The Little Little Girl with the Big Big Voice

The Little Little Girl with the Big Big Voice

Kristen Balouch (Author & Illustrator)

Comprehension Strategy: Inferring                  

Art Modality: Drama

Summary:

There once was a little, little girl... with a BIG, BIG voice.

One day she went to find someone to play with.

In this vibrantly illustrated picture book, one loud little girl looks for a friend to play with. She searches the jungle high and low for a pal, but her BIG voice scares all the animals away! One by one, an elephant, a snake and a croc quickly retreat away from her booming vocals, until at last she finds the perfect playmate-whose "roar" is even louder than hers! (Summary from Simon & Schuster.)

Materials:

The Little Little Girl with the Big Big Voice

Lesson:

Let me say this loud and clear. “THIS IS A FUN BOOK!” In fact, when I saw this book it screamed, “BUY ME!” This simple story is useful at the beginning of the year when you are teaching appropriate voice volume and you are focusing on classroom management. It also works beautifully if you want to zoom in on inferring. So if your classroom sounds like a jungle, open the book and try this lesson.

Before reading, place a sticky note over the little girl on the cover. Without showing the illustrations, read the beginning of the book in which the little girl attempts to make friends with the elephant, snake, and crocodile. Ask students to make inferences about what might be scaring the animals away. Read the beginning again, this time showing the pictures. Allow students time to continue making inferences. Continue reading, making sure to pause after you read, “But the lion looked at the little girl...” After sharing predictions. continue reading, but pause again after, “And the little girl looked at the lion...” Your students will love the surprise that follows and will join in laughing with the girl and the lion.

Now I just bet that you already have in mind a little, little child from your own class that as a big, big voice. Give that child a chance to use that voice in a dramatic retelling of the story. Invite students to play the roles of the girl, the elephant, the snake, the crocodile and the lion. Prepare the actors by talking about how each of the animals would move and what they were doing in the story. For example, the elephant is blowing bubbles and the snake is swinging. How would the elephant run away? How would the snake escape? As you reread, invite the students to act out the story. Repeat with additional groups of five children.

Want to make sure your voice can be heard? Need to make your little “loud mouth” even louder? Here’s a link for a printable megaphone:

http://books.simonandschuster.com/Little-Little-Girl-with-the-Big-Big-Voice/Kristen-Balouch/9781442408081#graphic_excerpt_carousel

Finally, here’s an analogy map to use with the story. Use it to make a class chart or provide copies so the students can make their own.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxZ0GKEr7Xl_d2JnODVNQWVmN0k/edit?usp=sharing