by Nancy Hundal
INTRODUCE
THE STORY
Display a
pair of children’s rain boots (or a picture of boots).
Ask
students to imagine what kind of adventures/experiences could happen to the
person who
wears the boots, or to the boots themselves.
Who might
own them?
Where does
that person live – in our town/city, or far away?
Are they
brand new or old?
After
discussing these ideas and others that students may have, read the story,
about a
certain pair of boots much like these.
EXAMINE
THE STORY
1. A
metaphor is when one thing is compared to something else by saying that it is
the thing.
Here is a metaphor: The stars are diamonds in the sky. What is the
metaphor
on the first page of this book?
2. What is
the boy splashing through at the water park? What do you think this
means?
3. “My
slippers are old, almost worn out, but they know my feet.” What do you
think this
means?
4. List
two things each that the boy hears, feels and smells.
5. From
each line of words below, circle the word that does not belong.
jacket
mitts face boots
puddles
flakes drops rain
street
slide swings playground
smoke wind
air ocean
sea window
waves shore
6. After
the boy goes down the slide, his jeans are stuck to him “like yesterday’s
soggy
swimsuit.” This is called a simile, where one item is compared to another,
using like
or as. Now write your own similes for the following:
The boy’s
smile was as bright as _______________________
The
penguin waddled like a ___________________________
The rain
came down as quickly as ______________________
Hugging a
hedgehog is like ___________________________
7.Look at
the cover and back of this book, and then scan the illustrations inside.
What is
the main color of the story?
Is this a
good color for a story about a cold month and rain?
Which
other bright color is on almost every page? Why?
8. Imagine
what it is that the rain taps out in its invitation to the boy, at the end of
the
storyWrite your idea of how that invitation might be worded.
EXTEND
THE STORY
1.Imagine
you are the boy in the story. You have been watching at the window at
the end,
and realize that it will probably rain tomorrow. How you feel? What are
your plans
for tomorrow? Does it really rain? Tell your story.
2.This
story is about an item that is common in the month in the title, November.
Fill in
the blank after each of these months with an item would be appropriate for
that
month, and tell in 1 line what that story would be about.
November
__Boots_____about __a boy with new boots looking for rain_
December
____________about _________________________________
August
_______________about _________________________________
April
________________ about _________________________________
September
____________about _________________________________
3.Imagine
that the rain had come in the middle of the story, not the end.
How might
it have been different? What might have happened at the end?
Write your
own story from this new middle to the end.
4.Think of
other ways that the boy might have found water to play in to try out his
new boots.
List at least three.
5.“It’s
November. The trees shiver. The birds shake.” Using the same pattern
(The _________(noun)
___________(verb) ),
Create at
least four other ways to describe November
Then try
it for July.
LINKS
TO OTHER SUBJECTS
SCIENCE
Research
rain and the water cycle
DESIGN
Your own
ideal water park or playground. Draw a map and explain each
feature
briefly. Include features for different ages and abilities.
ART
Paint a
rain scene in the style used by illustrator Marilyn Mets in this book.
Use pale
colors, lots of blues and greens, and include some bright red.
RELATED
BOOKS
About
boots:
Big
Sarah’s Little Boots by Paulette Bourgeois (Kids Can Press,
1987)
Rubber
Boot Day by Mary Lyn Ray (Harcourt Brace, 2000)
Tiger’s
New Cowboy Boots by Irene Morck (Red Deer College
Press, 1996)
About
rain:
It’s
Raining, It’s Pouring by Andrea Spalding (Orca, 2001)
Wet
World by Norma Simon (Candlewick Press, 1954)
Peter
Spier’s Rain by Peter Spier (Doubleday, 1982)
About
November:
In
November by Cynthia Rylant (Harcourt, 2000)
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