Santa Mouse

An oldie but a goodie. Santa Mouse was originally printed in 1966 but since then it has been reprinted many times. It is still available for purchase on many sites as a used book.

Santa Mouse by Michael Brown is so cute!

This rhyming story begins with a mouse who lives in a great big house. This mouse has no name and lives all alone in the great big house.

Throughout the year the mouse has saved one piece of delicious, special cheese.

On Christmas Eve mouse gets ready for bed and begins to think about Santa. Suddenly he remembers that no one ever gives Santa Claus a present. So being a very good mouse, he decides to give Santa his special cheese.

The mouse carefully wraps the cheese in a gum wrapper and ties it with a piece of string and leaves it for Santa.

Santa is so thankful that he decides to name the mouse, Santa Mouse. Santa tells Santa Mouse that he would like him to be his helper on Christmas Eve.

Santa Mouse gets his own Santa clothes and directions on what needs to be done. Then off they go over rooftops and on a journey with no end.

So this Christmas, "Why don't you leave a piece of cheese? You know who'll thank you?"

FREE Extending the Reading Experience Activity

After reading the story to your class have a class discussion about the book.

1.  Retell the story. What happened at the beginning, middle, and end of the story?

2.  What did you learn from this story?

3.  If you were the mouse would you have given your special cheese to Santa Claus?

4.  What was the most important thing that happened in this story?

Then make copies of the writing paper below and have your students write about what they would leave for Santa Mouse instead of cheese?

After the students have finished their writing and colored the paper, allow your students to share their work with the class. It's fun to hear what kids would leave for Santa Mouse.

Please click on the picture below to print a copy. It will link you to teachers pay teachers where you can download a free copy from Picture Book Reviews With Writing Connections.
There are two types of writing lines provided.

If you get a chance, please take a moment to visit my TPT store and have a look at my Count Down the Day to Christmas, December calendars.  They are so much fun to make!  Please click on the picture below.

Happy Holidays!

Kathy

P.S. For more great book ideas please click on the picture below.

Everybody's Talking About It!

Everybody is talking about it, SALE, SALE, SALE!  Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Holiday Sales!
You Gotta Love it!

So I am definitely into this sale thing.
Teachers Pay Teachers is having a Cyber Monday and Tuesday Sale, November 26 and 27.  If you use PROMO CODE CMT12 during check out you get an additional 10% off on everything you buy!

So here's how it works.
Go to Teachers pay Teachers and fill your cart with all the wonderful teaching resources that you can't wait to use in your classroom.  Your students will love you!  You will be so excited about using your new ideas that you won't be able to wait to go back to school.

Don't forget to stop by my TPT store and have a look.  I have added some new products.  As a matter of fact I am so into this sale thing that I am throwing a 20% off sale on almost everything in my store.  Wow!  How fun!  Please click on the picture below to begin your shopping adventure.

Now go and have a wonderful week!
But don't forget to come back on Monday and Tuesday for some Cyber Shopping Fun!
Kathy

Yum! Eat This Turkey!

I am a cookie lover, especially chocolate cookies.  Well, not really.  I am a chocolate lover who will eat anything that has chocolate and nuts in it.

Anyway, these turkey cookies are so easy to make.  They make a great fun cooking center at school or with your own kids at home.  Kids love making them and of course eating them.
Please click on the picture and it will take you to the website that has the recipe.  Yum!  Yum!
Here is the link just in case the picture isn't working.
http://www.food.com/recipe/thanksgiving-turkeys-cookies-146112

I have a new TPT product called Turkey Gobble Math Spin & Writing Prompts.  It makes a wonderful center for practicing addition and subtraction.  And the writing prompts encourage creative writing!  Please click on the pictures below to have a look.  Thank you.

 

Enjoy your day!

Kathy

Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear!

Wow, the stores are overflowing with Christmas bling, bling! I love the lights and the beautiful colors illuminating the stores. It's a cheery and uplifting feeling to slowly walk through the stores and soak it all in.

I haven't forgotten about Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for my faith, family, friends, and our country. I look forward to celebrating life and the holidays with a positive outlook and finding the good in all things.

I thought I would share one of my favorite Christmas books that I enjoy reading to my students. It's called, Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear! By Don and Audrey Wood.

Little Mouse is getting ready for Christmas. He has a ton of presents under his tree and they are all for him!

But what about the the big, hungry bear that lives at the top of the hill. He loves presents and would do anything to get them.

Mouse quickly thinks of all the ways to protect his presents. But then he learns that Bear does not get any presents, not even from Santa Claus.

Mouse decides he is going to be brave and give some of his presents to Bear while bear is sleeping.

What a wonderful surprise when Mouse discovers that Bear has left Mouse a big, beautiful present.

As you read the last page you realize that Mouse does not open his present, but goes to bed. The reader is left wondering what is in the present that Mouse got from bear.

This makes a wonderful Extending the Reading Experience Activity for students.

After I read this story to my students I hand out a practice paper to each of them and ask them to write what they think is in the present. What do they think the bear gave to the mouse and why? I ask them not to talk about it with each other and use lots of good adjectives in their writing.

I edit their writing and then give them the writing sheet below to copy their edited writing onto. I have them color the present and then cut it out. I glue it onto construction paper and cut around it for a border. Then I hang them up in the room.

We gather together on the carpet and share and talk about what each student thought was in the present and why. We do this after our writing and not before so that we can enjoy the different guesses and thoughts of each student.

Please click on the picture below to print out a FREE copy. It will link you to teachers pay teachers where you can download a free copy from Picture Book Reviews With Writing Connections.
There are two types of writing lines provided.

Sample:

P.S.  I also updated and added my product "Holiday Treasured Thoughts for December" to my TPT store.  It's a fun writing project, with poems, and hugs to give to family and friends.  Please click on the picture below to have a look.  Thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kathy