- Hello, readers and writers.

Welcome to Read.

Write.

Roar!

Today, we're going to read a very special book about not giving up, even when things are hard.

We're going to learn some new vocabulary words and respond to reading.

At the end, we're going to write a sentence and draw a picture about the story.

Before we can get started, you'll need something to write on, like a piece of paper or notebook, and something to write with, like a pencil, so go get those things so we can start learning.

(cheerful music) (lion roars) (lion roars) - [Announcer] This program is made possible in part by Michigan Department of Education, the state of Michigan, and the Kresge Foundation.

Additional support for educational programming provided by, and by viewers like you.

(smooth music) - Hi, I'm Mrs. Skelley.

Today, we're going to read this book called "I am Darn Tough."

As we're reading, we're going to learn three new vocabulary words.

We're also going to be taking a very close look at the picture to see if they give us any clues about the story.

All right, before we read, let's take a look at the cover and the title.

"I am Darn Tough."

What do you think this book's going to be about?

Well, thinking about the title, "I am Darn Tough," I think this book is going to be about trying hard things.

Trying hard things can make you tough, right?

Yeah, let's get started reading the story, and see what it's about.

The author of this story is Licia Morelli.

She's the person that wrote the book.

The illustrator is Maine Diaz.

She's the person that drew the pictures.

"I am Darn Tough."

This is the title page.

It says the title again.

Let's take a look at these pictures.

I see girls that are stretching and getting ready to run.

I think they might be getting to run a race, because I see numbers on some of their shirts.

The pictures give me some pretty important clues about what's going to happen in this story.

"I remember tying my shoes.

Sun on my skin.

Wind on my face."

Let's take a look at the pictures.

She's kneeling down, like she's ready, just ready to run the race.

And also, it looks like she's in the woods.

She isn't running the race on a track.

She looks like she's running it in the woods.

The pictures give me those clues.

"I remember the crunch of the dirt beneath my sneakers.

My legs kicking up behind me.

Rocks, roots.

I remember running through the mud.

Puddles mirroring the trees around me."

This is the word mirroring.

(smooth music) This is the word mirroring.

The word mirroring means to show an image of something, like this, like in a mirror.

In the book, the water was mirroring her feet, as she was running through the river.

(bright music) "The babble of the stream.

Wind in the leaves above me."

This is the word babble.

(smooth music) This is the word babble.

A babble is a sound that a soft flowing stream makes.

In the story, she could hear the stream babble as she was running through the woods.

(bright music) "I remember tripping and falling.

My knee bleeding.

Then slowly getting up.

Putting one foot in front of the other."

Let's take a look at these pictures.

She's falling right here.

Let's look at her face.

How do you think she's feeling?

Well, we can make an inference.

We can think about how we would feel if this would happen to us.

I know if I fell, I would maybe feel sad, I would feel hurt.

She's kind of looking like she's hunched over.

She doesn't look like she's ready to run again right now.

"I remember that first big hill.

The climb up, up, up."

Let's look at her face now.

Let's make an inference about how she's feeling.

If I were her, I would look up at that big hill, and be like, "Oh no, this is gonna be so much work.

I don't know if I can do it."

That might be how she's feeling too.

"I remember a cramp in my side.

Being so tired.

Muscles aching.

The sun, so hot.

I remember crying, feeling defeated.

My heart hurting, stomach in knots."

This is the word defeated.

(smooth music) This is the word defeated.

Defeated means to feel unsuccessful at something that you're trying to do.

In the story, the character felt defeated or unsuccessful when she fell, and she felt like she wasn't going to be able to finish the race.

(bright music) "I remember stopping.

Taking a deep breath in and out.

Telling myself that I've done this before, and I can do it again.

My heart is big, and I am brave.

I remember the breeze at my back.

My feet bouncing on the trail.

The cramp going away."

Let's take a look at the picture clues.

How do you think she's feeling now?

Look at her face.

Look at her body.

She's standing up straighter.

She's running.

Her face looks like she's determined.

She's ready.

I think she's gonna keep running the race 'til the finish line.

"I remember catching up to my friends, Smiling, laughing, cheering each other on.

I remember seeing the finish line.

Running through the tape, arms up.

Smiling so big.

I did it!

We did it!"

Let's look at the pictures now.

How do you think she's feeling?

How would you feel if you just ran to the finish line after all of that hard work?

Would you feel proud of yourself?

That's how that character's feeling.

That's an inference.

When we think about how we would feel, that's probably how the character feels too.

"I know that I'm strong on the inside, and I'm strong on the outside.

I am darn tough."

And look, wow.

She worked so hard in that book.

It was tough to run that race.

She fell.

She had a lot of obstacles, or things that were hard, but she kept trying.

She persevered.

Persevere means to keep trying, even when things are tough.

(smooth music) Let's give our brains a break and our bodies moving.

So stand up and exercise with me.

We're going to do five different exercises, and count to 10 for each one.

Let's start with arm circles.

Count with me.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10.

Now we're going to do 10 skips.

Skip with me.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10.

Great work.

Now we're going to do 10 hops.

Hop with me.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10.

Now let's do 10 jumping jacks.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10.

Great, we're almost there.

Now let's run in place and count to 10.

Run with me.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10.

Ooh, nice job getting some exercise, and giving your brain a break.

(smooth music) Sometimes we might have big feelings, like feeling sad, or feeling stressed.

We can do some breathing exercises to help us.

Let's try it together.

Let's breathe in through our nose, and out through our mouth.

Try that again.

Breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth.

Try it again.

Breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth.

Do you already feel calmer?

Now let's use our arms.

If you'd like, you can stand up, or you can just use and move your arms by sitting down.

Breathe into your nose and reach your arms up, like a tall mountain, and let's breathe out through our mouth, and let's breathe out like an ocean.

Try it again.

Breathe in through your nose, up like a tall mountain, and breathe out through your mouth like an ocean.

One more time.

Breathe in through your nose like a mountain, and breathe out through your mouth like an ocean.

Remember, when we're feeling big feelings, like feeling sad or worried or scared, we can do these breathing exercises to calm us down.

(smooth music) During the story we learned three new vocabulary words: mirroring, babble, and defeated.

Let's learn a little bit more about each of those words.

Our first word is the word mirroring.

Can you say that word?

Good.

The word mirroring means to show an image of something, like looking in a mirror.

I can see my reflection in the mirror.

It's mirroring back at me.

Let's listen for the syllables in the word mirroring.

Let's clap it out.

Ready?

Mirroring.

Count it out.

Mirroring.

There are three syllables in the word mirroring.

Good.

Let's take a look in the book.

In the book, the author said, "Puddles mirroring trees around me."

If you look in the picture, you can see the reflection of her shoes in the water as she's running over the puddles.

They are mirroring her reflection of her shoes.

Let's practice using mirroring in a sentence.

When I looked into the pond, I saw my face mirroring back at me.

Let's say that word one more time.

Mirroring.

Good.

The next word is the word babble.

Can you say that word?

Good.

The word babble is the soft sound that a river makes while it's flowing.

Babble.

Let's listen for the syllables in the word babble.

Clap it out with me.

Babble.

Count it out.

Babble.

There are two syllables in the word babble.

Let's take a look in the book.

In the book, it says, "The babble of the stream.

Wind in the leaves around me."

She's in the woods and she hears the stream babbling.

She hears the sound that the water makes.

Let's practice using the word in a sentence.

The babble of the stream was so relaxing.

It makes me want to go into the woods and listen to the stream.

It sounds really relaxing, doesn't it?

All right, our last word is the word defeated.

Can you say that word?

Good.

The word defeated means to feel unsuccessful at something.

This boy feels defeated.

He feels like he can't do it.

He feels unsuccessful.

In the story, the girl fell down and hurt her knee, and she was feeling unsuccessful.

She felt defeated.

Let's listen to the syllables in the word defeated.

Clap it out with me.

Defeated.

Count it out.

Defeated.

There are three syllables in the word defeated.

Good, let's take look at the book.

In the book, it says, "I remember crying, feeling defeated.

My heart hurting, stomach in knots."

In the story, she had stomach cramps and she fell.

She felt defeated.

She felt like she wasn't going to be able to finish the race, but we know that she persevered.

She kept trying and made it to the finish line.

All right, let's use the word defeated in a sentence.

I felt really defeated when I couldn't ride my bike without training wheels.

Defeated.

Okay, now let's practice our three words.

We've got mirroring, babble, and defeated.

Now I'm gonna give you three clues, and you are going to tell me which word matches.

All right, here's my first clue.

I sat by the river's edge, and listened to the beautiful sound of the flowing water.

What word describes what the water sounded like: mirroring, babble, or defeated?

That's right, babble.

It's the sound that the water makes.

Okay, here's my second clue.

I looked into the pond and saw my reflection.

What describes my reflection: mirroring, babble, or defeated?

That's right, mirroring describes my reflection.

I looked into the water and saw an image of myself.

Okay, here's my last clue.

I was doing the math test, and it was just so hard, I didn't even know if I could finish.

Which word describes how I felt: mirroring, babble, or defeated?

The word defeated describes how I felt.

I felt like I was unsuccessful at math, and I felt like I couldn't do it, but really, I needed to persevere, and keep trying.

Good job today, readers, learning three new vocabulary words: mirroring, babble, and defeated.

Now go use those words with someone at home.

(smooth music) This is your Brain Break.

Stand up, move, and learn with me.

This game is called Stand Up, Sit Down, Beginning Sound.

When I give you a word that starts with a B, or a b, you're going to sit back down.

When I give you a word that starts with a T, or t, you're going to stand up.

Okay, stand up and listen.

The first word is the word bird.

Bird.

Did you sit down?

It starts with a b.

The next word is the word banana.

Did you stay seated?

I didn't trick you, did I?

It starts with a b.

Good, the next word is the word towel.

Did you stand up?

It starts with a t, or a T. Good, the next word is the word bowl.

Did you sit down?

Good job.

The next word is the word tape.

Tape.

Stand up, t, T. Starts with a T. The next word is toes.

These are my toes in my shoes.

Toes.

Did you stay standing?

It starts with a t. And our last word is the word bus.

Bus.

Did you sit back down?

Great job playing Stand Up, Sit Down, Beginning Sound.

(smooth music) Okay, readers and writers.

We're gonna do some thinking about what the author was trying to teach us in this book.

In the book, the girl started off by running, but then she fell, and she hurt her knee.

She was feeling defeated.

She was feeling like she wasn't going to be able to finish the race, but she picked herself up again, and she was brave, and tough, and was able to complete the race.

She persevered.

Do you remember that word?

She kept trying, even when things are tough, and you can persevere too.

You can keep trying, even when things are tough.

Today we're going to write a sentence about that.

We're going to write the sentence "I can do hard things," because you can definitely do hard things.

You can persevere.

Make sure you have something to write with, so you can write the sentence with us.

Let's clap our hands and count the words in the sentence before we start writing.

All right, let's do it.

I can do hard things.

Let's count out the words in that sentence.

I can do hard things.

There are five words in that sentence.

Okay, before we start writing, I like to draw lines to help me remember that there's spaces between my words.

I can do hard things.

Okay, let's take our finger and practice before we start writing our words.

I can do hard things.

We're ready to write.

The first word in our sentence is the word I.

How do you think we spell the word I?

That's an easy one.

It's just a plain I.

When we talk about ourselves, we have to use a capital I.

Let's start with a capital.

Start at the top.

Go down, back up, slide over, slide over.

Okay, let's read our sentence so far to figure out what comes next.

I can.

Can is a word that we can stretch out.

Stretch it out with me.

Can.

Can.

What sound do you hear at the beginning of the word can?

Yes, that's a c, or a C. Let's write it.

Start in the middle, make a C. Ca.

We hear an A next.

Start in the middle, make a C, come up, and go down.

Can.

We hear an N at the end of that word.

Start in the middle, go down, back up, and make a hump.

Good, let's read what we've got so far.

I can do is our next word.

Let's stretch out the sounds in the word do.

Do.

What sound do you hear at the beginning of the word do?

That's right, we hear a D. Let's write it.

Make a C, go up and down.

Do.

Ooh.

Well, I know the word to has T-O, so the word do must be D-O.

We can use words we know to help us spell words we don't know.

Let's write an O.

Start in the middle, around like an O.

All right, great job.

Let's read what we have so far to see what comes next.

I can do hard.

Let's go ahead and stretch out the sounds in the word hard.

Hard.

Hard.

What sound do you hear at the beginning of the word hard?

An H, good job.

Let's write it.

Start at the top, Go down, back up, and make a hump.

Har.

An A and an R work together to make the ar sound.

Let's write it.

Start in the middle, make a C, close it, and go down.

Let's make an R. Starting in the middle, go down, back up, and around.

Let's listen for the ending sound.

Hard.

What do we hear at the end of the word hard?

A D, good.

Start in the middle, make a C, go up, and go down.

Great work.

Let's read our sentence so we can write our very last word.

I can do hard things.

Let's stretch out the sounds in the word things.

This is a tricky word.

We can do it, though.

We can persevere.

Things.

Wow, this is our biggest word yet.

What sound do you hear at the beginning of the word things?

Say that word slowly with me.

Things.

To make that beginning sound, I like to stick my tongue out a little bit between my teeth.

Th, it's kind of fun.

You try it.

Things.

What two letters make that sound?

That's right, T-H. T and H work together to make the th sound.

That's called a diagraph, when two letters make a new sound.

Let's write it.

Start at the top, go down, back up, and over.

Start at the top, go down, back up, and make a hump.

Very good.

Thi.

We hear an I next.

Start in the middle, go down, back up, and make a dot.

Thin.

That's a tricky one.

There's an N there.

Start in the middle, go down, back up, and around.

Thing.

We hear a G next.

Make a C, close, make a hook.

Good, let's listen for the ending sounds.

Things.

We hear at s the end of it, because there's more than one.

We add an S. Start in the middle, around like an S. All right, now we need a punctuation mark at the end of our sentence.

We could do a period, but I'm really excited that I can do hard things, so I'm gonna use a punctuation mark called an exclamation point, because I'm really excited about it.

Let's practice writing it together.

Start at the top, go down, and make a dot.

Awesome job.

Okay, now let's practice reading our sentence with excitement, because we have an exclamation point.

Here we go.

I can do hard things.

Great job.

Now we just need a picture to match.

I want you to think about a time when you did something that was really hard.

I'm thinking about the time when I learned to read.

It was really hard for me to learn to read, but I kept practicing, and kept trying, and then I could do it, because I kept trying.

I persevered.

So I'm gonna draw a picture of me reading a book.

You go ahead and draw your picture.

There is my book.

All right, let's read our sentence one more time, and then you can show someone at home.

I can do hard things.

Great work today.

(bright music) Today we read a book about being tough and never giving up.

We learned three new vocabulary words, and responded to the story by writing a sentence and drawing a picture.

Thank you so much for learning with me, readers and writers.

I'll see you next time on Read.

Write.

Roar!

- [Announcer] This program is made possible in part by Michigan Department of Education, the state of Michigan, and the Kresge Foundation.

Additional support for educational programming provided by, and by viewers like you.

(cheerful music) (gentle piano music)