Our Home, Kansas City
by Scott Brown
Fly through Kansas City with an owl named Sly and visit the many spaces and places that highlight this beautiful city and provide opportunities for learing and fun! Your animal tour guides will show you the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kauffman Baseball Stadium, and the Kansas City Zoo - along with many more! Maybe you have been to some already? A great book for families in the Kansas City area to read and talk about with their little Story Explorers!
Reading Tips for Story Explorers
Find a comfortable space to read together
Slow down and enjoy the illustrations
Ask and answer questions together
Make reading part of your routine - bedtime is a great time for reading
Use these prompts to encourage deeper thinking with your children:
"Tell me more, why do you think that?"
"How do you know that?"
"Interesting, did you notice anything else?"
Phonemic Awareness
When introducing the book, share the title and notice these phonemic elements:
Kansas City is frequently called "KC". Use this book to introduce your young reader to the idea of initials and to emphasize beginning letters and sounds. Point to the word "Kansas" in the title and ask your child, "What letter is this?". Repeat this with the word "City". Talk about saying the names of the two letters "KC" and how the names are different than the SOUNDS the letters make /k/ and /c/ when we pronounce the full words.
Vocabulary
performers: a person who sings, acts, or does some form of entertainment for an audience
famous: a person who sings, acts, or does some form of entertainment for an audience
history: everything that has happened in the past to people or things, or a telling of these events
museum: a building where collections of objects that are important to history, art, or science are kept and shown to the public
jazz: a form of music with strong, complex rhythms that started with African Americans in the late 1800s
miniatures: something that is exactly like something else but much smaller in size
Questions to Discuss
What do you notice first about the pictures of Kansas City in the book? Which place in the book looked the most interesting to you? Why?
What do you think “home” means in this story?
Have you been to any of the places shown in the book? What did you do there? If you could visit one place from the story today, where would you choose?
If you made a page about your favorite place in Kansas City, what would it show?
Let's Play
With your child, pretend you are a character from Our Home, Kansas City. Imagine you are riding on a train that travels all around Kansas City. As the train moves, look out the window and talk with the other characters about what you see.
What buildings, parks, neighborhoods, or landmarks are passing by your window? What sounds do you hear? What makes you excited or curious?
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Describe what you see outside.
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Ask each other questions.
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Share what makes Kansas City feel like home.
After your ride, draw a picture or write a few sentences telling about your favorite thing you saw from the train.
