I was lucky to collaborate with a friend in theater and a friend who uses ASL fluently to plan a book sharing experience for kinder and second-grade students recently. I wanted to share the clever little book Pizza Pig because, well, do you have to have a reason to read about either pizza or pigs? Not in my book.

Before reading we brainstormed our favorite places to go out to dinner, and what we liked best to have there. We also covered some basic ASL signs we could repeat throughout the book; pizza, pig, eat, hungry, and some various animals. Please and thank you are always good signs to use when eating out, too. As we read the book, we stopped to discuss what a bear might really want to eat other than pizza, and if he could order pizza topped with those things at this restaurant.

After we read we had two closing activities students really enjoyed; creating a pizza that showed either their favorite toppings or the toppings they thought would be best for a favorite animal. My son decided to create a pizza slice for a blue whale (the animal he recently read about in the library). He topped it with squid and plankton. Students also paired up to act out taking a pizza order over the phone. Partner A had to guess what kind of animal might be calling to order the pizza based on Partner B’s list of toppings! Great speaking, listening and writing all from one little book.