1-2-3 Come Sequence & Retell a Story With Me

I guess a lot of teachers and homeschoolers read the book “The Scarecrow’s Hat” by Ken Brown because the flip booklet craftivity I blogged about last week, was a big hit. 

It’s one of my personal, all-time favorite scarecrow stories too. 

Because of all the “swapping” going on with the various characters in the story, “Scarecrow’s Hat” is perfect for practicing the “sequencing and retelling a story” standards.

Those of you who follow me, know that I enjoy designing storytelling "sliders" and wheels, which have also been very popular, as a super-fun way to practice these standards.

However, because the story has a lot of retelling parts to it, a slider would get too long, and the graphics on a wheel too small, so I wanted to think of a different kind of sequencing activity and came up with this “flip it over” 3D hat craft, that’s made out of a yellow bowl.

Run the hat brim off on yellow construction paper. Students assemble and glue the bowl face down, on top of the brim.

There are two options for sequencing and retelling the story.

Students can color, cut and sequence the “beginning of the story” graphics gluing them to the front of the hat; then color, cut and sequence the “end of the story” graphics and glue them to the “back” of the hat, which is now the chicken’s nest. OR …

Children can glue all of the graphics around the front, then simply flip the hat over to reveal the chicken on her nest to tell the end of the story.

I personally like gluing all of the graphics to the front, then for a “big finish” and “wow” of an ending, flip the hat over to reveal why the chicken wanted the scarecrow’s hat.

The chicken is 3-dimensional and “rocks” before you put her inside the base of the bowl.

For my sample, I ran 2 sheets of various shades of brown construction paper through a shredder, to make the lining for hen’s “nest”.

For some more 3D pop, you can also add a jute bow or small, silk sunflower to the base of the bowl, which is the “top” of the scarecrow’s hat.

I’ve included black & white patterns, as well as colorful ones, so that you can quickly & easily make an example to share.

When everyone is done, have children pick a partner and take turns retelling the story of “The Scarecrow’s Hat” to each other.
We sometimes do this sort of thing with our older reading buddies.

To further check comprehension as well as practice sequential writing, I’ve included a “Here’s What Happened…” writing prompt worksheet.

There’s a black & white template for students to fill in, plus a colorful pattern page so you can do this as a whole-group activity with little ones.

Today's featured FREEBIE switches from scarecrows to turkeys. Its titled, "Thanksgiving Shape Up!"  and is filled with a nice variety of games, activities & crafts, which all help reinforce 2D-shapes. 

Thanks for visiting. The scarecrow on my porch is watching the leaves swirl and twirl.

Even though it's a bit dreary, a brisk walk is in order.  Wishing you a warm and cozy afternoon.

"Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world.  Today I am wise, so I'm going to change myself." -Unknown