Alphabet Trucks Summary

Alejandro is a four-year-old child who attends kindergartner in a school in the Bronx. There is one book, which he loves to read and always carries with him in his book bag when he comes to visit. Due to the barrier of language between Alejandro and his mother whom only speaks Spanish he does not get the opportunity to read books in English with his mother. Alphabet Trucks by Samantha R. Vamos introduces the reader to different types of trucks while learning the alphabet at the same time. During our time together we read the book and incorporated the PEER sequence strategy, which involves and encourages the child to read. I began by reading the title and the author of the book, which Alejandro repeated with me. I then turned the book to the

first page and asked Alejandro what types of trucks he thought we will see in this book? This question will prompt him to say anything he knows about the book. He started naming trucks such as an apple truck, dump truck, ice cream truck, horse truck, and recycle truck. He then shouted, “Start the engines. Lift and load. Shift the gears and hit the road.” This was the beginning of the book, which he had memorized like many other parts.

Together we started making the sounds the trucks make vroom! rumble! zoom! As I read the book I encourage Alejandro by asking him questions that will allow him to think deeper that just naming the objects of the pictures. Why do we need recycle trucks? He responded that we need them for the trash. I evaluated his response and added that it is true that we need recycle trucks for the trash I emphasized the importance of these trucks in keeping the environment clean. If we did not have trucks that pick up the trash there would be trash everywhere. We continued reading the book Alejandro finished my sentences. I kept asking him about the different trucks and their jobs. He then told me about the U-Haul truck and how it is used to move people. He told me that he saw one when his parents were moving to the Bronx two months ago. I also asked him about the pictures and what he saw in their surroundings. He mentioned how all the trucks were connected to a letter in the alphabet. Alejandro also noticed that the letters were written in clear and big bold fonts. When we got to the last page of the book he shouted, “day and night, just watch and

see. Trucks work hard from A to Z.” I repeated the question what types of trucks he will see in the book? Alejandro stated that trucks are important because they have different jobs. He then stated that the recycle truck is important because it picks up trash and keeps our streets and parks clean for children to play in.