Little Cloud by Eric Carle

This tale introduces a little cloud that changes itself into a handful of shapes. Calling upon memories of objects it has seen, Little Cloud becomes a plane, a shark, trees, a rabbit and a clown before rejoining the other clouds. At this point they do what clouds are apt to do when they get together: "Then all the clouds changed into one big cloud and rained!" The text is very predictable and gives Brooke an opportunity to listen and answer questions. This is how we read the book:

Mommy reads while not allowing Brooke to see the picture: " Little Cloud changed into a sheep. Sheep and clouds sometimes look alike."

Looking at Brooke I ask, "What shape did the little cloud turn into?"

Brooke replies, "a sheep" and I show her the picture.

Then we turn to the next page without letting Brooke see the picture and I read, " Little Cloud changed into an airplane. Little cloud often saw airplanes flying through the clouds."

Looking at Brooke I ask, "What did Little Cloud change into?"

Brooke replies, "a airplane" and I show her the picture.

Using the predicable structure of the book, she is able to answer correctly. She knows she is listening for what Little Cloud changes into and is able to answer correctly most of the time. Listening for one part of the story is much easier for her. If I start to ask different questions such as "What sometimes looks alike?" or "Where were the airplanes Little Cloud saw before?" Brooke would struggle and since she didn't know the answer would try to repeat the entire page instead of answering just the question. So to make reading fun and enjoyable, I try to find repetitive books to practice this Learning to Listen skill.

Now for the fun:
We made some Little Clouds to eat! The clouds are meringue and so, so, so yummy

You'll need:

• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• dash of salt
• 1/2 cup sugar

To make:

1. Separate egg whites and let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes
2. Add egg whites, pinch of salt, and cream of tartar to a bowl. Beat at medium speed until soft peaks begin to form
3. Slowly add 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat on high speed until soft peaks begin to form
4. Drop onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper to form "clouds"
5. Bake at 225 degrees for an hour and 15 minutes. Remove from rack and let cool.
   

While our yummy cloud were baking, we did some art in the style of Eric Carle. Using blue construction paper, white paint and cotton balls, we paints clouds.
Brooke's Little Cloud was a boat.

We then read the book again! Now we'll head outside and look at the clouds seeing if we can find Little Cloud up in the sky.