Verbs, a great book and a silly craftivity

For whatever reason, this became the perfect time to teach verbs. It was one of those times when it just happened naturally at first. Love when that happens! I read this cute book called Ten on a Sled by Kim Norman. My kids loved the rhyming, alliteration, repetitive language, and great illustrations. But what stood out was the verbs! To give a little background, 10 animals are all on a sled. One by one, each animal falls off the sled. To describe how they fall off the author uses alliteration and creative verbs (the walrus whirled off). Of course this was the best time to introduce verbs!

So I made a quick anchor chart (nothing fancy) and we went back to identify the verbs that went with each animal. One of my brilliant kiddos shouts out "but Stella slid off!" Hold up now! Great idea right? We put all our names on chart paper, then together thought of verbs that would go with our names if we were in the story. I was so impressed and they were so excited.

Next came the craftivity. Keep in mind I am nobody's artistic hero. I can barely not cut a straight line to save my life! But if I expect my firsties to try new things, I should at least face my crafting fears right? So here goes...  (where is the fabulously talented Jennifer from First Grade Blues Skies when you need her)

The top of the bulletin board will read: 

There were 21 on the sled and the teacher said, 

(the real version says, "There were 10 on the sled and the caribou said...")

You could add snow falling with white crayon for background.

This is my 2 1/2 year-old's head that I used for a sample. Ha! I literally laughed out loud at myself when I saw the finished product, but I know my students will love doing this activity, especially with their special verbs. :)  I'll have a parent precut the pieces probably and then have the kids put it together. Then they'll fill in the bottom with their name and their verb.

I'll post pictures of the students' work when we're all done. Any tips from you crafty folks would be much appreciated. :) If you want this craft as a download, click here. 

You could also have kids make their own version with animals of their choice and they could also choose the verbs to go with that. I may do that and post later...