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Monster Madness


At the end of last
school year, I purchased a copy of Ed Emberley's book Go Away,
Big Green Monster. That book was partially responsible for
this page and a book I created for
The Teacher's Bookbag
to go along with a Monsters Unit. This unit is perfect for
introducing dialogue about fears.
 |
Books |
 |
|
Go Away, Big Green
Monster ~ Ed Emberley
Glad Monster, Sad
Monster: A Book About Feelings ~ Ed Emberley
The Meanies ~ The
Wright Group
There’s A Monster Under
My Bed ~ James Howe
There’s Something In My Attic ~ Mercer Mayer
There’s A Nightmare In My Closet ~ Mercer Mayer
Little Monster At
School ~ Mercer Mayer
Where the Wild Things Are ~ Maurice Sendak
Harry and The Terrible Whatzit ~ Dick Gackenbach
I Hear A Noise ~ Diane Goode
The Very Worst Monster ~ Pat Hutchins
Molly’s Monsters ~ Mary Morgan
Beast In The Bathtub ~ Kathleen Stevens
What’s Under My Bed? ~ James Stevenson
Little Monsters ~ Jan Pienkowski
Brave Little Monster ~
Ken Baker
Little Toot and the
Loch Ness Monster ~
Hardie
Gramatky
Bedtime Little Monsters
~ Emma Harris
The Hungry Thing ~ Jan
Slepian
Monster Money Book ~
Loreen Leedy
The Monster's Party ~
Joy Cowley
There's A
Monster At The End Of
This
Book ~ Jon
Stone
There's
Another Monster At The End Of
This
Book ~ Jon
Stone
Junie B.Jones Has a
Monster Under Her Bed ~ Barbara Park
Cookie Monster books
Monster Faces ~ Tom
Brannon
Cookie Monster's
Little Kitchen ~ Tom Cooke
Good Night, Monster! ~
Ian Whybrowe
M is for Monster ~ R.H.
Disney
Nate the Great and the
Monster Mess ~ Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
Happy Birthday, Cookie
Monster ~ Felice Haus
Follow the Monsters
Cookie Monster's
Christmas
The Berenstain Bears
and the Green-Eyed Monster ~ Jan & Stan
Berenstain
The Monster Who Loved
Books ~ Keith Faulkner
Huggly and the Toy
Monster ~ Tedd Arnold
Huggly Takes A Bath ~
Tedd Arnold
Huggly Gets Dressed ~
Tedd Arnold **Cute!!!
Huggly's Pizza ~ Tedd
Arnold
Huggly's Big Mess ~
Tedd Arnold
Monster Party ~ Tui
Sutherland
Monster Mischief ~
Pamela Jane
Nothing Scares Us ~
Frieda Wishinsky
The Monster Who Loved
Books ~ Keith Faulkner (a cute pop-up book)
Monster Poems ~ Daisy
Wallace
Monster Munchies ~
Laura Numeroff
|
 |
Songs |
 |
|
GO ON A
MONSTER HUNT
(like the Bear Hunt)
We're going on a monster hunt
We're going to find a big one!
We're not scared, but...
What if he's under the
bed?
Better go over it.
Squoosh,squoosh,
squoosh.
What is he's in the
closet?
Better close it.
Slam, slam,slam.
What if he's behind the
curtains?
Better open them.
Swish,swish, swish.
What if he's in the
hallway?
Better tiptoe down it.
Tiptoe,tiptoe.
What if he's in the
garage?
Better stomp through
it.
Stomp,stomp, stomp.
Aahh! It's a monster!
What's that you said?
You're big, but you're friendly, and you want to go to bed?
Now we're not afraid of
monsters, so..
Stomp through the garage,
Walk through the hallway,
Close the curtains,
Open the closet,
Jump into bed,
And turn out the lights!. Click!
~ Author Unknown |
IF
YOU'RE A MONSTER
(tune: She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain)
Verse 1
If you're a monster and you know it, grunt and groan...etc.
Verse 2
If you're a monster and you know it, stomp your feet...etc.
Verse 3
If you're a monster and you know it, make a face...etc.
Verse 4
If you're a monster and you know it, do all 3.
~ Author Unknown |
THE
MONSTERS ARE SO LOUD
(Tune: When Johnny comes Marching Home)
The monsters stomp around the house,
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The monsters stomp around the house,
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The monsters stomp around the house,
Their brothers and sister send them out.
And they stomp some more
outside, around the house.
The monsters yell
around the house
Yeah! Yeah!
The monsters yell around the house,
Yeah! Yeah!
The monsters yell around the house,
Their brothers and sisters send them out.
And they yell some more
outside, around the house.
~ Author Unknown |
TEN LITTLE
MONSTERS
(Tune: Ten Little
Indians)
One little, two
little, three little monsters,
Big wild eyes and skin with fuzzy furs.
Climbing on the stairs
When no one knows they're there.
Heigh-ho, monsters are here.
One little, two little, three little trolls,
Playing in the woods
Where fern and moss grow.
Running through the trees
And having lots of fun.
Heigh-ho, monsters are here.
~ Author Unknown |
TEN
LITTLE MONSTERS
(Tune: Ten Little Indians)
One little, two
little, three little monsters,
Four little, five little, six little monsters,
Seven little, eight little, nine little monsters,
Ten little happy monsters.
~ Author Unknown |
YOU
ARE MY MONSTER
(Tune: You Are My Sunshine)
You are my monster,
My only monster.
You make me happy,
When I am sad.
You never know dear,
How much I love you.
Please do not take
My monster away.
~ Author Unknown |
IF
YOU ARE A MONSTER
(Tune: If You Are Happy and You Know It)
If you are a monster
and you know it,
Wave your arms.
If you are a monster and you know it,
Wave your arms.
If your are a monster and you know it,
Your arms will surely show it.
If you are a monster and you know it,
Wave your arms.
2 - show your claws.
3 - gnash your teeth
4 - stomp your feet
~ Author Unknown |
 |
Poems |
 |
|
WHAT DO
MONSTERS DO?
What do monsters do?
They stretch and touch their toes.
What do monsters do?
They comb their purple hair.
What do monsters do?
They stick out their green tongues.
What do monsters do?
They brush their teeth with a broom.
What do monsters do?
They rub their yellow eyes.
What do monsters do?
They wiggle their
orange ears.
Boy, am I glad I am not
a monster!!
~ Author Unknown |
5 LITTLE
MONSTERS
5 little monsters
Haunting in the night.
The first one said,
"I'm not feeling right."
The second one said,
"My skin is feeling wet."
The third one quivered,
"We're just scared, I bet."
The fourth one said,
"I can feel my heart pound."
The fifth one said,
"Shhh! What was that
sound?"
Then "Oooooo" went the wind
And on came the lights,
And a wee little (girl/boy)
Came skipping into sight!
~ Author Unknown |
IGGA BIGGA
If in the dark you're frightened,
Here's all you have to do...
Say "Igga bigga dinka danka doo."
These words give you protection
From ghosts and witches too...
Say "Igga bigga bunka, dinka danka doo."
So if at night a monster whispers,
"I'll get you!",
YELL "Iggga bigga, hunka bunka, dinka danka doo!"
~ Author Unknown |
COLOR
MONSTERS
Red, red,
Forgot its head.
Blue, blue,
Is sick with flu.
Yellow, yellow,
Sat in jello.
Green, green,
Is the dancing
queen.
Orange, orange,
Squished an
orange.
Purple, purple,
Had to burple.
Brown, brown,
Your pants fell
down.
Black, black,
Plays
quarterback.
Gray, Gray
Ate his lunch
tray.
White, White
Bites at night.
(or Stays up all night.)
Pink, Pink
Has feet that stink. (or Sat in the sink.)
~
Author Unknown |
MONSTERS
I am a monster
Through and through.
But please don’t scream.
I would not hurt you.
I do not want
To make you cry.
That is the truth.
And I never lie.
I would not give you
A nasty stare.
Or wake you with
A strange nightmare.
So why am I here
This very day?
The answer is easy.
I just want to play.
~ Author Unknown |
MONSTERS
GALORE
Monsters galore,
Can you roar? (Roar)
Monsters galore,
Can you soar? (Making a flying motion.)
Monsters galore,
Please shut the door! (Pretend to shut the door)
Monsters galore,
Fall on the floor! (Fall down)
~ Author Unknown |
SEVEN
LITTLE MONSTERS
One little
monster is very tall.
(Reach toward ceiling, standing on toes.)
Two little
monsters are very small. (Squat)
Three little
monsters like to creep. (Creep on the floor)
Four little
monsters like to leap. (Leap into the air)
Five little
monsters dance on the rug. (Dance)
Six little
monsters like to hug. (Hug each other)
Seven little
monsters in a row. (Line up)
All bend down
to touch a toe. (Touch a toe)
~ Author
Unknown |
We'll all be great
big monsters.
And everyone we'll scare.
With great big claws,
And great big eyes,
And long stringy hair.
Along will come our Mommys,
And who we are they'll know.
They'll walk right up and kiss us,
SMACK!
And say oops where did that monster go?
~ Author Unknown |
FIVE LITTLE
MONSTERS
This little monster has a big red nose.
This little monster has purple toes.
This little monster plays all night.
This little monster is such a fright.
And this little monster goes.
Tee-hee-hee.
I am not scary. I am just silly me.
~ Author Unknown
*This would make a
good flannelboard activity. |
FIVE LITTLE
MONSTERS
Five little monsters sleeping in my bed,
One crawled out from under my spread.
I called to Mama and Mama said,
"No more monsters sleeping in your bed!"
Continue 4,3,2,1
Last verse:
No little monsters sleeping in my bed.
None crawled out from under my spread.
I called to Mama and Mama said,
"There are no more monsters,
Now go to bed!"
~ Author Unknown
* Another CUTE
flannelboard activity. You just need a
bed and 5 little
monsters. |
Every night when I'm
asleep
Into my room the monsters creep.
I call to Mom, "Please come and stay,
And don't forget the monster spray!"
She comes right in and sprays right here
Then all the monsters disappear!
~ Author Unknown
This poem can be
used for two different activities. It
can be sent home
with directions for turning a spray
bottle or air
freshener into Monster Away Spray! Parents
just wrap a piece of
construction paper around the can
of air freshener and
write Monster Away Spray! on it. If
using a spray
bottle, they can write directly on the bottle.
Then when their
child has bad dreams or is in need of
a monster removal,
they simply spray the Monster Away
Spray! in the
affected area and the monster disappears! :)
This activity can be
done at school if you have some way
of getting to the
parents without having to send it by the
child. Plain
water in a water bottle would be OK, but I
wouldn't send air
freshener home with a student.
You can also use the
poem with an art project. Have
them draw a monster
on a piece of white construction
paper using a
black washable marker. Then spray their
drawing with a water
bottle. The drawing should run
and turn different
colors leaving a cool effect. The poem
can then be added to
the drawing. |
Monsters
We like monsters,
Yes, we do.
We like monsters,
How about you?
~ adapted by Cindy
Montgomery
*Use this old
cheerleading cheer adaption as a poem or a
cheer on the
playground. You can use it on the
playground by
dividing your students into two groups.
Have them stand in
their groups a distance apart. Have
one group begin the
cheer by shouting it to the other
group. Then
have the other group return the cheer but
in an even louder
voice. Each group keeps shouting the
cheer to the other
side until they lose interest or can no
longer speak! :) |
 |
Snacks |
 |
|
Monster Mash
Give each child a bowl
and a fork. Have them mix and mash 1/2 banana, 1/4 C.applesauce, 1/2
T honey and 1 T peanut butter. Have them sprinkle the top of their
Monster Mash with cinnamon and eat. |
Recipe for
Monster Pizza
(makes 12 individual
pizzas)
6 English muffins, split
15 oz. pizza sauce
Small bag sliced pepperoni
8 oz. shredded Mozzarella
1 green pepper, sliced
4 oz. can mushrooms, drained
6 oz. can olives, drained
Brown the muffins in a toaster oven (or toaster). Spread a
tablespoon of pizza sauce on each muffin half. Create a monster face
using the toppings above. Place on a cookie sheet and bake in a
preheated 350 oven for 15 minutes, or until the cheese melts. |
Monster
Hand Snacks
Fill each fingertip
of a clear, plastic glove with a piece of candycorn.
Then finish filling the glove with popped popcorn. Tie
off the end of the glove with a piece of twine.
|
Monster
Face
Have each student
spread peanut butter on a toasted English muffin or rice cake.
Use raisins for the eyes, cut a nose and ears from a cheese
slice, and use peanut halves for teeth. Hair can be miniature
pretzel sticks broken in half with a miniature marshmallow
stuck on the end of each stick. (You can easily cut two
ears from the cheese by using a small glass or another
circular item, then simply snip the circle in half with
kitchen shears. This forms the two ears. To make
the nose just snip off the corner of the cheese slice.
Or you can use pepperoni slices for the ears and just snip off
one side of the slice.)
Or if you wanted to
use a big, round cookie, you could have them spread it with
colored frosting. Then add round candies (M&Ms,
Skittles, Sweet Tarts, Red Hots, etc) for the eyes. Use
a cherry half for a nose and candy corn for the teeth.
Vanilla wafers cut in half will make the ears. Hair can
be added using colored shredded coconut. |
 |
Arts &
Crafts |
 |
|
There are MANY ways for
your students to create their own monsters. Here are some
ideas to help you get started. And remember, monsters don't HAVE to
look scary. Some are just plain cute! :)
Put crayon shavings
between two pieces of wax paper and melt crayon shavings with a warm
iron. When cool, cut the paper in the shape of a monster.
That shape could resemble more of a "blob", or a "ghost shape" or
have a jagged shape. Then have students glue on shredded paper
for hair. Provide them with other items for facial features
and other details. These could be made from construction
paper, wiggly eyes, pipecleaners, buttons, furry material, felt,
aluminum foil, permanent markers, hole reinforcers, raffia, moss,
yarn, pasta, rick-rack, etc.
Another type monster
could be made from construction paper shapes. Either provide
students with appropriate sized shapes to cut out, or provide them
with the construction paper and have them design their own shapes.
They could be given a circle, square, or oval pattern for the head,
four rectangles for arms and legs, and a larger rectangle or square
for a body. If made extra long, the arms and legs could be
accordian-folded to provide springy arms and legs. Glue the
pieces together to form the monster's body, then add details using
various materials.
You could also provide
students with monster parts on construction paper. Have them
cut out the parts and make their monster. If you provide
multiple parts for the parts of the body (3 different noses, 6 eyes,
etc.), they can choose which part they'd like on their monster.
This will make each monster unique, depending on the student.
Another idea is to
provide each student with a paperplate to use as a monster face.
Then they add whatever details they'd like using various materials.
Stuffed
Monsters: Trace each student's body TWICE onto butcher
or bulletin board paper. Staple the two shapes together and
have students create their monsters using paint and various other
materials. Stuff with shredded newspaper. These can be
hung in the hall or from the ceiling. Display this poem with
them and have incoming moms (or other relatives) try to guess which
one is their child.
Poem:
We'll all be
great big monsters.
And everyone we'll scare.
With great big claws,
And great big eyes,
And long stringy hair.
Along will come our Mommys,
And who we are they'll know.
They'll walk right up and kiss us,
SMACK!
And say oops where did that monster go?
~ Author Unknown
Directed
Draw: Provide each student with a blank sheet of white paper.
Have them follow along with you on their paper as you show them how
to draw a monster on the board. Or, give them directions and
have them follow them, such as:
Draw a large circle on
your paper to make your monster's head.
Give your monster two
big ears.
Give your monster one
big eye.
Give your monster a
great big nose.
Give your monster a big
mouth with one tooth.
Color your monster's
face green.
Give your monster
purple hair.
Color your monster's
eye red.
Color your monster's
tooth yellow.
Color your monster's
ears orange.
Give your monster a
name. Write it at the bottom of the page.
Group
Monsters: Divide your class into groups of 6 students
each. Assign each student in the group to create a body part.
One student will create a head, one a body, two students will create
an arm each, and two students will create a leg each. Tell
students NOT to look at the drawings of the other people in their
group. Have them cut out the body parts and assemble them into
a monster. Then let them work together to come up with a name
for their monster and a story to go with it. |
 |
Other
Activities |
 |
|
Following Directions: Provide each student with a
monster pattern. Give them oral directions for completing the
pattern. Ex. Color the monster's hair green. Draw
a sun in the sky. Draw a place for the monster to live.
Color one shoe blue.
Life-sized Monsters: Trace around each student's body
on butcher or bulletin board paper. Have each student turn the
body shape into a monster using various materials. You can
then use the monsters to discuss taller/shorter, and sequence them
in size as you hang them in the classroom or hallway.
Monster
Glyph: The
Teacher's Bookbag
Resource
Book: Teacher's
Helper Sept/Oct 1998
A Colorful Creature for
Go Away, Big Green Monster (color words)
Monster Feet:
Provide each
student with two pieces of cardboard. Let them draw off and
decorate two monster foot prints. Cut them out, and attach
elastic to the top of the footprint so that the student can slip
their foot into the elastic loop and it will hold the footprint to
the bottom of their foot. Sing THE MONSTERS ARE SO LOUD
(above) and let them stomp around in the room as they sing.
An alternative for this
activity would be to allow each student to bring in a large pair of
shoes. Before singing the song, have them slip on the large
shoes and stomp around the room as they sing.
Monster
Shoe Sort: If you have the students bring in shoes for
the song above, you can keep them all in a clothes basket.
During Center time, the students can sort the shoes into pairs or
use them for patterning. They can also arrange them smallest
to biggest.
Dramatic
Play: Provide students with articles of clothing and other
things to dress up like a monster. Then give them hand and
feet prints cut from furry material. They slip these over
their hands and feet and it's secured with a loop of elastic.
Blocks:
Have students create monster cages, pens, or a place where they
would live. Provide them with strawberry baskets to use as
well.
Homework
Project: Send a gingerbread man shape outline home with
each student copied onto construction paper. Have each student
work at home with the help of his family to turn the shape into a
monster.
Or, you could simply
assign each student to create a monster at home and then bring them
in for show and tell. Have them name their monster as well.
Predictable Chart: Have each student answer the prompt
-
My monster is ..
Record their answers on a chart.
Ex. My monster is
cute. (Sally)
My monster is green.
(Sue)
My monster is mean.
(Billy)
For the next few days,
have students read the chart with you. Then transfer each
students response to a sentence strip or type them up, print them
off, and cut them into strips. Give each student their
response and have them illustrate their sentence. If
appropriate, you can have them copy their sentence onto their paper.
Display the pictures along with the sentences or make into a class
book.
Class
Generated Poem: Have your students to help complete the
following poem frame.
Monsters
We like monsters.
__________ monsters,
__________ monsters,
__________, __________, __________ monsters.
We like monsters.
The poem could be like
...
Monsters
We like monsters.
Big monsters,
Cute monsters,
Little, hairy, blue
monsters.
We like monsters.
Once the poem has been
completed, transfer it to sentence strips and use it in your
pocketchart. Choral read it daily, provide a second set of
word cards to match to the poem text (example of that type activity
on the Easter page), and let students use
it during Read the Room.
Movement: Use the song "Monster Mash" to provide
opportunities for movement.
Monster
Math: Draw off a page of monster footprints. Copy
onto colored construction paper. Laminate and cut out.
Place these in the pocketchart along with number cards.
Students count the footprints and match to the correct number, or
count out the correct number of footprints to match the number.
Monster
Match: Use the footprint patterns from above and copy
onto more colored construction paper. Cut out. Program the
footprints with matching skills, such as matching capital to
lowercase letters; matching dots to numbers; matching pictures to
beginning or ending sounds; matching synonyms or contractions.
Monster
Sequencing: Program more footprints with ABCs and have
students sequence them.
Monster
Color Words: Copy one footprint for each color and then copy
another set of matching prints in one color only. Program the
one color only set of prints with color words. Laminate all
prints, then cut out. Students match the print with the color
word with the appropriate color print. Ex. red footprint/print
with the word red
If you're teaching
younger children, you print a matching set of colored prints for
each color. Then have the students match the colors.
Cookie
Monster: Provide students with a large picture of
Cookie Monster and let them paint him blue.
Cookie
Monster Activities: Make Center activities for the
skills listed above. Students will match Cookie Monster to
cookies.
All About
Cookie Monster:
Birthday:
November 2
Favorite Song: "C is
for Cookie"
Best Friend:
Ernie (he often stays over when Bert's out of town)
Quote: "Me want
cookie!"
Likes: The four
food groups (and any others you can find.)
Dislikes: Empty
plates; eating the last cookie.
from:
http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/author/elmocookie.html
Video:
Watch Monsters, Inc. if appropriate. I haven't seen this
movie personally and I don't know the rating on it. But I
do know that they showed it at our school as one of our school-wide
(elem.) incentive programs.
Focus Letter:
During this unit, you can use Letter M as your focus letter.
Have your students brainstorm a list of words that start with
Mm. Record their answers on a large Monster shaped chart
that's been laminated for reusability. Write the words
with a Vis-a-Via pen and they'll wipe right off. Add
pictures where possible. Students can then use the "Mm"
words in their writing.
Thematic Word Wall: Turn a pocketchart into a
portable thematic Word Wall. Write Monster related words
on sentence strip parts and add pictures where possible.
Make a second set of words without the picture. Laminate
all. Students can use the words when writing, and then can
use the second set of cards to match to the pictured text.
For very early readers, you might want to add a picture on back
of the second set of word cards to help them in matching the
text.
Vocabulary
Words:
head |
ears |
nose |
eyes |
hair |
arms |
legs |
body |
scary |
mean |
cute |
creepy |
big |
small |
tall |
large |
hairy |
ugly |
green |
purple |
orange |
pink |
brown |
black |
white |
blue |
red |
teeth |
sharp |
furry |
purple |
stomp |
clomp |
lonely |
mean |
hides |
Monster Shape Book: Create a
simple monster shape book pattern and photocopy one for each
student. Have them cut out their page and find a picture
that starts with the letter M and glue it to their page.
Have them write the name for the picture at the bottom of the
page. Then combine all the pages to make a "Mm is for Monster"
class shape book.
Making Words: Have the students use the letters
in "Monster" and see how many words they can make from those
letters. I do mine in the pocketchart with pocketchart
letter tiles. (picture at Literacy Connections) Some
words that they could make are:
Monster |
on |
ten |
nest |
Mr |
Mrs |
rest |
so |
to |
no |
set |
met |
net |
more |
sore |
tore |
snore |
not |
men |
Tom |
rent |
sent |
some |
ore |
or |
Flannelboard
Activity: Cut out
different monster parts from multi-colored felt and have them for
students to use in creating their own monsters on the flannelboard.
Monster
Party Extension: Read Monster Party, then
provide each student with a cupcake. Allow them to ice the
cupcake, then create their own Crazy Creature Cupcakes using
decorating tubes/tips, and candies. |
Coming
Soon!
Activities for Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
|

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