ABC and 123: A Learning Collaborative: Author Challenge: Laura Numeroff

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Author Challenge: Laura Numeroff

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This month's Author Challenge was to share an activity or lesson based on one of Laura Numeroff's books. The If You Give...series were by far the favorites of our readers. Thank you to everyone who participated! Before we share their contributions, here are some online sources we want to share with you.
Visit Laura Numeroff's website, be sure to check out the links she provides at the bottom of the teacher's page.
To see a list of all of the books currently available from Numeroff, click here.

Mouse Cookie Books, is a great tie in website. Each book in the series has a page where you can meet the main character. Click on activities for each one to see links for games, printables, etc. You can also play a counting game with Mouse, a beginning letter game with pig, or a complete the picture shape game with Moose.


Starr at examiner.com sent us lots of activities to go with Numeroff's holiday book featuring Mouse! Besides suggesting you trace and make a template for a Mouse ornament,
you can also: "Cut a tree and ornaments from construction paper. Write out numbers on the tree and on the ornaments. Kids can match the numbers and glue on the ornaments to decorate the tree."
"Write out key story events in a circle on poster board or construction paper. Use drawings, cutouts and magazine clippings to go along with each event. Kids paste the cutouts in the correct location according to the diagram."
"If kids are too young to string popcorn with a real needle, string packing peanuts on pipe cleaners or yarn." This is a good way to work on prewriting fine motor skills. "

You could also create "popcorn" numbers and have your child string them in number order.

Make your own fun alliteration book: If you give a Moose a ___________ and think of as many M words as you can to give the Moose. Write the sentence at the bottom of the page and have your child fill in the blanks with "kid writing" (their own phonetic spelling) and illustrate the picture. Staple to create a silly book you can read over and over.


Silly Eagel Books made this delightful Moose sock puppet, based on the illustrations in the book and her daughter has really enjoyed playing with him and the Mouse sock puppet she also made.
A fun way to start the day would be to make letter pancakes and spell out PIG.

Vanessa from Silly Eagle Books and her daughter had a fun time reenacting part of the book, the picture/letter writing segment of the book which comes right after a tap dancing session.

"Then she'll want you to take her picture. So you'll have to get your camera. When she sees the picture, she'll ask you to take more. Then she'll want to send one to each of her friends. You'll have to give her some envelopes and stamps and take her to the mailbox."

They went out and took pictures of their stuffed pig and then really sent their pictures off in the mail, how fun!
Cindy at Izzie, Mac & Me created two math games for her daughter based on If You Give a Pig a Pancake. Check out these fun learning experiences she created for her!
"I made 20 pancakes (Microsoft Word), 10 pancakes with numbers 1-10 and then 10 pancakes with different amount of dots (1-10). The concept is to match the pancakes (number with the correct amount of dots). For more drama, I put the pancakes on a baking sheet and gave Izzie a spatula to use."
"I wanted to create a game that would reinforce taking turns. I made 2 large pancakes and game cards (Microsoft Word) that included the following toppings, 1 chocolate, 2 strawberries, and 3 blueberries. For the game pieces, I used the velcro chocolates, strawberries, and blueberries from Izzie's Just Like Home Cake Decorator Set. We took turns picking game cards and then attaching the correct topping to our pancake. It's a simple game, but it really encouraged Izzie to practice taking turns."

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