Pre-Reading Questions
The story is about clocks that come to life. Here are some questions to set the stage for some of the sights and sounds in the story, as well as foreshadow some of the motivations for the clocks to misbehave.
- What do clocks do? Do they make sounds? What kind of sounds?
- Name some different types of clocks and describe how they look and work? What does a cuckoo clock do, for instance? Perhaps show some different types of clocks, either in photos or “real-live” clocks. Compare and contrast, for example, a clock with a pendulum, an analog, round-faced clock and a digital clock.
- Do clocks ever get to take time off from keeping time? For instance, do they get to go out to play at recess like kids do?
- Can you think of ways that a clock might “misbehave”?
- How are clocks like people? (e.g., faces, hands, heart-like beat, etc.)
Pre-Reading Activity
- On the Misbehaving Clocks Reader’s Guide home page, click on A Chime and a Place to access an interactive social studies lesson about the story setting.
- The music that goes along with the story includes the melodies of some nursery rhymes. Sing and/or recite the following nursery rhymes:
- “Hickory Dickory Dock”
- “London Bridge”
- “Polly Put the Kettle On” [not named in the story but is in the music]
The words to these rhymes are also available on the Extras page. They are PDFs with illustrations that can be downloaded.
When the story is read aloud, children can participate by singing the songs when they appear in the story.
