Welcome to Kids Chapter Check-Ins, a space where we pause, think, talk, and write about great books together. Books are better together. So grab your book and let's check in. Welcome back, readers. Today we're checking in on the One and Only Ivan by Catherine Applegate. This is episode two of the One and Only Ivan series. Remember, these episodes are broken down by page numbers. Before we begin today's episode, make sure that you've read pages 51 through 105, which begins with the chapter Not Sleepy and ends with the chapter called Ruby's Story. If you're not quite there yet, you can pause the episode, read those pages, and come right back. It might be helpful to have your book and some paper handy for this episode. Take a moment to gather your materials if you need to. Ready? Let's check in. In this section of the story, things at the Big Top Mall start to change. Mac is looking for a way to bring in more visitors, so he introduces a new baby elephant named Ruby. As we read this section, we learn more about Ivan, Bob, Stella, and Ruby. We also learn more about Mac, and some of what we learn leaves us feeling pretty upset or frustrated. Let's pause for a vocabulary check-in. In today's reading, we hear the word contemplating. Contemplating is a verb that means to think carefully about something for a period of time. If you've ever gone to a restaurant, you've probably contemplated what item to get from the menu. Or when it's picture day at school, you probably have contemplated what outfit you wanted to wear. As humans, we make decisions daily, and for many of these decisions, we contemplate the different choices before deciding. Now let's take a moment to check your understanding. You'll hear three questions about the word contemplating. Listen to each one and answer yes or no. You can answer out loud or in your head. Are you ready? Would your teachers want you to contemplate the choices on a quiz before you choose an answer? If you wear a uniform to school, do you spend time contemplating your outfit each morning? Do most people contemplate what they want to be when they grow up? If you said yes, no, yes, great thinking. It's time for our reading focus. Today we'll focus on character traits. A character trait is an adjective that is used to describe what a character is like on the inside. Words like funny, kind, smart, and brave are all examples of character traits. Authors usually don't come right out and tell us a character's traits. Instead, they kind of hide clues throughout the story. They sprinkle these clues all throughout the story through the character's feelings, actions, thoughts, and even dialogue. Usually there's more than one character trait that can describe a character. It really all comes down to evidence. So when you choose a character trait for a character in a story, make sure you can prove it. Take a moment to think about the characters that we have met so far in a story. We've met Ivan, Bob, Stella, Ruby, Julia, George, and Mac. Choose a character or two and decide what character traits best describe them. Then go back and make sure you can prove those traits with text evidence. You can write down your thoughts or share them out with someone nearby. It's your turn to jump into the story. Grab a piece of paper if you can, or find a thinking partner. The Big Top Mall wants to attract more visitors. If you were designing a billboard, what would you include? Would you include all of the animals from the mall? Only some of the animals? What words or pictures would you use to capture the customer's attention? Pause the podcast here if you would like some time to draw out your billboard. All of this talk about characters has me wondering. If you could spend a day with just one character from the story, who would you choose? Why? Think about your answer in your head or talk it out with someone nearby. Before we end today's check-in, here's something to think about as you continue to read. Do you think that Mac will keep bringing in more animals? Or will Ruby attract enough customers to keep them all running successfully? Keep this question in mind as you read the next section of the story. Thank you for checking in with me today. I will see you back here soon for episode three, where we check in on pages 106 to 160. That's chapters a bit through colors. Thanks for checking in with me today. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow along so you don't miss our next check in. And remember, keep reading, keep thinking, and keep talking because books are better together.