The Mixed-Up Chameleon (plus freebie)

I know we all love Eric Carle books, but one of my favorites to read to kids is The Mixed-Up Chameleon. When I read this book about a little chameleon who sees a zoo and wishes he could be just like the animals he sees, it always makes my students laugh.  The chameleon begins to take on different parts of each animal he sees, and I really play it up as I reveal each page to show his latest change.   In the end, when he is so mixed up he can no longer catch a fly, he realizes he likes himself best when he is a chameleon. 

So how do I use this in speech?  Well, for starters, it is a fun book that gets lots of spontaneous language flowing.  The students LOVE to describe what is new about the chameleon on each page.  It is also a good book for categorization:  name all of the zoo animals he becomes, what items of clothing do people wear in the book?  It can easily be used for comparing and contrasting:  How is the chameleon and seal alike?  How are they different?  How are the elephant and giraffe the same?  Different?

 

I also use a worksheet where students can use bingo dobbers to mark a fly after they say their sounds five times each or answer a question for their individual goals.  Feel free to use this worksheet by clicking here:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/cl3v4t3f32jrltw/Mixed%20up%20chameleon%20worksheet.pdf

 

I like to pair this book and activity with the game Chameleon Crunch for the second session of the week.  I found mine at Tuesday Morning, but it is also available on Amazon.  Students race to feed the chameleon the most bugs, and the game is a great reinforcement to follow drill of whatever goal your students are working on. 

 

Have you used this book in your speech room?