1 2 3 Come Do Some Sequencing Activities With Me

Do you read “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat!”  by Lucille Colandro? 

It's a favorite October story of my Young Fives, and perfect of practicing the "sequencing & retelling a story" standards. 

With that in mind, I designed these quick, easy & super-fun (Print & Go) activties, that I think your students will really enjoy transitioning to, after you read the story. 

Since the old lady yells "Trick or Treat!" at the end of the story, any of these activities, particularly the "tongue" craft, would be great for a little something different, for Halloween week or Halloween party day too.

The packet includes:

1. A whole group sequencing & retelling craftivity: “Bat Got Your Tongue?” 

For extra durability, print on card stock, then laminate & trim.  This is a picture of the old lady before I attached her tongue.

I purposely used ordinal numbers for the tongue, so that you can practice another standard. 

Pass out the mini cards (of what the old lady swallowed) to your students. 

As you come to that item in the story, the child holding that card attaches it to the old lady's tongue. You can use a magnet, Velcro or glue dot to attach the pictures. 

The last item to be placed on your whiteboard or flannel board is the "Trick or Treat!" speech bubble, which will go above the little old lady. 

Afterwards point to each item and have children retell the story.  They will be excited to transition to making a little old lady of their own.

2. Students have a smaller, black & white old lady craft, where students color & cut the items that the old lady swallows.

Children sequence, then glue the “picture tiles” to her tongue in chronological order.

So that you can easily diversify your lessons to suit the various abilities & skill levels of your students, I've included a variety of options. 

For example, after they have added some color, little ones can simply glue the entire picture strip on the tongue, without cutting and gluing the graphics individually. 

There's also a "mixed up" strip for older students to color, cut, sort & sequence, then glue on.  To expedite this, the "boxes" on the tongue, are the same size as their matching picture.

As always, all patterns come in full-color so that teachers can quickly & easily make examples to share, as well as black & white for students to color.

3. Since completed projects make a terrific bulletin board or hallway display, (Be sure and curl the end of the tongue for some extra 3D pop), I've included a “Having Fun With the Little Old Lady” poster for some extra pizzazz.

The packet also includes These "Print & Go" activities:

4. A “Checking for Comprehension” worksheet, where students fill in the blanks using words from a word bank.

5. An “Ask Me a Question” worksheet.

6. A “Let’s Sequence The Little Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat” worksheet.

7. A “Here’s What Happened” writing extension.

All of the worksheets can be done as a whole group activity, used in a small reading group, or done individually.

So that you can easily diversify your lessons, I’ve included a variety of options for the worksheets as well.

8. I’ve also included colorful answer keys.

9. For added value, there’s a BONUS activity: “Show Me A Pattern” game/center, which uses the picture tiles. 

Since the old lady is yelling "Trick or Treat!" at the end of the story, I thought it would be appropriate for the Featured FREEBIE to be a "color me" safety rules for trick or treating. 

At the end of the day (perhaps Halloween party day?) have students quietly color their worksheet, then send home for parents.

Besides the "color me" page, I've also included one in full-color that you can read with your students, then post on a wall if you want.

I know that much of this is common sense, but "...better safe than sorry" and "forewarned is prepared."

Well that's it for today.  I hope you found something here you can use.

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"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Do Some Stellaluna Activities With Me

Stellaluna, by Jannell Cannon, is a great story to jump start a discussion about diversity.

One discovers that although there are many differences, there are also many similarities between Stellaluna and Flip, Flitter & Flap.

In the end, despite the differences, the most important thing Stellaluna realizes is that,

                    "…We are friends and that’s a fact!”

     With these things in mind, I thought it would be fun for students to visually “see” the similarities and differences between Stellaluna and the baby birds, through the use of  Venn diagrams, so I designed this "print & go", quick, easy & fun "Compare & Contrast With Stellaluna" packet.

Based on the story, I’ve included 7 different Venn diagrams that students can choose from, including a comparison & contrast of Stellaluna with Flip, Flitter & Flap.

As a time saver, I've included my completed sample, so you have an example to share.

There's also another Venn diagram to compare the Stellaluna story with the fairy tale The Ugly Duckling.

So that you can practice a little research and fact finding, there's also an interesting Venn diagram, comparing fruit bats like Stellaluna, with another kind of bat. I've included graphics of a variety of other bats for children to choose from.

Each Venn diagram comes with a "brainstorm worksheet" which students use to jot down similarities & differences that they think of, then edit that "rough draft" for their final writing on the diagram.

Since there is plenty of variety, you can extend the lesson & do one as a whole group activity, then another in small groups, and finally as an individual assignment, perfect for writing journals, a language arts center, or fun homework assignment.

As always, all patterns come in both black & white, as well as full-color, so that teachers can quickly & easily make an example to share.

Since the characters in the story become friends, I also designed a bat craft, which is an artistic representation of a Venn diagram.

Students pick a partner & fill out the "brainstorm worksheet" together. 

To help in finding out about each other, I've included a checklist of things to aid students in getting started.

Children simply choose which information that they want to include on their Venn Friend Bat.

From there, they each list their differences on the bat’s wings, while their similarities go in the middle, which is the bat’s body.

This is a super-fun way to learn about their classmates, which will help build camaraderie as well.

The packet also includes several posters to help introduce your lesson.

Completed projects make an awesome bulletin board or hallway display.

I bent each wing over a bit, so that when the bats are stapled to the bulletin board, they will look like they are flying, which gives your display wonderful, 3D pop. 

I’ve included a “We are alike. We are different. We are friends!” poster to add some extra pizzazz. 

Completed projects make an awesome bulletin board or hallway display.

Since Stellaluna is a fruit bat, there's also a photo poster of real fruit bats, I think your students will find quite interesting.

I hope your students enjoy these bat-themed activities, as they come to the conclusion that, we are really not all that different from each other. Thanks Stellaluna!

Today's featured FREEBIE is "The Hocus Pocus Hokey Pokey".

My Young 5s absolutely LOVE doing the Hokey Pokey, and it's a wonderful way to "get the wiggles out" and get kiddos movin'.

I thought it would be fun to make up a Halloween version, which you could do for the month of October, especially on party day when everyone, except adults, has an abundance of energy. 

Click this LINK or the picture to grab a copy. 

Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.

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"Your actions and example is what helps change the world, not your opinions." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Do Some Bat Activities With Me

The writing prompt, “Driving My 5 Senses Batty” is an interesting way to reinforce the 5 senses, which in turn helps students be more descriptive in their writing.

Because this is a topic students easily identify with, they will be excited to get down to the business of writing!

You’ll love the versatility of this bat packet; as a variety of options make it easy to diversify your lessons for various abilities, grades & skill levels.

As always, patterns come in black & white for students, as well as full-color, so that teachers can quickly & easily make an example to share. I’ve also included my completed worksheets as a real time saver.

Samples not only help explain things, but act as a catalyst for excitement.

Anytime I add a bit of craftiness into our writing block, my students are engaged and focused from the get go, which is why I designed a “cave topper” as well as a “bat dangler” to add extra fun & pizzazz to their writing worksheet.

Younger kiddos can simply write or dictate a one-word answer to a classroom helper, or assign this as homework to be done with parental help. 

If you have older "reading-helper buddies" you can also do this activity with their assistance. 

My kiddos absolutely love working with our 5th grade friends, and the feeling is mutual.

Encourage older students to write in complete sentences, giving several examples. 

Completed projects make a striking bulletin board or hallway display, so I’ve also included 2 posters to enhance things.

Use the "definition poster" to introduce your lesson,

The Packet Includes:

• A bat cave with & without text, with 2 patterns to choose from for different cutting abilities. This graphic is glued to the top of their writing prompt paper.

• A bat “dangler” which will be glued to the bottom of their worksheet.

• A “Five Senses” writing prompt worksheet, which come with & without lines, as well as with and without labels ( hear, smell, see, touch & taste ).

• A “definition poster” to introduce your lesson.

• A “Going ‘Batty’ Over Great Writing!” poster.

• For additional writing, I’ve also included 3 different “bat papers” to choose from, which you can use to assign other writing prompts for, or perhaps use for an acrostic poem, bat facts, bat vocabulary or whatever else you think of.

• A bonus extension about the positive & negative connotations for the word “batty”, with an extra writing prompt, which can be done as a whole group, with a partner or as an individual assignment. Great for early finishers or homework too.
• These activities would be fun for the week of Halloween or that "something different" on party day too.

Today's featured FREEBIE also helps practice descriptive writing, as students describe fall.

Including adjectives, enhances students' writing, so I designed 10 fall-themed describing worksheets that will help your students practice this skill. 

Students write  a "describing" word in each of the boxes on the themed worksheet, which include bats, school, apples, pumpkins,spiders, leaves, sunflowers, scarecrows, turkeys, and pilgrims. 

These worksheets make a nice Daily 5 fall writing activity, and can also be inserted into a writing folder or journal. 

I've also included an adjective definition anchor chart.

Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.

I’m Diane from Teach With Me, hoping you & your students will go batty over learning.

Wishing you a fun-filled time of it.

For more 5 Senses activities, click on the link.

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"Try to learn something about everything and everything about something." -Thomas H. Huxley