Free Quick as a Cricket Flannel Board Activity

We’ve read Quick As a Cricket a few times through now, and the kids enjoyed using this flannel board set I downloaded from http://www.kizclub.com/stories1.htm.  This link will actually take you to a page of many different free printable graphics for classic children’s picture books.  Pretty awesome.  The only disappointment is that there are no pinnable images, so I can’t pin this resource to any of my boards.  You can get these sets in black and white or for in color – all free.  Pretty awesome.

I made this flannel board way back when.  It’s just a heavy-duty poster/presentation board with felt glued on to it.  I should actually call it a felt board – velcro doesn’t stick to flannel.  I printed out the graphics, laminated and cut them, and stuck some Velcro hook circles on the back of each animal.  I laid out all the animals on the floor and read the book, giving the children turns to find the animal that we read about on each page and stick it to the board.  They LOVED it!

I was really impressed with the quality of graphics on the site – very cute, very well done.

Any other resources out there for Quick as a Cricket?  (Get my free printable sequencing cards for Quick as a Cricket here:  https://wordsofhisheart.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/quick-as-a-cricket-free-printable-sequencing-cards/.

Quick As a Cricket – Free Printable Sequencing Cards

Quick as a Cricket is another beloved children’s book brought to you by the dynamic author/illustrator team of Audrey and Don Wood of The Napping House fame.

Each fanciful illustration is accompanied by a line of text underneath it with the same beginning phrase with only the adjective and noun changing, i.e., “I’m as hot as a fox” on one page and “I’m as weak as a kitten” on the next.

I originally chose this book for when our Letter of the Week was Q, but there are so many language elements to practice in this book, I had to expand my agenda a bit!  You’ll find opportunities for your little one like identifying nouns and adjectives, emotions (sad, happy, mean, nice), animal vocabulary, sequencing,  opposites, counting, and I’m sure I’ve missed an element or two.  It’s also a great early reader for kids because the majority of each sentence is the same.

An easy way to capture a teachable moment while you are reading this book is to point to and count the animals on each page after you’ve read the text.  It will go something like this:

“I’m as nice as a bunny.”

“Let’s count the bunnies.  (pointing) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.  Five bunnies.”

(Sorry.  I know most of y’all could have figured that out on your own, but I read posts like these and cannot for the life of me figure out how to incorporate the ideas without a script.  So I fill in the blanks for other people like me.)

I’ve made some free sequencing PEC-style cards to go with this book.  There is a card for each animal in the book.  You can find them here: Quick as a Cricket Sequencing

Happy Printing!

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Can I Help – Free Printable PEC Story Board

I came across Can I Help by Marilyn Janovitz on our bookshelves the other day, and opening it reminded me of why we haven’t gotten rid of this one.  In this story, the little dog works his way through the day by asking his ever-patient mother if he can help with chore after chore.  This is the kind of fairy tale I am tempted to present to my children as non-fiction – “Yes, there really are children in the world who consider working alongside their mother a treat.”

Actually, to be honest, my kids don’t usually mind working alongside me – it’s when I send them off to go do something that the frustrations begin.

Back to the story.

So Mother Dog patiently answers every request affirmatively and mother and son work together with some amusing results.

This is a repetitive and predictable book in the sense that it is really a set of questions in the same format each time, “Can I help you . . .” answered in the same format each time, “Yes, please help me . . .”   Rhymiing words are used for each chore, so the text flows pleasantly in a comfortable rhythm.

Every few pages, several of the last few chores are listed.

I love all the language elements of this book.  It is perfectly suited for the child who needs vocabulary practice in an organic and natural setting.

I’ve made two sets of printable PECs to accompany Can I Help?   One set are nouns and one set are verbs, both are PDF files.  Print them, laminate them and use them as sequencing cards or PEC storyboard cards to nail down child participation and comprehension.  As you read the book, simply pause after the listing of each chore and have your child select the correct card.  Have them lay them down left to right so that a visual sequence emerges.  Older children can use both sets together and separate them into nouns and verbs.  Although you may have to order this book from Amazon rather than find it at your library, it’s definately a keeper and worth the investment of a few dollars.

Thanks to www.mrsriley.com for giving me such an easy format to make these cards in.

Can I Help – Nouns (PDF)

Can I Help – verbs (PDF)

www.mrsriley.com members can access the editable files here:

http://mrsriley.com/app/#fileID=62937 (nouns)

http://mrsriley.com/app/#fileID=62938 (verbs)

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