For Teachers

Curriculum Guide for Cheep! Cheep!

 
Cheep! Cheep! tells the story of a chick who has been separated from his family and how the family is reunited. Three little chicks are fast asleep until… cheep! cheep! Who could be making all that noise? The story is told with simple one-word rhymes.

 
Background: Julie Stiegemeyer is a full-time writer living in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She loves to play with words and find stories in rhymes.

Reading Activities:

• Discuss the use of rhyme in poetry. Discuss "perfect" rhymes such as "cheep" and "leap," and words that sound similar, such as "breath" and "left."
• For younger grades, define syllable. How many syllables do the words in Cheep! Cheep! have?
• Challenge students to find rhymes with difficult words. Is there anything that rhymes with "orange"? Can you list at least five words that rhyme with "moon"? What about multi-syllable words, like "library"?
• Discuss the basic elements of story: who are the characters in Cheep! Cheep!? Can students describe the plot in one sentence?

Writing Activities:

• Have students try to write an entire story using one-word rhymes.
• Discuss the process of writing. Writing begins with an idea (a seed), grows into a rough draft, is watered and continues to grow with revision, and finally blooms into a final draft. Use the garden or flower motif for a bulletin board showing the process of writing.
• After reading Cheep! Cheep!, can you continue the story? What could happen next for the chicks?

Science Connections:

• Using a book such as The Little Duck by Judy Dunn, explain the growth of a duckling from an egg to adulthood.
• Discuss springtime. What happens in the spring? What can you describe of the springtime using all of your senses?
• For younger grades, introduce words such as habitat to students to help them understand the environment and homes of different animals. Study the habitat of chickens, ducks, and other birds.
• How do the various animals interact with others? How are animals of one species connected to each other?

Art Connections

• Make your own "cheeps" by creating pom-poms out of yarn.
• Draw a picture of what you think the cheeps' chicken coop might look like.
• Try to tell a story with pictures only. Show the story to partners and have your partner describe what happens.