Eek! There's a Mouse in the House

Lesson one of two:

• Read the EEK! There is a Mouse in the House by Wong Herbert Yee. In this book, a girl allows many animals into the house to chase a lively mouse which is dashing after a hunk of Swiss cheese. It is filled with rhyming words and predictable language patterns which are preliteracy skills that are important for students to learn for future success with reading.

• Sort rhyming toys and/or cards ending in the speech sound of "t" in the ending of words, e.g, "hat," "bat," "hot," "caught," etc. The teacher will use the picture of a turtle from the sound map from Tools of the Mind (TOM) to represent the letter "t", e.g., this symbol is used in preschool. The picture of Timothy Tiger from Zoophonics will be used for kindergarten students. The students will name the toys that end in "ot" and "at." Then, the teacher will mix the toys together and have the students sort the toys in piles of similar rhyming words by saying the

• words with the student, e.g., "hat/cat" or "hot/cat"; "hat/pot" or "hot/pot."

• Complete the story extension of, "The elephant got out of the house by ....." Story extensions teach students to predict what will happen next. This develops problem solving strategies and creative thinking skills.

Lesson two of two:

• The students will help the teacher read the book. They will predict which animal will be sent next to shoo the mouse away. Then, they will use the phrase of "Send in the _______ (animal)."By responding in unison, the children can say the sentence fluently.

• Sort rhyming toys and/or cards ending in the speech sound of "t" in the ending of words, e.g, "hat," "bat," "hot," "caught," etc. The teacher will use the picture of a turtle from the sound map from Tools of the Mind (TOM) to represent the letter "t". The students will name the toys that end in "ot" and "at." Then, the teacher will mix the toys together and have the students sort the toys in piles of similar rhyming words by saying the

• words with the student, e.g., "hat/cat" or "hot/cat"; "hat/pot" or "hot/pot."

• The teacher will ask the students to think of a way to get the mouse out of the house. Then, each student will complete a unique story extension of, "I got the mouse out of the house by ...." Story extensions teach students to predict what will happen next. This develops problem solving strategies and creative thinking skills.