IDEAS TO MATCH THE BOOK
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

In honor of Kohl's having all the items above for five dollars (summer 2003) each & all profit going towards local Children's Hospitals, I had to make a page with ideas to match the story, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie! Click here to order online at Kohl's

Of course I ran out and got a few of these books and two of each stuffed animal - one for my classrooms and one for my son! You cannot beat the $5.00 deal on these books. I was in a local book retail store today and saw them selling for over $15.00. These books are flying off of the racks at Kohl's! In fact, I returned to my local Kohl's a few days after I purchased my books (I decided I needed more - imagine that!) and they were already out of books. I think a few too many teachers got wind of this great deal. Reminds me of the pocket charts at Walmart - LOL!!!

Anyway, after I purchased the books I found myself thinking up ideas to match these great books. I also began searching the web to see what other teachers are doing with these books. Yeah Kohl's - I give you an A+! You just need to stock up! If you give a teacher a sale on a great book, she will want to buy them all!!! Tee-hee!!!

I will be working on this for a bit - you are welcome to view as I work. Pardon the dust! Check back often!

Updated March 13, 2004

   
Some of my favorite ideas!

Before Reading

Look at the cover and discuss the cover with the class. Students should be able to make a connection with the mouse on the cover.

Vocabulary

There is so much you can do with vocabulary in a story. I always like to introduce the vocabulary before reading the story to the class. I like to make two sets of vocabulary cards. One set that includes the words and a picture to illustrate the word. The second set would just include the word. Before reading the story display the vocabulary cards with the pictures in a pocket chart. Quickly go over the words and their meanings. Keep the pocket chart in view for future creative writing projects or journal writing.

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(2 sets of vocab card Printables are included on CD #4 - click to learn more)

After Reading

Have the students complete the phrase "If you give me a ______ then I'll probably ask for a _______. Once each student has written and illustrated their own ending, create a class book.

Ask students to give examples of other cause and effect relationships.

Ask your students to write a new ending to the story. What might happen next?

Discuss the manners of the mouse. Did they notice he never said thank you???

Use the story to find the nouns, or naming words, in the story. Pick a few sentences from the book and write the sentences on sentence strips. Practice reading the sentences and finding the nouns in the sentences.

Read the book if you give a Moose a Muffin and complete a class Venn Diagram to compare the two books.

Create a Center called, WHAT DID THE MOUSE ASK FOR?

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(center materials are included on CD #4 - click to learn more)

Print graphics of a cookie, glass of milk, mirror, scissors, broom, & paper and crayons. Write the following sentences on sentence strips.

The mouse asked for a cookie.
The mouse asked for a glass of milk.
The mouse asked for a mirror.
The mouse asked for scissors.
The mouse asked for a broom.
The mouse asked for paper and crayons.

Place each of the above strips in a pocket chart. The student must place the graphic next to the correct sentence. In my classrooms students complete centers independently. Still, I like to know that they understood the concept. For this reason, I include a center sheet for the students to complete after each center. This center icludes a center sheet that has the student do various things, such as; write the names of each of the six pictures, illustrate a sentence, and draw a line from the picture to a matching sentence.

Read other books that have a mouse as the main character. Below are some of my favorites. Click on the picture of the book to learn more. After you read each book, compare the mouse in the book you read to the mouse in If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

Remember the game MOUSE TRAP. I had one as a child and loved it. I kept it and share it with my classes if we do a mouse unit. It is a great recess game. Not too educational, but fun!

Click to see at Amazon!

GRAPHING IDEA!!!

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Here is something fun my class loved to do.  Purchase chocolate chips, peanut chips, baking m&m’s, butterscotch chips, & white chocolate chips.  Place a few of each kind in a Ziploc bag.  Make enough baggies for each student in your class.  Instruct the class to sort and graph the cookie goodies.  When they have made their graph, have them team up with a partner to work on the data page.  Discuss findings as a group.  I like to see who had the most of each kind of chip in my class or who had the least. 

-Alternative – if you don’t mind cooking and a mess you could try this idea.  I did it once and the students loved it so much.  Take a cup of each kind of chip and the M&M’s and mix it with your favorite cookie dough recipe.  Now make two cookies (one for picking apart and one for eating)  for each student.  Tell the class you would like them to dissect their cookie and pick out all the goodies.  When they are done dissecting, have them  work on the graph and the data sheet.  

Here is the sheet free to print from www.teachingheart.net - It is found on our CD # 4.
Click here to download - Single Classroom Use Only!

Cookie Dice Game

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(game printables are included on CD #4 - click to learn more)

Pick a partner to play with and get one dice & crayon from a teacher.  Write your name and your partner’s name on the lines provided.  Take turns rolling the dice.  Color in the number of cookies rolled.  The first person to color in all the cookies on their plate wins.

You can create a game like this. Copy a graphic od a cookie and paste it several times to a page. This becomes the game board for the student.

Questions to Ask After You Read

Where does the story take place?
How many characters are in the story?
What did the mouse want done to his picture?
What do you think would happen if the boys parents came home?
Do you think the boy treated the mouse well?
Why do you think the boy gave the mouse a cookie?
Why do you think the mouse stopped at the boy's house?
Do you think the mouse had good manners? Why or Why not?
If you were the boy, would you have given the mouse everything he wanted?
What if the boy had a cat or dog for a pet?
If the story kept going, what would happen next?

Place these sentences & others from the story on sentence strips. Discuss nouns. Have students take turns finding the noun in each sentence.

He's going to ask for a glass of milk.
He'll probably ask for a straw.
So he'll probably ask for a pair of scissors.

Feed the Mouse a Cookie - Bag Center
For Each Set: Make 10 graphics of a mouse. Write a number on each mouse. Print, Laminate, and cut. Cut many cookie graphics. The student must lay out the mice and place the correct number of cookies on the mouse.

Compare and Graph
Bring in a two different bags of cookies. Have the students guess which cookie they will like the best. Only let them look at the bag and make their guess based on the bag. Graph the result. Then pass out the cookies. Have the students eat each cookie and decide which they like the best. Then have them place a cookie cut-out on the graph. Compare the results.

 Free To Print - from other great sites!

Books by Laura Numeroff
Click a book to learn more!

Mmmm... Other great stories with cookies!
What a great way to have your students connect with a book. Most have ate many
cookies. They know what they smell like, taste like, and look like. They may even have a favorite memory of a time they enjoyed a cookie.

Poems and Songs

Other Great Sites With Awesome Ideas

www.teachingheart.net