Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Written by Bill Martin Jr. Illustrated by Eric Carle Colorful critters traipse across the pages of this beloved book. The author s engaging and predictable text, along with the illustrator s large colorful collages, invites listeners to join in the fun! Children, Children, What Do You See? Literacy With this activity, youngsters use descriptive language to create a class book in a style similar to Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Give each child a sheet of paper programmed as shown. Have her write her name in the blank spaces in the first line. Next, instruct her to cut a desired picture from a magazine and glue it to the page. Encourage her to describe her picture using size, shape, or color words; then record her dictation on the remaining line. Bind the finished pages together between two covers with the title Children, Children, What Do You See? you see? e], what do me. [Cole], [Col ] looking at l black kitten I see [a smal Brown Bear Art With this activity, youngsters make a brown bear just like the brown bear in the book! Mix together brown tempera paint, pencil shavings, and a small amount of glue to make textured paint. Invite each child to use the mixture to paint a sheet of white construction paper. After the paint is dry, cut a bear shape from the paper. 10 The Mailbox
The Polar Express Written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg Transported by a magical train ride to the North Pole, a boy is chosen by Santa to receive the gift his heart desires. He chooses a silver bell from a reindeer s harness. Once home again, the boy learns that the ringing of the treasured bell can only be heard by those who truly believe. A Very Special Gift Literacy During your first reading of the story, stop reading after the sentence, But the thing I wanted most for Christmas was not inside Santa s giant bag. Give each youngster a sheet of paper and ask her to draw on her paper what she thinks the boy wants most for Christmas. Invite each little one to share her drawing with the class. Then continue reading the story. Guide youngsters in a follow-up discussion of their predictions. Discuss with students whether any predictions were correct or whether anyone was surprised by the boy s choice. Train Treats Listening Youngsters create a sweet version of the Polar Express train! Direct each child to spread frosting on a snack cake roll and press four chocolate sandwich cookies (wheels) and a caramel cup (smokestack) into the frosting as shown. After each child has assembled his train, invite him to indulge in his tasty treat! 50 The Mailbox
The Golden Egg Book Written by Margaret Wise Brown Illustrated by Leonard Weisgard A little brown bunny wonders what is inside an egg. He tries to break the egg until he gets so tired he falls asleep. He awakens to find that his egg is gone and a duck is there instead. Now he has a new friend! What s Inside? Literacy For this prereading activity, read aloud the first page of the story and then give each student an egg cutout. Instruct her to draw what she thinks is inside the egg. Ask her to share her guess. Then finish reading the story aloud to reveal what is really inside the egg. Animals in Eggs Art The little bunny has many ideas about what could be inside his egg. In this activity a youngster gets to put his favorite animal inside an egg. Give each child a tissue paper egg cutout and a construction paper egg cutout. Have each student use fine-tip markers to make multicolored dots on the tissue paper. Then have him use a dark-colored crayon to draw an animal on the construction paper. Help him stack the eggs so the tissue paper is on top. Then staple the eggs together. The animal shows through the tissue paper! 86 The Mailbox
Raccoon Pattern Use with Night School on page 5. 104
Story Strips Use with Pop-Up Story Prop on page 56. 122
Fruit Patterns Use with Caterpillar s Fruit Salad on page 80. 125