Focus on Friday. Read this story on a Friday and talk about the day of the week. For example, you might look at a calendar together and use the words “today, tomorrow and yesterday.” You might say:
“Today is Friday and tomorrow is Saturday. That means no school or work tomorrow.”
Oral Language
Use the picture on the front cover to help your child make a prediction as to what the story might be about. Read the title and the author’s name.
You might say:
“This book is called Happy Belly, Happy Smile. Rachel Isadora wrote the words and drew the pictures. What do you see on the front cover of this book? What do you think this book will be about? Friday is a special day for this boy. Let’s find out why.”
Teach new vocabulary words. Explain or define new words like restaurant, waiter, chef, delivery, chopsticks or fortune cookie.
Letter Knowledge
Use the words in the title to bring attention to letter names. In this title, the word Happy appears twice. This is the perfect opportunity to match letters. Touch the letter H in the word Happy and show your child how you found another letter H in the other word. Do the same with the lowercase a, and then see if your child catches on and can find the letters p and y. If not, that’s okay! You can still bring it to her attention and then move on.
“Look at the words in the title. I see the word ‘Happy.’ Happy begins with the letter H. I see an H here and here. Look, I see the letter ‘a’ here and here. I see the letter p. Do you see a letter p?”