Cricket Tales 1

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Cricket Goes to School

Mrs. Thrift and the Crows

What is Good Food?

A Family is People and Pets

The Seesaw

Chester and Buster

Topsy-Turvy Doctor Shirley

How the Night Sky was Made

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three

Reading stories is a fundamental part of children’s lives. Through

literature, children are able to explore and understand the world

around them. Not only does reading help them acquire phonemic

awareness, but it also expands their vocabulary and enhances their

knowledge of how language works.

Exposing children to stories is one of the best ways to stimulate their

imagination, memory, language and cognitive skills, and helps to

prepare them to understand the written word. Reading to a child

also creates a bond between the listener and the reader, giving both

of them a chance to discuss the story and topics related to that

story. Furthermore, early reading helps preschoolers develop logical

thinking, as they have to judge characters and situations, recognize

cause and effect and identify the sequence of events in a story.

The Reading Cycle

The reading cycle comprises three stages: pre-reading, while reading

and post-reading.

Pre-reading activities prepare children for reading by activating

their prior knowledge about the topic featured in the story. They also

establish a reason to read the story and help review or teach new

vocabulary. Through these activities, teachers help students activate

their background knowledge and provide the necessary information

to make the story clear and appealing.

While reading activities help check children’s comprehension as

they read, by making them identify the characters and the main or

specic ideas or events in the story. They provide children with the

opportunity to ask questions, revise predictions and create mental

images of the characters and events.

Post-reading is the stage that gives children the chance to build up

on their knowledge of the world, as they add new concepts to the

existing ones through reading. Besides this, it also provides them with

the opportunity to relate the text to their own experiences, the world

and other texts that they may have read.

Involving students in activities that allow them to complete the

reading cycle serves two purposes: on the one hand, it will help their

understanding and enjoyment of the story. On the other, it will help

them become familiar with the reading strategies that they will use in

the following school years.

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Unit 1

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Cricket Tales

Cricket Tales is a series of three books with fun reading activities

related to each of the stories from Crickets, Richmond’s preschool

series. The activities have been carefully designed to foster children’s

reading comprehension skills and to help them link the characters

and events to their own experiences.

There are two illustrated activities per story aimed at developing pre-

reading and post-reading strategies. The teacher will nd the detailed

instructions for those activities in the Instructions pages. A while

reading activity per story is also included so that the reading cycle is

complete. While reading activities appear below the instructions for

the pre-reading activities.

Students can use the pre-reading and post-reading activity

handouts in class or take them home to start working with the

story and round up their response to it. The while reading activities,

designed to have students actively involved in the reading of the

story, can be used in class to clarify or consolidate information to

make reading an enjoyable and satisfying experience that is shared

between the teacher and the class.

The Teacher’s Resource CD includes extra pre-reading, while reading

and post-reading activities that you can use depending on the

needs of your students or the amount of class time available.

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ve

Circle.

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Unit 1

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Cricket Goes to School

Pre-reading

Materials: crayons, Class CD, Story Cards Unit 1

Instructions:

Ask students to identify Cricket and have them color him. Then draw

their attention to the rst scene of the story in their Student’s Books.

Ask them Where is Cricket going? Show the corresponding Story

Card and point to the picture of the school to help students answer.

Next, point to each picture on page 5, name it and have them

repeat. Then have students circle the picture of the people or things

they think Cricket nds at school in the story. Finally, invite students to

check their answers as they listen to the rest of the story (Track 11).

Keep students’ work in their portfolios.

While Reading

Materials: Story Cards Unit 1, Class CD

Preparation: Display the Story Cards on the board.

Instructions:

Play Track 11 again and have different students go to the board.

Ask them to point to the characters in the Story Cards as they speak.

For example, ask a student to listen to the events in Scene 1 and

have him or her point to Cricket when they hear him talk. Follow the

same procedure with other students and other characters in the

following scenes.

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Draw.

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Unit 1

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Cricket Goes to School

Post-reading

Materials: crayons

Instructions:

Have students draw themselves on their rst day of school, showing

how they felt (happy or sad). Encourage them to share their

drawings with the rest of the group and say how they feel now. Keep

students’ work in their portfolios.

See more pre-reading, while reading and post-reading activities on

the Teacher’s Resource CD. Use them depending on the needs of

your class.

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Point and say. Color.

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Mrs. Thrift and the Crows

Pre-reading

Materials: crayons, Class CD, Story Cards Unit 2

Instructions:

Show Story Card Scene 1 and point to the characters and the setting

to introduce them. Say She is Mrs. Thrift. Mrs. Thrift lives on a farm. Look,

these are crows. Ask students to point to the setting and characters

on page 9 and have them name them. Then draw students’

attention to Story Card Scene 1 again. Point to the crows and ask

students what the crows are doing. Say What do the crows do?

How does Mrs. Thrift feel? Encourage them to answer They eat the

corn and She’s sad, respectively. Then ask students what they think

happens to the crows at the end of the story. Have students choose

a picture on page 9 that shows their idea and ask them to color

the frame. Introduce the word scarecrow by pointing to the picture

in the Story Cards and having students repeat. Finally, invite students

to check their answers as they listen to the rest of the story (Track 23).

Keep students’ work in their portfolios.

While Reading

Materials: Class CD

Preparation: Divide the class into teams of ve students. Assign each

student a character from the story (Mrs. Thrift, the three crows and the

scarecrow).

Instructions:

Play Track 23 again and have students follow the story in their books.

Play it once more and ask the different teams to act out their roles

as they listen to the story. For example, ask the students playing

Mrs. Thrift to shake their arms or pretend they are sad when the

narrator describes those scenes. Have students playing the

role of the crows to pretend they are eating corn, etc. Encourage

all the members of the team to help each other play their parts.

Unit 2

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Connect and color. Paste.

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Unit 2

Mrs. Thrift and the Crows

Post-reading

Materials: crayons, glue, colored paper

Instructions:

Have students connect the dots. Then ask them to identify the

character (the scarecrow). Tell them to make their own scarecrow.

Encourage them to draw a happy, sad or angry face for the

scarecrow, color the picture and paste colored paper on it. Invite

them to share their drawings with the rest of the group. Finally, ask

them to describe their scarecrow saying He’s happy, He’s sad or He’s

angry. Keep students’ work in their portfolios.

See more pre-reading, while reading and post-reading activities on

the Teacher’s Resource CD. Use them depending on the needs of

your class.

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Trace and say. Color.

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Unit 3

What is Good Food?

Pre-reading

Materials: crayons, Class CD

Instructions:

Show page 13 and point to each picture as you name and describe

it, for example, These are apples. Have students repeat and point to

the corresponding picture. Now continue saying Apples are round.

Draw a circle in the air and have students do the same. Ask them

to trace the apples. Next, say Apples are red. Apples are green, too,

and ask students to color the apples green or red. Finally, have them

identify the other fruits in the picture and have them trace them. Do

the same with the candies. Then encourage students to say which

food is good for them and which is not. Finally, invite students to

check if their answers are similar to what the boy and the girl say in

the story. Play Track 35 and have students listen and follow the story in

their Student’s Books. Keep students’ work in their portfolios.

While Reading

Materials: Class CD, Story Cards Unit 3, crayons

Preparation: Display the Story Cards on the board.

Instructions:

Play Track 35 again and have students follow the story in their books.

Play it once more and have students raise their hands with a green

crayon when they hear the word green. Point to the fruit in the fruit

bowl and say What color is the apple? What color are the peas?

Help them answer The apple is green, peas are green, as they point

to the objects. Ask about the candy. Ask What color is the candy? Is

candy good food? Help them answer.

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Draw. Cut and paste.

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Unit 3

What is Good Food?

Post-reading

Materials: crayons, glue, scissors

Instructions:

Have students draw their faces and hair to complete the picture

of the child. Then ask them to cut out the food. Encourage them

to identify the food that is good for them and paste it on the plate.

Finally, have them color the picture. Encourage them to say Natural

food is good for me. Keep students’ work in their portfolios.

See more pre-reading, while reading and post-reading activities on

the Teacher’s Resource CD. Use them depending on the needs of

your class.

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seventeen

Match.

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A Family is People and Pets

Pre-reading

Materials: crayons, Class CD

Instructions:

Point to the pictures and have students identify the family members

and the pets. Then tell students to draw a line from the family

members to their pets, according to the objects and food they have.

Finally, play Track 50 and have students listen and follow the story in

their Student’s Books to check their answers. Keep students’ work in

their portfolios.

While Reading

Materials: Class CD, Story Cards Unit 4

Preparation: Display the Story Cards on the board.

Instructions:

Play Track 50 again and have students follow the story in their

Student’s Books. Ask them to point to the family members as they are

mentioned. Then have them point to the pets when they hear the

word animals. Point to the pets on the Story Cards and ask students

What animals are these? Are these pets part of the family? Help

them answer.

Unit 4

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Color and cut. Play.

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Unit 4

A Family is People and Pets

Post-reading

Materials: crayons, glue, scissors, cardboard paper

Instructions:

Encourage students to identify the animals and the family members

and have them color the pictures. Help students cut out the cards,

paste them onto cardboard paper and then cut them out again.

Finally, ask students to work in pairs and play memory game with

their sets of cards. Tell them that they have to nd two cards, one with

the family member and another one with his or her pet, according to

the story. Keep students’ work in their portfolios.

See more pre-reading, while reading and post-reading activities on

the Teacher’s Resource CD. Use them depending on the needs of

your class.

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Color.

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Unit 5

The Seesaw

Pre-reading

Materials: crayons, Class CD, Story Cards Unit 5

Instructions:

Point to the pictures in the Story Cards and introduce the characters.

Say This is Ali. She’s a girl. This is her friend, Trixie. She’s a dinosaur. Do

the same with Ronnie and Kim. Then tell students that the characters

want to play in the playground. Ask them to identify the objects on

page 21 that they nd in a playground and have them color them.

Next, encourage students to name the objects they have colored;

for example, ask a student to point to the slide and say slide. Finally,

play Track 62 and have students listen and follow the story in their

Student’s Books to check which objects are mentioned. Keep

students’ work in their portfolios.

While Reading

Materials: Class CD, Story Cards Unit 5

Preparation: Display the Story Cards on the board.

Instructions:

Play Track 62 again and have students follow the story in their books.

Ask them to point to the characters as they are mentioned. Point

to the pictures on the Story Cards, too. Then play the track again

and ask students to mime the actions (climbing up, sliding down)

and feelings (sad, scared, happy) when they are mentioned in

the recording.

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Unit 5

The Seesaw

Post-reading

Materials: crayons

Instructions:

Encourage students to connect the numbers, following the correct

sequence. Then ask them to name the character that is in the

picture (Kim). Have students color Kim. Ask students how she

feels (happy). Finally, have them say the names of the rest of the

characters. Keep students’ work in their portfolios.

See more pre-reading, while reading and post-reading activities on

the Teacher’s Resource CD. Use them depending on the needs of

your class.

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Cut and color.

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Unit 6

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Chester and Buster

Pre-reading

Materials: crayons, scissors, glue, Class CD

Instructions:

Ask students Do you have a pet? Is it a dog? Is it a cat? Encourage

them to answer. Point to each animal and ask What animal is this?

Help them answer It’s a dog. It’s a cat. It’s a rabbit. It’s a spider.

Introduce the boy from the story: This boy has two pets. Have

students choose and color two animals they think are his pets and

paste them on each side of the boy. Tell them to paste one inside the

box. Invite some students to share their work with the group.

Next, invite them to check if the animals they chose are the ones that

appear in the story. Play Track 75 and have students listen and follow

the story in their Student’s Books. Finally, ask them to color the rest of

the scene. Keep students’ work in their portfolios.

While Reading

Materials: Class CD, Story Cards Unit 6

Preparation: Display the Story Cards on the board.

Instructions:

Play Track 75 again and have students follow the story in their

books. Play Track 75 once more and ask different students to go

to the board and point to the pets as they hear their names. Then

encourage the rest of the group to mime the actions as they hear

them: sit, roll, nod, spin, etc. Finally, point to the dog on the Story

Cards and ask What does the dog do? Help students say It sits.

It rolls. It nods, etc. Do the same with the image of the spider.

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Color and cut. Say.

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Unit 6

Chester and Buster

Post-reading

Materials: crayons, glue, scissors, Class CD, Story Cards Unit 6

Preparation: Display the Story Cards on the board.

Instructions:

Have students color and cut out the pictures. Help them cut out the

inner circles. Tell them how to put their ngers through the holes, as if

they were the characters’ legs. Then say Show me Chester and Show

me Buster and have students hold up the corresponding character.

Finally, play Track 75 again and point to the corresponding Story

Card. Encourage students to retell the story using their puppets. Keep

students’ work in their portfolios.

See more pre-reading, while reading and post-reading activities on

the Teacher’s Resource CD. Use them depending on the needs of

your class.

twenty-eight

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Say and cut. Paste.

twenty-nine

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Unit 7

Topsy-Turvy Doctor Shirley

Pre-reading

Materials: crayons, scissors, glue, Class CD

Instructions:

Point to each character and have students identify them.

Ask Who is he (she)? and help students answer: He’s a chef. She’s

a teacher. He’s a reghter. She’s a doctor. Now point to the objects,

one by one, and ask What’s this? Help them answer It’s a spoon,

it’s a stethoscope, etc. Next, point to the characters and ask Who

uses a spoon? The teacher? The reghter? The doctor? The chef?

Encourage them to answer. Do the same with the marker, the hose

and the stethoscope. Have students color the characters, cut out the

belongings and paste them on the corresponding character. Then

point to the doctor and say She’s Doctor Shirley. Where does she

work? Help students answer In a hospital. Ask What does she use?

Let them answer. Next, invite students to check which objects

Doctor Shirley uses in the story. Play Track 85 and have students listen

and follow the story in their Student’s Books. Finally, ask them to color

the rest of the scene. Keep students’ work in their portfolios.

While Reading

Materials: Class CD, Story Cards Unit 7

Preparation: Display the Story Cards on the board.

Instructions:

Play Track 85 again and have students follow the story in their books.

Play Track 85 once more and point to the hose on the corresponding

Story Card and say What is she using? Help the students say It’s a

hose. Say Oh, no. Doctor Shirley uses a hose, she is topsy-turvy!

Who uses a hose? Help them answer A reghter uses a hose.

Do the same with the remaining Story Cards.

thirty

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Color and cut. Say.

thirty-one

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Unit 7

Topsy-Turvy Doctor Shirley

Post-reading

Materials: crayons, glue, scissors, popsicle sticks, Class CD,

Story Cards Unit 7

Preparation: Display the Story Cards on the board.

Instructions:

Have students color and cut out the pictures. Help them paste a

popsicle stick onto the back of each circle. Then play Track 85 and

point to the corresponding Story Card. Encourage students to hold

up their pictures as they are mentioned in the story. Then encourage

students to work in teams and retell the sequence of the story using

the pictures. Keep students’ work in their portfolios.

See more pre-reading, while reading and post-reading activities on

the Teacher’s Resource CD. Use them depending on the needs of

your class.

thirty-two

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Color and say. Draw.

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thirty-three

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Unit 8

thirty-four

How the Night Sky was Made

Pre-reading

Materials: crayons, glitter, glue, Class CD, Story Cards Unit 8

Instructions:

Hold up the Story Card for Scene 1. Point to the character, her beads

and comb, and say This is a story about an old woman, her beads

and her comb. Point to the pictures of the tools and the sack of rice

and say: What does she use? Have them repeat as you point to the

objects and mention them: A mortar, a pestle, and rice. Then point

to the sky in the scene and say Look at the sky. Is it day or night?

Help them answer Night. Next, point to the moon and ask What is it?

Encourage them to answer. Then elicit ideas from students as to what

they can see in the sky at night, for example, stars and clouds. Have

them draw the objects they mentioned. Encourage them to paste

some glitter on the stars. Next, play Track 93 and have students listen

and follow the story in their Student’s Books. Tell them to compare

what they draw with the night sky in the story. Finally, ask students to

color the rest of the scene. Keep students’ work in their portfolios.

While Reading

Materials: Class CD, Story Cards Unit 8

Preparation: Display the Story Cards on the board.

Instructions:

Play Track 93 again and have students follow the story in their books.

Play Track 93 once more and have students point to the mortar, the

pestle and the rice as the narrator mentions them. Encourage them

to mime the woman’s movements when working with the pestle and

the mortar. Play the track again and now have students point to the

comb on the Story Cards and touch their hair. Then ask them to point

to the beads on the Story Cards and touch their necks as they hear

the words. Next, encourage them to say what they think the stars are

or where they come from.

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Cut and paste. Say.

thirty-five

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Unit 8

How the Night Sky was Made

Post-reading

Materials: glue, scissors, sheets of colored paper, Class CD,

Story Cards Unit 8

Preparation: Display the Story Cards on the board.

Instructions:

Name different elements or actions from the story, for example, old

woman, pestle, beads, work, etc., and have students point to the

corresponding pictures. Then ask students to cut out the pictures and

put them in the correct order, according to the sequence of the story.

If the order is correct, tell them to paste the pictures on a colored

sheet of paper. Then play Track 93 and point to the corresponding

Story Card. Encourage students to check their work. Then encourage

students to work in teams and retell the sequence of the story using

the pictures. Keep students’ work in their portfolios.

See more pre-reading, while reading and post-reading activities on

the Teacher’s Resource CD. Use them depending on the needs of

your class.

thirty-six

Components

• Student's Book

• Practice Book

• Student's CD

• Cricket Tales

• Teacher's Guide

• Teacher's Resource CD

• Class CD

• Story Cards

• Flashcards

• Classroom Language Flashcards

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