TORTUGA IN TROUBLE

1. Label different objects in the classroom with their English and Spanish names such as table, mesa, window, ventana and book, libro.

2. Have children make cards with the words from all of the Iguana books, drawing two of each picture with the English word on one and Spanish on the other. Shuffle them up and have them match the right English to the correct Spanish.

Click here to download a Teacher’s Guide to TORTUGA IN TROUBLE and all the books in the series.

WORD BUILDER

1. Talk about what goes into a sentence, i.e. nouns and verbs. Have students write their own simple sentences around a certain topic. Then combine their sentences into paragraphs.

2. Students can write and illustrate their own books.

Click here to download a teachers guide for WORD BUILDER.

 

COUNT ON CULEBRA

1. Make a picture chart of one to ten, in Spanish and English, of fruits, vegetables, toys, sports equipment or cars.

2. Make a list of ten things you’d see at the market, at school, at the park or anywhere else.

Click here to download a Teachers Guide for Count on Culebra

SNAIL’S GOOD NIGHT

1. This is a fictional book about a snail. Read a non-fiction book and compare the similarities and the differences.

2. In this story Snail sleeps during the day and is active at night. He is a nocturnal animal. Name some other nocturnal animals.

Click here to download a Teachers Guide for Snail’s Good Night

IF ANIMALS KISSED GOOD NIGHT

1. The animals in this book live in many parts of the world. Draw a picture of an animal and place it in its home on a map.

2. Write your own poem about how an animal not in the book might kiss.

Click here to download a Teachers Guide for If Animals Kissed Good Night

FIESTA FIASCO

1. Use an English-Spanish dictionary to find the Spanish words for other animals and other articles of clothing.

2. What gift would you choose to buy for your friend’s birthday?

Click here to download a fun Fiesta Fiasco word match worksheet for your students.

Click here to download a Teachers Guide for Fiesta Fiasco

Can You Help Culebra Label His Photo?

Help Conejo Get Ready for the Fiesta

Can You Find the Missing Words?
 

MAÑANA, IGUANA

1. Keep a journal of all the Spanish words in this book and add others to it as you come across them. Maybe someone who speaks Spanish in your class can teach you a new word each week.

2. Plan a fiesta and make sure everyone contributes to it in some way.

Click here to download some fun Manana Iguana puzzle worksheets for your students.

 
 

HOP! HOP! HOP!

1. Share in class things your parents can do, but you can't. Then share in class things you can do, but your parents cannot.

LITTLE MONKEY SAYS GOOD NIGHT

1. Have students share the people and toys, etc. they wish good night before going to sleep.

2. Students love to make the sound effects and say Good Night along with Little Monkey.

3. Have students write about or draw a picture of what they would like to be if they were in the circus.
 
   

HELLO TOES!   HELLO FEET!

  

1. Trace student’s feet onto paper—have them cut around them and then color them. Hang them as decorations on your bulletin board.

2. Bring to class lots different shoes—or your students could each bring one shoe from home (jogging shoes, high heel shoes, dancing shoes, hiking boots, skiing boots, etc.) and talk about where each might be worn.

3. While reading, have your students act out the book—stomp and jump and skip and spin, etc.

  
 
   

ALL BY HERSELF

1. Have students write about something they have done that was helpful, brave, or unique.

2. Research other people who as children acted in a way that made a difference.

  
 
 

EVERYTHING TO SPEND THE NIGHT

1. What would your student’s pack in this overnight bag? Have them fill it with everything from A to Z.

2. Talk about how what they brought would make a different story.

    
   

SILLY SADIE, SILLY SAMUEL

1. Students love to share silly things they have done. Have them write about it.

2. These ready-to-read stories make fun plays for students to act out. The narrative sections are the stage directions to each actor, telling her or him what to do. The tags, like “Samuel said” and “Sadie said” tell each actor when to read. Why not break your classroom into six groups and have each one act out a different story in the book.

3. Talk about how some things look silly to outsiders, but seem perfectly logical to the person doing them. Has this ever happened to your students?

 
 

EIGHT HANDS ROUND: A Patchwork Alphabet
THE SEASONS SEWN: A Year in Patchwork

1. Talk about how our lives are different and/or similar to the lives of pioneer people.

2. Try to duplicate some of the activities from pioneer days. For example, make butter out of cream, or create Christmas decorations out of cookies and strands of popcorn and cranberries. Make a fan to keep cool on summer days, or a kite to fly on windy days, or a Yankee puzzle to play with on rainy or snowy days.

    
 

3. What are the different shapes in each pattern in the book? How many of each shape is in each pattern?

4. Create your own 9-patch pattern.

Click here to download the form for use in your classroom.

 

Click here to download Acrobat Reader if it is not already on your system

  
 

Contact me at ann@annwhitfordpaul.net

 
 
 
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