Toad's Bathing Suit Worry
Vocabulary Exploration· 5 min
- bathing suit 41: “T will go behind these rocks and put on my bathing suit.”
- peek 43: “Don't peek”
- shiver 49: “He was beginning to shiver and sneeze.”
- dripped 50: “The water dripped out of his bathing suit and down onto his feet.”
- Show the word card 'bathing suit' alongside a picture of swimwear
- Students chorus 'bathing suit' three times, then mime putting one on
- Show 'peek' and have students cover their eyes, then peek through fingers
- For 'shiver,' students shake their arms and say the word together
- Demonstrate 'dripped' by pretending to wring out wet clothes
- bathing suit
- I have a bathing suit at home
Quiet kids: pair with acting partner for mime moves; fast finishers: draw their own bathing suit.
Wiggle fingers like water — Reading Time.
Don't skip the mime — kids who can't decode yet need the body anchor.
Reading in Class· 10 min
- Picture-walk pages 41-52: Toad hides, friends swim, animals gather, Toad gets cold, everyone laughs
- Read aloud once at storytelling pace, pausing at each animal arrival
- Read again with students chorusing Toad's worry line: 'I look funny in my bathing suit'
- What does Toad say about his bathing suit? 43: “Because I look funny in my bathing suit.”
- I look funny in my bathing suit
- He thinks he looks funny
Struggling readers: point to each animal as it arrives; fast finishers: count how many animals come.
Tap head three times — Questions Time.
Don't rush the animal arrivals — kids lose track of who's watching if you speed past.
Questions Time· 7 min
- Why does Toad want to hide behind the rocks? 41: “T will go behind these rocks and put on my bathing suit.”
- What happens when Toad stays in the cold water too long? 49: “He was beginning to shiver and sneeze.”
Draw a time you felt shy.
43: “Because I look funny in my bathing suit. That is why”
What students produce: A picture showing when the student felt worried about how they looked or what others thought.
- I felt shy when I wore my new glasses
- I didn't want to sing in front of everyone
- When I got my haircut
Quiet kids: offer sentence stem 'I felt shy when...'; fast finishers: add speech bubbles to their drawing.
Hold up drawings — Conclusion Time.
Don't let one loud story dominate — count to three before moving on so quiet kids can share.
Conclusion· 3 min
Take-home: Tell someone about a time you felt shy like Toad.
- I felt shy when I started school
- Like when I had to read out loud
Quiet kids: whisper connection to navigator instead of whole group; fast finishers: write one sentence about their connection.
Don't skip the take-home prompt — family storytelling builds the connection habit.