INTERACTIVE READ ALOUD
Read aloud questions
1. When you read the title page, point out that the plant you see, is a pea plant, with pea pods on it. Ask:
→ “Do you know what’s inside of a pea pod?”
→ “Have you ever eaten a pea?”
2. After you read the first page, pause and ask:
→ “Have you ever taken peas out of a peapod?”
→ “Can you point to the little pea that escaped?” (Keep finding the pea as you read).
→ “Where do you think Little Pea will roll?”
3. Vocabulary Moment: Sideboard
Sideboard: A sideboard is a cabinet, near a dining table, that holds extra dishes or food.
4. As you turn each page invite your little one to: “Read” with you by letting them say the name of each animal.
→ For example: “In the garden there is a …” Let your little one say, “rabbit.”
Acknowledge and encourage this reading habit by saying, “Wow, you really read that page. Thanks for reading with me.”
5. As you turn each page invite your little one to: Act out the story by pretending to be each animal that tries to catch Little Pea!
→ “Can you pretend to be a little mouse under the sideboard?”
→ “Oh no little mouse, the pea is rolling by. Can you try and taste it?”
6. Vocabulary Moment: Devour
→ Devour means to gobble something up quickly because you are so hungry and excited to eat it.
→ “What’s something you would like to devour?”
7. Invite your little one to use their finger to trace the windy, yellow trail that Little Pea takes out of the forest.
8. At the end of the winding trail, the earth swallows the pea. Ask:
→ “Did the earth actually open its mouth and swallow Little Pea?”
→ Explain that the pea got planted, like a seed, into the earth.
→ “Have you ever planted a seed?”
→ “What do you think will happen to the pea now?”
9. On the page where time passes, the rain falls, the sun shines, and there is a tiny plant growing in the middle of the page. Invite your little one to find and point to it. Ask:
→ “It looks like that little plant grew out of a hole! Where do you think it came from?”
→ “What do you think helped the little plant to grow?”
10. On the last page, the little girl finds a little pea again. Ask:
→ “Is this the same little pea from the beginning of this book?”
11. Closing Questions:
→ ”If you close this book and hold it in your hands without peeking, can you retell the story of Little Pea?”
→ ”Do you think the little girl will bring this pea home, and, if she does, will it roll away again?”
