7 Don’t Eat the Teacher Activities for Kindergarten & Grade 1

Looking for engaging Don’t Eat the Teacher activities for kindergarten and Grade 1? These shark-themed literacy, storytelling, and craft ideas are a fun way to extend learning after reading this hilarious picture book.

For the last several years I’ve started my year off with this humorous book by Nick Ward and it’s always a winner!

Note: This post was originally published in 2012 and has recently been updated with new activities and resources.

Keep reading for some fun and educational activities!

Title: Don’t Eat the Teacher
Author & Illustrator: Nick Ward
Publisher: Scholastic, 1998

Summary from Amazon:

It’s Sammy the shark’s first day at school – and he’s very excited. But when Sammy gets excited, he BITES things! CRUNCH! Can he get through the day without causing too much trouble? A crunchy, munchy book for tiddlers everywhere. ‘A book you can really get your teeth into.’

My Thoughts:

I love the cartoon illustrations, the bright colours, and the energy. Sammy is such a likeable shark, despite his unfortunate habit of eating things.

I read this book to my class on the first or second day of school for years and years, and without fail, everyone thought it was hilarious. A lot of children are very nervous on their first day of school but because Sammy is just excited and does so many silly things, it’s great for easing the tension and soothing some fears.

It’s a wonderful book for prediction (who’s he going to bite next?) and discussion (did he really eat his teacher?)

And it’s also great to revisit and use the book as a springboard into talking about appropriate class behaviour.

I highly recommend this humorous book!

Don’t Eat the Teacher Book Extensions:

1. Pre-Discussion:

Talk about the cover. Is this fiction or non-fiction? How can you tell? Why do you think there’s a bite out of the page? What clue does that give us? What do you think might happen in this story? Let’s listen to the title again … Do you think the shark WILL eat the teacher?

2. Prediction graph:

Have the kids colour and put their names on the sharks below. They can glue them onto chart paper indicating their prediction about whether or not the shark will eat the teacher.

3. Post Discussion:  

Refer back to the prediction graph and discuss whether or not Sammy really did eat the teacher. How do you know? (It’s actually not clear whether or not he does).  Is Sammy mean or just excited? Are you excited on the first day of school? What other feelings might some kids be experiencing? What does Sammy need to learn? How can his friends help him learn this?

4. Comprehension:

Have the children draw a picture showing whether or not THEY think Sammy ate the teacher.

5. Story Stones:

Practice retelling with story stones. Have you ever used these? They’re the perfect way to practice sequencing and retelling stories.

This does require a little prep in that you need to gather some flat stones (Michaels has river rocks that work perfectly if you don’t live near a beach or river). Once you have your stones you need to paint, draw, or use stickers or magazine cut-outs on the stones to depict various characters and objects.

If this feels daunting to you, then enlist your kids’ help! Assign everyone a character or object from the story to draw on the rock using their felt pens. Once the drawings are finished, be sure to coat with Mod Podge to seal the pics.

Key Story Stones to Create

To successfully retell this story, you’ll want to paint or glue these specific characters and objects onto your smooth river stones:

• Sammy the Shark: The excited little shark who likes to bite things when he’s happy.
• Sammy’s Mother/Father: The parents who remind Sammy to “be a good boy” before school.
• The Table: The first thing Sammy accidentally bites before leaving for school.
• The School: Sammy’s new undersea classroom.
• A Fish Friend: The schoolmates playing tag who have to avoid being bitten.
• A Book: The storybook that Sammy mistakenly tries to literally sink his teeth into.
• A Paintbrush: The art supply Sammy chews during painting class.
• The Teacher: The ultimate object of Sammy’s excited biting habit, representing the climax of the story.

Ideas for Using the Stones

1. Sequencing: Have your children arrange the stones in the correct order of what Sammy bites during his school day.
2. Oral Retelling: Place all the stones into a dark cloth bag. Have each child pull out one stone at a time and place it on the rug for everyone to see. Put the stones in order. Then go around the circle taking turns to orally retell the story, using the stones as reminders.

6. Shark Puppet Craft:

Use my puppet template (it’s only $2 in my store) to have your class make their own shark puppet.

These are perfect to use when retelling the story OR to create your own shark stories, or maybe a sequel to Don’t Eat the Teacher.

7. Shark Art:

Make these oh-so-cute sharks (click the pic for directions).

DOWNLOAD: Book Extension Freebies

Before you go, I also some Baby Sharks clip art. You can use these to make flash cards, calendar cards, name cards, decorating worksheets and more!

Click the pic to see them in my store.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your class loves this book as much as we did!!