The Twelve Days of Springtime: Reading and Activity Guide for Teachers and Parents

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A c t d i v n a ity G g n

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For Teachers and

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Parents Through the Seasons of the School Year with the Twelve Days Books

The Twelve Days of Springtime ISBN: 978-0-8109-8330-4

The Twelve Days of Winter ISBN: 978-0-8109-5472-4

Written by

Deborah Lee Rose

The Twelve Days of Kindergarten ISBN: 978-0-8109-4512-8

Illustrated by

Carey Armstrong-Ellis

z Abrams Books for Young Readers An imprint of Abrams, The Art of Books Since 1949 www.abramsyoungreaders.com

To “meet” the author and illustrator of the Twelve Days books, visit www.deborahleerose.com and www.slugworksrocks.com.

Questions and Activities for

The Twelve Days of Kindergarten, The Twelve Days of Winter, and The Twelve Days of Springtime What is the author’s name? What is the illustrator’s name?

In the books, how many students are in the class? How many are in your class?

How would you describe the kids in these books? How is each one special?

Have children put 12 items (marked 1, 2, 3 . . . 12 or 1st, 2nd, 3rd . . .12th) in correct order.

Easy 1–12 Book Give each child a small book of 12 pages marked only 1–12 (one number per page). Have students draw or glue 1 item on page 1, 2 items on page 2, and so on, up to page 12.

Paper Plate Clock Faces Using paper plates, help students make clock faces with hours from 1–12. Use paper fasteners and precut paper pointers to make clock hands so the class can practice telling time.

The kids in these books like hats. Can you find 12 different hats in the books?

Could everything that happens in these books happen in real life? What couldn’t?

The kids in the Twelve Days books love field trips. Did anything funny ever happen on a field trip your class took? Draw a picture or write a story about what happened.

These books have lots of animals. Make a class list of animals you spot in the books.

What musical instruments can you find in the books? Do you have these at school?

Counting 1–12 Mark an egg carton’s cups 1–12.

Have students put 1 item in cup 1, 2 in cup 2, . . . and so on.

Paper Plate Circle of Seasons Using a marker or pencil, divide a paper plate into four quarters.

Label the quarters Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer. Have children decorate each quarter with a tree that changes each season, plus any other seasonal items they like.

Make a Twelve Days book with your class On your class easel, bulletin board, or blackboard, start by making a list with your students of 12 special things in your room. Then use that list to help the class make a Twelve Days book together. Have students illustrate their verses with drawings of fun things in your room and at your school.

To “meet” the author and illustrator of the Twelve Days books, visit www.deborahleerose.com and www.slugworksrocks.com.

Questions and Activities for

The Twelve Days of Springtime How does the spring weather change in this book? How can you tell?

What is spring like where you go to school?

What animal life cycles are the kids in the book learning about?

The kids in the book plant a garden. Does your school have a garden? What grows there? Maybe your class could start a garden at your school!

Starting a Garden Give each child a bean to “plant” on top of a wet paper towel in a clear cup or in a small plastic bag. Put the cups in sunlight or tape the bags to your window. Check daily.

If you use pumpkin seeds, transplant the shoots into an outdoor garden in late spring. When your students come back to school in fall, they’ll find a pumpkin patch!

In the book, the kids and their teacher take a walk through the neighborhood. They see signs like BOOK, STOP, POLICE, FIRE STATION, and PUBLIC LIBRARY. What signs do you see at school? Go on a sign hunt around your school.

Which community helper do the kids see on their walk? What community helpers come to visit your school?

Which flag on the 12th day is the flag of the United States?

Life Cycle Spinner Use a marker to divide a paper plate into quarters. Label one quarter EGG, one quarter CATERPILLAR, one quarter CHRYSALIS, and one quarter BUTTERFLY. Have children glue on different sizes of pasta to represent different stages of development: a grain of orzo (or rice) for the egg, tube or curly noodle for the caterpillar, large shell-shaped noodle for the chrysalis. For the butterfly quarter, give students a premade paper butterfly to glue on or have them draw one.

On their field trip to a farm, what animals do the kids see?

Did your class ever see animals on a field trip? Which animals did you see?

To “meet” the author and illustrator of the Twelve Days books, visit www.deborahleerose.com and www.slugworksrocks.com.

The Twelve Days of Springtime Counting Game There are LOTS of things to count in this book! Can you find and count: 1st day 13 caterpillars in the terrarium 2 squirrels on the ground 1 nest in the tree 3 watering cans pouring water 1 acorn

5th day 4 squirrels 4 bird eggs 2 birds 1 bee 1 beetle

9th day 10 chickens 2 lambs 2 pigs 1 goat 1 cat

2nd day 10 tadpoles in a jar 7 turtles 2 fish 1 skunk

6th day 17 windows 12 stripes in the awning 2 cats 2 pigeons 1 dog

10th day 18 frogs (36 frog eyes!)

3 butterflies 3 raindrops 1 horse

3rd day 13 squares in the path 5 windows 2 doors 2 gophers 1 ladybug 4th day 27 tadpoles (54 tadpole eyes!)

8 ladybug spots 8 ants 1 mouse

7th day 19 musical instruments (plus voices!)

1 metronome 6 posters 1 mouse

8th day 22 chrysalises 1 leaping frog 2 butterflies 1 bird 1 umbrella

11th day 21 tree trunks 4 googly “eyes” on the teacher’s boots 1 raccoon 2 birds 1 crayfish 12th day 42 squares on the checkered flag 13 stripes on the American flag 11 butterflies flying out the window 7 singing frogs on the easel 2 baby birds in a nest 1 mole

To “meet” the author and illustrator of the Twelve Days books, visit www.deborahleerose.com and www.slugworksrocks.com.

Questions and Activities for

The Twelve Days of Winter

Winter is not the same everywhere. Where you live and go to school, does winter weather look the way it does in this book, or different?

What weather words would you use to describe winter at your school?

What clothes do the kids in the book wear to keep warm?

What season is it in the terrarium? How do you know? What do the worms spell?

What song do you think the kids are playing on their instruments on the 8th day?

What songs do you play or sing at school?

Has your class been to an art museum? What did you see there?

The snow sculptures on the 12th day are based on famous works of art from around the world, including The Thinker by Rodin, The Little Dancer

by Degas, a Ming horse, a Moai head from Easter Island, Walking Man by Giacometti, and the statue of David

by Michelangelo.

Stuffed Sock Snowman For each snowman, you will need: 1 tube sock, 2 rubber bands or pieces of string or yarn, a small handful of pinto beans or uncooked rice, soft stuffing, a circle of cardboard about 1.5-2 inches in diameter, colorful buttons, glue, and small strips of fabric for “scarves.”

(A red marker for the teacher or parent to draw mouths and noses is also helpful.)

Push the cardboard circle deep into the sock to make a flat bottom for the snowman. Add beans or rice after the cardboard, for weight to help the snowman stand up. Next, add stuffing for the lower body. Tighten the sock with the first rubber band or piece of yarn or string, leaving enough sock for the upper body/ head plus one extra inch of sock. Add stuffing for the upper body/head. Tighten the sock with the next rubber band or piece of yarn or string, leaving the top inch of open sock edge above the rubber band, yarn, or string. Turn this bit of sock down over the “head” to form a winter cap. Tie a “scarf” around the snowman’s neck. Glue buttons on the front for eyes and clothing decorations.

Draw or have a parent draw a mouth and nose. Add any other decorative details kids like!

To “meet� the author and illustrator of the Twelve Days books, visit www.deborahleerose.com and www.slugworksrocks.com.

Questions and Activities for

The Twelve Days of Kindergarten What season is it when the kids in the book start kindergarten?

What season is it now where you go to school?

How do kids in the book get to school? How do you know? How do kids in your class get to school?

What puzzle shapes do the kids match on the fourth day?

Which community helper do the kids meet in the book? What community helpers come to visit your school?

What live animals do the kids in the book have in their classroom? Do you have live animals in your classroom? What are they? Do they have names?

Counting 12 Months Using a calendar of your choice, help students count the 12 months of the year. Then talk about which months your class goes to school.

Make a Weather Graph Set up your graph for the 5 days of the school week (and weekends too if you like).

Each day, ask your students what the weather is like, then write a weather word and draw or stick on a weather symbol for that day of the week.

To “meet” the author and illustrator of the Twelve Days books, visit www.deborahleerose.com and www.slugworksrocks.com.

A Note from the Author of the Twelve

Days books,

Deborah Lee Rose When I first wrote The Twelve Days of Kindergarten, I had not planned on a series—until I saw Carey’s illustrations in full color. The characters she created were so individual, so funny, and so ready for new adventures, I wanted to see more of what they would do as the school year went on. Many ideas for the verses and illustrations, in all three books, came from my kids’ adventures when they were little. When my son was in kindergarten, we unexpectedly hatched newborn chicks in our bathroom while babysitting the class incubator (The Twelve Days of Kindergarten), and raised tadpoles that started sprouting legs and trying to jump onto our living room floor (The Twelve Days of Springtime). A classroom terrarium (The Twelve Days of Winter) prompted us to start one at home, with a resident gecko and LOTS of worms, but I must say this teacher’s worms are exceptionally good spellers! The Twelve Days books are full of surprises. I hope you have as much fun reading (and singing) these books as Carey and I had bringing them to life!

A Note from the Illustrator of the Twelve

Days books,

Carey Armstrong-Ellis Illustrating a series can be challenging—the challenge being to make the characters both familiar and fresh. Of course, each season presents new opportunities for fun and mayhem. My thought process went sort of like this: While winter yields snowballs, soggy mittens, and cabin fever, springtime brings rainy days and mud puddles. But rain and mud lead to flowers and growing things. Hmmm . . . growing things out of control . . . now there’s a possibility! I have always been a fan of old monster movies, so I included my own tribute to Little Shop of Horrors at the end. In fact, I included references to several monster movies—it’s a treasure hunt for fellow monster movie fans! This book also had me researching musicians, international flags, how to raise butterflies, etc., etc. By including little details like this throughout the book, I hope to keep parents entertained as well as their children. And of course all the old familiar faces are back—the harried teacher, the skirt-clinger, the horse-loving artist, the ever-popular nose-picker . . . I hope you enjoy their new adventures!