, “You should be a scientist!”

            “Maybe I will be some day, “answered her brother.

            Kathy said, “Let’s go back to the hotel to tell Mom and Dad what we saw today! This has been an exciting day!  I can’t believe that we saw real whales!  What a day!!!! We saw whales in Acapulco!” 

 THE END

 NOTES TO TEACHER:

Art: Students can research whales and make a poster showing types of whales. The project should include at least one three-dimensional whale on the poster. Students have to decide HOW they will make the 3-dimensional whale. They could also include a sea view on their poster. Creativity is what you should encourage. Students can work in pairs if you want.

Emotional Intelligence: Whales are mammals, like dogs and cats or horses. Can a whale be a pet?  Why or why not?  Can whales communicate?  Explain. Research information about whales. Then have a discussion about whales.  Do they have emotions? Can they show caring or love? Give examples.

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Vocabulary for fluency: choose, baseball, coin, insects, soccer, tennis, track,    volleyball, I think it’s fun. Which is the fastest? thought, caught, decided, slept, came, found, invited, missed, ran, went, ate, jumped, entered, city, country, characters, setting, fable, summary,  laughed, sleeping,     going to, sing. 

The Friendly Fox and the Rapid Rabbit

            Once upon a time there was a friendly fox, and a rapid rabbit.  Usually, foxes eat rabbits, but this fox was friendly. He just wanted to be friends with the animals. He was happy eating the left-over food that the farmer left near the big garbage bucket.

            The rabbit could run very quickly and loved to have races with the other rabbits because Rapid Rabbit always won!

            One day a turtle said to Rapid Rabbit, “Will you race with me?” 

            Rapid Rabbit said, “No…you are too slow.  It would not be an exciting race.”

            The turtle said, “Please.  I always see only rabbits  running the race.  I want to try, too.”

            “O.K.” said Rapid Rabbit, “But it won’t be fair. I can run so much faster than you.”

            “That’s OK”, said the Turtle.  “I just want to have the opportunity to race against you.”

            So the turtle and the rabbit lined up.  The Friendly Fox said that he would be the judge.

            The rabbit and the turtle had to run all the way to the end of the field and back again to the Friendly Fox.

            “ Ready…..set…..almost time to go. One, two, three….GO!!!!” shouted  Friendly Fox.

 NOTE TO TEACHERS:

Art: Have students, in pairs, make a panel with six sections on a poster, numbering them 1-6. Then have the students draw six scenes from the story in sequential order. They can draw, paint, cut/paste, use materials of any type in order to make an interesting and creative panel.

Emotional Intelligence: This story is based on an Aesop’s Fables tale.  The students may have seen this story before. Now they will discuss it as a lesson in morals.

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