(cheerful music) - Rice, tortillas, cheese, avocados, onions, beans, salsa.

I'm forgetting something, what is it?

Oh, hey, hey campers.

I'm getting ready for Fiesta Friday.

You know, at camp, we like to have fun dinner times.

And so, because it's Friday we're gonna do a fiesta.

Doesn't that sound fun?

Hey, welcome to Camp Read-A-Lot.

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

Camp is a great place to learn and have fun.

And at Camp Read-A-Lot, we're gonna spend our days reading and talking and singing and learning and gosh, enjoying all kinds of activities that will help us become strong readers.

That's right.

Hey families, have you thought about taking a field trip with your family to the library?

What a great fun place that you can visit.

Take your whole family.

You can all get library cards and then check out some books.

You can go every week.

You can go every other week and then each time you go, you can check out new books to read together or read books on your own.

It's a great fun place to learn and read.

Many of our libraries have fun reading programs for the summer, and they're not just for kids, they're for everyone.

So I hope that you will look into taking your family on a fun field trip to the library.

And remember, when our kids don't read during the summertime, they can lose as much as two years of progress in reading.

Nobody wants that to happen, so check out the library.

They'll help you get your kids inspired to read, and you never know, you might just find something you'd like to read too and that is always great for kids to see.

All right, campers.

I'm gonna put my list away because I'll work on this later.

Let's get ready for our hello 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.

Let's do our camp pledge.

Get your salute ready.

Repeat after me.

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.

Okay.

Today is Friday and we're going to train our ears for sound by playing the same ending sound game.

Now that means you're gonna have to listen very closely for the end or the very last sound that you hear in the words that I say and tell me which ones are the same, 'cause two of them are gonna be the same and one will be different.

It's time for our game and just like always my helper is missing.

Do you see him anywhere?

He has been such a squirrel this week, squirreling around everywhere.

I can't seem to keep track of him, especially now that he has those shoes.

Scooter, Scooter, are you in here?

Scooter?

Well, he's not in his favorite tree.

I wonder where he could be.

We might have to just start the game without him and then see if maybe he shows up.

Maybe he'll hear us, okay?

So let's go on over, I'm gonna sit down and we'll get started.

Do you see what I see?

What are you doing down there?

What in the world?

You know, I have half a mind just to let you stay right there, then I can keep track of you.

That's right, hmm, no?

You're ready to come out?

All right, come on or wait, oh, my word.

Oh, I think you almost lost your shoe on that one.

Whew, goodness, goodness.

Oh gosh.

I'm gonna have to put my backpack on and I'm gonna have to put you in the backpack so I know where you are at all times.

You are being a little bit naughty.

Are you ready to play our game?

The same ending sound?

The campers are here.

Yes, he said he's so glad to see you.

All right here is our game.

I have some pictures that we're going to use to help us with our listening.

So I'm gonna say the name of the pictures and you are going to listen for that very last sound.

Are you ready?

Here we have seal, mix, box.

Seal, mix, box.

Did you hear it?

Right, mix and box have the same ending sound.

Good job.

All right, are you ready for the next one?

Okay.

Do you see it?

Let's take a look.

Train, soap, top.

Train, soap, top.

Right, soap and top have the P sound.

Oh, sorry.

(laughs) All right, are you ready for the last one?

You are, okay, how about you campers?

Okay, let's say them.

Queen, barn, camel.

Right, now this time, when we say it, we're gonna stretch out the last sound.

So we really can hear it.

Queen, barn, camel.

Makes it easier to hear, doesn't it?

Good.

Queen and barn both have N at the end.

Very good listening.

Yeah, they did a good job.

Why is your acorn all soggy?

Ugh, you are a mess.

All right, are you ready for a joke?

I have a good one.

Okay, here we go.

What do you call a cow with no legs?

What do you call a cow with no legs?

No, that's not it.

What?

How about ground beef?

(laughs) Ground beef, get it?

'Cause it has no legs so he's on the ground and beef is where we, that's a cow.

We get our beef from a cow.

So he's ground beef.

(laughs) I thought of that while I was making our list for the Friday Fiesta, that was pretty good.

All right, it's time for our catch of the day and our story today.

Today, we are reading another story about celebration and we're going to look for evidence of belonging, kindness, and friendship, the strengths that we've been focusing on for the past few days.

All right, are you ready to take your seat?

Good.

All right, there you go.

And let's get our catch of the day.

Here we go.

All right, we have the word fantasy.

Fantasy, fantasy is the type of story that is imaginative.

That means it can't really happen.

It's pretend, but it's more than just pretend.

It's actually, you can tell that it's not real because it, you have to use your imagination for it, okay?

I'll tell you more about that as we read.

This is fetch, fetch.

Now, if you have a dog, you probably know what this word means.

It means to get something and bring it back, and I love to play fetch with my dog.

And then cupboard, cupboard.

Look how strange that word.

You might've heard the word cupboard before, but look how it's spelled cup board, cupboard, but we don't say cup board, we say cupboard and it's really just a cabinet, right?

Where we store, what do you think we store there?

Yes, cups, good thinking.

All right, so today our story is a great one.

It is called "Mice and Beans."

Oh, I thought, yes, it's not rice and beans.

It's "Mice and Beans", how fun?

Let me get my reading tools for my eyes.

Oh, that's better.

All right, "Mice and Beans" by Pam Munoz Ryan and illustrated by Joe Cepeda.

Okay, what do you see on the cover?

Look at all of those mice and they all, hey, they all have candy.

I wonder what that's about?

All right, well here's the front cover.

Here's the back cover.

And the story has a recipe on the back cover.

Rosa Maria's rice and beans.

And here's a recipe for rice and a recipe for beans.

Wow.

We might have to try that.

All right.

Rosa Maria lived in a tiny house with a tiny yard, but she had a big heart, a big family, and more than anything, she loved to cook big meals for them.

In one week, her youngest grandchild little Catalina would be seven years old and the whole family would squeeze into her casita for the party.

Rosa Maria didn't mind because she believed what her mother had always said, "when there's room in the heart there's room in the house, except for a mouse."

Casita is how you say little house in Spanish.

Sunday, Rosa Maria planned the menu, enchiladas, rice and beans.

No dinner was complete without rice and beans, birthday cake, lemonada, and a piñata filled with candy.

She ordered the birthday present something little Catalina had waited for a long time.

Satisfied with her plans, she wiped down the table so she wouldn't get mice and took out a mice trap just in case.

She was sure she had set one the night before, but now she couldn't find it.

Maybe she had forgotten.

When it was set and ready to snap, she turned off the lights and went to bed.

Now, I need to tell you, in this story, I want you to pay close attention not only to the words, but the illustrations as well.

And I think if you do that, you're gonna notice something going on.

And I also want you to pay attention to the sequence of the story.

Remember, that's what happens in order.

Monday, Rosa Maria did the laundry.

She washed and ironed her largest tablecloth and the 24 napkins that matched.

And when she finished, she only counted 23.

(speaks Spanish) she said, "it doesn't matter."

"So what if someone has a napkin that doesn't match?"

"The important thing is that we're all together."

After dinner, she swept the floor and checked the mousetrap, but it was missing.

"Hm, didn't I set one last night?"

She wondered.

She hurried to the cupboard to fetch another, and when it was set and ready to snap, she turned off the lights and went to bed.

All right, are you noticing?

Uh-huh, okay, keep an eye.

Tuesday, Rosa Maria walked to the market.

She filled her big bolsa with tortillas, cheese, red sauce, white rice, pinto beans, and a bag of candy.

She bought a piñata on her way home.

She stopped at the pastelaria and ordered for cake.

After dinner, she washed the dishes and checked the mouse trap, but it had vanished.

(speaks Spanish) "Silly me" "I must've forgotten again."

She hurried to the cupboard to fetch another one, and when it was set and ready to snap, she turned off the lights and went to bed.

Are you watching?

Wednesday, Rosa Maria prepped the enchiladas, she dipped the tortillas in red sauce, filled them with cheese and rolled them into fat little bundles, and she noticed the piñata was missing some feathers, (speaks Spanish) she said.

"Those feathers won't make a difference to the children when the piñata is filled with the candy."

After dinner, she mopped up the sauce and checked the mouse trap, oh, but it was gone again.

"Oh, I am so busy."

"I am forgetting to remember," she cried.

She hurried to the cupboard to fetch another.

And when it was set and ready to snap, say it with me, she turned off the light and went to bed.

Good job.

Thursday, Rosa Maria simmered the beans.

She searched for her favorite wooden spoon, the one she always used to cook frijoles, but she couldn't find it.

(speaks Spanish) she said.

"The beans will taste just as good if I use another spoon."

She added water all day long until the beans were plump and soft.

Then she scrubbed the stove and checked the mouse trap, oh, but it was nowhere in sight.

(speaks Spanish) she said, "heavens, where is my mind?"

She hurried to the cupboard to fetch another one, and when it was set and ready to snap, she turned out the light and went to bed.

Oh, look down here.

Friday, Rosa Maria picked up the cake and seven candles, but she hadn't been able to find her big bolsa before she left.

(speaks Spanish) she said, "I'll carry the cake in one hand and the candles in another."

Tomorrow was the big day, Rosa Maria knew she mustn't forget anything, so she carefully went over her list one last time, After dinner, she wrapped the cake and checked the mousetrap.

She couldn't believe her eyes, no mouse trap.

"Thank goodness I have plenty."

She hurried to the cupboard to fetch another, and when it was set and ready to snap, she turned off the light and went to bed.

What are you noticing?

Saturday, Rosa Maria cooked the rice as the workers assembled little Catalina's present.

She set the table and squeezed the juiciest lemons from her tree.

"Let's see," she said feeling very proud.

"Enchiladas, rice and beans."

No dinner was complete without rice and beans.

"Birthday cake and lemonade."

"I know I have forgotten something, but what?"

"Ah, the candles."

But she only counted six.

(speaks Spanish) she said.

"I will arrange these six candles in the shape of a seven and little Catalina will be just as happy now everything is ready."

But was everything ready?

Let's look, look right here.

Look at her list.

Look what it says right here, it's not crossed off.

Fill piñata.

Now take a look who's reading the list.

Oh, look what they're doing.

Oh my goodness.

That afternoon, Rosa Maria's family filled her tiny casita.

They ate the enchiladas, the rice, the beans.

They drank the fresh squeezed lemonade and they devoured the cake.

Little Catalina loved her present a swing set.

And after every cousin had a turn, they chanted, "La piñata, la piñata."

They ran to the walnut tree and threw a rope over a high branch.

"Whack, whack," little Catalina swung the piñata stick.

"Wait," cried Rosa Maria as she remembered what she'd forgotten, but it was too late.

What she remembered she forgot to do?

That's right, she forgot to put the candy in the piñata, right?

"Crack," the piñata separated, and the children's scrambled to collect all the candy.

"How could it be?"

Rosa Maria was puzzled.

"I must've filled it without even realizing."

She laughed at her own forgetfulness and she hugged her granddaughter and said, "Feliz cumpleaños my little Catalina, happy birthday."

After everyone had gone, Rosa Maria, tidied her kitchen and thought contentedly about the fiesta.

She pictured the happy look on little Catalina's face when the candy spilled from the piñata.

But Rosa Maria still couldn't remember when she had filled it.

(speaks Spanish) she said, "it was a wonderful day."

But as Rosa Maria swept out the cupboard, she discovered the tail, tail signs of mice.

"Ratones," she cried.

"Where are my mouse traps, I will set them all."

She inched to the floor and when she did something caught her eye, she looked closer.

"Maybe I didn't fill the piñata," she said.

Look what she sees.

Do you see the little house?

The mouse hole and there's little candies out front?

"Was it possible?"

She asked shaking her head.

"Could I have had help?"

Rosa Maria looked at the leftovers, too much for one person.

And what was it her mother had always said?

"When there's room in the heart there's room in the house, even for a mouse."

(speaks in Spanish) "Imagine that," she said, "I remembered the words wrong all these years."

"Besides, how many could there be two, four?"

(speaks Spanish) she said.

"It doesn't matter if I have a few helpful mice live here too."

Then she turned off the light and went to bed.

You see she's giving the leftovers.

And never set another mouse trap again.

Look at that.

They're having their own fiesta.

Wow.

That was incredible.

"Mice and Beans."

So let's think about belonging.

Did you hear some evidence of belonging, right?

The family getting together, everyone having their family with them, eating.

How about kindness?

Yes, for sure, right?

All the things that she was doing for her granddaughter.

Yes.

How about friendship?

Yes, at the end of the story, right?

She made kind of friends with the mice because she discovered that maybe they had helped her when she needed it.

So now let's think about the sequence of the story.

So I'm gonna start us off with Sunday.

And on Sunday, two mice got rid of the mouse trap.

Two mice looked at the party list.

So they worked in teams of two, didn't they, on that first day?

Two of them were looking at the list.

Two of them were getting rid of the mouse trap.

Okay, now let's think about what happened on Monday.

Two mice collected a napkin.

Remember, he took it right off the line and cut it into little pieces so the mice could have napkins and a tablecloth Wow.

And on Tuesday, what happened?

On Tuesday, the mice went to the market and made sure they got everything on their list.

So do you see how in this story, there were really two stories happening at the same time.

Rosa Maria's story planning her granddaughter's birthday, but also the mice had their own story going on, didn't they?

Yeah, how fun is that?

Hey, I have another joke for us, and then we're gonna head over to the activity table.

Are you ready?

Okay, all right, come up here Scooter.

I want you to hear this one.

What do you get when you cross a snowman and a vampire?

Frostbite.

(laughs) Get it?

Frost 'cause of the snowman and bite because of the vampire.

(laughs) You liked that one, didn't you?

All right, let's head over.

We're gonna talk about fantasy and reality.

All right, so in our story, we talked about how, or one of our catch of the day words was fantasy.

So I have this little paper here, reality and fantasy.

So I have some things that we're gonna look at and decide if it's real or fantasy.

Catalina gets a new swing set, was that real?

Could that really happen?

Yes, so we would stick that on the reality side.

How about the mice wear party hats?

Does that happen in real life?

No, of course not.

That's fantasy.

How about Rosa Maria writes her plans?

Sure, that can happen, right?

That is reality or real.

And then how about the mice move a mouse trap?

Probably not.

That would be fantasy.

Good job.

Do you see how it's important to think about the stories and we can learn things from fantasy stories.

In fact, some of those are the most fun to read, so I hope you enjoy some fantasy stories and I hope that you will show kindness to those around you.

Skinnamarinky dinky dink, skinnamarinky do, I love you.

Skinnamarinky dinky dink, skinnamarinky do, I love you.

I love you in the morning and in the afternoon, I love you in the evening and underneath the moon.

Awoo!

Skinnamarinky dinky dink, skinnamarinky do, I love you.

Bye bye.

(cheerful music)