(cheerful music) - Hello, little learners.

Welcome back to Camp Read-A-Lot, the place where we read books and sing songs and keep the learning going all summer long.

My name is Mrs. Lara.

Can you tell me your name?

I'm very excited that you're with me today.

Shall we start our day off with a good morning song?

Hey, I have Maria the mailperson here to help.

Ready, Maria?

Let's sing.

♪ Good morning, good morning ♪ ♪ It's a sunshine kind of day ♪ ♪ Come join Mrs. Lara for some learning and some play ♪ - ♪ Will we sing a song ♪ - Of course we will.

- ♪ Make our brains strong ♪ - Like super strong.

- ♪ So come along ♪ - Yes, come on, friends, ♪ For some learning and some play ♪ Hello, jello.

- Hi there, grizzly bear.

- What's up, buttercup?

- Not much, coconut.

- What's shaking, little bacon?

- Not a lot, tater tot.

- Are we done, silly one?

- Nope.

Just a start, brave heart.

- Oh, you're right.

It is just the start of our day.

Let me put you away over here and we'll talk about all the fun things that we're going to do today.

So we're going to start our day off with maybe some mail.

I wonder who is going to write to us today?

And we'll talk about our feelings because that builds the foundation for all of our learning, doesn't it?

We have a very special book that we're going to cover today.

Can you guess what it's about?

It's a special bear and he might be missing a button.

You might have read the story Corduroy before and today, we're going to read it together.

And then after our learning is done, I'm going to teach you a project that you can do at home to continue practicing the skills that we learned together.

Are you ready to get our day started?

I think I hear something.

Hmm.

(doorbell rings) Ooh.

It's time for some mail.

Let's see, who wrote us a letter today.

Now here is our letter.

Now, do you remember what to do when you read?

Where do you even start?

♪ Remember, you start on the left, go to the right ♪ ♪ Start on the left, then go right ♪ ♪ Start on the left and go to the right ♪ All right.

So here's the left and then here's the right.

And we're going to start reading.

Here we go.

"Dear Mrs. Lara.

Have I got a story for you.

I did not know that I had lost a button."

Oh, no!

"Maybe that is why I sat on the shelf of the toy store for so long?

I felt left out.

Love, Corduroy."

That's one of the characters in our story.

Now, boys and girls, being left out is a very strong feeling.

You might feel it when you have a new toy or want a new toy that someone else has or... Hmm.

Someone is playing a game and they don't include you.

I think my friend, Sonya the snail has a story that she wants to share about a time where she felt left out.

Let's watch Sonya the snail's story together.

(trumpet blasts) Bucky the badger is playing outside and having fun with his new ball.

Sonya the snail sees Bucky's new ball.

She wants a new ball too.

Hmm.

Sonya the snail calls out "mom, can I have a ball?"

Sonya's mom says "not today, Sonya."

(trumpet sounds) Sonya is having strong feelings.

Her muscles feel tight and her whole body is warm.

She was sad because she wanted a ball too.

(Sonya cries) She felt left out because she wanted to play with the ball.

What should Sonya do?

She had an idea.

(bell dings) She decided she would take belly breaths to calm down.

Can you take five belly breaths with Sonya the snail?

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

And five.

Sonya feels much better.

She can think of a solution.

She is going to go ask Bucky if they can play together.

Sonya asks Bucky, "can I play with the ball too?"

Bucky agrees and they play together.

Sonya the snail doesn't feel left out anymore.

(energetic music) ♪ And dance around ♪ ♪ With me ♪ ♪ Dance ♪ ♪ Dance ♪ ♪ Dance ♪ ♪ Alright ♪ ♪ Goodbye ♪ ♪ Goodbye ♪ - I'm so glad that Sonya the snail shared her story.

We might see more of her tomorrow.

For now, I'm going to show you what else Maria dropped off.

Let's take a look inside.

Ooh, I have a book and this is our book Corduroy.

And then she left a few note cards in here.

Let me take a look.

Ooh, it is some words that we're going to need as we read the book.

So let's see what words she dropped off.

The first one is "apartment."

And "apartment" is a building where lots of people live.

See, you can see special letter A for apartment.

In our story, the family that picks up Corduroy lives in an apartment.

Our next word that would be really helpful to know is "nightwatchman."

Now that's kind of an old-fashioned way of saying night security guard.

If you ever go to the mall or a public place, you might see security guards.

They're there to guard you and all the things that you see around you.

The last word is "escalator," see special letter E for "escalator."

An escalator is like moving stairs.

If you ever go to a place that has multiple stories, as in really tall, you can ride on an escalator and it'll move you from down to up automatically.

Alright, so this is our book Corduroy.

We're going to take a quick look at it and then we'll do our video story together.

So as you know, this is the front of the book and it gives us information like who the author of the story is.

In this case, it's Don Freeman.

And then we have the spine of the book.

It holds all the pages together just like your spine holds you together.

And then the back of the book.

This one has another picture of Corduroy.

Can you tell what Corduroy is doing?

It looks like he's reaching for something.

I wonder what it could be.

Well, let's find out by watching our video story together.

I hope that you enjoy it.

(magical music) It's story time!

Corduroy by Don Freeman, retold by Mrs. Lara.

Corduroy is a bear who once lived in the toy department of a big store.

He waited day after day for someone to take him home.

No one ever seemed to want a small bear in green overalls.

And then one day, a little girl stopped and said, "oh, mommy, look, there's the very bear I've always wanted."

"Not today, dear," her mother sighed, "I've spent too much already.

Besides, he doesn't look new.

He lost the button to one of his shoulder straps."

Corduroy watched as the little girl and her mother walked away.

He said, "I didn't know I'd lost a button.

I'll go out tonight and try to look for it."

Late at night, when all the shoppers had gone and the doors were shut and locked, Corduroy climbed carefully down from a shelf and began searching everywhere on the floor for his lost button.

Suddenly, he felt the floor moving under him.

He had stepped onto an escalator and up he went.

He stepped off the escalator as it reached the next floor and there before his eyes were rows and rows of beds.

"This must be a palace," he thought, "I've always wanted to live in a palace."

On top of the mattress, Corduroy saw something small and round.

"Why here's my button," he cried.

And he tried to pick it up, but like all the other buttons on the mattress, it was tied down tight.

Corduroy yanked and pulled the button with his paws and pop, off it came.

Corduroy fell and knocked over a lamp.

It made a loud crash.

Corduroy didn't know it, but there was someone else awake in the store.

It was the nightwatchman.

When he heard the crash, he went up the escalator.

The nightwatchman flashed his light under and over beds until he came across two fuzzy brown ears sticking out from under the covers.

It was Corduroy.

"Hello," said the nightwatchman, "How did you get upstairs?"

He tucked Corduroy under his arm and carried him down the escalator.

(elevator music) The nightwatchman set Corduroy on a shelf with all the other toys and animals.

Corduroy was just waking up when the first customers came into the store and there, looking at him with a wide warm smile was the same little girl he'd seen only the day before.

"I'm Lisa," she said, "and you're going to be my very own bear.

Last night I counted what I saved in my piggy bank.

And my mother said I could bring you home."

After paying for Corduroy, she carried him home in her arms.

She ran all the way up four flights of stairs into her family's apartment and straight to her own room.

Corduroy looked around and alongside a girl's size bed stood a little bed just for him.

"This must be home," he said, "I know I've always wanted a home."

Lisa sat down with Corduroy on her lap and began to sew a button on his overalls.

"I like you the way you are," she said "but you'll be more comfortable with your shoulder strap fastened."

"You must be a friend," said Corduroy, "I've always wanted a friend."

"Me too," said Lisa and gave him a big hug.

The end.

(triumphant music) I hope that you enjoyed that story, boys and girls, don't forget that you can check out more stories like Corduroy at your local library and on the Sora app.

Now we're going to move to retelling the story.

Retelling is an important skill for comprehension, something that you'll need and learn more about in kindergarten.

So I have some pictures that are going to help us.

So let's sing our song about retelling.

♪ When I retell a book to a teacher or a friend ♪ ♪ I tell the beginning and the middle and the end ♪ ♪ "First," "next," "last" are the words that help me out ♪ ♪ When I read my favorite book, I can tell what it's ♪ ♪ About ♪ Okay, so our book is Corduroy.

Let's see if you remember, Corduroy was a bear and he lived where?

In a toy store.

That's right.

And he was unique or special because he was missing a button.

Wasn't he?

Now there was a little girl who came to the store and she was delighted to see Corduroy, wasn't she?

But did her mother let her buy Corduroy?

No.

Her mother had already spent too much money.

So the little girl had to leave disappointed.

So Corduroy said, "Hmm, I didn't know I was missing a button.

I want someone to buy me."

So in the night, he crawled down from where he was on the shelf and he went searching his button.

Do you remember where he went?

He went up the escalator to the mattress store and there, he saw a button and he tried to yank and pull it and yank!

Can you yank with me?

Ah!

And pop!

Out came the button.

But when he was yanking and pulling, he knocked over a lamp and it went crash and the nightwatchman came and saw Corduroy and took him back on the shelf.

But does our story have a happy ending?

It does because the nightwatchman put him back on the shelf.

And that's when the little girl came back.

She took all her money from her piggy bank and bought Corduroy to take him home.

She even sewed him a new button and they became friends.

All right.

Now, you know, I like to give you a project that you can do at home to practice retelling and remembering the story.

So let's move over to our project place.

Ready?

So for our project today we're actually gonna make Corduroy!

We're gonna make him using texture.

So I have different materials here that you might use.

I have a paper bag and I have some white paper.

This is going to be our overalls right here.

I have some more white paper and black for the eyes.

Brown and green paint and some tools for painting, scissors, and glue.

The first thing we're going to do is prepare our paper.

Now, you know, I love to use recycled materials.

So I just used a regular paper bag and we're going to put some brown paint right here on my plate.

I'm actually going to take the lid off so a bunch of it pours out.

Now, texture is how something feels, isn't it?

I want you to imagine, how do you think that a bear feels?

If you were to touch a bear, would he be soft, smooth, or bumpy?

Today we're going to mimic or copy what a bear's fur might look like and feel like.

And I'm actually using a fork and some brown paint.

This can be a lot of fun.

I'm going to go through and just kind of paint my paper by crosshatching it.

That means I go one way and then I go the other way and I might even smear it like this.

It's so much fun to create texture with paint.

I'm going like this.

Now you may decide that you want to leave some of the brown paper bags showing.

That is your choice.

It's your artwork, isn't it?

Okay.

Let's keep it moving here.

I'll show you kind of what it's looking like so far.

I might need a bit more paint here, but you get the idea.

Maybe I'll just move on to the next part.

Okay.

So we're gonna keep doing that with a fork.

You can try other materials.

I wonder what it would be like if you used your fingers.

Ooh, that would be messy, but so much fun.

So you're gonna try to cover your whole paper so that it looks something, I used a sponge on this one, something like this.

And then you're going to want to prepare your next overalls.

So in order to do that, you're going to take a paper plate.

And what color were his overalls?

They were green, weren't they?

So we're going to pour some green paint in there, on the paper plate.

And I'm going to show you a little strategy that you can use.

Again, you can use any texture that you'd like, but this one creates a really fun texture with a little pom-pom here.

And I just kind of grabbed it and put it on the end of a clip.

And then you're going to dip it in the paint like this.

Ooh, stay!

Might have to do with my fingers.

Good luck not getting messy, Mrs. Lara.

Look at the texture on that.

Let me just show you, look at how cool that looks.

It almost looks like fireworks on my paper.

And now, I use the clip to not get my fingers dirty but you can always just skip the clip part and use the pom-pom.

All right.

You're gonna want to cover the whole paper until it looks something like this.

Now of course, on this one I used the fork technique and kind of reversed it.

The next thing you're going to want to do is create your bear.

I do this by laying down my brown paper that I prepared using whatever texture paint technique that I'd like to use.

And then I'm going to make a head.

And I want you to think what shape was Corduroy's head?

Kind of a circle, isn't it?

So we're going to make a circle.

Oh, should I make a large circle or a small circle?

Or maybe a smaller circle than that?

I think I went too large in the beginning.

We still need his, can't find my scissors, body!

Okay.

So you can see, I made two circles.

This one I felt was too large for his head.

So I made another one.

That happens when you make artwork.

Make a mistake, try again.

Mrs. Lara does it all the time.

Use your helper hand to cut out your shapes.

Here's his head.

He's going to be a handsome Corduroy.

And then here's his body.

♪ Let's cut it out ♪ ♪ Cut it out ♪ ♪ Let's cut it out ♪ ♪ 'Til we make a circle ♪ There we go.

All the way around.

All right.

We're still going to use that paper so don't throw it away.

The next thing we're going to do is begin to glue him together.

So his head is going to go over on his body like this.

Here we go.

Now of course Corduroy needs some ears!

So let me get some ears together.

Now, you know my trick for cutting out multiple things.

You're going to stack your paper like this, hold it still.

And I'm just going to freehand some ovals.

Those are going to be his ears.

Ooh.

Without ears, he couldn't hear, huh?

I wonder what bears like to listen to?

You know, I've never met a bear.

Never had a chance to ask.

We are in a campsite.

I hope I don't meet any bears though.

I don't think that would be my first question.

I think it would be like, "Hm.

Do you like to eat teachers?"

I think that's what I might ask.

All right, next I'm going to cut out some hands or paws, huh?

I'm going to do that over here.

Put it down this way.

Now notice I'm using as much of the brown paper as I can.

Don't want to waste.

We spent all that time preparing it.

Do you remember what other author likes to prepare their paper and use collage to create their illustrations?

Eric Carl, we studied him a while ago.

Maybe we'll bring him back.

He has so many interesting books.

We haven't even scratched the surface of all the books that we can read together, boys and girls.

I haven't even read you my favorite book.

I'll leave that one as a surprise.

Okay.

So now I'm just making some legs.

Hopefully we don't run out of time and can make some overalls and eyes.

I might not be able to do our goodbye song, but we'll do it next time.

Okay, here we go.

His feet.

Putting them on the bottom, there we go.

All right.

Now you can start to see it's looking like a bear.

Now, I think that I'm going to make his overalls next, because that might be a little bit tricky.

So to make his overalls, I'm going to cut a piece of the green paper like this, that I prepared using any texture that I want.

And I'm kinda gonna measure.

Yeah, that's about right for his overalls.

Maybe I'll take a little off the bottom.

And you can see Mrs. Lara is making a big paper mess, oh no!

All right, next, I'm going to cut some legs out and that's where he's going to put his feet.

Now do bears really wear overalls?

No, at least not a bear that I've seen.

That's how I know that the book is a work of fiction.

That means it's not real.

So I'm going to cut a little bit longer here and we have just enough time, I think, to make some eyes.

If not, I'll show you what it looks like next time.

Let's put some, let's glue his overalls on so I can show you the finished product.

Here we go.

Here's his overalls, a little bit big for him.

A little room to grow.

(Mrs. Lara giggles) Just like that.

And then we'll cut out some eyes.

I have some white paper and some black paper here.

I'm going to cut out two eyes really quickly so that you can see the finished product.

I'm gonna glue them on, Now, boys and girls, if you decide to try this art project, don't forget to send a picture and a little note over to the station.

I would love to see your project and see what it looked like.

Let me just cut this piece out and the eyes and I'll show you what he's looking like.

(Mrs. Lara giggles) There's overalls right in his eyes, oh no!

All right.

Two eyes!

And then we'll both say goodbye to you, Corduroy and I.

A little nose.

(Mrs. Lara giggles) This is what it's looking like.

All right, boys and girls, I hope that you try this at home.

We'll see you tomorrow for some more Corduroy fun.

Goodbye!

Say goodbye!

Bye!

(energetic outro music)