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. Hey readers, welcome! Today we're beginning a brand new novel. We are checking in on The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies. This is episode one of the Lemonade War series. Before we begin, make sure that you've read chapters one through three. If not, you can pause the episode, read those chapters, 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 the beginning of the story, we meet two siblings, Jessie and Evan. Right away, we learn that even though they're different ages, they're both getting ready to enter the fourth grade. That causes a ton of conflict between them because Evan doesn't want his little sister to be in his class. In this section of the story, Evan and his friend Scott decide to have a lemonade stand, but they won't let Jessie help. Jessie then decides to have a lemonade stand too with her friend Megan, and they try to steal Evan's customers. This lemonade battle is definitely not helping the problems between Evan and Jessie. Let's pause for a vocabulary check-in. In today's reading, we hear the word optimist. An optimist is a noun that means a person who expects good things to happen or believes that things will turn out well. You might be an optimist if you think your team has a chance to win the Super Bowl, even though they're not winning any regular season games. You also might be an optimist if you are determined that the weather will be sunny for your picnic, even if the weather report is calling for rain. Let's take a moment to check your understanding. You'll hear three questions about the word optimist. Listen to each one and answer yes or no. You can answer out loud or in your head. Are you ready? If you expect good things to happen, are you an optimist? If your soccer team loses the first game, but you think you'll win the next one, are you an optimist? Is Evan being an optimist about Jesse joining the fourth grade? If you said yes, yes, no, great thinking. It's time for our reading focus. Today we're going to practice the reading skill of compare and contrast. Compare and contrast means noticing how things are the same and different. When we compare, we look for similarities, the ways that things are alike. When we contrast, we look for differences, the ways that things are not alike. Let's make this stick in your brain with a quick hand motion. You can pull your hands apart to show how things are different. This is showing the contrast. Then push your hands together to show how things are alike. That's the compare. I always have that hand motion in my brain when I'm talking about compare and contrast, and I will just do that hand motion naturally whenever I'm talking about this skill. See if it helps you as well. There are so many things that you could compare and contrast in a book that you're reading. You could compare the settings in a story, the events in the story, the themes in the story, and even the characters in the story. You could even compare these things and how they're changing or staying the same from the beginning of the book to a different part of the story. Today we're going to compare and contrast the characters Jessie and Evan. As you're thinking about these chapters, I want you to ask yourself, how are Jessie and Evan alike? What are some things that they have in common? And also ask yourself, how are they different? You may want to even keep in mind how these similarities and differences are starting to affect the story. You can jot down your ideas to these questions 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. Today I have a fun challenge for you. I want you to pretend that Jesse and Evan are getting ready to leave on a trip and you are in charge of packing their suitcase. Think about what you know about each character. What items do you think they would bring with them? Make sure to use clues from the story to help you to decide. For example, I think that Jessie would pack her copy of Charlotte's Web because I know she loves to read. And for Evan, I'd want to pack his baseball because we all know how much he enjoys playing with it. Now it's your turn. What would you pack in Jessie's suitcase? What would you pack in Evan's suitcase? Remember that you want to be able to explain why you chose each item using evidence from the story. You could do this in so many different ways. You could write down your ideas, you could draw it out, or just talk about it with someone nearby. If you're up for an extra challenge, try to name one item that you think Jesse and Evan would both want to bring. That's gonna help you to compare these two characters. You can pause your podcast here and get creative. How are Jesse or Evan similar or different from a character in that book? Think about your answer in your head or jot down your thinking. Before we end today's check-in, here's something to think about as you keep reading. If you were opening up a lemonade stand, would you rather have Jesse or Evan as your business partner? Keep this question in mind as you read the next section of the story. Thanks for checking in with me today. I'll see you back here soon for episode two, where we check in on chapters four through six of the Lemonade War. That's it for today's chapter check-in. If you'd like additional support, check out the link to our companion packs in the show notes below. If you're enjoying Kids Chapter Check-ins, make sure to follow and subscribe so you don't miss an episode. New chapter check-ins are released weekly. I'll see you back here soon. Until then, keep reading, keep thinking, and be sure to share this episode with a friend because books are better together.