Would this Make a Good Read-Aloud?
Directions: Think about what we have identified as important components of quality read-alouds.
Read Passages 1 & 2 on pages 25-26. Then, complete the tasks and answer the questions below.
List the domain (content) vocabulary from the passage.
PASSAGE 1
PASSAGE 2
Evaluate the complexity of each text.
Check the box that would apply for most Kindergarten students for each passage.
PASSAGE 1
PASSAGE 2
 Most students would be able to read this on
their own.
 Most students would be able to read this on
their own.
 Most students would best be able to
understand this if it was read aloud.
 Most students would best be able to
understand this if it was read aloud.
 Most students would not understand this if it
was read aloud or if they read it
independently.
 Most students would not understand this if it
was read aloud or if they read it
independently.
©2012 Core Knowledge Foundation. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
What types of text-dependent questions could you ask about this passage? List 3-4 questions for
each text.
PASSAGE 1
PASSAGE 2
What could students learn from reading or listening to this passage?
PASSAGE 1
PASSAGE 2
Relative to your responses above, which text do you think would better serve as a read-aloud?
What is your rationale?
©2012 Core Knowledge Foundation. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Passage 1
I have a tongue.
My tongue can taste.
I can taste an apple.
I can taste a hotdog.
I can taste a sandwich.
I can taste ice cream.
I can taste lots of stuff.
Photographs: girl eating apple: (Microsoft (Fotolia) MP900448418); girl eating hot dog: (Microsoft MP900422284); boy with fork & knife
(Microsoft: MP900426645); girl eating sandwich (Microsoft (iStockphoto) MP900439576); boy eating ice cream cone (Microsoft:
MP900409622); tongue (Microsoft: MP900448668); girl sticking out tongue (Microsoft MP900430986)
©2012 Core Knowledge Foundation. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Passage 2 (excerpt from text)
Look at the boy in this picture. He is happy
because he’s about to taste something yummy
and sweet, and he knows it! But if it weren’t for a
few bumps on his tongue, he wouldn’t be able to
taste it at all! And since taste is the weakest of
the five senses, it gets help from another sense to
help you enjoy the foods you eat. Can you guess
which sense that would be? Listen to find out
what other sense works with taste to help you
enjoy the foods you eat.
The first thing you do when you eat food is to
open your mouth and take a bite. Then you start
to chew it, or grind it up with your teeth. The wet
saliva, or fluid, inside your mouth melts or
dissolves the chewed-up food so it is easy to
swallow. As the melted food moves across your
tongue to go down your throat, it catches on tiny
little bumps on your tongue.
Turn to a neighbor and look at each other’s
tongues—you’ll see the bumps all over. Those
tiny bumps contain taste buds, which come in all
shapes and sizes and are responsible for telling
your brain whether something tastes good or
bad. There are over 10,000 taste buds in your
mouth!
Photographs: tongue (Microsoft: MP900448668); boy with watermelon (Shutterstock: 11455033)
©2012 Core Knowledge Foundation. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/