(upbeat music) ♪ Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack ♪ - Oh, hi.

Hey, the boys and, the campers are here, we gotta, we gotta get started, okay?

You wait here, wait here for me, I'm gonna come back in just a minute.

Wait there.

- Hey, welcome to Camp Read-A-Lot.

I'm Mrs. Hammack and I am so excited that you're here at camp.

Camp is a time for fun.

We're gonna learn and do all kinds of fun things.

We're gonna spend our days reading and talking and singing and learning and enjoying all kinds of activities together that will help you become a strong reader.

Parents, if your kids read six books this summer, that will help them to keep all of the learning that they got in the school year.

They won't go backwards at all in their progress.

So, that's really a, that's easy, right?

It's as simple as that.

Six books this summer.

Have them read.

If you want to read more than six, that's even better.

All right, campers, are you ready for our song?

♪ Hello readers ♪ ♪ Hello writers ♪ ♪ Hello campers ♪ ♪ I'm glad you're here today ♪ ♪ Hello readers ♪ ♪ Hello writers ♪ ♪ Hello campers ♪ ♪ I'm glad you're here today ♪ I am glad you're here today because I have one of my favorite stories to share with you.

But before we get started, let's do our Camp Read-A-Lot pledge.

Are you ready?

All right, get your scout pledge fingers ready.

Remember, I'll say it, you repeat.

On my honor, I will try my best to be kind to everyone, to have a smile on my face and a song in my heart.

Great job, campers.

All right, Scooter and I were just talking and playing a little hand game.

Do you know Miss Mary Mack?

Ooh, it's so much fun.

Well, I'll have to teach you that later.

But right now, he's gonna help me help you train our ears for sound.

Because to be an excellent reader, we have to be able to hear sounds.

And so, we've come up with a fun little clapping game that I think you're gonna like.

It's called How Many Syllables?

Do you know what a syllable is?

Right.

Well, a syllable is a word part that has a vowel sound in it.

Words are made up of parts.

Some have just one vowel sound, but many words have many vowel sounds, two, three, and if they have two vowel sounds, then they also have two syllables.

Don't worry if it sounds confusing.

We're gonna play more than one time and you'll figure it out as you see what we do, okay?

Let's get Scooter and get started.

Come on, Scooter.

It's time for us to get started.

Are you ready?

Yes?

Okay, do you have your clapping hands ready?

Fabulous.

All right.

Scooter is ready for our syllable counting game.

Now, I'm gonna tell you the word and Scooter's gonna help you clap it, right?

Okay, here we go.

You ready to do this?

All right, our word is apple.

Apple.

Okay, you ready to clap?

Ready?

Ap, ple.

How many times did you clap?

Two.

Great job.

Ap, ple.

Terrific.

Okay, now let's, oh, I have another one.

We'll stick with our fruit theme.

Are you ready?

Okay, my word is banana.

Banana.

Are you ready?

Okay, here we go.

Ba, na, na.

How many times did you clap?

Three syllables.

Very good.

All right, we'll move into the vegetable category now.

And let's do carrot.

Carrot.

You ready?

Okay.

Car, rot.

Wow, you did that so well.

Great job.

Do you know why it might be important to know how to break words apart into syllables?

Do you know?

No, you don't?

I'm gonna tell you.

Because when you are reading great big words, if you know how to break them into syllables, you will know how to read them.

And when you're trying to write words, if you can break them into syllables and write them one syllable at a time, it makes those words so much easier to write.

Isn't that great?

Right, I think that's worth clapping, too.

Good.

Very nicely done.

Now, if you're still not sure about syllables, I don't want you to worry because we have all summer to practice, okay?

Great.

All right, I have a joke.

What, why are you hiding your face?

That's not very nice.

All right, here's my joke.

What did the digital clock say to his mother?

Oh, oh, I got him thinking.

What did the digital clock say to his mother?

You don't know?

Look, Mom, no hands.

(Mrs. Hammock laughing) Get it?

Do you get it?

'Cause, like, a clock has, hey.

A clock, a digital clock doesn't have hands that go around.

I thought it was pretty clever.

No?

I should keep trying?

I'm trying, I keep finding good jokes and you're just, maybe, maybe we just have a different sense of humor than one another.

Probably.

All right, now, you know it's time for our catch of the day, so you're gonna take a little seat down here by our chart and I'll, I'll come back to get you, okay?

Okay, good.

Wait right here.

Oh, don't lose your acorn.

Hold onto that thing.

All right, friends, it's time for our catch of the day and today we have four words.

Are you ready?

The first word is humorous.

I'm gonna give you a hint.

I just told a very humorous joke.

It means funny.

Great job.

How about this one?

Oh, this one wants to be next.

This one says precious.

Precious.

Something is precious, it means it's worth a lot.

And dreadful, ooh.

Dreadful.

That means terrible, awful, very bad.

It's dreadful.

Can you think of something that would be dreadful?

What, homework?

Shame on you.

Well, I guess maybe 'cause it's summer.

Shhh, don't tell anybody.

All right, how about this one?

Jealous.

Do you know what jealous means?

It's not a very nice word, is it?

Jealous means you want somebody else's success or achievement.

Like, if you see somebody that gets an award and you don't and you might have this kind of funny feeling like you don't like them anymore 'cause you wish that was you, that's called jealous.

And everybody feels jealous once in awhile.

And feeling jealous is okay, but it's what we do with that feeling that matters.

And so, we're gonna talk about that a little more today because our story, you're gonna see that there are some characters in the story that are jealous of our main character and you're gonna see what kinds of problems that that can cause.

Today is our first day that we're gonna be talking about kindness.

Kindness.

Do you know what kindness is?

It means helping one another and thinking and being nice and kind to one another and wishing good things for each other.

That's kind and that is what part of our pledge is, to be kind to everyone, right?

Because we want to be kind.

When you're somewhere or you're going to go somewhere and somebody says, "Oh, hooray, Scooter's going to be there," do you want them to say your name and feel, "Ugh, I'm so excited to see that person."

That means that you've been a kind person and they are looking forward to spending time with you.

But if somebody says your name and people go, "Ugh, oh my gosh," that doesn't feel good does it?

No.

But maybe they feel that way because you haven't been kind and it makes it hard to be with you.

So I want you to really concentrate this week on being kind and thinking about how you can show kindness to others.

'Cause it really is important.

Our story today is called "Chrysanthemum" by Kevin Henkes and this is one of my all time favorite stories.

And so, we're gonna spend some time on this today and ask some questions, okay?

All right.

Let me get my eyes on and here we go.

Remember, this is our front cover, this is our back cover and then we call this the spine of the book.

And then, do you remember what this page is called?

Yes, the Title Page because it tells us the title again and the author and illustrator's name.

Now, did you notice anybody else's name on the front of this?

Me neither.

Do you know what that means?

That means he did both.

The illustrations, which are the pictures, and he wrote the words.

What a great job.

Maybe that's something you want to do when you grow up.

The day she was born was the happiest day in her parents' life.

I bet that's true for you, too.

"She's perfect," said her mother.

"Absolutely," said her father.

And she was.

She was absolutely perfect.

"Her name must be everything that she is," said her mother.

"Her name must be absolutely perfect," said her father.

And it was.

Chrysanthemum.

Her parents named her Chrysanthemum.

Chrysanthemum grew and grew and grew and grew and when she was old enough to appreciate it, Chrysanthemum loved her name.

She loved the way it sounded when her mother woke her up.

She loved the way it sounded when her father called her to dinner.

And she loved the way it sounded when she whispered it to herself in the bathroom mirror.

"Chrysanthemum."

"Chrysanthemum."

"Chrysanthemum."

Chrysanthemum loved the way her name looked when it was written with ink on an envelope.

She loved the way it looked when it was written with icing on a birthday cake.

And she loved the way it looked when she wrote it herself with her fat orange crayon.

"Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum."

Chrysanthemum thought her name was absolutely perfect.

And then she started school.

On the first day, Chrysanthemum wore her sunniest dress and her brightest smile.

She ran all the way.

"Hooray," said Chrysanthemum, "School."

But when Mrs. Chudd took roll call, everyone giggled upon hearing Chrysanthemum's name.

Dawn, Eve, Lois, Al, Les, Kay, Max, Sue, Bill, Pat, Tom, Sam, Ken, Joe, Rita, Victoria, Chrysanthemum.

"It's so long," said Joe.

"It scarcely fits on her name tag," said Rita, pointing.

"I'm named after my grandmother," said Victoria, "you're named after a flower."

Chrysanthemum wilted.

She did not think her name was absolutely perfect.

She thought it was absolutely dreadful.

The rest of the day was not much better.

During nap time, Victoria raised her hand and informed Mrs. Chudd that Chrysanthemum's name was spelled with 13 letters.

"That's exactly half of the letters that there are in the entire alphabet," Victoria exclaimed.

"Well, thank you for sharing with us, Victoria," said Mrs. Chudd, "now please put your head down.

"If I had a name like yours," said Victoria, "I'd change it."

The students all lined up to go home.

"I wish I could," said Chrysanthemum, miserably.

"Welcome home," said her mother.

"Welcome home," said her father.

"School is no place for me," said Chrysanthemum.

"My name is too long, it scarcely fits on my name tag and I'm named after a flower.

"Oh, pish," said her mother.

"Your name is beautiful and precious and priceless and fascinating and winsome," said her father.

"It's everything you are," said her mother.

"Absolutely perfect," said her father.

Chrysanthemum felt much better after her dinner, macaroni and cheese with ketchup, and an evening filled with hugs and kisses and Parcheesi.

That night, Chrysanthemum dreamed that her name was Jane.

Ugh, it was an extremely pleasant dream.

The next morning, Chrysanthemum wore her most comfortable jumper, she walked to school slowly, as slowly as she could, and she dragged her feet in the dirt.

"Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum," she wrote.

"She even looks like a flower," said Victoria as Chrysanthemum entered the playground.

"Let's pick her," said Rita, pointing.

"Let's smell her," said Joe.

Chrysanthemum wilted.

She did not think her name was absolutely perfect.

She thought her name was absolutely dreadful.

The rest of the day was not much better.

During nap time, Victoria raised her hand and said, "A chrysanthemum is a flower, it lives in the garden with worms and other dirty things."

"Thank you for sharing with us, Victoria," said Mrs. Chudd, "now put your head down."

"I cannot believe your name," Victoria said as the students lined up.

"Neither can I," said Chrysanthemum, miserably.

"Welcome home," said her mother.

"Welcome home, said her father.

"School is no place for me."

"They said I even look like a flower and they pretended to pick me and smell me."

"Oh, pish," said her mother, "they're just jealous."

"And envious and begrudging and discontented and jaundiced," said her father.

"Who wouldn't be jealous of a name like yours?"

said her mother.

"After all, it's absolutely perfect," said her father.

Chrysanthemum felt a trifle better after her favorite dessert, chocolate cake with buttercream frosting and another evening filled with hugs and kisses and Parcheesi.

That night, Chrysanthemum dreamed that she really was a Chrysanthemum.

She sprouted leaves and petals and Victoria picked her and plucked the leaves off petal by petal, one after one, until there was nothing left but a scrawny stem.

It was the worst nightmare of her life.

Chrysanthemum wore her outfit with seven pockets the next morning.

She loaded the pockets with her most prized possessions and good luck charms.

Chrysanthemum took the longest route possible to school.

She stopped and stared at each and every flower.

"Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum," the flowers seemed to say.

That morning, the students were introduced to Mrs. Twinkle, the music teacher.

Her voice was like something out of a dream and so was everything else about her.

The students were speechless.

They thought Mrs. Twinkle was an indescribable wonder.

They went out of their way to make a nice impression.

Mrs. Twinkle led the students in their scales.

♪ Me, me, me, me, me, me, me ♪ And then she assigned the roles of the class musical.

Victoria was chosen as the dainty fairy queen, Rita was chosen as the spiffy butterfly princess and Joe was chosen as the all important pixie messenger.

And Chrysanthemum was chosen as a daisy.

"Chrysanthemum's a daisy, Chrysanthemum's a daisy," Joe, Rita and Victoria chanted, thinking that was wildly funny.

Chrysanthemum wilted.

She did not think her name was absolutely perfect.

Help me, what did she say?

She thought it was absolutely dreadful.

"What's so humorous?"

said Mrs. Twinkle.

"Chrysanthemum," they answered.

"Her name is so long," said Joe.

"It scarcely fits on her name tag," said Rita.

"I'm named after my grandmother," said Victoria, "she's named after a flower."

"My name is long," said Mrs. Twinkle.

"It is?"

Said Joe.

"My name scarcely fits on a name tag," said Mrs. Twinkle.

"It would?"

Rita said, pointing.

"And," said Mrs. Twinkle, "I'm named after a flower, too."

"You are?"

said Victoria.

"Yes," said Mrs. Twinkle, "My name is Delphinium."

"Delphinium Twinkle."

"And if my baby is a girl, I'm considering Chrysanthemum for her name because I think it is absolutely perfect."

Chrysanthemum could scarcely believe her ears.

She blushed, she bloomed, she beamed.

Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum.

Joe, Rita and Victoria looked at Chrysanthemum longingly.

"Call me Marigold," said Joe.

"I'm Carnation," said Rita.

"My name is Lily of the Valley," said Victoria.

Chrysanthemum did not think her name was absolutely perfect, she knew it.

Over all, the class musical was a huge success.

Chrysanthemum was absolutely perfect as a daisy.

Victoria only made one mistake, she completely forgot her lines as the dainty fairy queen.

Chrysanthemum thought it was wildly funny and she giggled throughout the entire dance of the flowers.

Eventually, Mrs. Twinkle gave birth to a healthy baby girl and of course she named her Chrysanthemum.

Wow.

What did you think?

So, do you see how kindness makes a big difference?

In the story, the kids started out thinking Chrysanthemum's name was too long and not good.

But what changed?

Why do you think they were jealous of her name?

Maybe.

Maybe they were wanting their name to be so long and pretty.

Can you think about who showed Chrysanthemum kindness?

Let's think about that as we look at our key details chart.

Now, this chart, we're gonna keep up for today and for our next story because we're gonna talk about kindness in our next story, too.

But let's think about "Chrysanthemum".

Can you think of a character in the story that showed Chrysanthemum kindness?

Right, the teacher.

What was her name?

Yup, that's it.

Mrs. Twinkle.

Mrs. Twinkle showed Chrysanthemum kindness.

How did she do that?

Right.

By telling her that she shared, she shared her name, which was also named after a flower.

Isn't that amazing?

Yeah, and then Chrysanthemum wasn't embarrassed about her name anymore, was she?

Can you think of anyone else that showed Chrysanthemum kindness in the story?

How about Joe?

Mm, definitely not.

How about Victoria?

Nope.

Not even Rita.

But her parents did, didn't they?

Her parents.

What did they do to show her kindness?

Right, they used nice words to tell her how perfect her name was.

They made her favorite dinner to help cheer her up.

I'm just gonna write fave for favorite 'cause I'm running out of room.

They made her favorite food.

They played games with her.

They did a great job trying to rebuild her, right?

Uh, I love when people show kindness.

Now, I have a little idea that you might like to try at home.

I'm gonna come over here to our craft table.

We don't have a lot of time, but I just want to share with you something you can do.

I made some puppets with the pictures from our story.

And I thought it would be fun to retell the story, but instead of them being mean to her, could you show how kindness, what are some things they could say to be kind?

"Hi, new friend, would you come and play with me?"

Or "Wow, your name is beautiful."

Those are things they could've said, right?

So sometimes it's fun to retell the story in a different way.

I hope you'll come back and learn some more about kindness with me.

♪ Skinna marinka dinka dink ♪ ♪ Skinna marinka do ♪ ♪ I love you ♪ ♪ Skinna marinka dinka dink ♪ ♪ Skinna marinka do ♪ ♪ I love you ♪ I'll see you next week.

Come back and let's share some more stories.

Bye bye.