Miss Malarkey Won't Be in Today is part of our Starts With a Story Collection, which includes more than 550 picture book companions based on high quality children’s literature that support you in delivering highly-engaging interactive read alouds with follow up activities. Learn more about this children’s book below! - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
Â
SUMMARY
"Miss Malarkey Won't Be in Today" by Judy Finchler, is a story that follows the anxiety and worry of Miss Malarkey while she wonders about the many possible substitutes her class might receive and how they will act while she is out sick. Miss Malarkey imagines all sorts of wild scenarios with different strict or shy substitutes and the crazy situations that may be happening in her classroom. As the day progresses, Miss Malarkey's mind wont stop running, causing her to run to school to check on her students. When Miss Malarkey arrives at her classroom door she is pleasantly surprised to find her students acting responsible and mature, even caring for her when they see their sick teacher all riled up. The book "Miss Malarkey Won't Be in Today" cleverly explores themes of worrying and anxiety while also exploring the dynamics between students and their teacher, highlighting the impact educators have on their students' lives and vice versa.
 USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
Our read aloud lesson plans for this picture book come with reading comprehension questions (with sample student responses), 30 writing prompts, teaching ideas for grammar skills, social emotional learning discussion ideas, and more. Check out our list below to get a sneak peek at some of the skills this resource teaches.
- Discuss the different characters in the story and analyze their thoughts and actions.
- Teach a lesson on making connections to enhance comprehension.
- Encourage students to use their summarizing and retelling strategies.
- Teach students how contractions are used.
- Introduce students to proper nouns using examples from the story.
- Teach different strategies for managing worry.
- Discuss mindfulness with students and practice a mindfulness activity with them.
NO-PREP PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES:
If you are looking for “ready to go” activities for the first day of school, be sure to check out the book companion. With it you’ll receive all of the following resources to align with this specific book:
- comprehension questions
- 30Â writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
This book is a must have for your school or classroom library. Your students are going to love completing these activities for the book and you will be impressed with how much they learn. You will want to read this book to your class every year.
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will love the similar books listed below, which can all be found in our free picture book list.
- Substitute Creacher by Chris Gall
- The Substitute Teacher from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler
- Jamaica and the Substitute Teacher by Juanita Havill
- Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry G. Allard Jr.
TRY OUT A SAMPLE COMPANION
It's hard to explain how amazing the Starts with a Story book companions are because there is just so much goodness included in each one. It's best if you experience using one for yourself. Sign up below & we'll send you an entire book companion to try out for FREE!
