TLBGuide_AngPambihirangSombrero_1

Guide to Enjoying and Learning From Philippine Picture Books

ANG PAMBIHIRANG SOMBRERO Author/Illustrator: Jomike Tejido Publisher: Adarna House Ang Pambihirang Sombrero is about a girl named Mia and her magical hat that can hold many things on top. Its illustrations are both silly and magical with lots of details to think and talk about. You’ll also get to tour Filipino neighborhoods!

Hats Mia wore her hat in fun, different ways. Let your child do it, too! You can also try putting small objects, like a book or a paper plate, on your child’s head so she can pretend to be Mia, whose neighbors put things on her hat, one on top of another (a birdcage, a candlestick, a flower vase, etc.) until the things on top are piled up high.

Art There are many wonderful details in Jomike Tejido’s illustrations that will bring delight during every reading session. On the page where Mia is walking towards the park, notice that Mia is the only character rendered in color while the rest are just blue. If your child asks about this detail, you can talk about focus in art and how the artist wants the reader to see Mia, her hat, and all the things on top of it.

I Spy Game There’s a silly detail that you will have fun looking for in this book. There is a dog on every page. Try to figure out the silly thing that it is doing: blowing bubble gum, skateboarding, conducting, etc.

Filipino Neighborhoods Follow Mia as she says hello to her neighbors and tour your own neighborhood as a family field trip. Go to a sari-sari store, bakery, and doctor’s clinic. Look for policemen Ang Pambihirang Sombrero Unit Study © The Learning Basket www.thelearningbasket.com

on the streets and visit a fire station to meet firefighters! In this day and age, most kids just know the shops inside the mall. Going out and intentionally pointing out the neighborhood fixtures will impart in your child an appreciation of her immediate surroundings. Try setting up different “stations” around your home for some indoor neighborhood tour. One area can be a “sari-sari” store with jars of candies, boxes of milk, etc, a doctor’s clinic with a weighing scale, a bakery with a muffin tray, etc.

Imagination Bring your child’s imagination beyond the book by posing questions such as “Where could Mia be going in her hat-that-turned-into-a-parachute?”, “How can she go down?”, “What do you think she can see up there?”, “How do you think she felt when she was suddenly lifted up?”

Repetition Notice how each of the neighbors answers Mia’s question about her hat. Everyone answers with the same phrase: “pero mas maganda…” Your child will marvel at this writing device. You can tell her it’s called “repetition” but you may also opt not to and just enjoy saying the phrase together as you read aloud.

Sequencing You can make a simple card game with the objects on Mia’s hat. Write, draw each object on a piece of paper, or print the photos on pages 7 and 8 of this document in cardstock. Have your child arrange the items in sequence, or hold the card corresponding to the page that you are reading. When your child has placed the objects in order, you can introduce ordinal numbers. Ordinal numbers tell the position of an object. “What was the first object that was placed on Mia’s head? The second? The third? The last?” Or “Who did Mia see first in the neighborhood? And then who?” You can also practice saying the ordinal numbers in Filipino: una, pangalawa, pangatlo…

Parachute Mia’s hat is transformed into a parachute when her playmate ties a kite to it and it flies up. You can talk about how a real parachute works and how it is used. Parachutes help Ang Pambihirang Sombrero Unit Study © The Learning Basket www.thelearningbasket.com

people to land safely on the ground. Without a parachute, a person who steps off a high place like a tall building or a flying airplane will fall into the ground really fast. A person’s fall slows down with a parachute because it is very light in weight and is large, and the air goes against it. As a fun experiment, try dropping two objects from a high place – something heavy like a rock and something light like a feather. Observe and time how long each took to reach the ground. You can also make your own parachute with a sandwich bag cut into a square. Tie a string on each corner of the square, and hold the strings together in the middle. Then, tie a rock or any other object to it, and throw it up, or drop it from above.

Vocabulary Use uncommon Filipino words in this book in their proper context and see your child naturally acquire new vocabulary. Some words to practice using: baul, kandelabra, hawla, bulaklak, sombrero. You can also point out the titles of respect: Aling for ladies and Mang for gentlemen.

Ang Pambihirang Sombrero Unit Study © The Learning Basket www.thelearningbasket.com

Games Print and cut out the images below. You may opt to laminate the pictures for durability. 1. Ask your child to put the cards in sequence starting from the hat that Mia put on her head. 2. Practice saying the ordinal numbers in English and Filipino: first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eight, ninth. Una, pangalawa, pangatlo…

The images on this page are from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Ang Pambihirang Sombrero Unit Study © The Learning Basket www.thelearningbasket.com

The images on this page are from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Ang Pambihirang Sombrero Unit Study © The Learning Basket www.thelearningbasket.com