Linking Literature with Stellaluna: Grades 1-3

If you have the book Stellaluna by Janelle Cannon and you haven't found the right activities to use with it... well you're in luck! I've created a packet that has a lesson plan, craftivities, interactive notebooks, vocabulary cards, and writing templates that go along with this book. They are fun, engaging and allow your students to LOVE literature! 
During the month of October, when we were using owls and bats to teach with our genres, Stellaluna was a perfect fit for teaching the students what Fiction was.  We talked about how Fiction is a fake story and that the characters typically are drawn like cartoon characters. The characters also can talk, wear clothes or do things that a real person could do. And, fiction stories have a problem, solution, cause and effect.  So, I created a lap book that goes along with these Fiction traits. On the cover we glued Stellaluna on top of a moon and then labeled the parts of a bat. The students LOVED doing this craftivity! They used toothpicks as her fingers and googly eyes. I had the students pick a colored file folder that they wanted to use. I just LOVE these! 

Cover of Lap Book 

Inside the lap book we glued the sequence of events and characterization 4 square.  They illustrated Stellaluna and colored the background. 

Inside the lap book

Other activities that you could have your students do are Author's Purpose and Synthesis.

Author's Purpose and Synethsis

I also created some vocabulary cards with parts of a bat and the life cycle. You could use both of these to display on an anchor or pocket chart next to the story.

Parts of a Bat

The Bat Life Cycle

Another craftivity that you could have your students do is labeling the parts of a bat and then writing an acrostic poem about Stellaluna.

Acrostic Poem and Craftivity

I've also created some writing templates both in color and black and white! One prompt could be to write an expository piece about bats called "I"m Going Batty!" and the other could be a narrative about "If I Were Stellaluna..." Both of these you could staple into the lapbook, or glue onto the craftivity.

Expository and Narrative Writing

Some interactive notebook activities I've created are:
The Bat Life Cycle and Bats Can, Have and Are...
Also in color and black and white.

Interactive Notebooks

I hope you got some really good ideas on how to implement Stellaluna into your curriculum this fall! It's such a fun story and it really has a lot of great teachable moments! If you are interested in checking out my Linking Literature Packet, click below:

Linking Literature with Stellaluna: Grades 1-3

Love, Kara

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