Book Bag Activities for
The Teacher
from the Black Lagoon
by: Jessica Mink
- Thaler, Mike (1989). The Teacher from the Black Lagoon. Illustrated
by Jared Lee. New York: Scholastic, Inc.
Rationale:
- I chose this book for a couple of reasons. First, the title is very
eye catching and draws you into the book. Also, the content of the book
activated my prior knowledge on the nervousness and scared feelings a child
feels on the first day of school. This would be a wonderful book to be read at
the beginning of a year or by a substitute teacher.
Information about the Author: (source
Mike Thaler, America's
Riddle King)
- Mike Thaler was born in Los Angeles in 1936. He started his
professional career drawing cartoons for adults. A children's book editor saw
one of these cartoons and encouraged Mike to try his hand at writing for
children. His first attempt met with success, and THE MAGIC BOY was published
in 1961.
- Mike has produced many well-known and loved characters in children's
literature. Elementary school teachers across the country happily have read
about Mrs. Green from THE TEACHER FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, and Bubba Bumpo from
THE BULLY BROTHERS SERIES.
- The creator of The Letterman from PBS's Electric Company series, Mike
Thaler has published over 130 children's books, and has been called "one of the
most creative people in children's books today" and "The Court Jester of
Children's Literature."
- Mike Thaler lives near Portland Oregon with his wife, Laurel Lee, who
is also a writer. He travels each year throughout the country helping children
and teachers create their own stories, riddles, and books. He writes and
teaches with inspiration and creativity filling his books with his love of
language and laughter!
Questions to use with the story:
- Before reading- Where does the story take place? What is the child
feeling on the cover? What do you think is making that shadow?
- During reading- What does Mrs. Jones carry with her? What does Mrs.
Green look like? Which teacher has warts? If you were the student, what would
you do if your teacher looked and acted like Mrs. Green? Without reading the
page 13 and using your prior knowledge of Mrs. Greens actions, what do
you think Mrs. Green will do to this student? What did you think I would look
like before we met?
- After reading- What did you like most about the book? Name one thing
that the author did that made you feel like the book was a real story. Name one
thing that you didnt like about the illustrations.
Ten activities to use with the story:
- Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence: The student will go through the whole
book and find the descriptive adjective used by the author. These descriptive
words will be used as part of a spelling list for the entire class. Each
student should find at least three descriptive words and their definitions to
contribute to the list
- The students will read the book in small groups and make an entry in
their reading journals. These journals will be discussed in small groups
(literature circle). The topics that should be covered are; 1) real-life
connections, 2) word choice, 3) favorite parts, and 4) favorite characters. All
of these areas should be justified by why the student chose to include that in
the specific area.
- Logical/Mathematical Intelligence: The students will be directed in
collecting materials that make a good teacher. They will be asked what a
teacher needs in her desk, what he/she needs to teach, what materials he/she
needs in her room, etc. These materials will be organized into a chart and
categorized. The charts will be compiled into one class chart and discussed.
The topics discussed will by why are these things important, what are they used
for, and could a teacher get a long with out them and why.
- Visual/Spatial Intelligence: The student will be asked to draw a
picture of what they thought their teacher would look like on the first day of
school. The materials they will need include markers, crayons, construction
paper, scissors, and glue. On the back of the drawing the students will write a
description of their teacher and share it with the whole class.
- The students in small groups will be asked to pick out their favorite
scene from the book. The groups will make a diorama of the scene they chose.
The groups will be organized by jobs. These jobs include the architect, the
engineer, the artist, and the construction worker. The architect will design
the display, the engineer will oversee the job, the artist will make the
display and the construction worker will put it together. All opinions of the
group members will be taken into account in the designing and artwork of the
diorama. This diorama will be displayed in the reading area for the whole class
to enjoy. The materials that will be provided are shoe boxes, cardboard,
magazine, construction paper, scissors, markers, crayons, and glue.
- Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence: : The individual student will be
assigned a sentence in the book. The individual words from the sentence will be
put on notecards, which are provided. As a whole class, the words will be put
in the pocket board in jumbled order, and the class will fix them to retell the
story. We will have teams working on individual sentences and the whole class
will put the story in order.
- The class will play a mock game of charades with the book. A small
group will be assigned to an individual character in the book and will act it
out for the class. The class will guess the teacher, and if a group stumps the
whole class then they will be the captains for the next day. The student will
have 15 minute at the end of class to plan and get prop ideas if applicable.
The next morning during reading time the game will be played.
- Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence: The student will be assigned an
activity to write a verse to a song about the book. This song can be about a
character, a scene, an emotion felt while reading, a real-life connection, or
anything else that would be applicable. As a class, we will listen to The
Purple People Eater, which will be the background for the song. After all
the songs are completed, as a class, we will perform them.
- Intrapersonal Intelligence: This activity will be an emotional diary.
As the students read the books in this series they will be required to keep a
diary about how the book made them feel. They will be asked to answer questions
like 1) what emotion are you feeling, 2) what brought on that emotion, 3) which
part of the book made you feel the strongest emotions, etc. The diaries will be
kept until the student had read at least 5 books in the Black Lagoon
series.
- Interpersonal Intelligence: In small groups, have the students
do a readers theatre of one of the Black Lagoon books. Each group will chose a
different book and will be required to turn it into a script, assign parts, get
props, elect a director, and perform the book for the whole class. They will
have at least two reading periods to perfect this play. If more time is needed
then it will be worked in.
Props:
- Dress up clothes
- Art materials shoe boxes, markers, crayons, glue, scissors,
construction paper, cardboard, magazines, etc
- Book series
- Composition paper (for songs)
- Notecards
- Pocketboard
Bibliography of other related Books:
- The Principal from the Black Lagoon published by Cartwheel
books, October 1999
- The Custodian from the Black Lagoon published by Cartwheel
books, September 2001
- The Cafeteria Lady from the Black Lagoon published by
Cartwheel books, September 1998
- The Music Teacher from the Black Lagoon published by
Scholastic Trade, September 2000
- The School Bus Driver from the Black Lagoon published by
Cartwheel books, September 1999
- The School Nurse from the Black Lagoon published by Scholastic
Trade, December 1995
- The Gym Teacher from the Black Lagoon published by Scholastic
Trade, October 1999
Assessment Plan:
- The students will assessed on the completion of at least 6 out the 10
activities in the book bag. These will be graded on completion, ability to
follow instructions, participation in small group discussion and work, grammar,
spelling, conventions.
- A checklist could be made for every activity to ease in the grading
process. The book bag project will be worth 100 points. These points break down
into 10 points for each activity and 40 points for participation. If a student
wishes to complete more than 6 of the activities, he/she will receive extra
points to add to the Point Pot at the end of the semester to redeem
for a prize(s).