Objective:
The students will define personification and write dialogue for a given inanimate object.

Materials

• The classroom scarecrow

• At least 2 fiction books containing scarecrows, such as Scarecrow by Cynthia Rylant and The Lonely Scarecrow by Tim Preston.  See the Scarecrow Home Page for more suggestions.

• If Our Scarecrow Could Talk Worksheet

• Writing Utensils

Procedure

1. Admire the classroom scarecrow that was made in the Art Lesson.

2. Read the chosen books and discuss what the scarecrows in these stories are thinking and feeling.  Introduce the term personification.  Discuss how it means giving human qualities to an object, animal, or idea.  Ask the students how personification was used in the stories read.  Did the scarecrows have thoughts and feelings?  Can scarecrows really think and feel?

3. Pass out the If Our Scarecrow Could Talk Worksheet and writing utensils.

4. Have the students write about what they think their classroom scarecrow would say if he could talk. 

5. If time allows, have the students share these writings with their classmates.

6. Display the papers around the classroom scarecrow.

Other Lesson Ideas

1. Have a phonics lesson on the sc- blend.

2. Have a lesson on compound words, using scarecrow as a starting point.

3. Have the students write about something they are "scared" of, just as birds can be frightened by a scarecrow.