
K-2-662: Dear Primo, A Letter to My Cousin
Season 6 Episode 79 | 26m 54sVideo has Closed Captions
Valley PBS presents Reading Explorers Lessons for Kindergarten through 2nd Grade.
Valley PBS presents Reading Explorers Lessons for Kindergarten through 2nd Grade.
Reading Explorers is a local public television program presented by Valley PBS

K-2-662: Dear Primo, A Letter to My Cousin
Season 6 Episode 79 | 26m 54sVideo has Closed Captions
Valley PBS presents Reading Explorers Lessons for Kindergarten through 2nd Grade.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship(whimsical music) - [All] Good morning super readers.
- Thank you for joining us in our Valley PBS classroom.
I'm Mrs Nix.
- I'm Mrs Hammack.
- And I'm Mrs Vang.
- This is a place for us to learn, practice and - [All] Grow our brains.
- To become even stronger readers, writers and thinkers.
So, let's get started by warming up our brains with some- - Ear training- - Called- - [All] Daily phonemic awareness.
- All right, so, today I'm gonna challenge you a little bit with those, phoenemic awareness in that we're going to substitute or change out that initial sound.
So, let's do one kind of together, so that we can show it's kind of, I think Mrs. Vang always likes to call it "what's my new word?"
- [Mrs. Vang And Mrs. Hammack] Mmhmm - Right?
- It's like a game.
- It is kind of like a game.
So we're gonna take the word torn.
So what sounds to we hear?
- [All] t or n - Torn, now, what if I change the, T to a C, What's my new word?
- [All] C or n - [All] Corn - Do you get it?
- Fantastic.
- Okay.
- Excellent - Its kind of fun.
- It is kind of fun, right?
Okay.
So what if I have the word Boar?
Boar it's kind of like a pig, right?
Boar.
What sounds do we hear?
- [All] Ba or - [Mrs. Hammack] That's it.
- Boar.
Good.
What if I change B to S. Now what's my new word?
- [All] S, soar, soar - Great job, all right, last one, I'm gonna take the word More, what sounds do we hear?
- M ore More - And I'm gonna change, M, to Ch - Oh, I don't like this word - [All] Ch ore, - [All] Chore.
- Hmm.
Do you have to do a tour or two in the morning before school?
All right.
So great job, I loved all of that practicing, you can practice changing and manipulating your words, all on your own at home.
Now, you know what it is?
Let's take a moment and get some wiggles out this morning.
I like our dance this week.
- Okay.
- It's pretty fun.
- It's a busy one.
- It is.
(cheerful music) ♪ what is standing very still ♪ ♪ Is it a volcano or is it a hill ♪ ♪ If it starts to shake and it can not stop ♪ ♪ Its a volcano ♪ ♪ Its a volcano ♪ ♪ Its a volcano ♪ ♪ Its a volcano ♪ ♪ Its a volcano ♪ ♪ And it's going to blow ♪ ♪ Kids ♪ ♪ Jump ♪ (cheerful music) ♪ Boom ♪ (cheerful music) ♪ what is standing very still ♪ ♪ Is it a volcano or is it a hill ♪ ♪ If it starts to shake and it can not stop ♪ ♪ Its a volcano ♪ ♪ Its a volcano ♪ ♪ Its a volcano ♪ ♪ Its a volcano ♪ ♪ Its a volcano ♪ ♪ And it's going to blow ♪ ♪ Kids ♪ ♪ Jump ♪ (cheerful music) ♪ Boom ♪ - Ooh, so much fun.
- So fun.
- I love it, I love it.
- That was good.
- So fun.
- Okay.
I think they're ready.
- I think so.
- All Right.
- I'll see you later.
- I'll see you guys later.
- Have fun.
- Okay, super readers, let's go and review some more sounds that we have already learned.
Remember this, we can say review week, meaning we have learned these sounds and these different spelling patterns.
We're just gonna practice, so that we can make that our brain grow and become smarter.
Oh today, we are working on, or working with the star car.
Now the star car says AR, say that again, ar good job.
And if you look at my star car that's only one way to spell that AR sound.
We spell it with the A, R. So when you see that AR together, we say, AR.
Good job, I hear you at home.
Now let's have some of our friends come and help us read words with that AR sound.
Are you ready?
Help me call them "friends."
- Hello?
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
- Are you guys ready to help me blend and read and build words?
- Oh, yes.
- Mmhmm, yeah - Awesome.
Remember, this is a review week, we've already learned the sound but we can always practice can't we?
[Friends] Mmhmm - So remember our sound this week is the - AR - Like a pirate - And how do we spell that AR sound?
- [All] A,R - There's only one way to spell that AR sound.
So help me blend these words together.
Can you guys help me?
- Yeah.
- Okay, ready?
This says - [All] B AR K, bark.
(a friend barks) (all laughing) Oh, men that was a lot of bark, - I was thinking about a tree.
(crosstalk) - There are those multiple meaning words, it sounds the same, it spell the same, but it different meanings.
Good thinking.
Okay, let's go to the next word.
The next word says - [All] Sm AR t, - Smart, - Smart.
- Oh, oh yes, cause we're very smart.
- Smart.
- You guys are smart.
Now, if I that, Sm, what's my word?
- That's the word art, - [All] Art, art, art.
- Good job.
- Yeah.
- Did you guys see that in there?
There was art and smart art - Look at all these little words that are inside - Mmhmm - Okay, let's keep going.
This is - [All] S t AR, star.
- Hey, like the star card.
- That's right.
Okay, Let's keep going.
This one says - [All] Art, chart - Chart.
- Chart, like we have a chart, - Chart - here to hold our letters, just like that.
- That's it.
- Awesome.
Okay.
- Did you see art in chart (Mrs. Vang gasping) - Oh, that's a good eye, (crosstalk) you can see it?
There it's did you see it?
- Miss Vang I saw the word tar in star.
- There you go, good observation.
- Oh, that's good eyes.
- Look at you guys so smart.
Smart, so smart.
Okay.
Now help me build a word.
- Okay.
- Are you guys ready?
Okay What if I wanted to build the word sharp?
(gasps) Ooh, how do I spell sharp?
Sharp.
Segmenta if you need to.
- Okay, so it's gonna start with the, like the shell cards.
- Yep.
- The SH - Good job, the SH says - [Friends] Shhh aaaarrr, - That's the AR - Good job.
- Shar- what's that final sound?
- P - Oh, that's the letter P - Good job, so sharp is spelled S H A R P, sharp.
- Sharp.
- Sharp.
- How did you do at home?
Awesome job.
Okay, thank you, friends for helping us blend and read and build.
I'm gonna have my super readers at home, help me read the sentence and I'll see you guys tomorrow.
- Okay, we'll see you tomorrow - Yeah, we'll see you tomorrow - Okay, bye.
Okay, super readers, it's your turn.
Help me read this sentence and think about how many AR words you can find, ready?
Okay.
Can a shark live in a barn on a farm?
(gasps) How did you do?
Good job.
Boys and girls, Can I far, can a shark live on, live in a barn on a barn?
No, that was a silly sentence, wasn't it?
You guys are doing such a great job now.
Let's go see what high frequency words are you gonna be learning today with Mrs. Hammack?
- Good morning, super readers.
All right.
Remember we are reviewing, so we have another word to review today.
Let's take a look at all of them, just for practice, okay?
All right here we go.
Thought, right, through, knew, above and sure.
How'd you do?
Do you remember them?
Now, remember high frequency words are those words that we need to know, (snapping fingers) as fast as we know our name, so that we can use our brain power, to sound out some of those other words.
So if some of these words are difficult for you, I want you to make sure you write them down and practice them a lot.
Today we're gonna focus on this word right here.
This word is right.
R I G H T. Do you see that long I pattern.
I G H?
Yeah, that might help you remember, right.
And let's see what it looks like in a sentence.
I use my, right, hand to hold my pencil.
Did you do okay?
Great.
Now I want you to practice any of the words, that we've practiced, that you're still having trouble with.
Maybe you have trouble reading it or writing it.
That's a signal to you that you need to practice it a little bit more.
But right now we're going to listen to a story called "Dear Primo", and I want you to listen very carefully, because Mrs. Nix, has some things she's gonna ask you when we come back, I'll see you after that.
- [Narrator] Genre, realistic fiction.
Dear Primo, A Letter to My Cousin by Duncan Tonatiuh.
Score!
I just got a letter from my Primo, my cousin Carlitos.
I live in America, but he lives in Mexico, where my family is from.
Maybe someday, we'll meet.
(smooth music) Dear Primo Charlie, how are you?
Do you wonder like me what life is like far away?
I live on a farm, surrounded by mountains and trees.
My family grows many things, such as maiz.
We have a burro, pollos and a gallo.
Every morning the gallo crows and crows.
Picture labels, gallo, maiz, burro, pollos Dear Primo Carlitos, I live in a city.
From my window I can see a bridge, and cars zooming by.
I can see skyscrapers too.
Skyscrapers are buildings so tall they tickle the clouds.
At night all the lights from the city look like stars from the sky.
(smooth music) Every morning I ride my bicicleta to school.
I ride it past the perros and past a nopal I ride the subway to school.
The subway is like a long metal snake, and it travels through tunnels underground.
Picture labels, nopal, perros.
(smooth music) At recess time, I play football.
My friend passes me the ball.
I kick it with my foot and if I score, I yell goal.
I play basketball.
My friend dribbles the ball and passes it to me.
I jump and shoot.
The ball goes swish, nothing but net.
(smooth music) When I come home from school, I help my mom cook.
My favorite meal is quesadillas.
I make them with cheese and tortillas.
Picture labels quesadillas, tortillas.
In America we have lots of different foods.
My favorite is pizza.
I like getting a slice on my way home from school.
After I finish my homework, my mom lets me go outside and play.
In Mexico we have many games, like trompos and canicas, Picture labels, trompos, canicas.
(smooth music) My favorite game is papalotes.
My friends and I run and run, and with a little wind, we fly the papalote high up.
Picture label papalote.
When I finish my homework, I play with my friends from the building.
We play by the stoop and in each other's apartments too.
I like going over to my friends' home to play video games In the afternoon it often gets hot to cool off I jump in a small rio that is nearby.
Picture label rio.
In the summer the city gets hot too.
I like getting splashed by the fire hydrant when the firefighters open it up and close off the block On the weekend, I go with my parents to the mercado, an open-air market in the town nearby.
We sell maiz and tuna, a prickly fruit that we grow.
We also buy the food and other things we need.
picture labels, maiz, tunas.
On the weekend I go with my mom to the supermarket.
She brings a list- milk toothpaste, soap, and I check off the items as we put them in our cart.
In the town from time to time they have fiestas, that last two or three days.
At night, there are cohetes that light up the sky and mariachis that play and play .
Picture labels cohetes, mariachis.
In my city sometimes we have parades.
People in costumes and uniforms march down the street, and everyone gathers around to watch.
There are charros in Mexico that I wish you could see.
They do tricks with their caballos and reatas.
Picture labels, charros, reata, caballo.
On the streets here you can see break dancers who do flips and spin on their heads.
In Mexico we have so many traditions, such as the Dia de los Muertos, The Day of the Dead.
My favorite tradition is attending the December parties called Posadas.
At the end of each Posada there is a pinata filled with fruit and sweets.
When someone breaks it, we all get to jump in.
Picture label pinata.
(smooth music) In America we of traditions too, such as Thanksgiving, when we eat turkey and Halloween, when we dress up and go trick or treating.
But I have to stop writing now.
My mom just told me I have to brush my teeth and go to bed.
I have an idea.
My Primo should come visit me.
My Primo should come visit me.
- Wasn't that an awesome story.
And it was really interesting to look at, all of the illustrations as the story was being told.
Today, I want us to talk a little bit about what that author is doing for us and some of the clues that the author is providing us because even the pictures can tell part of the story.
Here's today's question that we're gonna answer.
How do the illustrations teach you about the cousins?
What did we learn when we looked at the illustrations?
So I want us to look at the illustrations right up here, I've got these two pages printed out for us.
And what is the same in both of these pictures?
and what is different?
So what do we see that's the same?
And what do we see that's different?
This is a great strategy, to help us organize our thoughts.
So when we look, we can see in both pictures we see a picture of the cousins, right?
Of the two boys.
So both of the cousins are each of the pictures.
What else do we see that's the same in both?
What are they doing?
In both of these pictures they're both buying food, right?
So they're both shopping.
This one's in an outside market and this one's in an inside market, but they're both buying food.
Great.
Now, what do we notice that's different?
What do you see that's different?
Well, they both have different clothing.
You can see the boys here have sandals, and the cousin on this side he's wearing tennis shoes and he's got a hat, baseball cap.
They look a little different, right?
They're dressed differently.
We were able to see that in our illustration.
We also can see that the food and that the markets also are different.
You can tell that these markets are outside and we read a little bit about how that they were outside.
Whereas this market is on the inside.
And we have a lot of foods that are in packages and their boxed up.
Whereas the food over here is straight from a garden, looks a little different, right?
So what did the illustrations teach us?
So the illustrations, can teach me, that the cousins both do the same kinds of things, but they can do 'em in different ways, right?
Cuz they really can, they can do things in very, different ways.
All right.
Today, we're gonna take some of what we've been practicing here and talking about, and we're gonna apply it, to our writing prompt today.
Now today's writing prompt says, how does the author show that Carlito and Charlie are similar even though they live in different countries?
So, what's the question asking us?
How does the author show that they are Ooh, similar?
What is similar mean?
That's right?
Similar means the same.
So we're looking for things that are the same, kind of like what we just did on our chart, where we were finding things that were the same and different, but this time we wanna talk about what's the same, between the two boys, the two cousins, even though they live in different countries.
How did the author help us with that?
All right.
I'm gonna call our friends to come and help us kind of talk about it.
And we've got an introductory sentence and maybe we can get them to help read so.
(friend braying) Oh my God.
Hello, Miss Rita, how are you today?
- I'm fine thank you.
- Excellent.
And Ricky - Hi Mrs. Nix - Hi, Hey, we didn't see you yesterday, we're so excited that you're back.
- I was on vacation, cause I visited my cousin, Miss Ronda I guess that I love the story, you know why?
Cause it's about cousin.
Did you know that Primo means cousin?
So I was visiting my cousin.
(Ricky laughing) - I love it.
That's great, that's great.
Now, the cousins that we were learning about are Carlitos and Charlie, and that they're very similar in many ways even though they live, live in different countries.
But we're really looking for even not just how they're similar but what did the author do in the text that helped us and gave us some clues.
Can you guys help us out with some of that?
- Mmhmm.
- Yeah.
- What had you seen?
- I love when we do this cuz it helps us to think like an author.
- It sure does.
- And I notice that he used the illustrations to to show ways that they were similar, and even some of the ways they're different.
- Absolutely.
Yeah, the illustrations definitely helped.
So the author uses illustrations to show the boys doing similar activities.
Just like what we talked about, like buying food at a market because the both boys were in the market.
Right?
- Yep.
- All right.
Great job.
I love it.
Thank you.
So using illustrations, Ricky, do you have an idea?
- I do.
I, I saw the author and guess what?
She used some, they used words like, like she used the words.
I, I have an idea and they both said at the same time.
- They did remember how the words were written right across one page, even though they were supposed to be in different countries.
- Yeah That was cool.
- Yeah.
So the author uses the words like I have an idea to show that they had the same idea at the same time, but that they didn't live in the same country.
That's amazing.
- That was so clever - Yap - Thank you guys so much.
You know what else is amazing?
This book talk, we'll see you in a second.
Bye.
- My name is Olivia Huff and I will be telling you about this scrape a called, "How to Catch a Mermaid."
It's when some kids think they see a mermaid so they try to catch it.
This is one of my favorite pages.
When one of the, they think a clam will catch her because when she sees the shinny brand new necklace, they think she's going to grab it.
And then clam will snap on her, but she switched it with the rock.
This is another favorite page.
This is when, they think that if they play a funky beat, the mermaid will come and they'll catch her.
But this is, But instead she saves 'em from the sharks cuz it attracts sharks.
This page is my favorite because even though they're trying to catch her, she's still nice back.
So if you want to see what happens in the end of this book, get it at your library.
Thank you for coming to Valley PB kids.
Thank you.
Bye.
- That was Fantastic.
- Ooh, thank you Olivia.
- Fantastic.
Absolutely.
- I still haven't even read that book yet.
- I know I need to do that.
- [All] Mmhmm.
(speaking gibberish) - Great job for you today.
- You too.
- All right Ricky we are ready - Okay.
Why do you spell dark with a K instead of that C?
- Hmm.
I don't know if I've ever really thought about that.
Why would you smell dark?
- I don't know, I'm not sure.
- Yeah, why?
(chuckles) - Cause you can't see in a dark.
(chuckles) - Ooh, no - You can't C (Mrs. Hammack laughing) Oh, oh you're so silly.
- You're very clever.
Very clever.
- That was awesome.
Hey, thanks for watching Valley PBS today, we can't wait to see you back here tomorrow.
- That's right.
- Take care and make sure you're reading a book.
We'll see ya.
- [All] Bye.
Bye.
(cheerful music)
Reading Explorers is a local public television program presented by Valley PBS