Children participate in this read-aloud using motions, words, and song. They make connections to their own explorations of how objects can be made to move.
Read the book and use the pictures to make connections with classroom explorations.
How does the cart help move things?
Materials
- And Everyone Shouted, “Pull!”: A First Look at Forces and Motion by Claire Llewellyn
- Rolling Song: Lyrics (PDF)
Preparation
- Read the book to familiarize yourself with the story.
- Practice singing the “Rolling Song” (see PDF) to the tune of “Frère Jacques.”
Directions: Lesson 1
Circle Time: Wrap-Up
- Read the story aloud, pausing from time to time to invite student participation and comments. Use conversation prompts such as the ones below to help children connect the story to their own exploration of the science question: How do objects move? Possible discussion ideas:
- Page 6: Point to the picture of the dog and goose. How is the dog making the bag move? How is the goose making the box move?
- Page 9: Point to the picture of the cart. This is a cart. A cart is a good way to move things. Does this cart remind you of any toys we have? How do we make those toys move?
- Page 10: How do you think the animals are going to make the cart move?
- Page 17: Show me how the wheels move when the cart is going up the hill. Roll your hands around each other in slow motion, inviting children to join in. They roll very s-l-o-w-l-y, don’t they? Let’s sing a song about rolling UP the hill. (See song lyrics in #2 below.)
- Page 21: What do the horses have to do to make the cart turn off the smooth road and onto the dirt path?
- Page 23: Why do you think the cart is moving so slowly on the dirt path? How can the animals get it to move faster?
- Page 27: As the animals head back home, they’re going to have to go UP a hill and DOWN a hill again. Let’s sing a song for them.
- “Rolling Song” (This is sung to the tune of “Frère Jacques.”) Sing and roll your hands one over the other in slow motion:
- Rolling, rolling. Very slow.
Up the hill. Up the hill. - Pause singing and say: Ok! We’re at the top of the hill now. How do you think the cart will move as it rolls DOWN the hill? Will it roll fast or slow? Let’s sing about rolling DOWN the hill. Sing and roll your hands one over the other in a fast motion:
- Rolling, rolling, rolling! Very, very fast!
Down the hill! Down the hill! - Sing and act out the UP-the-hill and DOWN-the-hill verses a couple more times together.
- Rolling, rolling. Very slow.
Directions: Lessons 2, 12
Circle Time: Introduction
- Revisit the read-aloud book introduced in Lesson 1, encouraging children to join in with words, songs, and motions. Invite children to look and listen to find the steepest and flattest, fastest and slowest parts of the journey.
- Pause occasionally as you read the story to invite student participation and comments. Use conversation prompts such as these:
- Page 17: How do the wheels move when the cart is going up the hill: fast or slow? Let’s use our hands to show slow rolling up the hill. Roll your hands around each other slowly and laboriously, inviting children to join in.
- How do you think the cart will move as it rolls DOWN the hill: fast or slow? Let’s show fast rolling. Roll your hands around each other quickly, inviting children to join in.
- Page 23: How does the cart move on the dirt path: fast or slow? Why do you think that is?
- End of book: What was the steepest part of the road to the market? What was the flattest?
- What was the fastest part of the journey? Why was it so fast?
- What were the slowest parts of the journey? Why were they so slow?
- Sing the “Rolling Song,” again. Invite children to sing along and do the accompanying hand motions.
