Ferdinand

January Book Of the Month

The Story of Ferdinand
by
Munro Leaf

January 1, 2008

Dear Students,

The Story of Ferdinand is the January book of the month. It’s a delightful tale about a bull by the name of Ferdinand. This bull is truly satisfied with his life and he has peace with himself. Ferdinand’s behavior reminds me of a well known adage that says, “We should all take time to smell the roses,” which means relax and enjoy all of the wonderful things that life has to offer. The story did not say that Ferdinand enjoyed smelling roses, but it did say that he liked to sit quietly and smell the flowers. Ferdinand also enjoyed relaxing. He did not like to fight like the other bulls.

My favorite part of the story is when Ferdinand sat on the bumble bee. I thought the picture showing him jumping around, puffing, snorting, butting, and pawing the ground was funny. I could not stop myself from laughing at him. Oh boy, he looked so funny!

I like The Story of Ferdinand because it tells of a bull with great strength of character. Ferdinand did not allow the five men to bully and scare him into changing his mind about doing something he did not want to do. The men thought that because Ferdinand was big and strong, he should fight and become the fiercest bull of all bulls. So, the men took Ferdinand to Madrid and put him in the bull ring, but Ferdinand would not fight. Instead, he stood strong, because all he really wanted to do was relax and smell the flowers.

I hope you enjoy The Story of Ferdinand, too.

Love,
Mrs. Betty Jo Jackson

Teacher Vision Lesson and Activities
Popsicle Stick Puppet Instructions

Live Oak Media Activity Guide

Make a Hat
Many of the people in this story wear very interesting hats. Your students will enjoy creating and/or decorating hats for themselves. Below, you'll find links to hat templates or you can encourage your artists to design a new hat on their own.

Learn Spanish Words
Use these flashcards to help your students learn the Spanish words for some of the vocabulary from El Cuento de Ferdinando (The Story of Ferdinand in Spanish). Encourage students to color the images on the flashcards.

Count the Animals
In The Story of Ferdinand there are many images of animals. Create a class graph (similar to the one below) with the names and tallies of the animals you find in the story.

Animal	Number of Images
Bull or Cow	50
Butterfly	9
Turtle	1
Bee	3
Buzzard
Bird

A Flag About Me
Children create a flag that celebrates the uniquely wonderful things about themselves.

Popsicle Stick Puppets
Your class will enjoy recreating The Story of Ferdinand as a puppet show after they have drawn and mounted characters or objects from the story on popsicle sticks.

Ferdinand's Happiness Pasture
Have students draw pictures of what makes them happy on the flower template. Then glue the flowers to a pasture picture you create on butcher paper.

Be True to Yourself Book
Children will enjoy creating a book about themselves that includes pictures of what they like to do, their friends, and family.

Map of Spain
Use this map of Europe to talk about Spain's location, climate, neighbors, and more.

Other Languages
Your students may speak a language other than English at home or with relatives or friends. Encourage them to share some vocabulary and bring in items from home that are written in a language other than English.

Explore Spanish Culture

Host a Spanish cooking class. A great dish to try is paella, one of Spain's most famous dishes. Or how about gazpacho or Spanish rice? If possible, invite students' parents and/or other classes in your school to join the fiesta!
Introduce students to Spanish music. Flamenco music and dance are an exciting way to expose your students to Spanish culture. There are numerous websites that have Spanish songs and music for your classto enjoy.
El Greco, Goya, Picasso, Miró, Dali – these are just a few of the many, exceptional, Spanish artists to introduce to your students. Have them try to imitate the artist's style and create a masterpiece of their own.