Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Author/Illustrator: Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault/Lois Ehlert

About the Author:

http://www.billmartinjr.com/bill_martin

Bill Martin wrote for almost 60 years and published his first book called The Little Squeegy Bug -- The Story of the Firefly in 1945.  He is the famous author of the classic Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?, and many others.  Martin passed away in 2004 but he will always be considered "America's favorite children's author!"
http://www.johnarchambault.com/
John Archambault wrote this book and dedicated it to his son Arie Alexander Archambault when he was considered to be the "new baby boom boom."  Archambault is a modern day alchemist and is developing a series of Big Books for Childcraft Education Corporation.  These books will incorporate musical CDs with read-aloud and sing-along styles to aid in developing fluency and associations with print for early readers.  This will also make it fun and effective to listen and sing along.  Some of these will include I Love the Mountains, Turtle Song, Grandmother's Garden, The Birth of a Whale, and many others.

Genre: Fiction, English

Grade Level: K-1
Theme: The alphabet

Synopsis:

This book is about all the letters of the alphabet trying to make it up a coconut tree.  All the letters unfortunately fall out because there are too many in the tree and some are injured but in the end letter A dares everyone to climb up again!

Pre Reading Activity:

Activity:

Ask the students to write down the alphabet in their journals to see if they know it.  Then say the alphabet together to get them familiar with the letters before reading the book.

Post Reading Activity:

Activity:
After reading the story, have the students make their own coconut tree using the letters in their name!  Remember to tell them that the letters can be jumbled around the tree but they have to make sure they can tell what their name is! You can use brown construction paper to create a trunk with black X's going down the trunk, brown construction paper to create the coconuts, and green construction paper to make 4 leaves by rounding them at the ends so they look like an elongated oval.  You will also need foam letters or sticker letters for the children to use. 

Reflection:

I think this is a great book to use because it rhymes and repeats and students will easily be able to say the famous phrase "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom will there be enough room?"  They will have fun learning the alphabet in a creative way and be able to create their own coconut trees using different letters or even their names!