Back to school is here and if you’re looking for a fun read aloud to share with your students, we recommend checking out The Teacher From the Black Lagoon. This book is the perfect read for your first day of school as students settle into their new classroom! It serves as a great reminder that everyone gets nervous about the first day of school. Including this as a read aloud on your first day will give students a chance to reflect on and share their feelings towards a new school year. - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
SUMMARY
It is the first day of school and a young boy is wondering who his teacher might be. He has heard that Mrs. Green is a monster and is nervous when he finds out she will be his teacher. When she comes into the room, he sees that Mrs. Green is actually green, has claws and a tail! When a student throws a spitball she turns him to ashes and even swallows a student that was chewing gum. The boy is so nervous that he won’t even make it to lunch!
After turning a student into a frog and giving someone a head the size of a pin, Mrs. Green announces that it is nap time. When the boy wakes up from his nap, he sees a pretty teacher with real skin and no claws standing in front of him. She introduces herself as Mrs. Green and he is so relieved to see her, the boy runs right up and hugs her.
USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
There is so much you can teach with Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship. Our book companion for this story addresses a number of reading comprehension skills, integrates a variety of writing styles and introduces grammar and social emotional learning concepts. Here is a sneak peak at some of the different lessons you can use this book to teach.
- Practice making personal connections to the story. This helps students with their understanding of the book.
- Have students sequence the events from the story. Sequencing is an important skill when it comes to building reading comprehension.
- Integrate narrative writing by asking students to write about their own feelings about the first day of school.
- Practice letter writing by having students write letters to their teacher.
- Use examples from the book to teach a lesson on plural nouns.
- Introduce students to the different types of sentences.
- Discuss strategies students can use for managing stress and anxiety.
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
- 30 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 resource is all you will need when it comes to planning your read aloud for the book The Teacher from the Black Lagoon. Gone are the days when you have to brainstorm discussion questions, look online for student activities, and spend hours gathering resources. Now everything you need is included in this book companion allowing you to make choices on what you want to use with your students.
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will also love these similar books:
- Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard
- We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
- First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg
- School’s First Day of School by Adam Rex
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!
