THE LION'S SHARE

By Matthew McElligott
Publisher: Walker & Company New York
ISBN-13: 978-0-8027-9768-1

FROM THE FLAP: When a very small ant is invited to the lion’s dinner party, she knows to be on her best behavior. It’s truly an honor to dine with the king of the jungle.

But the other partygoers don’t share her good manners. The greedy guests gobble up dessert, leaving nothing but a crumb for the ant to share with her king. Baking another cake seems like the perfect way to make it up to him… until the other boastful guests turn her kind gesture into a contest.

Exactly how many cakes are fit for a king?

ANIMAL SEQUENCE: (Bodily/Kinesthetic, Verbal/Linguistic, and Logical/Mathematical)

Have students wear their character masks. Ask students to recall the order in which the animals arrived at the party and have them order themselves accordingly in front of the board. Ask them if they notice a pattern? Then ask the animals to rearrange themselves as to who received the biggest piece of cake? Is there a size pattern? Once again ask them to rearrange themselves in the order they promised to bake cakes for the king? Is there a pattern? Give the students a long piece of paper divided into nine parts. Have them draw the animals in sequence and write a sentence about each animal and their actions.

CHARACTER MASKS: (Visual/Spatial)

Have each student make an animal mask using a paper plate, paints, yarn, and other supplies. Make sure to have at least two of each animal.

CLASSROOM RECIPES: (Intrapersonal and Interpersonal)

Have students bring in a copy of their favorite recipe from home. In class, ask them to write on the bottom of the recipe, and explain why this recipe is meaningful to them. Make copies of the classroom recipes for each student.

LION’S SHARE READERS’ THEATER: (Interpersonal and Bodily/Kinesthetic)

Since there are ten different characters in this book, it is a wonderful Reader’s Theater resource. Students will use their animal masks, and reenact the story.

THE ELEPHANT’S SHARE: (Logical/Mathematical)

Give each student sixteen index cards. Have her write each fraction from the book on two different cards using a marker. Then ask students to shuffle their cards and pair the students up with a partner who wrote his cards in a different color. Ask them to flip over their fraction cards one-by-one. Whoever has the largest fraction takes both cards. Students may refer to the book to figure out which fraction is larger if they forget. Partners keep playing until one person has won all of the cards. Afterwards, sort the cards out by color and find another partner.

THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT (Musical)

Sing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” in rounds. Here’s a link to the lyrics: www.metrolyrics.com/the-lion-sleeps-tonight-lyrics-token.htm

Book Buddies:

-African Acrostics: A Word in Edgeways by Avis Harley and Deborah Noyes
-Bean Thirteen by Matthew McElligott
-Honey… Honey… Lion! by Jan Brett
-The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins
-The Last Leopard by Lauren St. John
-The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney