Book Review
by Kathy Porter
Moms! School is out and it’s up to you to prepare your darling’s brains for the coming school year. Reading activities on this website will help your child stay on track (pun intended). Woot! Woot!
This charming story was written in 1930 and is still relevant today. A train ran out of energy when it was loaded with goods for the children who lived on the other side of a steep hill. No other train wanted to make the journey. The only choice left was a humble, small blue engine. When asked, he said, “I think I can.” He struggled up the hill but kept repeating, “I think I can.” Finally he made it to the top and the rest was downhill. He self-affirmed himself by repeating, “I thought I could.” This timeless message is that hard work and tenacity prevails.
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Activity
This train and track activity encourages children to either write their names in each space between tracks or another word.
Supplies:
Activity sheets, Scissors, Gluestick or Tape, Crayons or Markers, pencils, and Blue paper
Directions:
- This train and track activity encourages children to either write their names in each space between tracks or another word.
- Cut the tracks apart on the horizontal lines. Glue or tape more track squares together if needed.
- Color the rectangles brown, or creatively, for the tracks. Leave the squares blank.
- In each square, either write the letters of the child’s name lightly with pencil and have the child say and trace the letters of their name. Or, let the child look at their name on the train and write the letters on their own. Before they write their name, have them say, “I think I can write my name.”
- When they finish, have them say, “I thought I could write my name and I did."
Different Variations:
- Write a vocabulary word on the train, project it if you are in a classroom, and have each child copy it, letter by letter on the track squares. They can say, “I think I can write train.” (Or whatever is the chosen word) Then say, “I thought I could write train and I did!”
- For extra math practice, you could have them draw shapes in the track rectangles.
Author: Kathy Porter
Kathy received a Masters degree in Education with a Reading Emphasis from U of U. She spent twenty-two years as a school library teacher. Books are her thing. When she retired from public school, she high-tailed it to China and taught English at Qingdao University, in Qingdao; HKRondo in Weihai; and Jiaotong U in Xi’an. She's also a mom to her foster daughter and Nana Extraordinaire to her foster daughter's adorable girls.