Have students respond to the story artistically. Provide paper and markers and instruct the students to draw a picture based on their interpretation of the story. Encourage them to caption the picture with a lesson learned from the text. Alternatively, have students draw their own illustrations for the book using the text. Assign each student a different page or section of text. Assemble all of the student’s illustrations into a book. A third option is to have students design their own cover. Instruct students to include the title, author, illustrator, a caption and a picture. Hang the cover pictures on the wall for all to see.
Host a class discussion based on the themes and lessons of the text. For instance, discuss the theme of death and how different characters in the story respond to it. Another potential discussion topic involves parents and caregivers. Discuss the fact that not all children have a mother and father and that many children, like Sebastian, are raised by a non-biological caregiver. Encourage students to discuss why all children deserve love and care, even if the person that provides this care may not be a birth parent. For younger students, discuss why Sebastian needs to live in a hat. Explain to students that many marsupials live in a pouch in the mother's body. Since Sebastian's mother has died, he has to live in a hat to simulate the marsupial pouch.
Use the story as a prompt for a writing assignment. For instance, encourage the students to reflect on the theme of death and to write a short piece that expresses their own anxieties about death. Alternatively, challenge students to think about a time when they, like the narrator, were kind and loving to an animal. Ask students to write about this experience. A third writing prompt idea is to challenge students to reflect on the role that humans play in caring for wildlife. Ask students to explain how humans can protect and preserve wildlife. Adapt this for younger students by having them write lists, rather than stories, related to each theme. For instance, have students brainstorm words to describe a person that is loving and kind to animals. The story can also be used as inspiration for creative writing. Challenge students to re-write the story using different characters and a different setting. Require that the story deal with a central theme -- the cycle of life, relationships, the needs of animals -- but allow students to use their imaginations.
Bring the story to life by acting it out. Arrange students in small groups and give them time to prepare a skit or re-enactment of the story. Have each group perform in front of the class. Another option is to prepare a class-wide re-enactment. Since there will likely be more students than characters in the story, assign some students to assist with props and set construction. Alternatively, have students take turns playing characters by switching actors between scenes. For young students, help each student to memorize a single line from the story and deliver it to the class using gestures and motions. Arrange students in a line and go down the line, having each student say his or her line. Another option is to have students write and perform a monologue inspired by the story. For instance, challenge students to assume the character of Sebastian or the narrator and to write a monologue expressing feelings or attitudes about death, relationships, humankind's responsibility to care for animals and protect their habitats or the importance of helping one another.