Book Bag Activities for
Stellaluna

Cannon, Janell. Stellaluna. New York, NY: Scholastic, 1993.

I choose to create a “Book Bag” for Stellaluna because teachers can incorporate a variety of elements throughout the curriculum.

Information about the author:

• Self-taught artist and writer Janell Cannon has always admired animals, especially creatures that have been misunderstood or neglected. Her love of bats, spiders, Komodo dragons, and snakes inspired her work at a public library, where she developed award-winning summer reading programs about these unusual animals. While conducting research for a program about bats, Janell found only two books on the subject, both out of print. She decided it was time to make her own story about these wonderful creatures.
• Janell Cannon created Stellaluna (1994) in hopes that she would transform young people's fear of bats into informed affection. "Fruit bats don't drink blood and won't get caught in your hair. I hope to show them in a positive light so that they might be given more respect," she says. Janell points out in the book that fruit bats benefit our environment as they pollinate plants while foraging for nectar and distribute, through their droppings, seeds from fruit eaten whole. The artist and writer also wanted to touch readers with a story about a friendship shared by two different kinds of creatures, a bat and three baby birds. Cannon likens the book to "a mirror, so that anyone who looks into it will see their own story their own way." She never suspected her book would become a runaway bestseller.
• After the success of Stellaluna, Janell left her job at the library in order to devote more time to writing and illustrating books. She was happy finally to have the opportunity to tell the adventures of one of the mysterious, gentle creatures who entered her imagination more than ten years ago. Before Stellaluna was even a thought, Janell was creating series of elaborate, detailed drawings of what she calls Fuzzheads. In Fuzzheads (Harcourt Brace, April, 1995), she has created the first of many stories about these intelligent animals as they explore the world of humans.
• Janell Cannon has ideas for many more books about Fuzzheads and "animals that make people uncomfortable." She works from her home/studio in southern California, which she shares with a cat and a parrot.

© Harcourt Brace & Company

Questions to use with the story:

• What do you want to learn about bats?
• What do you already know about bats?
• Who is Stellaluna?
• Where does the story take place? (setting)
• Why is the mother bird taking care of Stellaluna?
• Have you (the students) ever been away from home and had to follow someone else’s rules?
• What other animals might wonder away/get lost form family? Could another family adopt them?
• Suppose Stellaluna hadn’t found her mother, what would’ve happened?
• What would you (the student) do if you had lost your family and then later reacquainted with them?

Ten activities to use with the story:

• Preparing to Read: Share the front and back cover of the book with the students. Ask them if they know what type of animal is depicted there. Have students make predictions of the book based on the front and back cover. Construct a “Bat Web” on the board. Include physical characteristics, places bats are found, and emotions elicited by bats. Prepare a KWL chart for better understanding of what the students know about bats. Ask children to share any personal experiences they’ ve had with bats. Discuss friendships i.e.: Do you have friends that are different from you in some way? How do you solve your problems with your friends?
• Reading: Read Stellaluna aloud to the students and allow plenty of time for students to examine the illustrations. Hang a bat in the classroom while reading the story. Ask questions and relate the text to personal situations students may have encountered.
• After Reading: Review the KWL chart and make necessary changes. Also review the “bat web” constructed prior to reading the book and make necessary changes. Discuss various issues throughout the book. Such as why Mother bat didn’t know Stellaluna immediately? The friendship between Stellaluna and the birds— will it last? What might have happened to Stellaluna and the bird if Stellaluna had not found her mother?
• Learning More About Bats: Read aloud other book dealing with bats. Some books include: Shadows of the Night by, Barbara Bash, Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats by, Ann Earle, When I Lived With Bats by, Faith McNulty, The Magic School Bus: Going Batty and The Reading Rainbow Series: Stellaluna
• Bat Comparison: Have students compare the skeleton of a bat to that of a human. Identify the similarities and differences. Have students compare the way bats move, get around to that of human. Have students move like bats.
• Represent Bats Visually: Provide various bat pictures that represent different types of bats. Invite a zookeeper and or cave discoverer to bring a real bat to the classroom.
• Bat Writings: Have students create bats poems and prepare a class book of bat poems. Have students write a new ending to the story Stellaluna. Have students create their own bat stories.
• Bat Families: Have students’ research how bats care for one another. Such items should include how mother bats care for their babies, the importance of echolation to some bat species, characteristics of this unique mammal, and the importance of bats, why are bats in our world.
• Illustrations: Have students create pictures of various bats with captions identifying the type of bat as well as a unique characteristic. Have students create their own pictures to go along with the book.
• Bats Sounds: Have students listen to a cassette tape of bat noises. Also discuss when bats are popular-Halloween. Discuss the way bats hear, the way of location.

Props:

• A fake bat
• A bat house
• Pictures of where bats live caves
• Pictures of the various types of bats
• A cassette tape of bat sounds
• A maps showing where the regions where bats are most likely to be found.

Bibliography of other related books:

• Bash, Barbara. Shadow of the Night. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club, 1993.
• Earle, Ann. Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats. New York, NY: Harper Collins Childrens Books.
• McNulty, Faith. When I lived With Bats. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc., 1998.
• Milton, Joyce. Bats and Other Animals of the Night. New York, NY: Random House, 1994.
• The Magic School Bus Series: Going Batty
• The Reading Rainbow Series: Stellaluna

Assessment:

• After completing an extensive study of bats, its time to assess what the students have learned. There are many ways to measure the knowledge students have learned from children books, informational books, videos, charts/diagrams, discussions, and other various activities.
• One way could be to complete the KWL chart along side with a web or diagram of some sort that would allow students to fill in what they have learned. This may be especially useful for a classroom of visual learners.
• Another way to assess the students knowledge is by playing “Bat Tick-Tac-Toe” on the board. The class would be divided into two groups, then a one students from either team would decided if they wanted an “X” or an “O” in the square. After students decided then a bat question for that square is asked. The person representing the team is the only one to answer. If the answer is correct then the student gets the “X” or the “O”. If the student gets the question wrong it is then read to the other team and the whole team can work together on an answer. If the answer is correct than that team gets the letter. The game continues by alternating between teams. This game could be played several times.
• Another idea for assessing students would be to have students “present reports” to class and or to another class to educate those students about bats. Students could also participate in a Jeopardy Bat Game and or be given a paper pencil test. The method of assessment should probably be measured my the overall classroom environment and students abilities.