Love, Splat: A Must Read Mentor Text for Valentine's Day

Just stopping for a quick moment before the week starts to join with the Collaboration Cuties for their weekly Must Read Mentor Text linky.  It's the first weekend of the month, so I get to share about a fav language arts text.  Since it is February, I want to highlight a terrific Valentines themed book, Love, Splat by Rob Scotton.

I think Love, Splat was the first Splat the Cat book I ever came across.  It is really a darling story.  Splat has made a special Valentine for the object of his affection, Kitten.  He is embarrassed to give it to her and worse yet, he discovers another (more confident) cat also has eyes for Kitten.  Splat must overcome his shyness, so that he can let Kitten know how much he likes her.

 The twists in the story are very engaging and the illustrations are very original and full of detail.  Love, Splat is a sweet and fun read aloud for Valentine's Day.   

There are many ELA skills that you can work in with this book.  I will use it to discuss character and how he changes through the story.  My first grade friends will use the graphic organizer pictured below to below to put their thoughts down on paper.  

If you would like a FREE copy of this handout, click on the picture.

(sorry so blurry-but you get the picture)

Also, construction paper Splats are pretty easy to create.  We made some to put up in class for the next few weeks.  The kids really liked making them.  

If you would like a free copy of the pattern for this craftivity, click on one of the pictures below.

Love, Splat is a wonderful book with lots of teaching opportunities.  If you do not already have a copy, highly recommend picking one up.

For more teacher approved, book recommendations be sure to stop by Collaboration Cuties.

Have a great week.

Strega Nona's Harvest: A Language Arts Mentor Text and a Freebie

A Sunday morning with an extra hour before church.  Perfect time to join up with the Collaboration Cuties for their weekly Must Read Mentor Text Linky.  It's the first Sunday of the month, so I'll be sharing a favorite language arts text.  My pick for this week is Tomie dePaola's Strega Nona's Harvest.

This book is wonderful selection for this time of year.  It is the story of two gardens, Strega Nona's and Big Anthony's.  One is well planned and well executed.  One is not.  When it's harvest time, things become a bit complicated for Strega Nona and her young helpers.

The Strega Nona books are great jumping off points for many language arts lessons.  There are opportunities to discuss vocabulary, predictions, story elements, sequencing, and more.  Below you will find a Venn diagram to use with this story.
Students will compare and contrast Strega Nona and Big Anthony.  If you would like a free copy of this activity, you can click on the picture below.

The clip art is from Melonheadz.  The fonts are from Cara Carroll and A Cupcake for the Teacher.

Strega Nona's Harvest is a great addition to your class library.  If you have it already, don't forget to bring it out to share with your students.  I'm sure they will love it. 

For more mentor text recommendations, pop over to Collaboration Cuties.  There you will find loads of great ideas from classroom teachers.

Something to Crow About: A Fun Fall Craftivity & A Free Comprehension Printable

This week my first graders have been doing all sorts for fun fall themed learning, which is very appropriate since this week it actually felt like autumn.  For the first time this season had to wear a jacket to school.  Scarecrows fit into this fall themed learning perfectly.
One scarecrow activity we did was a fall themed scarecrow glyph.  They turned out really cute and look great displayed in my room.  Students also did a little writing to go along with their scarecrows.  They wrote an opinion piece whether or not they thought they would make a good scarecrow.  Most agreed, being a scarecrow is not their ideal job.

If you are interested in doing this glyph with your kiddos, you can click here to find it at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

There are some fab books that feature scarecrows as characters.  My favorite is The Scarecrow's Hat by Ken Brown.  This story follows Hen as she works with the other animals of the countryside to eventually trade a walking stick with Scarecrow for his hat.

This book has really lovely illustrations and a story that is the perfect springboard for teaching all sorts of comprehension lessons.  Sequencing, characters, setting, plot, conflict/solution, you name it.  Below you will find sample of a comprehension graphic organizer we used with the story, focusing on characters.

The students picked their favorite character from The Scarecrow's Hat and then completed the graphic organizer.  

You can have a FREE copy this graphic organizer by clicking on the picture.

I hope some of these suggestions and activities can be useful to you.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Best.