Scaredy Squirrel - Must Read Mentor Text - Back to School

Hi!!

Today we are all about sharing must read mentor texts for language arts...and I'm going to slightly cheat.

I know Stacia shared back to school books last Sunday, but I have one that I want to share, and it does have to do with language arts, so maybe I'm kinda killing two birds with one stone???

Anywho, you've probably heard of this book:

Here is the synopsis from Amazon:  "Scaredy Squirrel never leaves his nut tree. It's way too dangerous out there. He could encounter tarantulas, green Martians or killer bees. But in his tree, every day is the same and if danger comes along, he's well-prepared. Scaredy Squirrel's emergency kit includes antibacterial soap, Band-Aids and a parachute.Day after day he watches and waits, and waits and watches, until one day ... his worst nightmare comes true! Scaredy suddenly finds himself out of his tree, where germs, poison ivy and sharks lurk. But as Scaredy Squirrel leaps into the unknown, he discovers something really uplifting ..."

I love this book for many reasons.  

#1- It has great vocabulary.

#2- It has great illustrations.

#3- It is about fear of the unknown and overcoming (mostly) your fear.

#4- It's just adorable!

This is a great book, regardless, but I like to use it at the beginning of the year because the first few days of school can be scary for kids.  (What am I saying?  It can be scary for teachers, too!)

Our classroom is unknown.  We are unknown to the kids.  This is a great book to just get it all out in the open at the beginning of the year and talk about fears they may have.

This is mainly how we use the book...but there is so much more you could do with the book...so...I made a unit to go with it...  :O)

So, how will I incorporate this into Language Arts?

Well, since I'll use this at the beginning of the year, we'll talk about literary elements.  We will also work on vocabulary (this will be a great time to observe how they attack words they don't know).

There are also several writing ideas (narrative and persuasive) to go along with the book.  Another opportunity to observe them at the beginning of the year!

I also included some skill pages for cause and effect and fact and opinion.  It's never too early to review!

And, since there is a schedule in the book, I threw in some elapsed time, just for kicks!  ;O)

In the book, Scaredy Squirrel has an emergency kit and an exit plan.  This would be a great time to go over procedures for a fire drill (or any other drills you may have).  It never fails that this is one thing I don't think of until right before we have our first fire drill, so this way, I may go over it ahead of time.  They can also take home a blank sheet and come up with a plan with their family in case of an emergency!

There are several more books in the series that are just as cute!

There is also an adorable website to go with these books!  http://scaredysquirrel.com/.  It has bunches of games and activities!

Aaaaand, Cartoon Network has a tv show about Scaredy Squirrel.  It looks like you can watch some of them online, but some are just clips.  It would be fun to compare and contrast the book with the tv show!

If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it!

And, as you are reading this, we are on our way to the beach (hopefully!!)!  It will be the first time my littlest gets to go so we are super excited to see how he reacts.  I apologize in advance for pictures that are to come!  I may be later in responding to everyone's link up, but I'm excited to see what you link up and we really appreciate everyone who does link up each week!

Have a great week!!

Amanda

PS- this Scaredy Squirrel pack is on sale today since our July 4th sale goes through today!  :O)

Now, it's your turn!

(If you have never linked up before you can check HERE for more information.)

For the Linky- Please make yourself a SANDWICH!  Please comment on the person who linked up before you and the person that linked up after you.  I know everyone puts in a lot of time and effort to these posts and I want everyone to feel the love!!!  (Haha, see, you're a sandwich...you know...because you are in the middle of the comments...do you get it?)  ;O)

Next week's topic- Math