Bat Magic

Bat Magic Week

At my school it is so hard to teach something new that the students have not been exposed too.  That is why I like bat week.  Bats are a new topic for the children.  Most of the children could share personal experiences about bats however most of the students have not read the stories about bats. Our favorite bat stories were:  Stellaluna, Night Song and Daft Bat.

We made black bats to hang up in our classroom and a couple in the hallway.

Each student wrote a little report about bats.  I found the idea in the unit by Reagan Tunstall.  

We went to the zoo for the Bat Magic program.  It was so cute.  They set up a cave in the classroom.  They even bring a live bat into the classroom for the children to see. 

At the Bat Magic program the children make a cute brown bat.  This is a fun way to celebrate Halloween.   

Owl Babies

Owl Babies

I just love the book Owl Babies by Martin Waddell and so do my students.  Every year when I read this wonderful book my students beg for me to read it again and again.  I think the kids like it so much because they can relate to the characters, especially Bill. 

One of the elements my first graders and I discussed was the setting and how the illustrater added details to make the owls look fuzzy. 

I had my first graders create an art project to go along with the story. 

1.  They sketched the owls with pencil on white paper.

2.  Then they traced the owls with a black sharpie.

3.  Next, they water colored the owls.

We let the owls dry over night.

The next morning we took paper scraps and created a background for the owls.  We cut out our owls and arranged everything.   

Another great owl book I use in my classroom is, Little Owl Lost. by Chris Naughton.  The illustrations in this book are wonderful. 

This is another book that my students love as well.  .  I use this book to talk about the character and what it means to be helpful.  I wish I could read to my students all day.  There are so many wonderful owl stories.