WEEK 3_Sideways Stories from Wayside School_February 2015
Book: Sideways Stories from Wayside School By: Louis Sachar
Ages: Kindergarten – 3rd grade
Duration: 4-week program (1hr 30mn/meeting)
Theme: School/Short Stories
Synopsis: This program is designed to take children on a 4-week journey through a series of short stories and participate in related activities. This program encorporates both crafts and activities. Each meeting is divided into walk-in activity time, reading, crafts/games, and snacks.
Week 3:
At a Glance:
Color and decorate a story that will be added to our very own Sideways School
Read Todd and Bebe
Play vocab game during reading
Play card guessing game
Earn stickers for their apple hats
Enjoy a snack
Provided materials:
Walk-in Activity: Create a Sideways School
As participants arrive, let each child choose a blank story cut from construction paper. Let them arrange some windows and other building accessories on their story and color as they see fit. Make sure their name is on the back of their story and choose a designated place on the wall to start stacking their stories.
Reading: Todd and Bebe
Vocab List:
Amazement
ignored
Triumphantly
Demanded
Valuable
Scientist
Masterpiece
Assistant
Remarkable
Announced
Measure
Vocab Game:
Choose at least as many words from the above list as there are participants before reading. Display the words near the reading area.
One-by-one, explain the definitions of each word.
Instruct participants to raise their hand if they hear one of these words during the reading. When a child correctly identifies a word has been used, he/she earns a sticker for his/her apple hat! (These are to be made during the next activity.)
Then, pull the word off of the display and drop it into a bucket.
At the end of the reading, let each child take turns pulling a word from the bucket. If he/she can remember the definition of that word, he/she earns another sticker for the apple hat!
Occasionally there would be a word leftover in the bucket. In this case, I would read the word and the first person to raise a hand would be called on to give the definition and earn another sticker.
Activity I: Apple Card Mystery
Preparation:
Prepare a stack of cards with simple shapes on them (see provided materials above). Each picture refers to one of the stories we've read in the past weeks.
For each playing card I cut out one square from the template under "provided materials" at the top that said "Apple Attack" and one of the picture squares.
Then, I glued a smaller piece of green (any color will work) colored paper in between the picture square and the Apple Attack square.
I laminated each card and cut them out before use.
Game Play:
Spread cards out, face down, in rows on the floor.
Gather participants around the cards.
Participants take turns choosing a card.
If an apple card is found, that player keeps the apple card and chooses again.
If the player chooses a card with a different picture on it, he/she performs the corresponding action found on the action sheet.
After all of the cards have been chosen (or as time runs out), the player with the most apple cards wins 3 stickers for his/her apple hat!
Snack: Apple Jacks and juice
A simple snack today staying true to the first story's theme - apples
**NOTE: Be sure to ask parents in advance about any special dietary needs their children might have.
