(soft music) (xylophone playing) - Which note is it, do you know?

Oh, hi.

Hey!

Welcome to Camp Read-A-Lot.

I'm Mrs. Hammack, and I'm so glad you're here at camp with me.

Camp is a time for learning and having fun.

At Camp Read-A-Lot we will spend our days reading and talking and learning and singing and enjoying all kinds of activities that will help us to become strong readers.

So I'm so glad you're here today.

Parents, I have a tip for you.

Set aside some time every day for everyone at your house to stop and read.

You can read the same thing together.

You can read everybody having their own separate things to read.

But make reading an event.

Schedule it into your day so that your kids see how important reading is.

Maybe you want to read a book that's been made into a movie, and at the end, celebrate it by having some popcorn or some snacks and watching the movie together.

Then you can talk about how the book is different from the movie.

I know you're going to see great rewards in your child's academic progress and reading if you will make reading part of your family routine.

It would be great.

All right campers, are you ready for our song?

♪ Hello readers ♪ ♪ Hello writers ♪ ♪ Hello campers ♪ ♪ I'm glad you are here today ♪ ♪ Hello readers ♪ ♪ Hello writers ♪ ♪ Hello campers ♪ ♪ I'm glad you're here today ♪ And I am so glad you're here today.

All right, let's do our camp pledge.

Now remember, you're going to repeat after me.

I want to hear you so make it nice and loud.

Ready?

Here we go.

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.

Nicely done campers.

Good job.

All right, it's time for us to get ready to.

Yes, you guessed it.

Train our ears for sound.

I can't wait to play the blending game with you today.

My pal Scooter has been practicing being the teacher.

He's using our pointer and using the chart to help.

Are you ready Scooter?

All right, let's go.

Come on over.

All right.

Today, we're going to play the blending game.

Are you ready to do that?

Oh, how'd you get tape stuck to you?

I don't know how you do these things.

Okay, are you ready?

All right.

I have three words.

Yes, three.

And I'm going to tell you the sounds, one sound at a time.

And you're going to, what?

Yes.

Nice job.

You're going to put the sounds together to tell me my word.

Okay.

Okay, are you ready?

Okay, here we go.

Let's get our chart ready.

Let me get the acorns ready.

Here we go.

S. M. I.

Le.

S. M. I.

Le.

Let's put it together a little faster, ready?

Smile.

Can you hear it?

Smile.

Smile.

Great job.

I hope I see you smile.

You ready for the next one?

Okay, let's try it.

Here we go.

All right.

S. N. A. K. Snack.

Oh yeah.

Shh, let them guess.

I know that's your favorite word.

Ready?

Snack.

Snack.

Great job.

You did really well.

These are much harder, aren't they?

When we have four sounds, we really have to put them together kind of quickly so that we can hear the word that we're trying to make.

This is going to help you when you're sounding out words when you're reading.

When you say one sound at a time and can blend them back together, that will help you figure out some of those words that you might be having trouble with.

You ready for our last word?

Okay here we go.

Ch.

A. M. P. Champ.

Champ.

Champ.

Great job, you are a champ, when it comes to putting sounds together to make words.

Great job.

Woohoo!

You're doing a great job.

Your brain is getting stronger, I can tell.

Have you been doing things to encourage others to build your community?

Remember, you're a part of a lot of communities, not just here at camp.

You're part of our camp community, but you're part of your own little community right there at your house.

And, your school is another community.

And if you go to a church, that's another community.

Your little neighborhood is your community.

You are a member of lots of different little communities, and you can be an encourager and help build people up in all of those communities.

I hope you're doing that.

All right.

I have a joke for you.

I have a joke, joke, joke, joke, joke, joke, joke, joke, joke, joke, joke.

I have a joke.

Are you ready?

Okay.

Okay.

Why can't a bicycle stand up by itself?

Hmm.

Why can't a bicycle stand up by itself?

You ready?

Because it's too tired.

(laughs) Get it?

It has two tires, and it's too tired to stand up by itself.

Oh gosh, I killed myself that's so good.

I'm good, huh?

I know, I'm thinking about maybe a standup comedy career.

I think I'll be good.

You'd come, right?

Of course.

All right.

Hey, are you ready for our catch of the day?

Okay, we have a very interesting story today.

And the words that we're going to share today have to do with our story, because it's a little bit like a poem.

And so I want to make sure you know some words that might help you understand the poem.

Are you ready?

Okay, you know what to do.

Pop on down here.

All right.

Let me move my xylophone.

I'll practice that later.

And here is our catch of the day.

The first word that I have is rhythm.

Rhythm.

The rhythm is the sound or the feel of a poem.

Okay.

Rhyme is the next one.

We practiced rhyme yesterday.

And it's the same sound at the end of two, or could be more than two words.

But they have the same ending sound, and that's what makes them rhyme.

And then we have the word stanza.

Stanza.

A stanza is a group of two or more lines in a poem that go together.

Kind of like, you could say it's a verse.

A verse of the poem, or a verse of the song.

And then it also could be called a stanza.

I know that's kind of a fun word, isn't it?

All right, so today.

Let me get my glasses on to help my eyes.

Remember boys and girls, we all need tools to help us.

And my eyes just use glasses because they need extra help.

And you might need extra help with your eyes or your ears or your legs or your hands.

So don't be afraid to use whatever tools you need to be successful.

All right, this story is called "Looking Like Me" by Walter Dean Myers, illustrated by Christopher Myers.

Oh, did you hear that?

They have the same last name.

I wonder if they are related?

Walter Dean Myers and Christopher Myers.

Look how bright and colorful the cover of this book is.

Isn't that nice?

Right?

Here's our front cover.

Here is our back cover.

And here is our title page.

Remember what this is called?

Yeah, the spine of the book.

And remember when we read, oh, look at this, there's another title page here.

When we read, we start on the left and go to the right.

But on this story, there isn't anything here so we automatically go right to that left, or to the right page.

And we start at the top of the page and we work to the bottom of the page.

That's how reading works when we read in English.

Some languages don't work that way, but in English we read from the top to the bottom, from the left to the right.

Okay.

Let's jump in and see what this story is all about.

I looked in the mirror and what did I see?

A real handsome dude, just looking at me.

Did you hear the rhyming words?

He put out his fist, I gave it a bam.

He said, Jeremy.

I said, that's who I am.

Along came my sister, fine as she can be.

Hi Jeremy, she said, your little brother to me.

She put out her fist, I gave it a bam.

Jeremy and brother, that's who I am.

Along came my father, he said, having fun?

Because if you are, you need to add son.

He put out his fist and I gave it a bam.

Hi, I'm Jeremy brother and my father's son.

I got a strange feeling I wasn't half done.

Aren't you a writer?

asked my teacher Ms. Kay.

I saw you writing in your book today.

I am a writer, spinning dramas that dance across the stage.

A poet weaving mysteries that live upon a page.

Ms. Kay put out her fist, I gave it a bam.

Say Jeremy, say brother, say son, say writer, that's who I am.

I'm walking tall, and I'm walking proud.

Looked in the mirror, I look like a crowd.

Why do you think he said he looks like a crowd?

If it's just one person.

Right, because remember, he's Jeremy, but he's also a brother, he's a son, he's a writer.

So it's like there's four people all in one.

Pretty cool, huh?

You're a city.

You're a city child, my skinny mailman grinned.

And I see you're really loving the city that you're in.

I'm a city child, I love the dizzy heights, the concrete, the steel, the bright neon lights.

The mailman lifted his fist, I gave it a bam.

It is kind of amazing, all the people I am.

You're an artist, said my grandma.

Your pictures make me smile.

I love your funny portraits and your scenes have so much style.

Grandma's rings and bangles gave such a noisy bam.

They were really celebrating the kind of guy I am.

I know that you're a dancer said a sweet girl whirling by, you move your feet to a salsa beat with a twinkle in your eye.

She put out her fist, I gave it a bam.

I added dancer to the answer of just who I am.

I know that I'm a talker with many tales to tell.

Jokes and news and secrets, I hope I tell them well.

My words are sometimes hurried, at times they come out slow.

At times they fly like snowflakes with everywhere to go.

Sometimes I let my words go free, like marbles off a shelf.

Sometimes I give myself a bam and keep them to myself.

I saw Karen running, so I ran too.

She said, hey, Jeremy, what's up with you?

I said, I'm a runner.

I just love to race with the spinning Earth beneath me, the wind blowing in my face.

I gave it a bam, when she put out her fist, then I added runner to my I am list.

My mom calls me a dreamer, a silver raid moon beamer, spreading fantasies across the Harlem sky.

I dream of secret places, plain clouds and hidden faces, black knights and maids who swoon and sigh.

My mom put out her fist, I gave it a gentle bam, because that's the kind of dreamer that I am.

Why don't you find a mirror and some friends along the way.

Think of all the things you do and all the things they say.

Make a long list, if you want to.

Have yourself an I am jam.

Then give yourself a great big smile and your fist a great big bam.

Here they are, the author and the illustrator.

We've looked in the mirror and what do we see?

Two handsome dudes and, a boy, son, brother, reader, friend, classmate, writer, poet, athlete, student, college graduate, speaker, photographer, dreamer.

Here's Walter.

He's a soldier and flute player.

Here's Christopher, dancer, painter, sculptor, collagist.

So here's our writer.

And these are the words that belong to him, soldier and flute player.

Here is our illustrator, dancer, painter, sculptor and collagist.

And then remember when we did the venn diagram, these are all the things that they both are.

They both are a boy, a son, a brother, a reader, a friend, a classmate, a writer, a poet, an athlete, a student, college graduate, a speaker, a photographer, a dreamer.

Isn't that cool how they did that so you could see all the things that they are?

Individually and then together they are those things.

That's pretty awesome, isn't it?

What did you think?

Could you feel the rhyme of this, or did you hear the rhyme of the story?

Could you feel the rhythm of the story of the poem?

It was pretty awesome, right?

Isn't it great how he told the story of all the things that he is, all the people that he is?

He's one person, but he has lots of different things that he does.

So let's take a look here and see what is happening in the poem on stanzas one through seven, which is pages three through nine.

So if I look at that in our story.

Stanza one through seven, looked in the mirror and what did I see?

A real handsome dude, just looking at me.

I put out my fist and I gave it a bam.

He said, Jeremy, and I said, that's who I am.

Along came my sister, as fine as she can be.

Hi Jeremy, she said, your little brother to me.

So what are some of the things that are happening here?

Yeah, he's recognizing his name, the different titles that people give him, right?

He's Jeremy, that's his name.

He's a brother, he's a son.

Those are titles that also tell about him.

All right, so let's look so 18.

Eight to 18, let's see what happens there.

Oh, look here.

Now he has a strange feeling that he's not half done.

Aren't you a writer?

asked his teacher.

She put out her fist and gave it a bam.

I'm Jeremy, I'm brother, I'm son and writer that's who I am.

He also, the mailman.

What did the mailman say?

Oh, you're a city child.

So he's somebody who lives in the city, right?

And?

An artist, right?

His grandma said your art makes me smile.

So in the second part of this reading power chart, he's learning to recognize other talents and other things that identify who he is.

He is a brother, a son.

We could even say a grandson, right?

Because if he has a grandma, then he is her grandson.

The mailman said he was a city child.

His teacher said he was a writer.

His grandma said he was an artist.

What did his mom say about him?

What did she?

What title did she say?

Right, a dreamer.

Good.

And the little girl in the neighborhood, what did she call him?

A dancer, right.

I bet if you looked in the mirror, and started to think about all of the things that all of the titles that belong to you, you would have a lot of titles too, that tell a little bit about you.

You're someone's daughter or son.

You might be a brother or a sister.

You could be a nephew or a niece, if you have an auntie or an uncle.

You are a student.

I hope you say you're a reader.

Maybe you're an artist or a dancer.

Maybe you're a YouTuber.

I bet there are some of those out there too.

There's a lot of things that we give ourselves as titles or that other people give us as titles that tell a little bit about who we are.

And that is kind of what this story is about.

About community, about belonging to a group of people and all the titles that make you special and unique.

Isn't that great?

We're going to talk a little bit about that in just a minute.

But before we go to our activity table, I have a job for you.

I'm so excited.

Come up here.

All right, are you ready?

Why did the cookie go to the doctor?

Okay, think.

Why did the cookie go to the doctor?

No you cannot eat a cookie right now.

Nope, no.

Shh, that's not what we're doing.

Later.

Why did the cookie go to the doctor?

Because he was feeling crummy.

(laughs) Get it?

Crummy.

When you don't feel good, sometimes you say, oh, I feel crummy.

And a cookie has crumbs.

Oh gosh, that was a good one.

Crummy.

I hope you're not feeling crummy.

You're not a cookie, so you shouldn't be.

You should be a cookie because you eat enough of them.

Are you ready to go to the activity table?

Oh, that's nice.

He said, one of your titles might be friend.

That was kind, I love that.

All right, let's go to the activity table so I can show you something that you might want to try at home.

All right, here we go.

We're strolling on over.

Now, I have a couple of things that you might be interested in trying at home, and I hope that you will.

So one of the things you can do is you can draw a self portrait.

Now, what you would do is you would want to start with a nice big oval.

Now, did you see I'm using a pencil?

Because that way if it doesn't turn exactly how I wanted, I can kind of shape it up a little bit.

And I'm going to put on my ears, and my nose, and my smile.

Now I'm not going to draw my hair because I'm going to use the markers or the paint or whatever I decide to color it with.

So, I did a little drawing earlier today.

Don't laugh, so I drew myself with a pencil.

It's really light, and that's okay, because now I'm going to use my markers to kind of match my skin tone.

Look at these cool markers, they have all different skin tones.

So I think this kind of looks like me.

So I'm going to trace the outline of my face.

And my ear, my other ear.

All right, I'm going to trace it.

And then I'm going to do some hair.

And then, when I'm all done with my picture, I'm going to write the titles.

Let's see, I am a teacher.

I'm a mom.

I'm a camper.

I'm a reader.

I'm an artist.

I'm a singer.

I'm a sister.

I'm going to think about all the titles that make me me.

And I'm going to make a list of them and put them all around my self portrait.

And that's something you can do.

You could make a whole picture of yourself.

You could decorate a cutout, draw a little person, and cut it out, and then decorate it.

And then you stick notes, post-it notes and post all the titles about yourself on the little poster.

And then that would remind you of all the amazing things that you are.

And you can even ask some of the people around you.

What do you say about me?

And I know they'll have great things to say.

Friends, I hope that you are thinking about some words that tell about you and some titles.

And I hope that you are spreading kindness and love and joy.

♪ Skinamarinka dink a dink ♪ ♪ Skinamarinka doo ♪ ♪ I love you ♪ ♪ Skinamarinka dink a dink ♪ ♪ Skinamarinka doo ♪ ♪ I love you ♪ ♪ I love you in the morning and in the afternoon ♪ ♪ I love you in the evening and underneath the moon ♪ (howls) ♪ Skinamarinka dink a dink ♪ ♪ Skinamarinka doo ♪ ♪ I love you ♪ ♪ And you, and you and you ♪ I hope you come back to camp tomorrow, ready to have fun.

I have another great story for you.

Remember to pick a time during the day to sit and read by yourself, or with a sister or a brother or a friend or a mom or a dad.

And jump into a good book and have a great adventure.

I hope I see you tomorrow back here at camp.

Have a great day.

Bye-bye.

(soft music)