Grumpy Bunny (Hopper) is not one to like many things, especially Halloween, but when his kinderbunnies and Lilac (the girl he secretly loves) agree to help make a haunted house, he reluctantly agrees to help too. They all work hard cleaning and decorating to make the best haunted house possible. Hopper is given the job of creating a big spider that will scare all the visitors, and to his surprise he does a good job! Finally the barn is ready for people to come through and it is Grumpy Bunny's job to guide them, but silly Grumpy Bunny forgets about his scary spider and screams as they walk past. By the end of the evening everyone is exhausted and happy with how everything turned out, even Grumpy Bunny!
This is a cute story that your students will enjoy this Halloween season and if you are needing a lesson to go with the book maybe one of the skills or strategies listed below will make your planning a little easier.
I have created a True False comprehension game that would be perfect in a center activity, the bottom of this post has more info about it.
Reading level: 3.8
Theme: Halloween
Genre: fiction
Suggested Vocabulary:
drama, production, corny, scoffed, ghoulish, sheepishly
Reading skills and
strategies:
- asking questions - {possible questions before} I wonder why Grumpy Bunny is so scared? {possible questions during} I wonder why Hopper is so grumpy? {possible questions after} I wonder if Hopper will like Halloween from now on? **Remember to have your students answer/reflect their questions.
- author's point of view - 3rd person. Find 3 pieces of text evidence to support this.
- author's purpose - entertain {evidence} Bunnies don't talk. It was funny when Hopper got scared of his own spider. Hopper looked silly dressed up as a clown. All these things made the story very entertaining.
- cause and effect - Why did Hopper agree to help with the haunted house? because he wanted to be where ever Lilac was. Why did the Grumpy Bunny scream when they were cleaning the barn? because a big spider swung down from the ceiling. How come Hopper did not come back in a costume? because whenever he wears a costume something always happens and he gets laughed at. Why was Hopper wearing a clown costume? because Mr. Spumoni brought it for him and told him that he must set an example for the kids. How come Grumpy Bunny could barely recognize the barn? because all the lights and music and decorations made it look like a haunted house. Why did Hopper juggle jelly beans? so the children would calm down.
- characterization - describe Hopper {looks like, feelings, thoughts, character}
- character change - show how Hopper changes his attitude toward Halloween by the end of the story.
- classify & categorize - scary Halloween costumes and not scary Halloween costumes
- compare & contrast - Hopper to your teacher
- connections - {possible text-to-self connections} Going to a haunted house. Helping make a haunted house. Not liking Halloween. Getting scared in a haunted house. Being a clown for Halloween.
- drawing conclusions & inferencing - In the beginning of the story Hopper was not very excited for Halloween but at the end of the story he said that Halloween could be kind of fun. Why do you think Hopper changed his mind? {text clues} No one laughed at him in his costume. The kids had fun in the haunted house. Mr. Spumoni kept encouraging Hopper and told him he was a showman at heart. {what I know} I know that if what I think might happen doesn't, then I probably made it out to be worse than it could be - Hopper not wanting to wear a costume because people always laughed at him. I know that when I see people having fun then it must not be that bad. I also know that if someone tells me I am good at something then I feel good about myself. {my conclusion} I think Hopper changed his mind about Halloween because everyone had a great time in the haunted house. He was happy about how it all turned out so now he thinks Halloween is all right.
- main idea & details - {main idea} Grumpy Bunny and the kinderbunnies helped create a haunted house. {details} They made paper towel ghosts and paper bats. They hung a big spider from the ceiling. There was creepy music playing.
- plot - the turning point or climax in the story was when Mr. Spumoni told Hopper that he was a showman at heart.
- predict - What do you think the story will be about? Will the grumpy bunny agree to help with the haunted house? Do you think they will make the barn scary?
- sequencing - Hopper and the kinderbunnies agree to help with the haunted house. They sweep and clean the barn. They make a giant spider for the haunted house. They make ghosts and bats to hang around the barn. Everyone comes back wearing a costume except grumpy bunny. Mr. Spumoni gives Hopper a clown costume to wear. Grumpy bunny leads the kids through the haunted house. Hopper juggles some jellybeans to settle the children down. The haunted house was a success and now it is time for bed.
- story elements - list title, author, character's, setting, beginning, middle, end, or problem & solution.
Happy Halloween!
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