STORY CATCHER CURRICULUM SUPPLEMENT

THE STORY CATCHER

A Curriculum Supplement

By Donna L Martin

 

Donna L Martin

THE STORY CATCHER Author

(www.donnalmartin.com)

By day, Donna is a 4^th Degree Black Belt Certified TaeKwonDo Instructor. By night, she is a Ninja writer of children’s books, chapter books and young adult. Donna loves learning new things, cuddling with her cat, and adding to her book collection.

Alyson Peterson

THE STORY CATCHER Illustrator

(www.dirtygreenjello.blogspot.com)

YA Author, artist, dog lover, fantasy nerd, and Queen of the snort laugh.  Alyson’s  book, IAN QUICKSILVERR: THE WARRIOR’S RETURN, is being released May, 12th 2015.

HOW TO USE THIS CURRICULUM SUPPLEMENT

This curriculum supplement for THE STORY CATCHER is created mainly for students in Kindergarten through third grade.

Educators may select one or all of the enclosed activities to help enhance their teaching based on their own students’ needs and abilities. This supplement helps integrate THE STORY CATCHER into English Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies curriculum. Art activities are included as well.

This curriculum supplement was created based on the requirements currently listed in the National Common Core. Any questions concerning the enclosed material should be forwarded to Donna L Martin at donasdays@gmail.com.

READING COMPREHENSION

Before you read the book answer these questions:

Who is the author?

Who is the illustrator?

Who is the publisher?

As you read THE STORY CATCHER think about why the author named her book The Story Catcher? What do you think the story will be about?

After you read this story answer the following questions;

Who is the main character?

What is Addie’s problem/

Why does her family call themselves ‘story catchers’?

Who are the three other members of Addie’s family?

What happens when Addie tries to read on her own?

What does Addie use to catch those wiggly words when mom reads to her?

What does she use when Jack reads to her?

What does Mom say Addie needs to be able to read all by herself?

Addie carries something with her to take a bath. What is it?

At the end of the story, what do the wiggly words do when Addie opens her favorite book?

LANGUAGE ARTS GAMES

Name That Verb Game

The Name That Verb Game is played like Charades. Have one student stand in front of the class. The teacher can either have different verbs written on index cards to be read silently by the student, or they can whisper the word to the student who is “it”. The student then has to act out the verb without speaking while the rest of the class tries to guess the verb. Some possible verbs to include from the story include dance, wiggled, bumped, sat, and sighed.

The Story Catcher Match Up Game

Before the game begins, print off twelve popular characters from different children’s stories like Cat In The Hat, Clifford, the Three Little Pigs, Cinderella, etc.

Glue the pictures to card stock and cut out if necessary.

Write the names of the stories your characters come from and cut out into twelve cards.

Divide the class into several groups. Place a set of characters/story cards face down in front of each group. When everyone has a set, announce to the class this is a timed exercise and each character must be matched up with the story it comes from. (For younger students, the teacher can hand out the character cards and as they call out the name of the story, the student who thinks they are holding the matching character can stand up.)

Once time is up, announce the winning group.

WRITING EXERCISE

The Rest Of The Story!

There are times in The Story Catcher when the reader has to use their imagination to guess what actually might have happened in the story. This would be a good opportunity for students to use their own creativity to become a writer by adding a paragraph to the original story.

1   1)   Hand a sheet of paper and pencil to each student.

      2)   Read each of the following scenes and let the students select one:

a)   When Mom read a bedtime story, Addie had a blanket ready.

b)   Next time Jack read a book, Addie hid with a butterfly net.

c)   She even tried using her lunchbox at school.

)             3) Give each student a set time to write a paragraph with a beginning, middle, and end.

      4)   Have each student read their paragraph out loud to the class.

*Optional: Have a contest to see who writes the best paragraph. Send me an email with the winning paragraph to www.storycatcherfanclub.com. Include the student’s name, age, teacher’s name, name of school and I will include it in my next fan club newsletter.*

**Any teacher can sign up their classroom at my free STORY CATCHER FAN CLUB to receive a bi-monthly newsletter featuring puzzles, mazes, fun facts and the latest Story Catcher news.**

MATH

Word Problems

    1)   Addie received books for her birthday. She got 2 books from Mom, 1 from her brother Jack, and 2 from Mimi. How many books did Addie receive for her birthday?

    2)   Springtime is Addie’s favorite time to look for butterflies. On Monday she found 2 butterflies in her garden. On Friday Addie saw 1 butterfly on the way to school. How many butterflies did Addie see all together?

    3)   Mimi is going on a trip. She packed 5 suitcases but only 3 of them will fit in the trunk of her car. How many suitcases does Mimi leave at home?

    4)   Mom is baking cupcakes for Addie’s class. There are 6 girls and 5 boys in her class. How many cupcakes does Mom have to bake for everyone to get one?

SOCIAL STUDIES

 

Famous People With Learning Disabilities

In The Story Catcher, Addie has difficulty learning how to read or “catch a story” as her family likes to call it. There are many children in the world today and throughout history who struggled just like Addie to corral those wiggly words long enough to be able to read them. Here are some famous people with learning disabilities teachers can share with their classrooms:

Albert Einstein, Helen Keller, Nelson Rockefeller, Galileo, Thomas Edison, Sylvester Stallone, Mozart, Gen. George Patton, Wright Brothers, Leonardo da Vinci, John F. Kennedy, Cher, Whoopi Goldberg, Bruce Jenner, Gen. Westmoreland, Tom Cruise, Eddie Rickenbacker, Charles Schwab, Henry Winkler, Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Walt Disney, John Lennon, Robin Williams, Steve McQueen, Greg Louganis, Louis Pasteur, Alexander Graham Bell, Lewis Carroll, Winston Churchill, and Woodrow Wilson.

Possible classroom activities:

     1)   Have each student select one famous person from the list above. Have them research what type of learning disability they had and what made them famous.

     2)   Invite someone from a local disabilities support group to talk about how students can become more aware of different disabilities and how they can show support.

     3)   Have students research disabilities other than learning disabilities and share what they learn. 

     4)   If you have access to things like a wheelchair or a set of crutches, have students try to move around using that equipment. Discuss how each student would feel if they had to deal with that disability on a permanent basis.

5) Have your students put on a blindfold and perform simple tasks like selecting their own coat, scarf, and gloves from a pile of similar objects. Set up an obstacle course in the gym and time how long it takes each student to complete with their blindfold on and with the blindfold off.    

6) Discuss whether the students expected the tasks to be easier or harder than they actually were.

7) Divide students into different groups and have each group create a poster spotlighting different disabilities and how people can get more  information or help.

Copyright Information

Curriculum Supplement content © Copyright 2014 by Donna L Martin.

May be used free of charge for educational use only. May not be published or sold without express written permission from the author.