Fall is filled with so many fabulous holidays and books. It’s tough to squeeze everything in! But there are certain “favorites” that I MUST make time for…year after year.
The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown is one of those favorites.
In this delightful book, the little scarecrow boy longs to accompany his father, old man scarecrow, to the cornfields to frighten the crows. Instead, he has to remain home to grow and to practice the terrible facial expressions his father teaches him. Convinced that he has mastered the six fierce faces, he slips out early one morning and confronts a big black crow in the field. These encounters test the youngster’s mettle, but he succeeds in frightening the bird, filling his father with pride.
This book is great for exploring feelings and expression. Students can examine how the little scarecrow boy’s facial expressions and moods changed throughout the book. Encourage students to make expressions to match feelings they may have. (i.e. Show me a mad face. Show me a frightened face., etc.)
It’s also a great lead in to a study of scarecrows. One year my husband came to school and helped my daughter’s class actually build a scarecrow. This was a great real-life experience that coincided with the books they’d been reading.
Here was my giggly girl in 1st grade! (She’s in 3rd grade now!)
You can also make a class book. Photograph your students making their fiercest face and use my class book template to showcase each fierce face. This was so much fun!
(click the picture above to download this FREE template!)
You also may want to check out this fun Scarecrow craft and writing prompt. After all, ALL students have “something to crow about!”
Also, check out this blog post for more Scarecrow inspiration!
Check out The Primary Peach to read about some of our other Fall Favorites! You could win an Amazon gift card to expand your Fall Book Library!
