Merry Christmas Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt - Teaching Ideas

In typical fashion Stinky Face is filled with questions. He worries about the Christmas tree blowing away, his snowman melting, Santa losing a boot and the reindeer's antlers getting stuck in the tree branches that hang over the roof. His mom is very reassuring and has an answer or solution to all of his questions and worries. In the end, Stinky Face and his mother leave Santa all the things he might need if anything were to go wrong on the night he delivers his gifts.

Many of your kids will identify with the questions Stinky Face asks, because they are typical "little kid" type of questions. Such a fun read aloud, I hope you have it and share it with your students!

Here is a list of reading skills, strategies and ideas you can utilize while creating a meaningful holiday lesson.

As a fun center activity I have created a true false comprehension game that your students will love.

Reading level: 3.1

Theme: winter holiday

Genre: holiday fiction

Suggested Vocabulary: coat rack, icicles

Reading skills and strategies:

• Asking questions - {possible questions before} I wonder why he is called Stinky Face. I wonder what this story is going to be about. {possible questions during} Why is he asking so many questions? Will all these things really happen? {possible questions after} Will Santa really need all the things Stinky Face and his mom left for him? **Remember to have your students answer/reflect their questions.
• Author’s point of view – 1^st person. Be sure to find 3 pieces of evidence to support this.
• Author’s purpose – entertain {evidence} The illustrations are very silly. There is no such thing as a Christmasaurus and Santa would never lose his boot. All these thing make a very entertaining story.
• Beginning, middle, end - {most important event from beginning} Stinky Face started asking his mom a lot of questions about things that might happen. {most important event from middle} Mom had very good answers for each of his questions. {most important event from end} Mom and Stinky Face left all the things that Santa might need, just in case.
• Cause and effect – Why would Stinky Face and his mom sit outside and make snow cones? Because that is how they would move all the snow that was blocking their door. Why would they have to use the coat rack as a Christmas tree? Because the wind might blow their tree out the front door. Why would they put a snowman in their freezer? Because the snowman would follow Stinky Face inside and start to melt. Why would a Chrismasaurus help them put up their Christmas lights? Because they were too short to reach the top of the house. Why would Santa need a saw? So he could cut the branches that the reindeer’s antlers might get stuck in. Why are they leaving a pair of snow boots for Santa? So he can wear them if he loses one of his.
• Character analysis - describe Stinky Face and or his mom {looks like, feelings, thoughts, character}
• Drawing conclusions & inferencing – On the last page of the story, what do you think Santa is thinking when he sees all the stuff and reads the note? {text clues} Stinky Face and his mom left Santa a lot of things. Santa is shaking his head and smiling as he is looking at all the stuff. {my conclusion} I think Santa sees the stuff and understands why it was left so he feels thankful and maybe a little surprised.
• Main idea & details - {main idea} Stinky face is worried about so many things happening. {details} He is worried about the Christmas tree blowing out the front door and his snowman following him inside and melting. Stinky Face is also worried about Santa losing one of his boots.
• Predict – What do you think is going to happen in the story? How do you think they would get out of their door? What do you think they would do if their tree blew away? How would they help the snowman that was starting to melt? How do you think Santa would get the reindeer's antlers unstuck from the branches? Do you think Santa’s boot would fall off while he is driving his sleigh? What do you think Santa is going to do when he sees all the stuff they left for him?
• Problem & solution - {problem} Stinky Face is worried about so many things. {solution} Stinky Face’s mom has a solution for every problem Stinky Face thinks of.
• Sequencing – Stinky Face has many questions. What if they couldn’t open their front door? What would they do if the Christmas tree blew out the door? How would they save the little snowman? How would they reach the top of the house to put Christmas lights up? How would Santa get the reindeer’s antlers out of the tree branches? What if Santa lost a boot? What if his lips got chapped or the sack ripped or the reindeer's need their fur brushed. Stinky Face and his mother leave out all the things Santa might need, just in case.
• Story elements - list title, author, characters, setting, beginning, middle, end, or problem & solution.
• Strong thought – Why is Stinky Face asking so many questions?
• Summarize - {someone} Stinky Face {wanted} wanted to ask a question {but} but he asked a lot of questions {so} so his mom answered all of them. {then}They then left all of his mom’s answers to his questions on the table for Santa. 
• visualize – What do you see as something that could go wrong on Christmas Eve?

You can find this game in either one of my stores.

Merry Christmas!