ABOUT THE BOOK LEARNING STANDARDS TEACHERS GUIDE. Written by Frédéric Brrémaud and Illustrated by Federico Bertolucci

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1 TEACHERS GUIDE Written by Frédéric Brrémaud and Illustrated by Federico Bertolucci ABOUT THE BOOK Chipper and Squizzo are a precocious puppy and squirrel who love to explore new and exciting environments, flying their cardboard box airplane to wondrous worlds full of fascinating animals and creatures. In each volume of this fun, educational series, they tour a different location, encountering the real-world animals found there in beautiful illustration and fun cartoon strip antics! In this sixth volume of the series, the scrappy duo take a trip under the sea to explore the strange and interesting wildlife found in the ocean! Little Tails is a series of young readers graphic novels created by Eisner Award nominated illustrator Federico Bertolucci and writer Frédéric Brrémaud, creators of the world-famous, multiaward-winning Love series of silent, wildlife graphic novels. LEARNING STANDARDS Activities included in the Teacher Guide for Little Tails Under The Sea allows us to organically hit upon many of the Common Core standards for reading literature. This lesson covers the following: Common Core Standards: RL.K.1, RL.K.3, RL.K.4, RL.K.7, RL.K.10 RL.1.1, RL.1.3 RL.1.6, RL1.7, RL.2.7, RI.K.5, RF.K.1a, SL.K.1a, SL.K.1b SL.K.2, SL.1.1a, SL.1.1b, SL.1.2 1

2 USING VISUAL THINKING STRATEGY Visual thinking strategy was developed by cognitive psychologist Abigail Housen and museum educator Phillip Yenawine in the 1980s as a tool for docents at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art to make the collection more accessible for patrons. Using this method, the discussion of a piece can be facilitated using three basic questions: 1) What is going on in this picture? 2) What makes you say that? 3) What else can we find? Megan Dowd Lambert of Simmons College and the Eric Carle Museum adapted this approach to picture books as a means for encouraging young children to think deeply about how a story is told through illustrations as well as words. Letting students teach each other allows them to take ownership of their learning. Visual thinking strategies require students to pay close attention to detail. Rich illustrations in picture books provide background knowledge that will scaffold for reading non-fiction later. Illustrations expand vocabulary and improve comprehension. They also provide support for language acquisition for English language learners. The job of the teacher is to facilitate discussion, paraphrase the student response, and to ask the basic questions. Most of the questions on this guide will not have clear answers, and that s okay. EXPLORING THE COVER What do you see on the front cover? What do you see on the back cover? How do you think are they related? Based on these pictures, what do you think the story may be about? Submarine: Let students know that a submarine is a boat that can dive underwater. The word can be shortened to sub but both words mean the same thing. Why might the two characters on the front cover be in a submarine? The front cover should make us excited about the book and makes want to know more about what is inside it. What questions do you have after looking at these pictures? Did you notice that the way the letters are made is different on the words Little, Tails, and Under? We call the shape and size of typed letters the font. Why would the publisher use different fonts on the cover? If the students did not mention it, point out that the front cover tells us the names of the two main characters, Chipper and Squizzo. 2

3 MOVING ON TO THE TITLE PAGES Is there a connection between the cover art and the color of the endpapers? A page that contains just the name of the book and the name of the author but not any information about who published the book or when they published it is called a half title page. There are no pictures on this half title page but have we seen these colors or this combination of fonts before? Next, let s look at the picture on the title page. The title page is where the name of the author and illustrator are listed. It also tells us the name of the company that published the book, when they published it, and where the book was printed. This title page includes pictures. What do you see? Do you think it is decoration or part of the story? If it is part of the story, what could that be telling you? Where do you think my story will take place? What makes you think that? What are the two small green characters doing? Where have we seen that shade of green before? What do you already know about oceans and the animals that live there? 3

4 DELVING INTO THE STORY Let the students know that the boxes on the top of the page are called panels. The space between panels is called the gutter. Just like a book, the panels are read left to right, top to bottom. The order of reading panels can be confusing. Use the attached Practice Reading Panels exercise to help students navigate the order of the text. If you work with older students or strong readers, you could invite two students to read the parts of Squizzo and Chipper. If you read to the students, you may wish to give the characters distinct voices to clarify who is speaking. Use the basic visual thinking strategy questions about the art in any page of the book. If students need more prompting here are some questions about the first page of text to get you started. What do you notice about the color of the panels? Is the art the same in the panels as on the rest of the page? Why do you think the panels are at the top of the page? How does the author let us know which character is speaking? On this page, we see the main characters. We saw them on the cover and on the title page. What does the squirrel tell us that the dog s name is? Where have we seen the name Chipper before? Using the front cover what does that mean that the squirrel s name must be? Tide: Let students know that the tide is the rising and falling of the ocean. When the tide is high the water on the beach is deep and goes far up the beach. When the tide is low the water on the beach is shallow, and the more sand is exposed. Why would Chipper be worried about the tide? What do Squizzo and Chipper find? What do they learn? Island: An island is a piece of land surrounded on all sides by water. What did we see on the cover of the book that might be a hint as to how Chipper and Squizzo could get to Mrs. Turtle? 4

5 Why are some words written outside the panels? If students do not point it out to you, make sure students know that Squizzo is giving a fact about each animal he sees in the accompanying illustration. Tenticle: Let students know that tentacles are long thin flexible parts that stick out from around the head or the mouth of some kinds of animals. Why does Sqizzo tell Chipper not to touch the jellyfish? Where do your eyes go when you look at this page? Why? What is happening to the submarine? How does the illustartor show us movement? AAAHHHHHH is an example of a sound effect. 5

6 Using the words to help you, what is a predator? Up until now, there has been a set of panels and one illustration on each page. When one illustration is spread across two pages, we call this a double page spread. Why do you think the illustrator decided to spread the map over both pages of the book? On all of the other pages, the illustration has gone all the way to the edge of the page. This time there is a white space around the illustration. This is called a frame. Why do you think the artist decided to make a white frame around the map instead of making the picture go all the way to the edge of the page? What does this map show? How can you tell? How will a map help Squizzo and Chipper? (If you are working with 1st or 2nd grade students, point out the compass rose, where they started on the map, where they found ice, and where they are going. You could also talk about what direction they should go next to get to Mrs. Turtle.) Little Tails Under the Sea T E A C H E R S G U I D E lionforge.com/educator 6

7 Fin: A thin part that sticks out from the body of a water animal that is used in moving or guiding the animal through the water. Let students know that coral are actually small animals that stick together to look like a colorful living rock. Predator: An animal that eats other animals. Lagoon: A stretch of salt water separated from the rest of the sea by a low reef or sandbar. Little Tails Under the Sea Reef: A jagged line or ridge made of rocks, coral, or sand that sticks up from the bottom of the sea. T E A C H E R S G U I D E lionforge.com/educator 7

8 Flipper: A flat limb kind of like an arm, without fingers that helps an animal swim. The illustrator decided to only put panels on the page. Why? Why did Mrs Turtle need help? How did Chipper and Squizzo help her? REFLECTING ON THE ENDING Why do you think their adventure ends in the bathtub? How did the story end? Look at the bottom panel. How did the illustrator continue the plants from the yard into the illustration inside the house? Why do you think he wanted to blend them? 8

9 ANIMAL FACTS The animal facts at the end of the book can be a starting point for a science unit on ocean ecosystems, or the beginning of an introduction to research. This is interesting, how can we learn more? If you wish to get you started, you may use the attached chart to record the facts found in this book. Ocean animal research on the web: Shedd Aquarium: Monterey Bay Aquarium: Newport Aquarium: National Aquarium: Protecting Oceans on the web: National Geographic Kids: REFERENCES About Us. Visual Thinking Strategies, vtshome.org/about/. Lambert, Megan Dowd. Reading Picture Books with Children: How to Shake up Storytime and Get Kids Talking about What They See. Charlesbridge, 2015 Robinson, Kristina Visual Thinking Strategies for Improved Comprehension. Colorín Colorado, WETA, 1 Dec. 2015, 9

10 PRACTICE READING PANELS We read the panel on the left first. We read everything inside the panel left to right, top to bottom. 2. Next, we read the panel in the middle on the top. 3. Then we read the panel in the middle on the bottom. 4. Last we read the words outside the panel because they are to the right of the panels 10

11 YOU TRY 11

12 LITTLE TAILS UNDER THE SEA ANIMAL FACTS Animal Encountered Animal Fact Cuddlefish Sole Jellyfish Killer Whale *Auk Sailfish Manta Ray Coral Reef Puffer Fish Shark Eel Dolphin * The birds that look like penguins are actually members of the auk family. Birds in the family include great auks and puffins. 12

13 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Frédéric Brrémaud grew up on a farm in the west of France, which instilled him with a love for nature and an immediate appreciation for life and death. His interest in storytelling was let loose at the Center Nationale de Bande Desinnee in Angouleme, leading to a career writing and creating numerous series, spanning many genres, from historical adventures to classical novel adaptations to westerns to vampires stories, all published with numerous artists and publishers. As much as he likes to play in different genres, however, he will always return to tell more animal stories. ABOUT THE ARTIST Federico Bertolucci began illustrating at the College of Arts in Lucca, Italy, then the Accademia della bella Arti in Carrara, before being accepted into the Disney Studio in Milan in Having illustrated several comics based on popular animated characters, including The Flintstones and Lilo & Stitch, he codeveloped Richard Coeur de Lion (Richard Lionheart) with Brremaud, which led to continued collaboration together, next on Racambole, then the LOVE series. He too will always return to tell more animal stories. Federico recently received a 2016 Eisner Award nomination for his work on the LOVE series in the category Best Painter/Multimedia Artist. GUIDE WRITTEN BY Michele Telerski-Rees has her Master of Library and Information Science from Kent State University. For more than twenty years Michele has been sharing her love of reading with young people in a variety of capacities. She can currently be found on a school story rug in Central Ohio. MORE PICTURE BOOKS FROM LIONFORGE LITTLE PIERROT THE ENCHANTED CHEST THIS IS A TACO! LITTLE RED WOLF The Little Tails Under The Sea Teacher s Guide 2018 The Lion Forge, LLC. Little Tails Under the Sea (Volume 6), published 2018 by The Lion Forge, LLC. Copyright 2017 Frédéric Brrémaud and Federico Bertolucci. All Rights Reserved. LITTLE TAILSTM Frédéric Brrémaud and Federico Bertolucci. LION FORGE, CUBHOUSE, MAGNETIC COLLECTION, and the associated distinctive designs are trademarks of The Lion Forge, LLC. Printed in United States. 13