Curious George Goes to the Hospital by H.A. Rey - Teaching Ideas

Of all the Curious George books, this is my favorite. The illustrations of George in this book are so darn adorable! I love the page of him walking up the stairs to the hospital, holding his little ball and the page where he is going to get a shot...priceless.

In this 1966 book, George has a stay in the hospital because of an upset stomach. Now lets face it, the hospital in 1966 was much different than the hospital of today, which makes this a fun book to read.

Again, here are a list of reading skills and strategies, and some ideas to help you come up with a great lesson for your students.

If you haven't yet seen the FREE questioning download, there will be a link at the bottom of this post to get your free copy.

Also, the activity packet is available...see the pictures below as well.

Reading level: 2.6

Theme: Curiosity

Genre: Humorous Fiction

Suggested Vocabulary: stethoscope, barium, children's ward, blood transfusion, record player

Reading skills and strategies:

• asking questions - {possible questions before} I wonder why George goes to the hospital? Is George scared going to the hospital? {possible questions during} I wonder why Betsy was so sad? {possible questions after} I wonder why Betsy was in the hospital?
• author's point of view - third person point of view
• author's purpose - entertain {evidence} George put on a puppet show using both his arms and legs. George sat on a record player and went spinning around and flew off. George went riding through the hospital in a go cart and ran into everything, making a huge mess. All these things are silly and make the story entertaining.
• beginning, middle, end - {most important event from beginning} George ate a puzzle piece and had to go to the hospital to get it removed. {most important event from middle} George makes friends with all the kids in the hospital. {most important event from end} George makes Betsy laugh.
• cause and effect - Why did George have to go to the hospital? because he swallowed a puzzle piece and did not feel good. Why did George start crying? because he was sad that the man with the yellow hat had to leave him at the hospital. Why did Betsy smile for the first time? because George had a puppet show using all 4 of his hands at the same time. Why did George jump into the go-cart? because Steve was not using it, he was taking his first steps. Why did George not get into trouble for making such a big mess at the hospital? because he made Betsy laugh and laugh which she hadn't done in a long, long time.
• characterization - describe George {looks like, feelings, thoughts, character}
• compare & contrast - any of the Curious George books or a hospital of today with a hospital of the past.
• connections - {possible text-to-self connections} Swallowing something you shouldn't have. Going to the hospital. Being scared at the hospital. {possible text-to-text connections} connect to any of the Curious George books
• fact & opinion - {facts} George swallows a puzzle piece. George gets admitted to the hospital. George gets a shot. George gave a puppet show. George landed in the Mayor's arms.  {opinions} The hospital is a scary place. Getting a shot hurts. Puppet shows are funny. Record players make good merry-go-rounds.
• plot - the turning point in the story was when George took Steve's go-cart and wheeled himself all over the hospital.
• predict - Why do you think George goes to the hospital. How do you think the doctors are going to get the puzzle piece out of George? How do you think George felt when the man with the yellow hat had to leave him at the hospital? What do you think is going to happen when George jumps into the go-cart?
• sequencing -  George finds the puzzle box and opens it up. George eats one of the puzzle pieces. George does not feel good so the man with the yellow hat takes him to the doctor. They take an x-ray of George's stomach. The man with the yellow hat admits George to the hospital so they can take out the puzzle piece. George gets sad when the man with the yellow hat has to leave the hospital. George takes a pill and gets a shot. George goes to the operating room. George wakes up and feels better. George goes to the children's play room. George does a puppet show for all the kids. George gets taken back to his bed for a nap. When George wakes up Steve is taking his first steps. George jumps in Steve's go-cart. George takes off in the go-cart. George goes too fast and runs into the lunch cart and falls out of the cart and into the Mayor's arms. George is about to get into trouble but Betsy starts laughing and everyone is happy that she is laughing. George and the man with the yellow hat go home. The nurse brings George a gift. When George gets home he opens the gift and it is the puzzle piece they took out of his stomach. 
• story elements - list title, author, character's, setting, beginning, middle, end, or problem & solution.

IT'S FREE!!

ACTIVITY PACKET BELOW
 

In the activity packet above, to go along with this book, there is a number recognition activity, numbers 1-20 plus a recording sheet.

Click here to see ALL the preview pictures of this fun packet.

Happy reading!

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Curious George Gets a Medal by: H.A. Rey - Teaching Ideas

In this 1957 Curious George book  George, and the reader, is taken on quite an adventure. He not only gets to ride on the back of a cow, he takes a trip to a museum and rides into space in a spaceship! Your students will love all the mischief that George gets into in this book and, in the end, will see George get a medal for doing something so brave.

The below skills and strategies will help you create a lesson your students will really enjoy. Don't forget about the FREE questioning download I have available as well as the packet of awesome activities.

Reading level: 3.1

Theme: Curiosity

Genre: Humorous Fiction

Suggested Vocabulary: fountain pen, funnel, blotter, tap (faucet), lather, slipped inside, sway, bail out

Reading skills and strategies:

• author's point of view - third person point of view.
• author's purpose - entertain {evidence} George filled the house with lots of bubbles. George was riding on a cow pulling a pump and George stood frozen in the museum pretending to be a stuffed monkey. All of these things are silly which makes the book entertaining.
• beginning, middle, end - {most important event from beginning} {most important event from middle} {most important event from end}
• cause and effect - Why did George want to write a letter? because he couldn't read the letter that was delivered. Why was George riding on a cow? because he was trying to have the cow drag the pump to his house so he could pump out the water from his house. Why did George go to the museum? because the truck he jumped in went to the library. Why did the tree in the museum fall down? because George was trying to pick the nuts and he tugged too hard. Why was Professor Wiseman going to send George to the zoo? because they though he ran away from the zoo. Why did Professor Wiseman ask George to go in the space ship? because it was too small for a man but a perfect size for a monkey. Why was everyone waiting anxiously? because they didn't see that George ejected from the space ship. Why did George get a medal? because he was the first living thing to come back to earth from space.
• characterization - describe George {looks like, feelings, thoughts, character}
• compare & contrast - Curious George Gets a Medal and Curious George Rides a Bike.
• connections - {possible text-to-self connections} Spilling something and trying to clean it up.  Going to a museum. Winning a medal for something you did. {possible text-to-text connections} Connect this book to any of the Curious George books.
• drawing conclusions & inferencing - {text clues} {what I know} {my conclusion}
• fact & opinion - {facts} George lives with the man in the yellow hat. George spilled ink on the floor. The room was filled with lather. George rode on the back of a cow. George pretended to be a stuffed monkey. George got a medal. {opinions} George was a good little monkey. George is a thief. The farmers were very angry at George. The pump was heavy. George was excited to go in the space ship.
• plot - the turning point in the story is when the man with the yellow hat finds George at the museum and reads him a letter.
• predict - Why do you think George will get a medal? What do you think the letter says? What do you think will happen if George tries to fill the ink pen? What do you think will happen if George puts water on all that powdered soap? Who do you think George will get to help him move the pump? Do you think the farmers will catch George? What do you think Professor Wiseman will do with George after he knocked down the dinosaur display?  Do you think George will choose to go in the space ship? Will George pull the lever and get out of the space ship?
• sequencing - The mailman delivered a letter. George wanted to write a letter. George spilled ink on the floor. George poured powdered soap on the ink. George put water on the soap and made a bunch of lather. George was going to shovel out the lather but it was gone. George needed a pump to pump out the water from the house. The pump was too heavy for George so he tried to get a goat to help him. The goat knocked George over to the pig pen. George let out all the pigs. George got a cow to help move the pump. The farmers had to gather all the pigs that George let out. George and the cow tried to run away from the farmers. George jumped into a truck that was going to the museum. George saw a lot of animals that were stuffed. George tried to pick some nuts from a tree and the dinosaur and tree fell over. The museum guards caught George and were sending him back to the zoo. The man in the yellow hat came running in and told George about Professor Wiseman's letter. George agreed to go in the spaceship. George took a long time to pull the handle to escape from the space ship. George parachuted down from space. When George landed he received a medal. 
• story elements - list title, author, character's, setting, beginning, middle, end, or problem & solution.

  

IT'S FREE!!

ACTIVITY PACKET BELOW

For this book I created a writing activity. It is a super cute activity (pictured above) where you can use the prompt I provide in the packet, or you can have them write about what you want. Here is what it could look like when done.

$ PACKET $

Click here to see ALL the preview pictures of this packet.

Coming soon, Curious George Goes to the Hospital

Happy reading!

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Curious George Rides a Bike by H.A. Rey - Teaching Ideas

In this 1952 book George shows off his bicycle tricks which lands him a spot in the animal show. He is so excited to be in the show, but his curiosity gets the better of him which results in him being cut. Bad little monkey aren't aloud to perform. George is so sad, but never fear, he saves a baby bear that escapes from his cage. His bravery and quick thinking have him back on his bike performing in front of the entire town, even the man with the yellow hat.

Lots of skills and strategies to help you create a lesson your students will love!

If you need a little extra help, I have a free questioning activity available and a whole packet of stuff just ready to help you out!

Reading level: 2.9

Theme: Curiosity

Genre: Humorous Fiction

Suggested Vocabulary: wild bronco, fleet, admiral, jolt, fanfare, bugle

Reading skills and strategies:

• asking questions - {possible questions before} Where does George get the bike? Where did George learn to ride a bike? {possible questions during} How did George learn how to make a boat? Why did the man with the yellow hat go to the animal show without George?  {possible questions after} Was George sad to leave the show?
• author's point of view - third person point of view
• author's purpose - entertain {evidence} George could ride his bicycle backwards. All the frogs and ducks got into the boats that George made. The ostrich was making horn noises because the horn was half way down its throat. All these things are silly and make the story entertaining.
• beginning, middle, end - {most important event from beginning} The two men from the animal show found George and asked him to be in the show. {most important event from middle} George alerted everyone that the baby bear was out and on the loose. {most important event from end} They asked George to be back in the show because he saved the baby bears life.
• cause and effect - Why was it a special day? because it had been three years since the man with the yellow hat took George home from the jungle. Why could George do all sorts of tricks on his bicycle? because monkey's are good at that. Why did George not deliver the papers to the other side of the street? because he wanted to know what the river was like. Why did George make boats with the rest of the papers? because he thought it would be fun to have a boat of his own. Why did George's front wheel on his bicycle get out of shape? because he was watching the boats and not the road and he hit a rock. Why did the two men stop and take George with them? because they wanted George to ride his bike and do tricks in their animal show. Why did George give the ostrich his bugle? because he was curious if the ostrich would eat it. Why did the men tell George he had to go home? because George was a naughty monkey and naughty monkeys couldn't be in the show. Why did George sound the bugle? because the baby monkey got out. Why was George let back in the show? because he saved the baby bear.
• characterization - describe George {looks like, feelings, thoughts, character}
• compare & contrast - two of the Curious George books
• connections - {possible text-to-self connections} Getting a new bike. Being able to do tricks on your bike. Being able to make a paper boat. Doing something good that makes everyone very happy. {possible text-to-text connections} connect this book to any of the Curious George books.
• drawing conclusions & inferencing - How do you think George felt after saving the baby bear? {text clues} George has a smile on his face as he is handing the baby bear down. The book also says that everybody cheered and then the men let George back into the show. {what I know} If I do something good and people cheer and are happy then I feel very proud. {my conclusion} I think George felt very happy and proud that he saved the baby bear.
• fact & opinion - {facts} It had been three years since the man in the yellow hat brought George home. George knew how to ride a bike. George and the man with the yellow hat were going to see the animal show. The wheel on George's bike got bent. George lowered the baby bear down in the newspaper sack. George got to ride his bike in the animal show. {opinions} Three years is a long time. George is the best at doing tricks on a bicycle. It is a lot of fun sailing boats. Ostrich's are mean. George is very smart.
• plot - the turning point in the story was when George alerted everyone that the baby bear escaped from his cage.
• predict - What do you think George will do on his bicycle? Do you think George will keep close to the house like the man told him to? Do you think George will do a good job delivering all of the papers? What do you think George will do with the papers he didn't deliver? What do you think George will do with is broken bike? Do you think George will try to feed the ostrich? Do you think George will still be in the show? If so, what will he do to be in the show? Do you think George can save the baby bear? How? Do you think George will miss the show?
• problem & solution - {problem} George was a naughty monkey because he fed the bugle to the ostrich, now he can't be in the show. {solution} George is able to be in the show because he helps save the baby bear.
• sequencing - It is a very special day and the man with the yellow hat gives George a bicycle. 
• story elements - list title, author, character's, setting, beginning, middle, end, or problem & solution.

Click here it get this FREE questioning download (be advised, this download has the sheets for all for of the Curious George books I have reviewed, so you only need to download it once.) 

IT'S FREE!!

ACTIVITY PACKET BELOW

For this book I created a science inquiry activity included in the above packet (shown in the picture below). Students will follow the boat building instructions in the book and then test to see if their ability to follow directions resulted in a boat that can float.

 $ PACKET $

Click here to see ALL the preview pages for the packet.


Coming soon Curious George Gets a Medal.


Happy reading!

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Curious George by H.A. Rey - Teaching Ideas

Curious George has got to be the cutest monkey out there! He is lovable and oh so curious. This 1941 classic still brings joy to children today, however I did just read that people are wanting to "ban" this book from children because George smokes a pipe. I am not sure that most children even know what a pipe is?!? The way I see it, this would be a great opportunity to talk about "NO SMOKING", but most kids I know would be the first ones to talk about how bad smoking is. Regardless of the smoking, this is a great story.

This story has George being found by the man in the yellow hat and then taken to the zoo. Along the way curious little George gets into a bit of trouble. He tricks the fire departments and gets thrown in jail because of that. He soon escapes from jail and floats over the city with the help of a bunch of balloons that he has taken from a balloon guy. George finally lands on a traffic light, which causes all sorts of problems with the traffic below, but to his relief, the man with the yellow hat is there to save him.

This book is a great stand alone read aloud but there are many teaching opportunities as well. I hope the below information gives you some ideas and questions to create a memorable lesson.

If by chance you are too busy and need a little extra help I have created a few activities to help make your planning a bit easier.

Reading level: 2.4

Theme: Curiosity

Genre: Humorous Fiction

Suggested Vocabulary: Africa, overboard, life belt, fascinated, watchman, whisked, gusts

Reading skills and strategies:

• asking questions - {possible questions before} What will George be curious about? What kind of trouble will George get into in this book? {possible questions during} Why did the man with the yellow hat take George away from his home? Did the man with the yellow hat know George got arrested? Can the firemen really put someone in jail for calling when there is no fire? {possible questions after} Will George get in trouble because he escaped from jail?
• author's point of view - third person point of view
• author's purpose - entertain{evidence} George was in jail, monkeys don't get put in jail. George flew through the sky with a bunch of balloons, that never happens. George smoked a pipe after dinner, monkeys don't smoke. All these things are silly so the story is entertaining.
• beginning, middle, end - {most important event from beginning}George was taken from the jungle to the man with the yellow hat's home. {most important event from middle} George escaped from jail. {most important event from end} The man with the yellow hat found George floating through the air. He collected him and then delivered him to the zoo.
• cause and effect - Why did the man with the yellow hat take George from his home? because he thought he was  a nice little monkey. Why did George fall into the ocean? because he tried to fly like the birds. Why did the Fire Department come to the house? because George played with the phone and dialed the Fire Department. Why did George get put in jail? because he fooled the Fire Department. Why was George able to escape from jail? because the watchman was trying to get George off of the window and the bench tipped up and the watchman fell over. Why was George floating through the air? because he grabbed a bunch of balloons and the wind whisked him away. Why was George frightened? because he was floating higher and higher over the city. Why did the traffic get all mixed up? because George landed on the top of the traffic light. Why did the man with the yellow hat take George to the zoo. because that was George's new home.
• characterization - describe George {looks like, feelings, thoughts, character}
• compare & contrast - compare and contrast the zoo and the jungle.
• connections - {possible text-to-self connections} Moving from one place to another. Accidentally calling the Fire Department (911).
• drawing conclusions & inferencing - How did George feel about living in the zoo? {text clues} The story says that the zoo was a nice place for George to live. The story also shows George smiling while in the zoo. {what I know} If someplace is a nice place to live and it makes you smile then I think I would be happy to live there. {my conclusion} I think George was happy living in the zoo.
• fact & opinion - {Facts} George got caught by the man in the yellow hat. George was a curious monkey. George was sad that he was leaving his home. George fell overboard. George called the Fire Department. {Opinions} George was a naughty monkey. Jail is a sad place to be. Monkeys like to have fun. George was a thief. George is afraid of heights.
• main idea & details - {main idea} George is a curious monkey. {details} George was curious about the yellow hat. George was curious about the phone. George was curious about the balloons.
• plot - the turning point in the story was when George escaped from jail and grabbed the handful of balloons, floated across the sky and landed on the traffic signal.
• predict - Do you think the man with the yellow hat will capture George? What kind of trouble do you think George will cause on the ship? Do you think George will fall into the water? Who do you think George called on the phone? What will happen to George when the Fire Department gets there? Will George ever get out of jail? What do you think will happen to the balloons? Will George ever come down from floating in the air? Where is the man with the yellow hat going to take George?
• problem & solution - {problem} George is a curious little monkey that causes many problems. {solution} Put George in the zoo to live.
• sequencing - The man with the yellow hat catches George. George and the man with the yellow hat go back to the ship. George falls off the ship and then gets saved. George and the man get off the boat and go to the mans house. George ate dinner, smoked a pipe and got very tired. George went to bed. George played with the phone and called the Fire Department. The Fire Department came to the house and arrested George for tricking them. George escaped from jail. George grabbed a bunch of balloons and floated over the city. George landed on the traffic light. The man in the yellow hat grabbed George and took him to the zoo.
• story elements - list title, author, character's, setting, beginning, middle, end, or problem & solution. 
• summarize- {someone}The man in the yellow hat {wanted} wanted to take George home to the zoo {but} but George got himself put into jail {so} so he  had to escape. {then} After he escaped he took a handful of balloons and landed on a traffic light.{finally} The man in the yellow hat finally got George to the zoo. 

Here is a freebie packet for reading strategy Questioning. The packet contains questioning pages for the books Curious George, Curious George Rides a Bike, Curious George Gets a Medal and Curious George Goes to the Hospital.

IT'S FREE!!

 

I have also created a packet (for the 4 books listed above) that includes:

• Characterization
• Summarizing
• Text to Self Connections
• Text to Text Connections
• Short answer comprehension
• True false comprehension
• Story Map
• Vocabulary cards
• 1 writing activity
• 1 number recognition 1-20
• 1 science inquiry
• 1 write the room activity

For this book the special activity I created is the Fire Safety Write the Room with word find sheet - pictured above. This activity can be used during your fire safety unit, or just as a supplemental activity to use with this book. There are 12 fire safety word that your students will need to find in your room and then record them on the word find sheet. Once they have found all the words they will then search for them in the word find. FUN!

 $ PACKET $

Coming soon, Curious George Rides a Bike.


Happy reading!

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