There's a Shark in the Park! Companion Pack to a great book teaching joint attention, part/whole, and 'all abouts'

I hope the title grabbed your attention!

Some of my kiddos have difficulties in that area; joint attention, that is, not sharks or parks.  This book, Shark in the Park, is perfect as a springboard into teaching kids to follow eye gaze of another (thinking with your eyes).  A kid can't really do whole body listening if he can't use his eyes to see what others are looking at and thinking about.



Do not buy the Shark in the Park book by Phil Cox. It's a completely different book.  It might be a fine read, but doesn't go with my materials. Look for the book by Nick Sharratt. 

Here's a video of this book read aloud. You can get the gist of this cute book after the first couple of pages.  I love it because the kids have to make predictions and learn repeatable lines. It's a funny book, very entertaining to both children and adults. The language is clear, illustrations are adorable, and there's a fun twist at the end.   All my kids have enthusiastically embraced "Shark in the Park"!

I've developed a companion pack to go with this book.  There are several teaching points here which I can explain.

a. Joint attention and following another person's eyegaze: A telescope lends itself to this.  In my materials, I have a simple step-by-step craft for making a telescope.  A few kids and I have had fun guessing what each of us is looking at, then retrieving the items. One of the teachers I work with does this with her whole EC class.  It's a great activity to reinforce joint attention!  The guy in the picture below is my significant other, by the way......forced into this. Now he's famous.

b. Part vs Whole:  This is a common core curriculum concept.  When you look through a telescope, you naturally see part of something.  I have a companion book here which looks at parts of things, and then whole things.



c. 'All About' Books:  A sample "All about Sharks" book is included, along with a blank graphic organizer.  Use this organizer to fill out with the kids about another animal.  Those kids that write can use this to write their own "All About" book about a different animal.

As you can see, you can use this book on multiple levels.  The whole book rhymes, too.  I didn't add this as an activity but as I read the book, I do ask kids to identify the words that rhyme and generate more words.

Have fun!

You can get this packet here on TPT. 

As usual, if you are a starving CF, email me.  Speech40@gmail.com