Going Batty!

Bats, bats everywhere!  With halloween creeping up on us, these little critters are popping up in lots of blog posts.

It reminds me of a crazeeee story of teaching fourth grade.  A teacher in the room next door to me actually discovered that a student had brought a live bat to school with her and kept it hidden in the front pocket of her hoodie for most of the school day.

My teacher friend confiscated the bat, notified the Department of Health, and ended up driving the bat to the Dept. of Health for testing. It was rabid.  RABID.

Apparently the student found it at the bus stop the day before and had cared for it overnight IN HER HOME.

Several students had touched and even held the bat at the bus stop. The end result was that many students ended up needing a series of rabies shots, as in NEEDLES, friends.  Local news channels even reported the story on television.  Thankfully no one became ill.

Nowadays, whenever I read a story about bats, I'm always certain to include a little lesson about not touching wild animals.

Here are a few of my favorite bat books:

Elizabeth Carney

Darrin Lunde

Brian Leis

Janell Cannon

Here are a few of my favorite bat-themed literacy activities, created by some very talented teacher-authors.  Click on the link to pick up your free copy.

Education to the Core - mini book and written response

Amanda Bryant - word search

247 Teacher - close reading

JK Curriculum Connection - /at/ chunk game

BK Classroom Creations - graphic organizer

To tell you the truth, bats totally creep me out.  Eeek!