Wooleycat’s Musical Theater is a picture book, a read-along songbook, and a CD to accompany and inspire dramatic play. The familiar rhymes give a starting point for children to create their own new stories, or to make up additional verses and choruses. In addition to the ideas below, the book may be linked astronomy, geography, cooking, paper gliders, writing a book, and staging a classroom musical.
Listen for the rhyme.
Before playing a song on a CD player, recite some of the rhymes from the text. Then look around the room for others: clock, sock, etc. For young readers, try writing the words on large cards. After listening to the song, have students recall the rhyming words from the story, or even write them down. These rhymes can later be used in storytelling, writing, and dramatic play activities.
Use your senses.
In Three Blind Mice on Vacation in Africa, the mice are fooled by what they encounter on safari. Read the story and talk about perception. What if we couldn’t use our sight and had only touch, taste, smell, or hearing to move about the world? For this activity, select objects ahead of time and put each one into a paper bag. Choose objects that, based on touch, are not so easily identified—toys, kitchen utensils, tools, dried pods, driftwood, souvenirs, unusual fruits and vegetables. Staple the bags partially closed so that a child can reach, but not see, inside. Have one child at a time feel a mystery object and describe it. Encourage the use of descriptive words. Later, reveal the mystery object. Finally, have students write or tell stories about themselves or characters who temporarily lose one of their senses, and the differences they experience in their daily lives.
Choose a career. Make a story.
Characters in this book are shown working in many professions. Show the illustrations, and name the careers suggested: master of ceremonies, doctor, baker, architect, pizza taster, firefighter, pilot, astronaut, sailor, etc. Arrange props such as hats, tools of the trade, or magazine cutouts, on the floor or table. Have children choose a prop and tell about their career. Students can also work in small groups to create skits based on those careers. Try combining careers in unusual ways such as a pizza taster and astronaut. It’s also fun to make additional costumes and props!
