Curated OER
Writing to an Author
Provide your young readers with step-by-step directions for crafting a friendly letter to their favorite author. After drafting and revising their letter, class members illustrate a favorite scene in the book and mail their letters to...
Curated OER
Reading Practice: Boris the Brainiest Baby
Boris is the smartest baby around! Beginning readers can use this short story excerpt to practice reading comprehension and fiction elements. They read the story and then discuss what they think he will do next. Scholars create an...
Reed Novel Studies
Gone Crazy in Alabama: Novel Study
Life isn't always sweet in Alabama. A study guide for the novel Gone Crazy in Alabama introduces readers to life in the rural South and explores one character's experiences there. In addition to answering basic reading comprehension...
Curated OER
Do You Prefer Your Children's Book Characters Obedient or Contrary? Opinion Writing
With this New York Times "Learning Network" exercise, high schoolers read an article about the death of Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are and then respond to several prompts that require them to shape their own opinions...
Curated OER
Can You Find It?
Plan a Parts of a Book scavenger hunt. Begin by giving your young adventurers a book, and asking them to find the title, author, illustrator, and table of contents. After a discussion of the purpose of each of these items, class members...
Reed Novel Studies
A Single Shard: Novel Study
Fulfilling a dream requires a lot of hard work. A study guide for the novel A Single Shard shares the dream of a young Korean orphan. As readers work through the guide, they answer comprehension questions about Tree-ear and the other...
Curated OER
A Creative Way of Reporting on Books
By using creative ways to complete book reports, like using cereal boxes, you can motivate students.
Harper Collins
Beverly Cleary Memory Game
Where is Henry Huggins? Class members craft playing cards for a memory game. One side features a description or an illustration of a memorable scene, the title of the book and the names of major characters, or a description about the...
Curated OER
Prewriting, Using Pictures
Young readers practice getting information from both the text and the illustrations found in books they are reading. They see that quite often, authors use pictures to help them get their writing process started. Youngsters are invited...
Education World
Every Day Edit - Author Virginia Hamilton
For this editing activity, learners correct grammatical mistakes—including punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar—in a short paragraph about author Virginia Hamilton.
Reed Novel Studies
Pictures of Hollis Woods: Novel Study
Scholars read about Hollis, an orphan in Pictures of Hollis Woods, and complete worksheet activities. Activities include using vocabulary words to complete sentences, answering comprehension questions, and writing poetry.
Joel Michel Studies
The Tale of Despereaux: Novel Study
What kind of mouse is Despereaux Tilling ... a field mouse? A white-footed mouse? With the novel study for The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo, scholars research the different species of mice and draw pictures of the one that they...
Reed Novel Studies
The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader: Novel Study
A painting is worth a thousand words—in a different world! Lucy and Edmund sail away into Narnia using a picture of a ship at sea. The story tells of their adventures and the islands they visit. Scholars work through activities about the...
Curated OER
Illustrated Children's Books
Students create their own illustrated book. For this illustration lesson, students review books given the Caldecott award. They create their own illustrations for a book and digitally scan them to a computer to make their pages.
Curated OER
Who's Your Favorite Author?
Students investigate their favorite authors through focusing upon readings that are selected and then following with research to find more information about the author. Then they share writings from their favorite authors in literature...
Curated OER
Favorite Book Being Read in School - School/Home Links, Book Links
In this literature worksheet, students share their favorite book that they are reading in school with a home reading partner. They write the name of their favorite book, its author, and tell why they like the book so much. They draw a...
Curated OER
Jack of All Tails
After reading the book Jack of All Tails, learners complete vocabulary activities, play charades, consider a list of questions, and complete a list of verbs. There are also several suggestions for how to connect this language arts lesson...
Curated OER
What Makes a Novel a Novel?
As your authors prepare to write a hypothetical novel, they need all the inspiration they can find! Using a book they have already read (and enjoyed), learners complete a literary analysis by filling in eight short-answer questions....
Curated OER
A Weave of Woods
Focus on vocabulary, comprehension, and analysis while reading A Weave of Woods, a colorful picture book by Robert D. San Souci. Young learners use worksheets to preview, predict, practice paraphrasing, and make comparisons. The richly...
Curated OER
Reviewing Features of Fiction Books
Learners identify the features of fiction books. In this genre study lesson, students are introduced to the book Armadillo Rodeo and identify the cover, title, author, illustrator and title page. Learners discuss how the book cover gives...
Curated OER
Create an Illuminated Alphabet Word Book
Students create a class alphabet book. In this letter recognition lesson, students use line and color to draw an object whose name begins with a specific letter. Students use adjectives to create a sentence describing the object or...
Curated OER
Author Study
Students focus their attention on the study of one author's works - not just one book, but a variety of works written by the same author - to discover what themes and/or other commonalities might run throughout the body of one person's...
Curated OER
Kudos by Kiddos
Students explore types of awards for children's books. They design a new award. Students review books and select one to receive the newly designed award. Students create a "medal" for the book jacket. They write an explanation of the award.
Live Oak Media
Activity Guide: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
Enhance a reading of the Caldecott Medal-winning children's book Joseph had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback with this collection of learning activities. Starting with general background information about the book and author, this...