"What if..?" "I wonder..?" Extend Your Read Alouds
Through STEM and STEAM Explorations!
Judy Ross, Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District
[email protected] www.playfulteachingandlearning.com
Fairy Tales
The Gingerbread Man (Use your favorite version.)
Our “What if?/I wonder?” Question: Where has our gingerbread man been, and what’s his story,
based on the evidence?
Activity: After reading the story, we decide to make our own “cookie man”, either from gingerbread
dough, or sugar cookie dough. We use M & M’s to create a face and buttons. After we bake him, we
let him cool at school, and children go home for the day. The teacher, in the meantime, adds realia
items, such as a little cap, play soda bottle and balloons, our classroom key, etc. The teacher might
add other changes to the cookie man as well, such as taking off an M & M button, or adding a small
bandage. The next day children notice the changes (i.e., the “evidence” on him that wasn’t there
before). Based on the evidence, we piece together his “story”, and compile ideas for a class big
book.
Extension Activity #1: Could he really “melt” (dissolve) if he fell in the water? Make predictions,
and estimate how long he could be in water before he dissolves. Give each child a mini gingerbread
man cookie, a cup of water, and let the observations begin!
Extension Activity #2: How could we help our gingerbread man safely cross the river (without
having to accept a ride from the fox)? Try creating a lifejacket or other flotation device (e.g., a life
preserver or boat) for him from foil, or other materials. Which method works best to help him stay
afloat and safely get away from the fox?
Caps For Sale! By Esphyr Slobodkina
Our “What if?/I wonder?” Question: Could the peddler really have stacked all those caps on his
head? Could this really happen?
Activity: After reading the story, we decide to make our own “caps” from coffee filters. We use
markers to decorate them, and possibly sort them by attribute as a group activity. We then try to
stack our “caps” on the head of a volunteer- can we do it? We ask our volunteer to walk around as
he balances the caps on his head. We make observations, such as: does our volunteer need to
move more slowly to keep the caps balanced, especially because they’re lightweight? We might try
this again, using real caps or hats. We could estimate and count, and record our findings on a graph.
Goldilocks and The Three Bears By Paul Galdone
Our “What if?/I wonder?” Question: Who is Goldilocks? What do we know about her, based on
evidence in the story? Could the story have ended differently?
Activity: Brainstorm about Goldilocks and use our ideas to create a prequel, sequel, or alternate
endings. We might use evidence from the story or use our imaginations to create a character profile
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of Goldilocks. We might use question words to help us brainstorm, such as, WHO? (Who does she
spend time with? Who is in her family?), WHAT? (What do we know about her? What does she like
to do?), WHEN? (When did she leave her house? When did she go over to the bears’ house?),
WHERE? (Where does she live? Where was she going, and did she really mean to stop at the bears’
house? Where did she go after leaving their house?), WHY? (Why did she enter the bears’ house?
Why did she eat their food, break Baby Bear’s chair, and sleep in his bed?) HOW? (How did she get
her name, Goldilocks? How old is she?) etc.
The Little Red Hen By Elizabeth Lane
Our “What if?/I wonder?” Question: How does wheat become bread? What’s the process for
making bread, and how do the ingredients work together?
Activity: Make bread as a class. Have ingredients pre-measured in baggies, placed at your work
tables. Provide ingredients for each table group of 4 children make a loaf. As we complete each step
of the recipe, we talk about the recipe sequence, name and describe each ingredient, and discuss
what it does. Later, at the rug, we chart the recipe together and pantomime each step, showing what
each ingredient does as they all come together to make bread. For example, the warm water “wakes
up” the yeast, the sugar feeds the yeast and makes it “come alive”, the butter makes the bread soft,
and the salt adds flavor. We talk about the kneading process, which is an ABC pattern- “push, fold,
turn…” and we practice that. We also talk about how kneading bread dough develops gluten, which
allows the bread to stretch, like a rubber band. We pantomime the whole process, from beginning,
middle, and end. During the day, we observe what our bread is doing, the changes we notice, and
the final product.
The Mitten By Jan Brett
Our “What if?/I wonder?” Question: How much could a mitten really stretch? What’s the largest
thing that could fit inside? How many things could fit inside a mitten?
Activity: This is a great small group activity to do. Ask children to gather items of various sizes from
the classroom. Give each child a mitten, and ask him to find the largest item that will fit inside, or how
many things will fit inside. You can also make a graph- “What will fit in my mitten?”- and make 2
columns ( a “Yes” side for the items that will fit, and a “No” side for the items that won’t). Ask children
to draw and label items for both sides. Ask the class to discuss their findings- do we have more items
on the “Yes” side, or the “No” side? Why might that be?
Letters, Shapes, and Numbers
Alphabatics By Suse MacDonald
Our “What if?/I wonder?” Question: What shapes do we see in our alphabet letters? If we play
with letters, what pictures can we create?
Activity: Have children first try to make themselves into the shapes of letters. They might do this
individually, or with a partner or group. Talk about the lines, curves, and shapes of letters. What
observations might they make? (For example, an “M” might look like mountains, an “O” might look
like a hula hoop, or a “Z” like a zig-zag.) Provide die cut letters and encourage children to make
pictures with them, or ask them to draw letters, and make them into something. Encourage children
to play with and explore ideas together, and then share their pictures with the group when everyone is
finished.
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Q is For Duck By Mary Elting and Michael Folsom
Our “What if?/I wonder?” Question: What alphabet riddles can we create, using the example
featured in the book?
Activity: Help children to create their own alphabet riddles, as part of independent writing. Give
them the sentence pattern in the story to use as a writing prompt, such as: “_____ is for
_________. Why? Because a _______ can ______ .” Or, you could work as a group to create an
alphabet riddle for each letter, and create a class big book or wall story. You might ask children to
draw the pictures, and then assist them in writing the sentence for each page you create together.
The big book or wall story becomes a great opportunity for shared reading!
Museum Shapes by the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Shapes: What’s the Big Idea? by Pamela
Schroeder and Jean Donisch; a series featuring Circles Around Town by Nathan Olson (other titles
in the “Around Town” series feature triangles, squares, and rectangles), and Cubes, Cones,
Cylinders, and Spheres by Tana Hoban.
Our “What if?/I wonder?” Question: Where do we see shapes in our everyday life? What can we
draw/create with shapes?
Activity: After reading shape stories, ask children to create art with shapes. Encourage them to
create butterflies, buildings, shape people, or anything else they can imagine. Or, they may choose
to create designs with shapes. Introduce 3D shapes (e.g., sphere, cone, cube, rectangular prism,
cylinder), and encourage children to make 3D sculptures, using, for example, modeling clay spheres
and spaghetti noodles. Children can name their creations, or dictate a sentence about their art to
you.
When I Build With Blocks By Niki Alling
Our “What if?/I wonder?” Question: What can I create with floor blocks? How do the blocks go
together? What can I imagine?
Activity: After reading the story, ask children to view the last page, which has ideas for building with
floor blocks, and labels for each creation. Ask children to work individually, in pairs, or small groups
to create a structure. Ask them to make a label for it, and share about their creation. Take pictures,
and create our own class book, “When We Build With Blocks”.
A Box Story By Kenneth Kit Lamug
Not a Box By Antoinette Portis
Our “What if?/I wonder?” Question: What could I put in a box? If it’s not a box, then what could it
be? What could I make from a box, or boxes?
Activity: After reading the stories, ask children to create something from a box. For these projects,
ask children to bring in small, medium, or large boxes. They could decorate their box creation, as
well. Ask children to share how they worked together to make their structure, and have other children
guess what their box creation is. Take a picture of each child’s creation and ask him/her to write
about it. Create a story wall for shared reading.
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Elevator Magic By Stuart J. Murphy
Our “What if?/I wonder?” Question: What floors could I create? What would you find at each
floor? How do you get from one floor to another?
Activity: After reading the story, ask children to brainstorm a building with 10 floors. What would
they find at each floor? Create an “elevator” with sliding panels for each “floor”. Draw and/or write
the word for each floor and what you’d find there.
Ten Black Dots By Donald Crews
Our “What if?/I wonder?” Question: What can we make with black dots? What happens if we
make a path with black dots? Where would it lead us?
Activity: After reading the story, brainstorm what you could make with 1, 2, 3, or up to 10 black dots.
Work together to create pages for a class book or wall story, or create individual stories. You might
try using the following sentence starter for each page: “______ black dots can make a ______.”
Another idea would be to take a number of large black dots (use any number up to 100) and make a
path with them for children to follow. How far could 20 black dots take you? 50? 100?
Just for Fun!
Cloud Stories (Suggested titles: It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw; Little Cloud by
Eric Carle; or your favorite cloud story)
Our “What if?/I wonder?” Question: What do we see when we look at clouds? What do we
wonder about?
Activity: After reading, go outside and ask children to look up at the clouds. What do they observe?
At tables, ask children to work in groups as they explore a pile of cotton balls. Talk about how clouds
look like cotton, and that we could use cotton to make shapes like we saw in the clouds and in the
stories we read. Show children how to stretch the cotton, and encourage them to use their five
senses as they explore and talk about their observations. (Fiberfill is another option to use instead of
cotton, if desired.) After giving children time to explore, ask them to choose one thing to make with
the cotton, and glue it to a piece of blue construction paper. Glue a sentence strip to the paper, which
says “It is a ______? No, it is not!” Children should write on the line the name of what they made
with the cotton. Use these projects to form a wall story, entitled “Clouds”. For the last page, ask
children to glue all the leftover cotton balls to a larger piece of blue construction, and glue a sentence
strip on this final page that says, “It is a GREAT, BIG, GIANT CLOUD!!!” Use this for shared reading.
Rollercoaster By Marla Frazee
Our “What if?/I wonder?” Question: What materials could I use to create a “rollercoaster
creation”? Do I need straight pieces, curves, and how many?
Activity: After reading, ask children to create a “rollercoaster” from any building materials you have
in your classroom. Ask children to experiment with force and motion, and the effects of different
pushes/pulls on their rollercoaster cars. How can they design a rollercoaster with inclines and
straightaways that would keep their vehicle moving efficiently?
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What’s Up, What’s Down? By Lola Schaefer
Our “What if?/I wonder?” Question: What do we see when we look up? Down?
Activity: After reading, ask children to create pictures of what they see if they look up, or if they look
down. An extension would be to have children pretend to be grass, an animal, or anything else. What
would they see if they looked up? What would they see if they looked down? Try being the smallest
thing you can think of. What would you see if you looked up? What would you see if you looked
down? Try being the tallest thing you can imagine. What would you see if you looked up? What
would you see if you looked down?
Duck! Rabbit! By Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld
Our “What if?/I wonder?” Question: What do you see, based on your perspective? How many
things can you see in a picture?
Activity: Ask children to create abstract art work, and ask other children to talk about what they see
in their friends’ pictures.
Wacky Wednesday By Dr. Seuss
Our “What if?/I wonder?” Question: What kinds of things are “wacky”? How can I use my ideas
to create a wacky picture?
Activity: After reading Wacky Wednesday, show children the “What’s Wrong?” cards (available at
Lakeshore, or from Key Education: item #KE-845021) and discuss. Then, have children brainstorm
things that are wacky, and create a wacky picture. They could write about their picture, using this
sentence starter: “My picture is wacky because…”
Beautiful Oops! By Barney Saltzberg
Our “What if?/I wonder?” Question: What can I make from an “oops”?
Activity: After reading, ask children to brainstorm ways to create something from an “oops” (which
could be a crumpled up paper, a stain, a tear, a bent corner, etc.). Encourage children to create
artwork from an “oops” and then write about it. Create a story wall for shared reading from the
children’s art and stories. Discuss the big idea that we can always create something beautiful from a
mistake, and that sometimes that unexpected mistake can lead to great results.
The Wonderful Book by Leonid Gore
Our “What if?/I wonder?” Question: What could a book be used for, if not as a book for reading?
Activity: In the story, the animals found all sorts of unconventional uses for a simple book (other
than reading it). What else could a book be? (e.g., a tent for a mouse, a table for a cat, a hat, etc.)
Create your own uses for a book, draw your idea, and write about it. Compile stories into a big book
or wall story for shared reading.
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Additional Book Titles and Resources
Building Books and Resources
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Not a Box by Antoinette Portis
The Do Nothing Machine by Sharon MacDonald
Jack the Builder by Stuart J. Murphy and Michael Rex
Rollercoaster by Marla Frazee
Block City by Robert Louis Stevenson
Tinkertoy Building Manual: Graphic Instructions for 37 World-Famous Designs by Dylan
Dawson and Robert Steimle
Lincoln Logs Building Manual: Graphic Instructions for 37 World-Famous Designs by Dylan
Dawson and Robert Steimle
The Lego Ideas Book by Daniel Lipkowitz
Lego City Brickmaster (With 9 Lego Models) by DK Publishing
Lakeshore STEM Early Learning Kits (magnets, block play, water play, force and motion, etc.);
Fairy Tales Problem Solving STEM Kits (for Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs,
The Three Billy Goats Gruff, etc.)
Art Books
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Look What You Can Make With Boxes by Lorianne Siomades and Hank Schneider
Look What You Can Make With Egg Cartons by Betsy Ochester and Hank Schneider
Look What You Can Make With Tubes by Margie Hayes Richmond and Hank Schneider
Look What You Can Make With Paper Plates by Margie Hayes Richmond and Hank Schneider
Look What You Can Make With Paper Bags by Judy Burke and Hank Schneider
Look What You Can Make With Newspapers, Magazines, & Greeting Cards by Kathy Ross
What Can You Do With a Paper Bag? by Judith Cressy
6 Sticks by Molly Coxe
Making a Dinosaur/Bird/Rabbit (Rigby PM Plus) by Annette Smith, Jenny Giles, & Beverley Randell
Science Books
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What is a Scientist? by Barbara Lehn
Science Tools by J.A. Randolph
I Use Science Tools by Kelli Hicks
What Can a Magnet Do? by Harriet Hedwig
My Five Senses by Aliki
Shapes and Sorting
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The Perfect Square by Michael Hall
Press Here by Henre Tullet
The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns
When a Line Bends, a Shape Begins by Rhonda Gowler Greene
The Button Box by Margarette S. Reid
Math Counts: Sorting by Henry Pluckrose
Just for Fun!
 This is the Sun. Or is it? by Kathryn Knight
 Who’s Looking at You? by Stephane Frattini
 If by Sarah Perry
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