Individual Student Made Books

Seasonal/Holiday Related
I Am A Scarecrow
When You Meet a Turkey
Reindeer Instructions
Gingerbread Man: Escape Prevention Measures
One Heart, Two Hearts

These books were all ideas shared by Kim Lenging.  If you have any questions regarding the booklets, please contact her at lengning@adelphia.net .

I Am A Scarecrow

This is a variation of the McCracken book, "I am a Farmer". You will need a good blackline clipart of a scarecrow with as many appropriate features as possible. A big book version can be made so the students can learn the text and the pattern. Also, a large bulletin board version can be made with sentence strips.

You can do this book whole group, but it has been found that a parent/teacher/aide stationed at each table helps to keep the students on task.

The Pages:

The book is "tall", or vertical rather than the usual horizontal. It also can be run off so that each page is 8 1/2x11. The students color ONLY the body or clothing part named in the text. It is not cumulative!

1) My shirt is red.
2) My pants are blue.
3) My patches are purple.
4) My face is pink.
5) My hat is yellow.
6) My bandana is orange.
7) My boots are brown.
8) My bird is black. (A crow perched on the scarecrow's shoulder)
9) My gloves are green.

The Cover:

The students may color and cut a complete scarecrow and glue it on the cover. The cover scarecrow is the only one completely colored in. The title is also glued on. For the pointer, make many copies of the scarecrow's shirt arm. Each student gets an arm, colors it appropriately (red sleeve, green glove), and glues it onto a popsicle stick. This pointer may be stored in a pocket taped to the inside of the cover.

When You Meet a Turkey
(A Thanksgiving Book)

This book is modeled after the Wright Group book, "When You Meet a Dragon". A simple blackline turkey, measured to fit each page above the text, illustrates each page. Make sure the turkey is not too large so as to not overwhelm the students when they must color 7 of them!

The Pages:

 (Cover) When You Meet a Turkey...

1) Be sure to tickle his tummy.
2) Be sure to tickle his head.
3) Be sure to tickle his neck
4) Be sure to tickle his feathers.
5) Be sure to tickle his feet.
6) Then he will run and hide!

The picture on the last page is to be cut almost in half height-wise and glued flush to the right side of the page - to look like he is running away. Add a few 'whoosh' marks to make it look like he's moving fast!

The Cover:

The cover should be any Fall color with the title "When You Meet a Turkey" and perhaps a picture of Mr. Turkey glued on. The marker is a popsicle stick with a feather glued to the end. A pocket for storing the 'tickler' can be made on the inside cover of the book

Reindeer Instructions
(A Christmas Book)

The sentences for this book can be written with a 'sharpie' marker and run off onto light blue 9x12 construction paper, two book pages per sheet. A Carson-Dellosa reindeer is a perfect book manipulative.

The Pages:

1) Fly over trees. (Students draw trees.)
2) Fly under wires. (Glue 2 brown 'telephone poles', with 2 pieces of string suspended across, glued under the pole tops.)
3) Fly around airplanes. (Students draw an airplane.)
4) Fly through clouds. (Spread apart a cottonball and glue the pieces down randomly.)
5) Land carefully. (Draw a house with a big roof and chimney. Spread the roof with glue and sprinkle on white glitter for snow.)
6) Oooooooops! (Half the house is drawn near the binding......just enough to show that the house is there........the reindeer slide off the roof and into the snow below! For the snow below, tape or glue a piece of scrap paper, on three sides, to create a 'pocket', and cover it with cottonballs or white glitter. Now it will look like the reindeer slid off the roof, and is head first in the snow, but we know he's safe in his pocket!)

The Cover:

The cover is made from a bright red 12x18, cut "hotdog" style, and folded over so the pages can be stapled inside. "Reindeer Instructions" is run off on bright green, cut with fancy-edged scissors, and glued on the cover. Using tape to reinforce and a small hole punch, attach to the book a 5"-6" piece of red yarn near the bottom of the binding. Attach a reindeer to the other end of the yarn. This reindeer "travels" the book page by page, following the instructions, then landing in the pocket.

Gingerbread Man: Escape Prevention Measures

Each student will need a total of 7 gingerbread boy die-cuts, or will have to cut a total of 7 gingerbread boys. Six are for the book pages, and one is for the cover. The size must be appropriate for the page.

The text may be photocopied directly onto the pages (2 book pages per sheet of 8x11 paper) or, in the interest of developing literacy and concepts about print, the students/teacher may cut apart sentence strips and glue onto the page.

Most of Kim's books are introduced in the form of BIG BOOKS. She also prints the sentences on a strip, cuts the words apart, and invites the students to "be" the sentence.

The Pages:

Text for the pages can be a font size of 24 or 26. A gingerbread boy is glued in the center of each page, decorated accordingly.

1) Eat one leg. (tear off or use scissors to make "bite marks" to remove one leg.)
2) Eat the other leg. (Glue on a "legless" gingerbread boy.)
3) Eat one arm. (Gingerbread boy now has no legs, and only one arm.)
4) Eat the other arm. (Only the head and torso are left.)
5) Eat the head. (Glue only the torso to the page.)
6) Crunch, crunch, crunch. (Use the scraps from the bitten off body parts to create little "crumbs".)

The Cover:

The cover can be a sheet of red construction paper, cut lengthwise to 6x18, then folded in half with the pages stapled inside. The font size for the title looks nice as large as 48 or 72. You may use a full gingerbread boy die-cut to decorate the cover. He may be embellished with white (paint) frosting. The pointer is one of the bitten off arms, glued onto a popsicle stick, and placed in a pocket inside the front cover.

One Heart, Two Hearts
(A Valentine Book)

The heart book is a variation of "One Potato, Two Potato", a rhyme popular with young children. It is good for number practice and number word recognition.

The Pages:

1) One heart
2) Two hearts
3) Three hearts
4) Four
5) Five hearts
6) Six hearts
7) Seven hearts
8) More!

Hearts are affixed to each page to match the text. A varied supply of hearts makes the book interesting---stickers, stamps, kid-cut hearts from foil or construction paper, heart shaped pasta, and hearts cut with fancy edged scissors.

The Cover:

A shocking pink, lavendar, or red cover looks nice. The cover can be decorated with two contrasting hearts or a myriad of heart stickers. "One Heart, Two Hearts" can be cut and glued across the cover. For a special effect, a 4-6" piece of yarn may be tied through a hole punched in the spine, and heart pasta may be strung on the yarn in a pattern. The marker is a popsicle stick with a heart sticker or heart pasta glued on the end. The marker's pocket is a die-cut heart which has been glued on three sides.