Sally’s Musical Tale
Written by Rosie J. Pova
Illustrated by Claire Zhang
-A Book Links Classroom Companion-
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Author: Rosie J. Pova
Illustrator: Clare Zhang
Images on this slide are clickable!
Purchase your copy today from:
Picnic Heist Publishing
(click here)
A Note to Educators, Library Media Specialists and Parents
Thank you for choosing this Google Slide Deck to use with your students! The material can be used before, during and after you read Sally’s Musical Tale by Rosie J. Pova.
When you clicked on the link, you were prompted to create a copy of the slide deck. Before presenting to students, feel free to delete or edit any slides that you don’t feel will be necessary for the content you will be teaching or you to adjust in any way to support your students.
The material in this deck is directly aligned to the Common Core Learning Standards with some alignment to New York’s NextGen Standards and Texas’ TEKS standards. When looking for standards, in the cases of standards not applicable to your grade level, most can be found along the same strand (i.e., if a standard is listed as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1, look to CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.1 for alignment).�
Please note: Slide Deck content copyright © 2026 by The Book Links LLC. Available free of charge for educational use only. All illustrations from the text were created by Claire Zhang and have been used with permission. This deck may not be published or sold without express written permission.
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Today’s Objectives
Today we will:
*Engage in a discussion about Sally’s Musical Tale, using details from the text and illustrations to identify Sally’s goals, challenges, and solutions while discussing the importance of perseverance, flexibility, and teamwork.
*Apply problem-solving skills by brainstorming, designing, and explaining original solutions to help Sally achieve her goal.
*Explore music and patterns by experimenting with rhythm, beat, tempo, and dynamics and creating and performing musical sequences on our own and with others.
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Identifying Details on the Book cover
Book Title
Illustrator
(The Creator of
Art Content)
Author
(The Creator of
Written Content)
Infer from the cover
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What do you think this book will be about?
What clues does the author give
you in the title?
What clues does the illustrator
give you in the cover art?
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words to know and think about as we read
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*Clicking on the BLUE words above will link to their dictionary definitions
Link to the PDF vocab cards
and vocab assessment:
Making connections before we read - TEXT TO SELF
Have you ever wanted to do something, but �someone said it would be too hard for you?
How did that make you feel? �What did you decide to do?
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PDF writing paper �(2 options):
Let’s Read!
Let’s start reading Sally’s Musical Tale, written by Rosie J. Pova and illustrated by Claire Zhang.
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Questions to Think about while we read
What is Sally’s big dream?
�What makes it hard for Sally to reach her dream?
*
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Questions to Think about while we read
Why do Sally’s sisters tell her it’s “hands-down impossible” for her to play the piano? What is funny or clever about the author’s use of the words “hands-down”?
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Questions to Think about while we read
After seeing a poster advertising the Talent Show, Sally practiced playing the piano on her own.
What challenges did she face?
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Questions to Think about while we read
What happened when Sally approached different teachers and tried to enroll in piano lessons?
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Questions to Think about while we read
How does Sally initially react when all of the teachers tell her they will not help her?
How does her response change after she thinks about it?
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Questions to Think about while we read
What happened when Sally asked her musician friends for help?
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STOP and think!
Sally hasn’t figured it out yet, so it’s time for you to be the problem-solver!�If you were Sally, what would you do? Everyone else has either told Sally “no” or suggested that she try something different. But Sally still has a dream she wants to achieve!
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Can you think of a new way to solve Sally’s problem?�Draw and/or write your idea and then share it with a partner. �Remember—there may be more than one way to solve a problem!
Questions to Think about while we read
What solution do Sally and her sisters come up with?
How does it work out at first? What do they eventually figure out?
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Questions to Think about while we read
What happened during the Talent Show?
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Questions to Think about while we read
How did Sally and her sisters celebrate their win at the Talent Show?
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Questions to Think about while we read
What was Sally’s big announcement during the celebration?
What is important about her new music school? How will it impact others?
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Closing
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In Sally’s Musical Tale, Sally has a big dream of playing the piano. Along the way, others try to change her mind and encourage her to choose a different path. But Sally doesn’t give up. She stays focused on her dream and gets creative to find a way to make it happen.
Think about a dream that you have. It could be something you want to do or learn, a place you hope to visit, something you want to become, or a goal you want to reach someday.
What is your dream? Why is it important to you?
Let’s Sequence the events in the story
What are some of the words we know that describe the order in which events happen?
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Sequencing Words We Know
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Now let’s think about what happens in the story Sally’s Musical Tale. Complete the sequencing worksheet to practice placing events from the story in the order in which they occurred.
Link to the PDF sequencing worksheets:
Teachers: Type directly into the chart!
Let’s Explore Character Feelings
In stories, characters and their emotions can change over time as
they experience new events, challenges, and relationships.
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Let’s think about how the main character, Sally, in Sally’s Musical Tale felt at different points in the story and explore the emotions she experienced throughout the book.
Emotion Exploration
Extend our Learning: Building Connections
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Be an Inventor!
Draw/Write/Share
Take it a step further! Use building blocks, art supplies, recycled materials, or other classroom materials to build a model of your design. Test it out and see if there is anything you would change or improve!
Extend our Learning: More about Music
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Sally’s Sound Lab
Extend our Learning: Make your own Instrument!
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Can we make music with everyday objects?
Let’s create a simple shaker, drum, or another sound-maker from classroom/recycled materials.
Test it out!
boxes, cups, tubes, rubber bands, craft sticks, string, paper, straws, paper towels, aluminum foil, dried beans, uncooked pasta or rice, beads, bells
Can you think of other materials �we might be able to use?
Materials we can use:
Extend our Learning: Snake it a step further!
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Would you rather? Sally Edition
All about snakes
Let’s Have Fun!
After you read Sally’s Musical Tale, choose one of these activities for fun (Click on the images for the PDF versions):
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Puzzle Game
Word Scramble
Word Search
Connect with the author
Visit Rosie J. Pova’s author website and check out the details to book her for an in-person or virtual school visit!
Hear directly from author Rosie J. Pova, the creator of
Sally’s Musical Tale.
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Lesson Content Created by: Stephanie Fitzpatrick
Slide Template follow permission guidelines of SlidesCarnival: www.slidescarnival.com/
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Stephanie Fitzpatrick is an educator with sixteen years of experience in the NYC Department of Education and a passion for children’s books. She taught fifth and third grade and was an elementary assistant principal for ten years before becoming an educational consultant. She has a B.A. in History and Political Science from Binghamton University, an M.S.T. in Elementary Education from Pace University and an Ed.M. in Educational Administration from Teachers College Columbia University.
Please note: Slide Deck content copyright © 2026 by Stephanie Fitzpatrick. Available free of charge for educational use only. All illustrations from the text were created by Claire Zhang and have been used with permission. This deck may not be published or sold without express written permission. Contact Stephanie at thebooklinksllc@gmail.com