How to Get your Teacher Ready



Last updated Thursday, September 23, 2021

Author: Jean Reagan
Illustrator: Lee Wildish
Date of Publication: 2017
ISBN: 055353825X
Grade Level: 3rd    (GLCs: Click here for grade level guidelines.)
Date(s) Used: Sep. 2021

Synopsis: This humorous new book in the beloved HOW TO . . . series takes readers through a fun and busy school year. Written in tongue-in-cheek instructional style, a class of adorable students gives tips and tricks for getting a teacher ready - for the first day of school, and all the events and milestones that will follow (picture day, holiday concert, the 100th day of school, field day!). And along the way, children will see that getting their teacher ready is really getting themselves ready.

Note to readers:
•  Reading age for this book is 3 to 5 years, according to Amazon.com. So, if you have some 1st or 2nd graders in your group today, and you're not sure which book to pick, this may be the most appropriate selection.
•  This book is also quite short. You will probably want to do a picture walk before reading - the pictures are soft focus and kind of generic - and discuss each of the pictures in detail.

Discussion topics for before reading:
•  What kind of school routines would a new student or teacher need to learn? How do you get ready in the morning before class?
•  What kinds of things do you tell your teacher to do? What does your teacher tell you to do?
•  Try and see if the kids have a "Good Morning" song. If they do, maybe they will sing it for you! If you do, and they don't, sing yours.

Vocabulary

•  clever - smart or having the skills to do something well
•  smock - A loose coatlike outer garment, often worn to protect the clothes while working.
•  pomegranate - A round fruit with a red, leathery rind and many seeds covered with red, juicy, edible flesh.
•  chrysalis - a hard shell spun by a caterpillar, moth or other insect in which a transformation or growth takes place.
•  Venus fly trap - a carnivorous (meat-eating) plant! It eats flies, bugs, raw hamburger meat.

Discussion topics for during/after reading:
•  Cover/page 1. What is going on in this picture?
•  Page 2. What do you see in this picture? {Alphabet blocks (AQE), Apple, Colored pencils, Crayons, Die (1/2 pair of dice), Felt pens, Lizard (iguana?), Paper clip, Ruler, Teddy bear, Tennis ball, Toy car, Xylophone and mallets}
•  Page 2. What do they have to do with school? Do you have these things in your classroom?
•  Page 4. Do you have favorite spots? In your apartment, classroom, etc?
•  Page 9. Counting to 100. How many kids does it take to get to 100 toes, assuming they each have 1o toes? A little math thrown in for fun.
•  Page 11. Why does it say some things happen slowly? How long does it take for a caterpillar to become a chrysalis (about 14 days for a Monarch), and then a butterfly (about 4 days)? (The adults live for about 10 days.)
•  Page 12. Field day - what does that mean? is it a field trip? Why does the teacher need a whistle?
•  Page 14. See how many different languages you, the teacher, the other volunteer, and the kids all know. Can you identify all 10 of the examples on the page?

Craft ideas:
•  Make a Grandparents’ Day card (Sunday, September 12, made a federal holiday in 1978 by President Carter to acknowledge the close bond between grandparents and their grandchildren)
•  Check our craft ideas on Pinterest!
https://www.pinterest.com/readingtokids/september-2021-back-to-school-fun/
•  Draw a Back To School Backpack Monster at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g8Ad0WyVHU

Special activities:
•  Make howler monkey sounds like on page 12. Here's where you can find the actual sound on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxzbqmFkXwU

*Note: These craft ideas are just suggestions. You can use them, but you don't have to use them. You can expand upon them, or add your own twist. Remember, though, that the focus of your time should not be on the development and execution of a craft; the focus should be on the read-aloud and the enjoyment of the book!