Children act out scenes from "Mr. Putter & Tabby" books, taking on the roles of Mr. Putter, Tabby, Mrs. Teaberry, Zeke and any other featured characters. Students read their characters' dialogue from the book and perform actions described in the text. For each book, one student reads the non-dialogue sections. Alternately, students stage stories using action figures or dolls to represent the characters. Kids also may use props to help illustrate stories. For instance, kids use toy boats, planes or trains when staging "Mr. Putter & Tabby Row the Boat," "Mr. Putter & Tabby Fly the Plane," "Mr. Putter & Tabby Take the Train," respectively.
Problems often arise in the "Mr. Putter & Tabby" book series, whether as a result of Putter going along with Mrs. Teaberry's colorful ideas or Teaberry's dog Zeke causing trouble when Putter and Tabby walk him. Before reading a book, students look at the title and predict what problem the characters will encounter. For instance, kids may guess that one of the characters gets a cold based on the title, "Mr. Putter & Tabby Catch a Cold." Students also discuss how neighbors may help each other with such a problem. After reading one of the books, students discuss ways that they would have solved the problem. Kids also discuss if they ever experienced similar problems to what they read in the book.
Students practice vocabulary skills when reading books in the "Mr. Putter & Tabby" series. The instructor makes a set of vocabulary cards containing words featured in a book and another set containing definitions. To enhance the look of the cards, the instructor draws an elderly man and a cat on the definition cards, and an object to symbolize the story on the word cards. For example, the instructor draws a fish on word cards tied to "Mr. Putter & Tabby Feed the Fish." As an extension activity, the instructor makes a list of words from the vocabulary cards and distributes a copy of to each student. Students go on a word scavenger hunt and mark an "X" next to a word for each appearance in the book.
Kids write down what they think they would find in "Mr. Putter & Tabby" characters' closets and share their thoughts with the class. For instance, students may expect to find knitting tools in Mrs. Teaberry's closet, as she hosted a knitting party in "Mr. Putter & Tabby Spin the Yarn." Or, kids may expect to find model airplanes in Putter's closet, as that was his favorite childhood toy.
Taking a cue from Mr. Putter drafting a list of 100 good things in "Mr. Putter & Tabby Write the Book," students make a list of good and bad things that appear in a particular "Mr. Putter & Tabby" book. For another writing activity, kids take the main plot of one of the books and write their own adventures for the characters.