With younger students, start by asking the students about the beginning, middle, and end of the story. “Turn and tell your elbow buddy what happened in the beginning of the story.” Then I would have a student come forward and either write or illustrate the beginning of the story on a piece of chart paper divided into three sections. I would continue the same process with the middle and end of the story.

Introduce the title and talk briefly about foods we don’t like with elbow buddies.

This will allow students to connect with Lola, the main character. 

After p. 18, ask students how it feels to try a new food. Turn and tell your elbow buddy about a food you tried and liked.

When you see a big or tricky word, look for smaller parts inside the word that you already know. This can help you figure out the whole word more easily. For example:

Supermarket — You might see super and market, then put them together = supermarket

Absolutely — You might notice abso and lutely, then sound them out = absolutely

Look at question marks when reading. Teach the students to make their voices go up at the end of a question. Use sentences for practice on the following pages:

P. 2 — “What about peas?” 
P. 25 — “Charlie, will you pass me one of those?” 
P. 27 — And I said, “Are you sure? Really? One of those?”

While reading the story, stop and model how to figure out an unfamiliar word by using the pictures. Some of the words to use: cauliflower, cabbage, sausages. There are drawings of each of these words in the story.