♪ Good morning to a brand new day ♪ ♪ Time to learn and games to play ♪ ♪ Learning things is so much fun ♪ ♪ Learning is good for everyone ♪ (playful music) - During chalk, talk.

Hey, how are you?

Mr. Dawson here, enjoying a good book here at the ranch.

Remember, it's Friday.

What does that mean?

That's right, it's reading and writing day.

I am so excited!

I am so glad that you joined me here today for reading and writing day.

Whoa, now remember, if you will write to me and tell me something you've learned, then guess what?

Guess what?

I'm gonna send you a book!

That's right, an activity book.

All you have to do is send me a letter right here at Valley PBS, and you will get an activity book.

Well, I'm excited about today.

Let's get started learning today about reading and writing.

Oh my gosh.

Well, here we go.

Today, we're gonna talk about seasons, and my essential question is how are the seasons different?

Do you know about the different seasons?

Well, that's what we're gonna learn about today, especially in our book, because seasons change.

There's four seasons every year, every year, and it goes, and it just keeps going, the same ones over and over and over.

And you gotta watch it because it's in this book.

Talking about this book right here, let's take a little closer look at it.

The title of my book is "Mama, Is It Summer Yet?"

by Nikki McClure.

Remember that a book has three parts on the outside, it has the front cover, it has the back cover, and it has the spine to hold it together.

Yes, you can tell the front cover, because it's kind of exciting and it has the title on it.

But on the back cover, it may have a picture, but it doesn't have the title usually and it's not so exciting.

Here is the book, "Mama, Is It Summer Yet?"

And remember that when you read a book, the teacher is always ready to ask you questions to make sure that you were truly listening to what the book was trying to communicate.

Now, this is a storybook.

That's right, it's a storybook.

So it's gonna be an exciting story, and I need you to pay attention because when we come back, guess what I'm gonna do?

That's right, I am going to be asking you some questions to see if you were listening.

Are you ready for the story?

I hope you enjoy the story, "Mama, Is It Summer Yet?"

Here we go.

(gentle music) "Mama, Is It Summer Yet?"

"Mama, Is It Summer Yet?"

by Nikki McClure.

"Mama, is it summer yet?

Not yet, my little one.

But the buds are swelling.

Soon new leaves will unfold.

Mama, is it summer yet?

Not yet, my little one.

But the squirrel is building her nest.

Soon her babies will be born.

Mama, is it summer yet?

Not yet, my little one.

But the earth is soft.

Soon the seeds will sprout and root.

Mama, is it summer yet?

Not yet, my little one.

But the swallows are singing.

Soon warmer winds will blow.

Mama, is it summer yet?

Not yet, my little one.

But the ducklings are following their mother.

Soon they will grow big and bold.

Mama, is it summer yet?

Not yet, my little one.

But the trees are blossoming.

Soon tiny apples will appear.

Mama, is it summer now?

Yes!

Oh yes, my little one!

The honeybees are in the flowers.

The sun is warm on your round belly.

The berries are juicy and sweet.

My little one, it is summer now."

Did you enjoy the book, "Mama, Is It Summer Yet?"

It's a very nice book, but here we go.

What did I tell you?

I was going to ask you some questions.

So my first question is, what season is it in the beginning of the story?

Let's take a look.

I'm gonna give you some hints with the book.

Here we go.

Do you see?

What season does it start out?

There's no leaves on the tree.

Let's take a look over here.

What are they doing?

Oh, they've cut off the branches.

Yes, you got it.

It's winter!

It's winter, right!

That was good listening.

Oh my goodness.

Okay, here's another question.

What are some things that happen before it's summer?

So a lot of things are happening.

They cut the branches off the trees, but let's look at some other things.

Oh, we want to go back there.

Oh, I think it messed me up right here.

There it is.

All right, yes.

There's no leaves on the trees or anything.

Ah, but it's starting to go out of winter and to come to something else.

What is this?

It's looking like it might be spring.

Talking about that, that's my third question.

What two things, what are some other things that show the weather is changing?

Oh, well, I have some buds.

By the way, do you see this little purple little paper?

It says nest, and nest is a noun.

Now, if I wanted to make that plural, what would I add?

Right, I would add an S, that's right.

All right.

What's my last question?

My last question is what are two things that show that it's summer?

Let's go way over here.

Let's go way over here.

Oh, here we go.

What things show that it's summer?

Oh, oh, if they're planting seeds that's spring, that's spring.

But if I go over here one more page, then it says, "Yes!

Oh yes, my little one."

It is summer.

How can you tell?

Right, right, they have leaves all over the trees.

Look at that.

Isn't that cool?

That shows that it's summer.

What's another way?

Ah, yes, that's right.

Probably the biggest one is right here.

Right here.

What is he wearing?

What is he wearing?

Yeah, he's not wearing a shirt.

He looks like he's wearing a bathing suit.

Would you do that in winter?

Would you do that in spring?

Would you do, no, in fall?

No way, no way.

That would only happen in summer, right.

Okay, so I wanna do something else.

I wanna come back right over here, and look at, oh, right here.

Here's a noun right here.

It says seeds.

Did you notice that that's plural?

How can you tell?

There's an S at the end!

Very nice.

And then I want to look at this last sentence right here.

"Soon the seeds will sprout and root."

Do you notice how they put the very first letter uppercase?

Remember, a sentence has to have the first letter uppercase, right.

And then at the end, did they put a punctuation?

They did, they did.

So it has an uppercase, it has a period, it has a noun, and sprout is the verb.

That's what it can do.

So that is the verb.

So I have all four parts of what?

A sentence!

An uppercase, punctuation, a noun, and a verb.

Oh, that is so cool!

Whoa!

Hey, talking about books.

I have some more books right here that are so exciting because you can read them.

And my favorite one right here, I read this one every year.

"Spring is Here."

Talking about that, let's end up talking about writing.

It says here, how do the words and pictures show what season it is?

Draw or list some clues.

I don't want to draw some clues.

I want to look at it, and I can see that right here, the trees are in bloom.

I know that when the trees are in bloom, it is spring, and so I want to spell that.

When trees bloom, it is spring.

Three words.

It is spring.

So if I have three words, it is spring, what's the first word?

It, right!

So if I'm gonna spell it, how would I spell?

Oh, that's a sight word!

I-T, and remember, if it's gonna be a sentence, I have to have an uppercase first letter.

It, it, it, t, t, t!

I have to have a T. So my sentence is, it is spring, and I have it.

What's the next word?

Is!

Oh, that's another sight word!

We've been learning that one!

Is, how do you spell is?

Right!

I and S. So our sentence is, it is spring.

And I have it, I have is.

And what's the last word?

Spring, spring!

Are you ready?

Now, oh my goodness.

That's a name of a season.

I think I have to put it uppercase, because it's a name of a season.

Here we go.

Spring.

Do you see how I'm spelling spring?

Do you hear any sounds in there?

Spring, so my sentence is, it is spring, and I have it is spring.

I don't have any more words, so what do I have to put?

A punctuation, right.

Punctuation.

Let's read our sentence one last time.

It is spring.

So when the trees blossom, I know, I know it is spring.

We've been having so much fun here at the ranch.

I'm so excited that you joined me here every day this week.

We've learned so much, and then guess what we did?

We used it to read a book, we've done comprehension, and then we wrote a sentence.

Isn't that awesome?

It is spring.

Every day you come to the ranch, I guarantee we're going to learn something that's gonna help us learn how to read and write.

Well, guess what?

It's really time for me to go, but I'll be back next week.

So I'm about to go outside.

So guess what I have to do.

I have to get my coat, because I need to stay warm.

Put my coat on.

Whoo, guess what I have to do?

I have to put these down so I can go.

I'm ready to go.

Hey, we'll see you next week.

I'm so glad that you were here.

See you later!

(upbeat music) ♪ Good morning to a brand new day ♪ ♪ Time to learn and games to play ♪ ♪ Learning things is so much fun ♪ ♪ Learning is good for everyone ♪