1. Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
Included: A brief excerpt from the book and rigorous question set activities promoting higher level-thinking development

2. Excerpt from book Jacob’s Ladder Goals & Objectives Habits of Mind
Tier 1
Excerpt from book
Jacob’s Ladder Goals & Objectives
Habits of Mind

3. Caldecott Medal Winner
Excerpt
By Kevin Henkes
Caldecott Medal Winner
When kitten sees the full moon for the first time, she mistakenly believes it is a bowl of milk. Determined to drink its delicious contents, she makes many attempts to reach the bowl, leaving her tired, wet, and hungry.
Obtain the book from a school library to read the story in its entirety and complete the ladder activities.

4. Students will be able:
Ladder C
C1: Literary Elements-To identify and explain specific story elements.
C2: Inference—To use textual clues to read between the lines and make judgments about specific textual events, ideas, or character analysis.
C3: Theme and Concept—To identify a major theme or ideas common throughout the text.
Ladder E
E1: Understanding Emotion – to explain how emotion and feeling are conveyed in a text and/or their personal experience.
E2: Expressing Emotion – to articulate their feelings through a variety of media (e.g., song, art, poem, story, essay, speech)
E3: Using Emotion – to analyze how emotion affects the passage and/or the reader.
F1: Understanding Words – to identify and explain the meaning of figurative language or new vocabulary within the context of a story or poem.
F2: Thinking About Words – to analyze the use of words within the context as related to the theme of a text.
F3: Playing With Words – to accurately apply figurative language and new vocabulary to newly created contexts.

5. Working Interdependently Thinking about Thinking (metacognition)
Habits of Mind
Working Interdependently
Thinking about Thinking (metacognition)
Innovating, Creating, Imagining
Refer to Jacob’s Ladder Story Table for Ladder C, E, F Thinking Questions.

6. (Discussion) High Level Strategies with Ladder C, E, F Questions
Tier 2 Rigor
(Discussion)
High Level Strategies with
Ladder C, E, F Questions

7. Discussion Strategies: Think-Pair-Share, Write-around, Sequencing pictures, Role Play, Journaling
Choose 3 of 4 questions below to complete.
C1: How would you describe Kitten’s personality? Why do you think so?
C2: What character trait made Kitten continue to try to reach the moon? Explain your answer using information from the story.
E2: Can you identify a time when you failed at something you tried? Tell a partner what happened and how you felt. Create a picture that shows your emotions and write or dictate a sentence to explain them.
F2: On certain pages, the author uses the same verb over and over to explain Kitten’s actions. For example, “…she climbed and climbed and climbed…” Why would the author do this? What does it make the reader think or imagine?

8. (Discussion) High Level Strategies with Ladder C, E, F Questions
Tier 3 Rigor
(Discussion)
High Level Strategies with
Ladder C, E, F Questions

9. Discussion Strategies: Think-Pair-Share, Write-around, Sequencing pictures, Role Play, Journaling
Choose 2 of 3 questions below to complete.
C3: What lesson did you learn from the story? Explain how you arrived at your answer.
E1: What emotions do you think Kitten felt when she kept failing at her attempts to lick the moon? Share evidence from the book for your ideas.
E3: Create a picture that shows how Kitten must have felt before and after she got her bowl of milk. Use special colors to show what her mood might have been. Write or dictate a sentence to explain why you chose the color you did to illustrate Kitten’s two moods.

10. Reflections/Relevance
Tier 4
Reflections/Relevance

11. Choose one of the writing ideas to complete. Be creative.
1. Elaborate on the failing attempt of Kitten trying to reach the moon by creating one or more pages to the book. Use illustrations and action words to show Kitten’s failed attempts
2. The author uses many different verbs (action words) to help readers understand how Kitten moved in an attempt to get to the moon. Create a picture dictionary to include a list of those verbs and a definition for each one. Design a picture of each action.
Optional project strategies:  Role Play; Create a Puppet Show; Charts, Posters, Flyers, Brochures