Splat the Cat

Script
by
David Morgan

Based on the book written by Rob Scotton

Classroom Guide
Kindergarten - Grade 1
Guide content © copyright 2012 by The Magik Theatre. Available free of charge for
educational use only. May not be republished or sold without express written permission.
 How to Use This Guide

This classroom guide for Splat the Cat is designed for Texas students in Kinder-
garten and Grade 1. It offers activities to help you integrate a performance of
Splat into English language arts (ELA), mathematics, science, social studies, mu-
sic, art, and theatre curricula.

All activities in this guide are linked to Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills
(TEKS) content standards.

For students outside Texas, this guide’s ELA and math activities also are linked to
Common Core standards. At the back of this guide, you will find a list of the
guide activities and their related Texas and Common Core standards.

Table of Contents
Theatre
1: Discussion Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

English Language Arts

2: Compound Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3: Write and Illustrate Your Own Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Mathematics
4: Picture Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Science
5: Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Social Studies
6: Needs and Wants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Art
7: Draw What You Saw! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Music
8: Exploring Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Appendix
Activity Content Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

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 Kindergarten – Grade 1
THEATRE
1: Discussion Questions
Before the Performance
Splat the Cat is a stage play. What is a stage play?
 How is a play similar to a TV show or movie?
 How is it different?
Who performs the parts (roles) in a play?
 What kinds of skills do you think performers need to have to perform in plays?
 Who else works on plays? (Remember: you may not see them on stage!)
The play is based on a book: Splat the Cat, written and illustrated by Rob Scotton.
 Have you read Splat the Cat as a class or by yourself?
 Based on what you read, what do you think may happen in the play?

During the Performance

When you watch a play, you are a member of the audience. What kinds of things should you do
as an audience member? Examples:
 Pay attention
 Laugh when something funny happens
 Clap if you enjoy something
What kinds of things should you not do as an audience member? Examples:
 Talk to your neighbor
 Use a cell phone during the performance
 Yell at the actors (unless they ask you to!)

After the Performance

What did you think of the play?
 If you read Splat the Cat beforehand, how was the play similar to the book?
 How was it different?
Describe the performers in the play.
 What did they do to make their characters special (different from the other characters)?
 How did they use their bodies to play their characters (using voice, movement, etc)?
 Did you see anyone else who worked on the play besides the performers on stage?
Describe the characters’ costumes.
 What did each character’s costume tell you about that character?
 Did any of the performers change costumes?
 If so, why do you think they needed to change costumes?
Describe the set of the play.
 How many locations did it show?
 Did they look like places you’ve seen before?
 How did different lighting change how the set looked for different scenes?
Did the play have music in it?
 If so, was it only in the background, or did it help tell the story?
 What instruments did you hear in the music?
If you were going to direct Splat the Cat, how would your production be different from the play
you saw by Magik?

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 Kindergarten – Grade 1
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
2: Compound Words
A compound word is made of two or more base words put together. For example, playground
is a compound word:
playground = play + ground

You can often find the meaning of a compound word by using its base words. For example, the
word playground describes a place (ground) and what happens at that place (play).

Each of the following compound words appears in Splat the Cat. Read each word. Then draw a
line to separate the compound word into its base words, like this:

playground

Then, as a class, discuss what each word means using its base words.

lunchbox chalkboard

everyone lunchtime

cupboard lamppost

Additional Activity
Teacher: Prompt students to make compound words using the following words as starters.
 any (-time, -day, -one, -body, -thing, -where, -how)
 some (-time, -day, -one, -body, -thing, -where, -how)
 every (-time, -day, -one, -body, -thing, -where)
 tea (-cup, -bag, -spoon, -time, -pot)
 no (-body, -thing, -where)
 night (-time, -mare, -gown, -light)
 day (-time, -dream, -light)
 class (-room, -mate, -time)

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 Kindergarten – Grade 1
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
3: Write and Illustrate Your Own Story
In Splat the Cat, a cat feels nervous before his first day at school, only to feel a different emo-
tion at the end of the day. As a class, write a story about a character whose feelings or emotions
change over one day.

Answer these questions as you write your story:

 Who is your main character?
 Who are your other characters (if any)?
 What does your main character want?
 What is keeping your main character from what he or she wants?
 How does your main character tackle the problem?
 How does your story end?
 Did your main character learn anything?

In the space below, draw a picture to illustrate your story.

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 Kindergarten – Grade 1
MATH
4: Picture Problems

+ = ?

— = ?

+ = ?

—
= ?

+ + = ?

6
 Kindergarten – Grade 1
SCIENCE
5: Motion
Motion is how things move. We can describe the speed of motion using words like fast or slow.
We can describe the direction something or someone moves in using forward, backward, side-
ways, up, and down. We have many words to describe the motion we observe.

Splat the Cat shows the actions of fictional cats—ones who talk, ride bikes, carry satchels, sit at
desks, and drink milk through straws. Of course, real cats don’t really do these things, but cats
do move a lot.

As a class, watch videos of real cats.

What words describe the speed of the cats’ motion?

 When do cats move quickly?
 When do they move slowly?
 Are cats ever perfectly still?

What words describe the direction of the cats’ motion?

Compare a cat’s motion to a human’s motion.

 How is it similar?
 What about a cat’s physical characteristics makes its motion similar to a hu-
man’s motion?
 How is it different?
 What about a cat’s physical characteristics makes its motion different from a hu-
man’s motion?

Take turns pretending to be a cat. How would you move as a cat if...?
 ...you were crossing a field?
 ...you were being chased by a dog? A large bird?
 ...you spied a piece of salmon across a room in a human’s house?
 ...you moved toward that salmon?
 ...you were making a napping place?
 ...you were napping?

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 Kindergarten – Grade 1
SOCIAL STUDIES
6: Needs and Wants

A need is something a person must have to survive (to keep living), such as air, water, nutri-
tious food, and shelter.

A want is something a person wishes to have but doesn’t need for survival.

In Splat the Cat, Splat has a lunchbox with a fishy meal inside.
 Do you think the lunchbox is a need or a want for Splat? Why?
 Is his fishy lunch a need or a want? Why?
 What about the milk he drinks later?

As a class, discuss needs and wants. Make lists of needs and wants in your lives, then study the
lists.
 What kinds of things are on the Needs list?
 What kinds of things are on the Wants list?
 Which list is longer?
 Are people more likely to buy all of the things on the Needs list or the Wants list?
 In your family, which wants are most important?
 How do people in your family meet needs and wants?

Teacher:
Using imaginary currency, assign a very simple cost to each item on your class’s Needs and
Wants lists (simple enough for your students to add the amounts comfortably). Next, give each
student the same amount of imaginary currency—no more than 75% of the amount needed to
buy everything on the Needs and Wants lists.

Talk about how very few people have enough money to buy everything they want. Discuss how
this means that people have to make economic decisions.

Next, have students use their imaginary currency to make economic decisions, starting with the
Needs list.
 Which of the things on the Needs list would you buy?
 How much money do you have left over?
 Using your leftover money, what would you buy on the Wants list?
 Is there anything on the Wants list that you want but can’t afford?

Finally, discuss how people approach not being able to afford everything they want, e.g., setting
priorities, saving money over time, producing items themselves, trading, etc.

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 Kindergarten – Grade 1
ART
7: Draw What You Saw!
Choose your favorite moment from Splat the Cat. Use the space below to draw a picture of that
moment. Use your own colors and style to show that scene however you want to. When you
finish, share your picture with your class. Be ready to answer questions about your picture, such
as:
 Who does your picture show?
 What is happening in your picture?
 Why did you choose the colors you used?
 How did you show emotions (feelings) in your picture?
 What happened just before the moment you drew? What will happen just afterward?
 Did anyone else draw the same moment you drew?
 How is their picture similar?
 How is it different?

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 Kindergarten – Grade 1
MUSIC
8: Exploring Music
In Splat the Cat, a cat feels nervous before his first day at school, only to feel a different emo-
tion at the end of the day. The story ends where it started: with Splat waking up on a school day
— this time his second day.

As an exploration exercise, play samples of several different musical pieces for your students.
Encourage children to add dance/movement to their listening experience. Make sure students
have room to move around. Point out different tempos and rhythms to encourage change in
dance/movement. Help students find the beat of a piece by clapping, marching in place, snap-
ping your fingers, etc.

Next, use a variety of musical instruments or everyday objects* to lead students through a dis-
cussion of musical qualities:
 Demonstrate musical qualities
 loud vs. soft sounds
 high-pitched notes vs. low-pitched notes
 fast rhythms vs. slow rhythms
 Ask students to emulate your examples using instruments, their voices, or their bodies
(e.g.,clapping their hands, snapping their fingers, clicking their tongues)
 Ask students to sort instruments
 sort single-pitch instruments from low-pitched to high-pitched
 sort single-pitch instruments separately from multi-pitch instruments
 Create a simple rhythmic pattern
 ask students to repeat it
 ask students to create and repeat their own simple rhythmic patterns
 Create a simple melody
 ask students to repeat it
 ask students to create and play their own simple melodies

As a class, create a composition that represents Splat the Cat. Begin with a simple rhythm or
melody: Splat the Cat. Next, add a rhythm or a note pattern to represent the Splat’s emotions.
As that repetition continues, add more sounds to represent the actions of Splat, his mother, his
classmates, his teacher, and Seymour the mouse. Your piece should become increasingly com-
plex, with some unexpected sounds thrown in. The final sounds — Splat waking up on his sec-
ond day of school — should be both similar to and different from how your composition began.

*Including: cardboard oatmeal can (with lid), rubber band, chopsticks, metal spoons, plastic
bucket, plastic storage bin, pots and pans, pot/pan lids, wooden spoon, plastic cup with lid,
filled ¼ full with dry beans or rice, cardboard tubes, glasses with different levels of water

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 APPENDIX
ACTIVITY CONTENT STANDARDS
TEXAS
Kindergarten
Activity Standard(s)
1 Fine Arts 117.4.b.5
2 ELA 110.11.b.5
3 ELA 110.11.b.13-14
4 Math 111.12.b.1, 3-4
5 Science 112.11.b.6
6 Soc Studies 113.11.b.6-7
7 Fine Arts 117.2.b.1-2, 4
8 Fine Arts 117.3.b.1-2, 4

Grade 1
Activity Standard(s)
1 Fine Arts 117.7.b.5
2 ELA 110.12.b.6
3 ELA 110.12.b.17-18
4 Math 111.13.b.1-3
5 Science 112.12.b.6
6 Soc Studies 113.12.b.7, 9
7 Fine Arts 117.5.b.1-2, 4
8 Fine Arts 117.6.b.1-2, 4

COMMON CORE
Kindergarten
Activity Standard(s)
2 ELA L.K.4, 6
3 ELA W.K.3
4 Math K.OA.1-2

Grade 1
Activity Standard(s)
2 ELA L.1.4, 6
3 ELA W.1.3
4 Math 1.OA.1-2, 5, 7-8

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