- In "Read, Write, Roar," we are going to learn about what construction workers do as community helpers, build.

We will hear about the tools they use, and even practice building right here in our classroom.

Let's go, "Read, Write, Roar!"

- [Spokesperson] This program is made possible in part by the W.K.

Kellogg Foundation, Elaine Stern Foundation, the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation, Donald and Mary Kosch, Lauren and Phillip Fisher, the state of Michigan, and by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(upbeat music) (lion roaring) - Hi, children, welcome to "Read, Write, Roar!"

You all do it with me, ready?

- [All] "Read, Write, Roar!"

- One more time.

- [All] "Read, Write, Roar!"

- We are gonna learn about community helpers called builders.

And builders create some of the buildings in our community or structures that we see.

I'm gonna show you this building here and I'm curious, tell me about what you see about this building.

So what do you notice?

- [Quincy] Me, me!

- [Mrs. Colon] All right, Quincy, tell me what you notice.

- I see a big castle with that.

- [Mrs. Colon] You did.

- And a big castle everybody can come there.

- [Mrs. Colon] You do, that's a dome at the top.

- I see.

- All right, what do you see?

- I see an American flag.

- You see an American flag.

- And I see this, and a statue, and a fence.

- All right, and then Yasemin, tell me what you see.

- I see flowers, and a long roof up there, and I see a lot of windows.

- [Mrs. Colon] And a lot of windows.

And does anybody know what the name of this building is?

- [Zoe] I know, I know!

- [Mrs. Colon] What do you think this building is called?

- [Zoe] Reader.

- [Mrs. Colon] You think it's Reader?

Quincy, what do you think this building is called?

- [Quincy] It's called Veter.

- Veter?

Well, I'm gonna tell you, this is called the State Capitol, and it's in Lansing.

- [Yasemin] I was gonna say that!

- Yeah, you were gonna say that?

I should've asked you.

- Mrs. Colon!

- Well, just a minute, I'm gonna ask you one more question.

How long do you think it took builders to build this building?

- Me, me, me!

Five minutes.

- Five minutes.

- 10 minutes!

- I know!

- 10 minutes?

- 18 10 minutes.

- 18 10 minutes?

No, gillion, gillion, gillion!

- A gillion minutes.

(children yelling) Actually touch your head, touch your nose, touch your ears.

It actually took them six years.

- Oh, six years?

- Yeah, great job guessing, everybody.

- I was about to say that.

(mellow music) - Today, we are gonna take on the role of a community helper, and one of the community workers is going to be a builder.

- I know how to build something!

- [Mrs. Colon] You know how to build something?

- Yes!

- [Mrs. Colon] Tell me what you might wanna build.

- I know how to just build everything.

- I'm gonna build a house.

- [Mrs. Colon] A house?

- I'm gonna build a castle.

- A castle?

What are you thinking you're gonna build?

Yeah.

- I'm gonna build- - What are you thinking?

- I'm gonna build the city.

- Oh, the city.

And before builders get started, something that they often do is make a blueprint.

Now a blueprint is a drawing of what you might build.

- This one.

- So I'm gonna give each of you a marker and you have a blueprint there, go ahead and draw what you think your building might look like.

- Here you go, Yasemin.

- All right, here's one too.

- I got two.

- [Mrs. Colon] You have two?

Give one to Yasemin, it looks like she's missing one.

All right, so now you're gonna draw what it is.

- How do you draw the city?

Let me look at it.

- The city, you wanna look at the city?

Go ahead and look at it.

What do you notice about that?

- I need a picture.

- Okay.

You got the picture, you're looking at it.

What shape do you see?

You're building one tall, long line, another long line.

That's like the shape of a rectangle.

Two long lines and two short lines.

- This is the roof and these are the chimneys.

- Oh, you have the two chimneys, and that's the roof at the top?

Tell me about what you're adding to your blueprint.

- I need some help with mine.

- Okay.

- I'm making these is two doors, this is the rooms, and this is the living room.

- The living room.

You have lots of different areas in your house and lots of levels.

And it looks like you're building a skyscraper.

- I got it on you.

- That's okay, that happens sometimes when you're making a draft.

When you have lots of levels of that, you can call it a skyscraper.

It's a tall building.

- I need help with the house.

- All right, so it looks like you already have your rectangle and then you're adding your windows.

And once you make your design or your blueprint, now you can use the materials and construct or create your building.

- I need tape.

- All right, get your tape and start building.

- I need this open.

- Let's see, I wonder if you can tear it.

Try it.

See if you can rip it off.

- I want tape, I finished.

- You'd like some tape?

All right, you're finished?

All right, now we have different materials that you can use.

You can even add them to your box.

- I need a piece.

- All right, now if you look at your blueprint, tell me about where this is on your blueprint there.

Can you point it out?

Where is this design on your blueprint?

Quincy, tell me about what you created.

- This one is the french fry, this is the kitchen, this is the living room, you have to go outside to get in the backyard, and this is me and Zoe's bed.

- [Mrs. Colon] And Zoe's bed.

- And this is Kylee's bed.

- And that's Kylee's bed.

All right, Yasemin, tell me about what you created.

- I made a room for me and my brother and my dad and my little baby and my mom.

It's a big bed for all of us to sleep on.

My little baby brother sleeps in the middle, I sleep right here, and my mom sleeps right here, and my brother sleeps right here, and my dad sleeps right here.

- [Mrs. Colon] You designed and constructed or built a home for your whole family.

All right, Zoe, tell me about what you built.

- So I made a thing where you roll it up into a bakery.

- Yasemin?

- [Yasemin] What?

- Your dad is in there.

- To roll up cakes.

- Oh, to roll up cakes, all right.

Great building, everybody.

(mellow music) Guess what?

I'm so excited that Ryan the Lion is gonna join us for our Brain Break.

- Me too!

- You too?

Well, today's Brain Break, we are going to do some stretching.

So first, we're gonna reach up to the sky, all the way up and let's count to five.

One, two, three, four, five.

Now Quincy, go all the way down and touch your toes, or reach and touch the ground.

Can you hold it for five?

One, two, three, four, five.

Straighten up tall and then put your arms all the way out to the sides, and let's go back and forth, ready?

One, two, three, four, five.

Great job, everybody.

(mellow music) Remember when we were builders and we built with those boxes?

- [Children] Yeah!

- Oh, did you notice something?

I said builders, built, and boxes.

They all start with the same letter.

They all start with the letter B. Yeah, can you all say B?

- [Children] B!

- And B makes a buh sound, buh.

Yeah, I'm gonna show you and I'm gonna write- - And beautiful.

- And beautiful.

- It's so pretty!

- Yeah, beautiful means pretty.

- It's glittery.

- Yeah, we're gonna think of something else that starts with a B.

And a B, when I make it, it will be a straight line down.

- Alex B!

- [Mrs. Colon] Yeah, Alex B.

And then it's a curve at the top with a curve at the bottom.

- [Quincy] I know how to draw that.

- [Yasemin] Me too!

- You know what, I'm gonna have you draw it.

This is an uppercase B.

Make sure you say B again.

- [Children] B!

- B, and then let me show you the lowercase, and then I'm gonna have you do it, ready?

And a lowercase B is a straight line down, and then it has a little curve at the bottom.

This is a B.

- [All] B!

- A small B.

- So we have a big B. Yeah, a big B, or an uppercase B, and then a baby B or a lowercase B.

All right, have a seat.

And then I'm gonna give you each your own dry erase marker and your own dry erase board, and we're gonna practice making some Bs together.

All right.

But wait for me to tell you to get started, so hold on to your marker.

This one's for Yasemin, this one's for Zoe.

- That's my favorite color though.

- Oh, 'cause blue is also a B word.

All right, so let's do it together, ready?

You're gonna start, and we're gonna make an uppercase B.

- I wanna do an uppercase one.

- Let's make an uppercase B.

Okay, it's gonna be a straight line down, and then you're gonna put a little curve at the top.

- [Zoe] Made it!

- And a little curve at the bottom.

- I made it, uppercase!

- [Mrs. Colon] You made it.

Once you did it, show me.

- I did it, look!

- You did it, that's an uppercase B.

Okay, put them back in your laps.

- Look, look, Mrs. Colon, I did it.

- You see me smiling, I'm so proud of you.

All right, now we're gonna do a lowercase B right next to it.

You don't have to erase it.

All right, you're gonna draw a straight line down, and then you're gonna do a little curve at the bottom for a lowercase B.

Once you have it, show me.

- I did it!

- I did it!

- You did it!

- I did it!

- You did it!

All right, hand me your Bs.

You all did great jobs with your Bs.

Now that you're in a bubbly mood for Bs- - I wanna tell my mommy.

- Well, we're going to when we get done, but I have one more job for you to do.

Now we talked about builders and we are going to read a story.

When you hear something that starts with a buh sound, you're gonna touch your nose.

Actually, touch your bellies, 'cause that will remind me it starts with a B sound.

So let's listen.

"Construction workers.

"Construction workers are trades workers who build-" (Mrs. Colon gasps) - Big B!

- Yes.

"Build homes, offices, schools, hospitals, and many other buildings."

(Mrs. Colon gasps) You heard that B for buildings.

"They also build..." (Mrs. Colon gasps) Build.

"Build roads and bridges."

(Mrs. Colon gasps) Yeah.

"They use many kinds of tools and machines "like power drills, cranes, bulldozers..." (Mrs. Colon gasps) You heard that B in bulldozers.

"And cement trucks.

"Cement trucks make concrete to use in building-" (Mrs. Colon gasps) - [Child] B!

- B, that's a B sound.

"Homes, and roads."

Listen to this one.

Ready, listen to this one.

"Bulldozers move dirt."

(children gasping) You all did great at identifying the letter B.

- Mrs. Colon.

(mellow music) - Having a concrete object to start a conversation with your child is helpful.

When children create structures with blocks or common household items, the opportunity to have a conversation with your child around the thinking that went into the design and creation of the structure comes naturally.

If you have paper and pencil close by, you could even ask your child to draw a picture and, or write about what they plan to build next.

It's okay if the writing is scribbles or if it's a shape that resembles a letter and you're not quite sure what your child wrote.

In fact, this just gives you more chances to interact.

Ask your child to read aloud what they wrote to you and then ask follow up questions that get them to elaborate on their writing.

If your child wants to just tell you what to write down and you do it for them, go for it.

Regardless of how your child's ideas are being turned into written words, help them make the connection that print has meaning.

So have those writing materials ready to go so you don't miss any daily opportunities to support your child.

(mellow music) Remember we learned all about community helpers like builders.

- Yeah.

- And we learned about the letter B. Yeah, now tell me a word that starts with- - Button!

- [Mrs. Colon] Button.

- Buh, buh, buh, bee.

- [Mrs. Colon] Yeah, buh, buh, bee.

- Buh, buh, bee.

(Zoe buzzing) (Mrs. Colon buzzing) - [Mrs. Colon] And B makes (buzzing) - A bee!

- A dragonfly.

- [Mrs. Colon] Dragonflies make that sound.

- Like a letter, a B like a letter.

- Like the letter.

And then there's another insect that has beautiful wings and it flies- - Butterfly!

- [Mrs. Colon] A butterfly, that also starts with a B.

- Butterfly.

- And beautiful.

- [Mrs. Colon] And beautiful, because butterflies and beautiful.

- And glittery!

- And cute!

- Yeah, so everybody say butterflies- - [Children] Butterflies.

- Are beautiful.

- [Children] Beautiful.

- And they start with the letter- - B!

- B, B.

So let's say it one more time, say butterflies- - Butterflies.

- B!

- [Mrs. Colon] Are beautiful.

- [Children] Beautiful.

- [Mrs. Colon] And they start with the letter- - [All] B!

- All right, say see ya next time.

- [Children] See ya next time.

- [All] On "Read, Write, Roar!"

- [Spokesperson] This program is made possible in part by the W.K.

Kellogg Foundation, Elaine Stern Foundation, the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation, Donald and Mary Kosch, Lauren and Phillip Fisher, the state of Michigan, and by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(upbeat music) (gentle tone)