Hello everyone!
Welcome back to our reading adventure.
I am your English reading coach, Minhee Teacher.
I am so excited to explore a wonderful book with you today.
We are starting a brand-new story called Mercy Watson to the Rescue, and today we will look at Part One.
Let's pretend we are movie directors today.
When we read a book, we want to see the story happen in our minds just like a movie on a big screen.
Let's look through our camera lens at the very first part of our story.
In our first scene, we see a cute pig named Mercy.
It is bedtime.
Mr. and Mrs. Watson are singing a sweet song to Mercy.
Mercy is tucked into her own bed, and she feels so happy and loved.
In the second scene, the lights go out.
The room becomes very dark.
Suddenly, Mercy is all by herself.
The warm feelings disappear, and Mercy feels afraid and alone.
In the third scene, Mercy decides to solve her problem.
She gets out of her bed and climbs right into Mr. and Mrs. Watson's bed.
She squeezes herself right between them.
Now she feels safe again, and everyone falls fast asleep.
Let's zoom in closer on Mercy's feelings.
Why did Mercy leave her own bed?
When the bedroom gets dark, Mercy feels small and scared.
The author uses a very special phrase to show us what Mercy is thinking about.
She thinks about hot toast with a great deal of butter.
Now, why does a pig think about buttery toast at bedtime?
Let's explain this in a very simple way.
When the world is dark and quiet, we all get a little bit scared.
We need something to make us feel safe.
Some children have a favorite soft blanket they like to hold.
Some children like to hear their mom or dad's voice.
For Mercy, her safety comes from being close to Mr. and Mrs. Watson, and thinking about warm, buttery toast.
Toast is not just food for Mercy.
It is her comfort object.
When she thinks of warm toast, she feels the love of her family.
Warm toast means safety, and warm toast means home.
Let's look at five useful words from our director's notebook to help us talk about this scene.
Our first word is dark.
Dark means there is little or no light.
Think about what happens when you turn off all the lights in your bedroom at night.
It becomes very dark.
Our second word is afraid.
Afraid means feeling scared.
If you hear a strange noise in the middle of the night, you might feel afraid.
Mercy feels afraid when the lights go out.
Our third word is alone.
Alone means by yourself, with no other people around.
Mercy does not like sleeping alone in her room.
Our fourth word is snuggle.
Snuggle is a wonderful, cozy word.
It means to get very close to someone to feel warm and comfortable.
Imagine a tiny puppy curling up in a soft basket.
That is snuggling.
Mercy snuggles between Mr. and Mrs. Watson.
Our fifth phrase is warm inside.
This does not mean you drank a cup of hot tea.
It means you feel happy, safe, and loved in your heart.
When Mr. and Mrs. Watson sing to Mercy, she feels warm inside.
Now, let's practice speaking like real actors.
I will say a sentence, and then I want you to repeat it right after me with a strong, clear voice.
Are you ready?
Let's try.
Mercy feels afraid in the dark.
She wants to feel safe.
Toast makes Mercy feel warm inside.
A song can comfort a character.
Comfort can be a small thing.
You did an amazing job repeating those sentences!
Before we finish our lesson today, I want to leave you with one interesting question to think about.
Mercy needs her family and the thought of warm toast to feel safe.
What about you?
What favorite object, toy, or routine makes you feel safe and warm inside when you feel afraid?
Think about your answer, and next time we will see what happens when the Watson house starts making strange noises in the middle of the night.
Thank you for reading with me today.
You did a wonderful job, and I will see you in our next lesson.
Bye-bye!