Introduction

This book is intended to be read as part of an elementary school class curriculum (for students ages 8-11), with an instructional focus on holidays and cultural traditions around the world. The class is preparing to discuss the similarities and differences between the different holidays we will explore. The class is also learning about poems, and will soon be creating their own poems. My instructional goals for this specific book are to:

  • Expose my class to old poetry in more formal language than they might be familiar with  –  by defining older terms in a non-intimidating way, using the coach, “Harold the Old”
  • Give the students an opportunity to develop a good understanding of rhyming – with the help of the coach, "Clime the Rhyme," and by referring to the specific numbers by each of the poem's lines
  • Encourage the students to connect this story to our study of other holidays  – with the coach, "Kay the Holiday"
  • Help the readers who need extra support to sound out difficult words as they work their way through the poem  – by using the glossary. When a student clicks on one of the underlined words, they can see either another visual way to sound out the difficult word, or the definition of the word
  • Engage the students  – through reading comprehension questions throughout the book 
  • Encourage all students to be excited about the prospect of reading  – through the use of visuals and music
  • Practice rhyming and reading difficult words in the text  – through audio tools in the book