Educator Guide: Kit's Show and Tell (Book 17)
Free to use in your classroom. The matching family activity sheet is on the Educator Resources page.
At a Glance
| Ages | Series One, Ages 2 to 4 |
| Theme | Speaking up about your own work |
| Core lesson | Bravery is not a feeling you wait for. It is what practice leaves behind. |
| Read-aloud time | 5 to 7 minutes |
| Best group size | Whole group to read, pairs and small groups after |
| Staffing | Small groups assume a second adult covers the room. Alone, run one table and set the other centers out first. |
| Timing | Times are teaching time. Add five minutes for cleanup. |
Why This Book Matters
Presenting asks a preschooler to do four things at once: hold a sequence, produce speech, manage a racing body, and read a room of faces. Most three year olds can do any one alone and fall apart when they stack. Layla's four steps take the sequence off the child, which frees them to spend effort on breath and volume.
Circle Time Discussion
Show the cover: "Kit is holding his Steady Sippy up in front of people. Wiggly tummy or calm?" Vote with thumbs. Pause at "What if Kit forgets the words?" and ask where nervous lives in the body. Pause at "Say your NAME. Say what you MADE. Say why it's COOL. And SMILE!" and count four on fingers.
- What does your body do when you talk in front of everybody? [If no words: point at your tummy and knees, let them copy.]
- Layla's steps are name, made, cool, smile. Show me how many that is. [If no words: hold up four fingers and count together.]
- Kit practiced on stuffed animals first. Why start with the animals? [If no words: ask "teddies, scary or friendly?" and accept a head shake.]
- Mia clapped for Kit. What do good listeners do? [If no words: model clapping and quiet hands, let them copy one.]
- What did you make that you would tell us about? [If no words: walk to the drying rack and let them point.]
The Six Activities, Adapted for the Classroom
The Paper Megaphone
The book: roll paper into a cone and say the four steps through it.
Materials: 11 by 17 paper or grocery bag paper, one sheet each, masking tape.
Group: small group of 4 to 6, 10 minutes, cones rolled at arrival, while the rest of the class is at centers.
How it runs: Roll and tape the cones with the children, not for them, since the making is part of owning it. Point every megaphone at the same wall, which pools the noise and stops children blasting each other. Take a turn yourself so a child corrects your order.
Say this: "Point at the wall. My name is, I made, it is cool because, then smile."
Adapt it: Younger children say only their name. Ready for more: give two reasons. Limited mobility or language: hold the cone and accept a sound, a sign, or a device.
Look for: all four steps in order without an adult supplying the next one.
Teddy Audience
The book: line up three stuffed animals, tell them your four steps, then bow.
Materials: three stuffed animals from dramatic play, one item each child made, a carpet square.
Group: pairs in the dramatic play area at center time, 10 minutes, while the rest of the class is at centers.
How it runs: Set the animals in a row facing the carpet square so the stage is unmistakable. Keep the human audience to one partner, because three plush faces plus twenty real ones is not a soft start. Cue the bow, which gives an exit from the spotlight.
Say this: "Stand tall. The teddies are ready. Start with your name, finish with your smile."
Adapt it: Younger children hold up their item and name it. Ready for more: present to the teddies, then two classmates. Limited mobility: present seated, animals at eye level.
Look for: the child speaking toward the audience rather than down at the object.
Four Step Squares
The book: lay four squares in a path, one per step, and hop each one saying that step.
Materials: sidewalk chalk and a paved area, four chalked squares marked face, hand, star, smile. Indoors, use four carpet squares on carpet floor, never paper on a hard floor.
Group: small group of 4 to 6 outdoors, 12 minutes, while the rest of the class is on the playground.
How it runs: Chalk the path before children come out. Walk it yourself first, saying the four lines in order. Children who cannot hop may step or be walked, since the sequence is the target.
Say this: "Name square. Made square. Cool square. Smile square."
Adapt it: Younger children travel with an adult echoing each line. Ready for more: run the path backward. Limited mobility: chalk the four squares close together so a chair can roll the path.
Look for: the right words matched to the right square without a glance at an adult.
The Louder Ladder
The book: say your show and tell three times, whisper, talking voice, big brave voice.
Materials: none, or a three rung ladder drawn on chart paper to point at.
Group: whole group at circle, 10 minutes, rungs one and two in unison and rung three one child at a time.
How it runs: Do all three rungs in one unbroken turn, since the climb is the point, not the loudness. Model the whisper first so children hear that rung one is genuinely tiny. Use your hand as the volume dial.
Say this: "Rung one, a tiny whisper. Rung two, your talking voice. Rung three, big and brave."
Adapt it: Younger children do two rungs. Ready for more: present to a second group. Limited mobility or language: climb with a sound, a shaker, or a device volume control.
Look for: a real change in volume between rungs, not the same voice three times.
Words Gone? Breathe and Begin
The book: freeze on purpose, then stop, take one belly breath, look at the thing you made, and start again.
Materials: none, though holding the thing they made helps, since looking at it is the rescue.
Group: whole group at circle, 8 minutes, all breathing together, three volunteers demonstrating the freeze.
How it runs: Practice the rescue when nothing has gone wrong, the only way it will be available later. Do one belly breath together, hands on stomachs, so children feel it move. Cheer the rescue louder than the telling.
Say this: "The words hid. Stop, one big belly breath, look at your thing, start again."
Adapt it: Younger children practice only the breath and their name. Ready for more: be the whisperer who feeds a frozen friend two words. Limited mobility or language: raise a hand as the restart signal.
Look for: a child who stalls and restarts alone before an adult steps in.
One Big Question
The book: the audience asks one question, and the teller answers, or says I will find out.
Materials: one talking object, a wooden spoon or a beanbag, marking whose turn it is.
Group: small group of 4 to 6, 8 minutes, two tellers a sitting, while the rest of the class is at centers.
How it runs: Cap it at one question, because a second turns an audience into an interrogation and the turn should end while it still feels good. Pass the beanbag to the asker so everyone sees whose turn it is. Teach two stems first: what does it do, how did you build it.
Say this: "One question only. Teller, look at the asker. If you do not know, say, I will find out."
Adapt it: Younger children answer with a point or a demonstration. Limited mobility: hold the beanbag while a partner voices the question. A child whose home language is not English can answer in that language, and you repeat the idea back in English while keeping their word.
Look for: the teller turning their face toward the asker before answering.
Learning Standards
The table below cites three frameworks: the Early Learning Program Accreditation Standards of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).
| Framework | Element | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| NGSS Practice | Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information | In The Paper Megaphone the child says what they made and why, in four steps. |
| NAEYC | 2.D Language Development, expressive language | In The Louder Ladder the child gives the four-part telling three times at rising volume. |
| NAEYC | 2.B Social and Emotional Development, self-regulation | In Words Gone? the child stalls on purpose, takes one belly breath, and restarts. |
| CASEL | Relationship Skills | In One Big Question the teller turns to face the asker before answering. |
Director's note: this title's science load is light by design. Pair it with a building-heavy book.
About these frameworks
- National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC): the accrediting body whose Early Learning Program Accreditation Standards define what a high-quality preschool curriculum covers. Standard 2, Curriculum, is the section directors document during accreditation, and the rows above name the topic area each activity supports.
- Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): the kindergarten through grade 12 science standards adopted by most states. Formal NGSS expectations begin at kindergarten, so this table cites only its Science and Engineering Practices, naming the precursor behaviors this book builds rather than grade-level performance expectations.
- Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL): the research organization whose five social-emotional competencies most states use to define social-emotional learning. Naming them shows where each activity builds skills such as self-management, social awareness, or relationship skills.
Key Vocabulary
| Word | Child-Friendly Definition | Teacher Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Practice | Doing it again so it gets easier | "That was practice two. One more and you are ready." |
| Nervous | A wiggly, worried feeling before something big | "Your tummy feels nervous. Kit stood up anyway." |
| Audience | The people who watch and listen | "Turn and face your audience." |
| Brave | Doing it while the wiggly feeling is there | "You were brave. The nervous did not stop you." |
| Present | To show something and tell about it | "Ready to present your building to us?" |
| Question | Something you ask to know more | "One question for our teller." |
Watch For and Note
Emerging. The child avoids the presenter role or stands silent when it is their turn, and may present only to an adult or a stuffed animal. Volume stays at a whisper across all three rungs.
Developing. The child gets through the four steps for a partner or small group with one or two prompts, and shows a real volume change between rungs. They attempt the rescue breath after a reminder.
Proficient. The child presents to the whole group in order and unprompted, projects on the third rung, and looks at the audience. They recover from a stall alone, field a question, and cheer for peers without being told.
Center Extensions
- Blocks: Post a Tell Us About It sign and run one builder through the four steps daily.
- Art: Keep the paper megaphone station stocked so children can announce a finished painting.
- Dramatic play: Keep three stuffed animals seated as a permanent practice audience.
- Outdoors: Leave the chalked squares up all week, where a big voice is a feature.
Family Connection
This week we read Kit's Show and Tell, Book 17 of Kit's Little Sparks. Kit was nervous about talking to his class, so he practiced on stuffed animals, then his sister, then the mirror. Your child is bringing home the My Show and Tell activity sheet: let them tell you about something they made, three times, a little louder each time.
Next in the Series
Book 18, Kit Looks at the Stars, shows children that inventors have come from every era and everywhere, and that they already belong in that line. Bridge activity: after a child presents, have them name a grown-up who makes or fixes things, and look that job up at circle.