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

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

Are you familiar with the story Stellaluna, by Jannell Cannon?  It's a personal favorite. 

Don't have the book? Click this LINK for an awesome read aloud on YouTube.  This actress does a wonderful job bringing the story to life.

It's one of our favoirte fall stories, and perfect for practicing the "sequencing & retelling a story" standards.  

It's extremely current for today, especially in our very diverse classrooms.

Children easily identify with Stellaluna as she struggles with trying to fit in, and empathize with the conflicts that happen when people are asked to pretend to be someone that they are not.

While the premise of a bat trying to live with birds is a bit humorous, there is an underlying realization that Stellaluna is happiest when she discovers the joys of simply being herself, a bat.

With that in mind, I created these quick, easy & fun activities that will help your students sequence & retell the story.

You will love the versatility; as you can easily diversify your lessons with the variety of options.

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

The packet includes:

          A bat craft perfect for teachers & librarians to make & use for a whole group activity, then later put up as an interesting bulletin board.

This is a nice big bat, and is created with two wing patterns, plus a body.

Simply run off the 3, full-page patterns on construction paper, trim & glue together.

Underneath Stellaluns, place the sequencing mat, using the "picture ovals" to sequence & retell the story.

I like to pass out these picture cards before I read the story, then when I get to that part of the story depicted by the picture, the child holding that card comes up to our Stellaluna board and attaches the picture. 

This really helps involve my students, and they absolutely love participating. 

You can attach the pieces with a magnet, Velcro, or a glue dot, or simply a piece of Scotch tape.

I laminate my pieces, so that I can use them each year. 

To solidify the sequence of the story, we retell it using the pictures on the poster. I ask questions like, "What's happening in this picture?"

For further reinforcement, and to give more children a chance, I again pass out the cards and see if they can sequence it.

You can also use the bat as  a whole group sorting activity, where the “picture ovals” are put on “Beginning, Middle & End” of the story mats.

I’ve included  “word labels” for your bat, as well as blank mats to position under the bat.

There is also a colorful pattern with the answers already inside the ovals.

I’ve done this for this activity, as well as the sequencing one. This way you have an answer key if you want to use these as independent center activities after doing them as a whole group.  

For writing practice, I've also included a "Branching Out" worksheet, where students write a few sentences about the beginning, middle & end of the story. 

Besides the large, teachers' bat, I designed a smaller bat craftivity, which is perfect for students.

There are 4 activity options to choose from:

1. Students sequence the picture tiles.

They color, cut & glue them to the ordinal numbered worksheet.

 After students have sequenced the pictures, they add a bat "topper" as well as a bottom bat "hanger".

2. Students can also do the same thing, only with the Beginning, Middle & End worksheet.

As you can see by the photo to your right, there are completed answer keys in both color & black & white.

I did this for the sequencing activity as well.

3. & 4. There’s also a “tracing” option for little ones, as well as several writing prompt activities for older students, such as:

"Did you like the story? What was your favorite part?" or " Would you like to be a bat? Why or why not?"

You could also list interesting bat facts, or write an autumn acrostic poem.

All of these options use the “bat topper” and the bottom “hanger” bat patterns.

To make things easier for younger kiddos, simply have them color, cut & glue on just the "topper" bat.

Completed projects make a cute bulletin board or hallway display.

I’ve included several posters to add extra pizzazz to your decorating.

To check & assess comprehension, there are 3 worksheet options, with answer keys.

All activities can be used individually, as a whole group, or in a language arts center.

Today's featured FREEBIE also has some bats, as well as spiders, leaves, an owl & turkeys.

It's a super-fun, fall matching game.

Students match the 2D shape to its counterpart on the bat, and other cards.

It's a wonderful activity for your math center, or something for early finishers to do.

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

Come join the fun on Facebook for my exclusive FREEBIES & Monthly Giveaways.

Check out my educational Pinterest boards.

Don’t forget that all of my new products are 40% off for 48 hours.

Click this LINK to follow my shop & you'll be notified of these huge savings. 

We are having beautiful "Indian summer" weather in the 70s, so it's time to go play outside.

Wishing you non batty & stress free days.

"What we learn to do, we learn by doing." -Aristotle