Activities for Jan Brett's Book The Hat

These activity plans came from Judy Bruner's Resource Classroom at Elementary West in Loogootee, Indiana.
Day 1 Begin the lesson by going to our Hedgehog site and going to the Hedgehog activities. Scroll down to activity #2. Read about The Hat by Jan Brett. After learning about the background for the book, read The Hat to the class.	Activity 1 Go to Hedgehog activities and click on activity #4 and print out the hedgehog and costumes by Jan Brett for the children to make. (You will want to do this before the lesson so that you can make copies and have it ready.)
Day 2 Begin the lesson by going to Find out about hedgehogs and read the information to the class, if they are unable to read it themselves. Go to See pictures of Hedgeetta and read the information. Go to Hedgeetta meets Gonzo and read the information. Go to Take a quiz about hedgehogs and take the quiz as a class, in small groups, or as individual students.	Activity 2 Go to make a 3-D hedgehog and print out pattern and directions. (You will want to print pattern and directions before the lesson and make copies.) To see what a class in New Zealand has done with this project go to Hedgehogs Can site and see how Mrs. Crawford's children in New Zealand made the background for their 3-D hedgehog.
Day 3 Go to Mrs. Crawford's Class and read the stories that Mrs. Crawford's children wrote about hedgehogs. Go to Hedgehog Activities and scroll down to activity #8. Print out the Hedgehog stationary from Jan Brett. (You will want to print out the pattern for the stationary and make copies of it before the lesson.) Let the children write their own story about a hedgehog and give it a name. Let the children print their story on the computer using the hedgehog stationary.	Activity 3 Go to Hedgehog Activity page and go to #3. Print out the directions for drawing a hedgehog by Jan Brett. (You will want to print out the directions for the hedgehog and make copies of it before the lesson.) Let the children draw their hedgehog and staple it to their story. Display their work in your classroom.
Day 4 The setting for Jan Brett's book The Hat takes place in Denmark. Begin the lesson by going to Denmark. Read information about Denmark's tradition, history, holidays, and some recipes written by a 6th grade classroom at Fisher Grade School in Fisher, Illinois. They corresponded with children in Denmark to learn about the country. Select those activities that are appropriate for your grade level. I especially liked learning about their way of life and how they celebrate Christmas.	Activity 4 Let the children choose a country and design a costume for their hedgehog to wear that would represent the country they chose. Use the hedgehog that the students made on Day 1 for this activity.
Day 5 Begin the lesson by going to Hedgehog Activities. Scroll down to #7. Print masks for the characters in The Hat and put on a play. (You will want to print the masks on a color printer or have the children color them before the lesson. Glue the masks to tagboard and cut them out so they will last longer.) You may wish to invite other classrooms to your play. The children may wish to share information that they have learned during their five day study.	Activity 5 Go to Hedgehog Activities and scroll down to activity #12. Make Hedgie cookies by following directions by Jan Brett.

We have included some other activities that you
may wish to do with your class at the
Hedgehog Activity site.

We would love for you to E-mail or send
pictures of unique stories or creative art work
that your children did during their study.
We will share them on the our Hedgehog Site.