This is a great book to use to discuss the parts of a story.

After reading the story, ask the students who the main character is and where the story takes place (setting). You can also discuss the minor characters of the story.

Then discuss the problem in the story. If students aren’t sure, turn back to the page where Albert is slumped down by the tree. Reread this page for the class, and then have them name the problem.

This is also a good time for students to make a connection to Albert. Ask the students if they have ever felt lonely and left out like Albert? Ask how they tried to solve their problem?

Ask, how did Albert solve his problem? Have a student find the answer in the text.

Explain to the class that even though we can relate to Albert, we know that this story is fiction. Ask students how they know that this story is a fantasy?

Explain that a cause tells WHY something happens and the effect is WHAT happens. Depending on time, you can use as many or as few of the following cause- effect examples from Huggapotamus.

After reading the first 5 pages, ask the class why (CAUSE) Benny is upset with Albert? (Albert gives Benny a super-strong hippo hug and it gives away Benny’s hiding spot.)

After reading the next couple of pages, ask the class what happens (EFFECT) when Albert hugs Jasmine? (Jasmine gets upset and doesn’t allow Albert to play.)

After reading the next two pages, ask the class why (CAUSE) Badge doesn’t want Albert to play the game with him? (Albert gives Badge a hug when he isn’t ready and it causes him to miss the shot.)

Ask the class what happens (EFFECT) after Albert tries to hug all of his friends at the wrong time? (None of his friends want to play with him and now he is all by himself.)

At the end of the story, Albert is running as hard as he can to help save Benny. What causes Albert to slow down before he gets to Benny? (Remembers what his friends said about his hugs, and stops to ask Benny if he can play first.)

When you see a word that ends in -ing, don’t let it trick you! First, look at the beginning of the word to figure out what it says. Then, add the -ing sound to read the whole word. This helps you read new words more easily!

For example:

Jumping — read jump, then add -ing =  jumping

Hiding —  read hide, then add -ing = hiding

Other examples from the story: taking, learning, waddling, hugging, playing, doing, trying, coming, and letting

This story has plenty of opportunities for expression. Model for the class (through think alouds) appropriate and inappropriate uses of expression. Explain to the students that punctuation marks help us determine what kind of voice to use while reading a sentence. For example, when a sentence ends with an exclamation mark your voice might be louder or showing excitement. If the sentence ends with a question mark your voice usually goes up at the end. If the sentence ends with a period your voice stays normal. Use examples from the story to model for the class:

P.1 “Look at our baby!” she cried out. “Isn’t he wonderful?”

P.4 “You’re out little huggapotamus!” his mother added.

P.9 Read aloud the conversation on this page between Benny and Albert. Be sure to point out each punctuation mark and how your voice changes.

P.12 Allow students to pair up with a partner and practice changing their voice based on the punctuation mark. Have students share how they read this page with their partner.

After P. 17 stop. This is right after Albert has upset 3 of his friends. Have the class look at the picture of Albert and think about what just happened (Albert was trying to show his friends that he cared when they weren’t ready for it so they got upset with him and didn’t want him to play). Ask the class, “How do you think Albert is feeling? How do you sound when you are sad or upset?” Model reading the text with a happy, excited tone, and have the class decide if that matches Albert’s feelings. Then model reading the text with a slower, sadder tone to see if that matches how Albert is feeling.

This story has some great verbs to describe how Albert and his friends move in the story. Tell the students that you have highlighted several words in story that tell about different ways to move, like walking or running, but the words are much more exciting to read. As you read the story with the students, stop at each of the words and use context and picture clues to see if they can figure out what the movement word means and how it might look.

Some movement word choices from the story are: waddling, plodded, dashed, slumped, barreled, and skidded

You can revisit these words the following day and discuss times that you might waddle, skid, etc. This will help students gain a deeper meaning of each interesting movement word.