Don’t you love when you find a great book to read aloud? I am always looking for amazing read-alouds and when I found The Hungry Thing by Jan Slepian, I hit the jackpot!
It’s such a funny story that’s perfect for rhyming and phonemic awareness. If you don’t have the book, I included links in my Hungry Thing freebie (in my free resource library) that you can use to purchase it (about $5) or to watch it on YouTube for free.
Summary: It’s about a monster who comes to a village and asks for food but people don’t understand its language, then they realize he is just changing the first sound of what he wants. For example, he asks for shmancakes instead of pancakes. Some townspeople make up what the words mean, but a little boy explains what it is the monster wants. The food is revealed each time you turn the page, so it gives kids a chance to guess what the monster wants before finding out. So cute, right?!
Every year I use it with my students to practice rhyming and manipulating beginning sounds, and we make a class book based on it. You can grab the FREE food cards, plus pages to make your own class book, perfect to display at your Meet the Teacher Night! Just scroll down to sign up and get the instand download link.
Here’s How to Make your own Class Book based on The Hungry Thing
- As you’re reading the book, stop often to have kids guess what the Hungry Thing really wants before turning the page, to keep students engaged. Also, write some of the food words on your board/chart, so kids can see how the letter changes to make the real word.
- After reading, make the chart below and model the class book page several times so kids know how to change the beginning sound.
- Then, you can give kids their own sheet and food card and have them complete a page. The food cards are differentiated so you can hand them out strategically.
- Print out the cover and first page of the story, fill in with your name and your school’s name, and bind book together.
- Finally, read it to the class and place in your library for them to read!
You can also use the food cards in other ways. One game is to make a monster using a brown paper bag. You can use the monster template in the freebie and cut out the mouth, or make your own monster. Attach to the bag so that things placed in the mouth fall into the bag (you can cut the top off of the front). Place the picture cards on a pocket chart, and call up kids to feed it the food that rhymes with—-.
GET YOUR FREE Hungry Thing Pack below!
Also, during snack time, don’t forget to play the rhyming game with your kids after reading this book. Call out a word that rhymes with a snack you see someone eating and have them figure out the snack: “Who’s eating a snack that rhymes with—?” Then, let them think of and call out the made-up words. Easy way to practice rhyming!
I hope you love this book as much as I do! This is perfect for the beginning of the year. For more first day/ week of school activities, read this blog post: First Day of School Activities and Lesson Plans.
What are your favorite read-alouds for phonemic awareness and phonics? Share them in the comments and pin the image above to save to your collection!