reading activity kit

Fall-Themed

Reading Activity

KIT

K–5

Fall-Themed Reading Activity Kit

RESOURCES

Pumpkin Patch Phonics Game, Grades K–3

With the Pumpkin Patch Phonics Game students will need to correctly sound out short u and short e words so they can progress forward on the game board. The goal is to read your way out of the pumpkin patch!

Halloween Reading Resources, Grades 3–5

Harness the enthusiasm students have for Halloween and get them reading!These Halloween language arts worksheets include a list of Halloween picture bookrecommendations, a Haunted House Story Map, and a Pumpkin Template for taking notes.

Halloween Graphic Organizers, Grades K–5

Holiday-themed graphic organizers are an easy way to keep things new and interesting. Download three Halloween Graphic Organizers that students can use to improve reading comprehension.

Stellaluna Interactive Read Aloud, Grades K–5

Take advantage of the Halloween hysteria to teach students the different characteristics of birds and bats with an Interactive Read Aloud of Stellaluna by Janell Cannon.

Mr. Turkey 5W’s & 1H Graphic Organizer & Poster, Grades 2–5

Use the Mr. Turkey 5W’s and 1H Graphic Organizer & Poster throughout the month of November to examine the key points of a story.

Turkey Story Map Activity, Grades K–5

After your Thanksgiving reading activities ensure stu dents can recall the most important parts of the text! The Turkey Story Map Activity helps students build reading comprehension and to organize their thoughts.

Gobble Up A Good Book Activity, Grades K–5

Encourage your students to fill out the Thanksgiving-inspired book recommendation sheet after reading a book that they want to share with their peers. With this simple Thanksgiving reading comprehension activity students will write a brief summary of a book and an explanation of why they are recommending the book to their classmates.

Molly’s Pilgrim Mini-Unit; On, Between, and Beyond the Lines, Grades 2–3

Use this mini-unit to help your students gain a deeper understanding of the book Molly’s Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen. This mini-unit includes on, between, and beyond the line questions that students can answer as you read sections of the text and an extension activity!

Milly and the Macy’s Parade Review Guide, Grades 2–5

Download a guide for reviewing comprehension reading strategies using the book Milly and the Macy’s Parade by Shana Corey.

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Read your way out of the pumpkin patch. Watch out for strong winds! 1) Roll the dice and move your marker the number of pumpkins forward on the board. 2) sound out the word you land on. If you land on a rainbow pumpkin, move forward to the connected pumpkin. If you land on a windy pumpkin, move back to the connected pumpkin.

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Having been a classroom teacher in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades, I have acquired quite the varied level library. What a daunting tasking building a classroom library is, and I did it four times! Of course some books could be used across grade levels, but creating a well rounded classroom library is an investment. I remember my !rst few years teaching, I would attend every town’s library’s used book sale within a 25 mile radius… I remember the joy of receiving a box of books from a retiring teacher. And I remember the thrill of accumulating enough ‘bonus’ points to earn a bulk book purchase. Because I’ve taught so many di"erent grade levels when it comes to holiday books my collection ranges from easy to more challenging. These are my top ten favorite Halloween Picture Books that I have collected over the years:

Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams

In the Haunted House by Eve Bunting

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bat by Lucille Colandro

Stellaluna by Janell Cannon

Bat Loves the Night by Nicola Davies

The Spider and the Fly by Tony DiTerlizzi

The Widow’s Broom by Chris Van Allsburg

The Pumpkin Book by Gail GibbonsSeries books such as: Author’s Halloween by Marc Brown or Franklin’s Halloween by Paulette Bourgeois

As you may have noticed some books are not speci!cally about Halloween such as Stellaluna by Janell Cannon, Bat Loves the Night by Nicola Davies and The Spider and the Fly by Tony DiTerlizzi, but all three books include Halloween images such as bats and spiders. You can see my lesson plans for these books in previous posts. The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons is just one of Gibbons many non!ction books that can be read around Halloween.

I have my students record their three favorite pumpkin facts on the pumpkin template after we read the book. I love the book Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White because it is great for teaching character change. In the Haunted House by Eve Bunting is good for discussing the importance of illustrations helping to tell the story. Download my ‘Haunted House’ organizer to use with your students as you read your favorite spooky stories throughout the month.

My Favorite Halloween Picture Books

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Main Characters Problem

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Haunted House Organizer

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Pumpkin Template


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5Ws & 1H Web

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Pumpkin Venn DiagramName Date

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Critical Thinking Interactive Read Aloud (Grades K–5)

Mentor Text: Stellaluna by Janell Cannon

Interactive read alouds are an important component of a balanced literacy classroom. Research proves the value of reading aloud to students of all ages, and that students bene!t from being read aloud to several times throughout a week. Thoughtful planning of an interactive read aloud is critical for its success. Teachers need to select a text that is both meaningful and engaging, and it is important to consider how the text will support lessons, units or themes the class is working on. Thought-provoking questions are essential to every interactive read aloud. Using the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy Cognitive Dimensions is one way to ensure students will take part in a variety of discussions from understanding the plot of the story to analyzing the author’s message.

This lesson is an example of an interactive read aloud of a picture book that can be modi!ed to use with grades K-5. Text-speci!c questions are provided to ask during the read aloud based on the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy Cognitive Dimensions to promote higher levels of text discussion.

Title: Stellaluna Author: Janell Cannon

Description: This is the heartwarming story of a fruit bat that makes a home with a family of birds after she is separated from her mother. Kids will learn about the di"erent characteristics of birds and bats as they enjoy this story about friendship, compromise, and acceptance.

Stellaluna can be enjoyed in almost any elementary classroom. Janell Cannon has a wonderful way of teaching kids about animals without them even realizing they are leaning. Her books often provide factual information about the topic at the end of the book in the author’s notes to increase the readers’ understanding of the text. Stellaluna is a great text to teach students about the strategy: activating prior knowledge.


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Bloom’s Taxonomy Page Text* QuestionRemembering “One night, as . . .” Why did Stellaluna fall into the forest?

Understanding “Many, many times . . .” Why didn’t Stellaluna want to eat what Mama Bird was bringing her babies? Why did she give in?

Applying “Stellaluna learned to . . .” What information could someone learn about birds and bats from this page?

Analyzing “All the babies . . .” What are some themes in this book?

Evaluating “The next day . . .” Do you think the birds made the right decision? What would you have done?

Creating What facts can you compile to show how bats and birds are alike and how they are di"erent?**.

Critical Thinking Interactive Read Aloud

Using the Revised Bloom’s Cognitive Process Dimensions

*This text is a picture book, and these words signify the start of the particular page referenced.**Further Reading Articles: About Fruit Bats taken from: http://www.about-bats.com

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Lesson

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Favorite event

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Gobble Up A Good Book

Date:

Dear Friend,

You have to read the book:

By Genre:

I’ll give you a brief summary without spoiling it:

I’m recommending this book to you because:

Your friend,


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A mini-unit thinking: on, between, & beyond the lines.

Day 1Why do you think we celebrate Thanksgiving?What are some of the things you do to celebrate Thanksgiving? Read an article about the !rst Thanksgiving. A suggestion is First Thanksgivinghttp://kids.nationalgeographic.com/content/kids/en_US/explore/history/!rst-thanksgiving/

Day 2Pages 1–15Why do you think a person might want to move to a new country?Introduce the book: Molly’s Pilgrim by Barbara CohenOn: Why doesn’t Molly like school?Between: Why doesn’t Molly want her mother to talk to the teacher? What do you think about that?Beyond: Imagine a student from another country that spoke a di"erent language joined our class. How would you welcome him or her into the school? What would you do if that student was teased because of their di"erences?

Day 3Pages 16–29What do you think would be some of the biggest challenges if you moved to a new country?On: What does Miss Stickley assign the class to do?Between: Why does Mama make a pilgrim doll that looks like her? Why was Molly afraid to take her project to school?Beyond: What do Pilgrims symbolize even today?

Day 4Pages 30–endExplain how ‘courage’ is a theme in this book. On: What does Molly’s teacher say about her Pilgrim doll?Between: Why was Molly called a pilgrim in this story? Does it !t with what we think about pilgrims?Beyond: What is the author’s message?

Day 5Re!ection Describe Molly’s feelings and how they changed throughout the book.What lessons do you think Molly’s class learned?What lesson does Molly learn? What can we learn?Extension: Have the students create their own pilgrim doll.

Molly’s Pilgrim By Barbara Cohen

C O M P R E H E N S I O N R E A D I N G S T R AT E G I E S

by Shana Corey

Macy’sand the

MillyParade

Strategy Page* Teaching Point

Noticing Author’s Craft “Woosh! She went . . .” Discuss with students the author’s craft on this page and the next. Point out the use of sound words, repetition and rich language. Ask the students how and why these words were e!ective.

Making a Connection “But some of . . .” Explain that when an author repeats a word or phrase it is usually signi"cant. Ask students, “What word does the author repeat on this page that might be important?” Explain that being homesick is an emerging theme in the book.

Determining Importance “Still, being homesick . . .” The problem and solution in a text are often the most important parts of a story. Ask students, “What is the problem in the book?”

Inferring “Milly gulped. Then . . .” Tell students that making inferences about characters is something that active readers are constantly doing. Ask students, “What inferences were you able to make about Milly, Mr. Macy, and/or Mr. Snidely?”

Creating a Visual “When they got . . .“ Have students close their eyes and create a mind picture of the parade.

Synthesizing “Everyone agreed that . . .” Together, summarize the story.

Questioning Author’s Note After reading a text that is “based” on a true story or an event, the reader is often left wondering which parts were actual events (if any). Read the Author’s Note to answer any questions.

* This text is a picture book, and these words signify the start of the

particular page referenced.


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