Charlotte's Web - Literature Kit Gr. 3-4


Book Description

Step out on a farm and learn the true meaning of friendship among the animals. Use a variety of true or false, fill-in-the-blank and multiple choice questions to check comprehension. Sequence events from the story in the order that they happened. Students share their opinions on the lifespan of animals on a farm. Write the vocabulary word from the book next to its meaning. Write the name of the character next to their quote from the novel. Describe how Wilbur tried to make himself look 'radiant'. Predict what Charlotte's 'masterpiece' will be. Describe Templeton's character using examples from the book. Complete a Spider Web Map to list the main ideas of the story. Aligned to your State Standards and written to Bloom's Taxonomy, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: Charlotte’s Web is a magical story about childhood, friendship, and loyalty. An eight-year-old girl named Fern saves the life of a newborn piglet named Wilbur and the adventure begins. Soon, Wilbur and the other animals in the barn cellar are a great part of Fern’s life. Wilbur notices that everyone in the barn is busy except him. He becomes lonely and sad. A sweet voice comes out of the darkness of the barn cellar and says, “I’ll be a friend to you.” The voice belongs to a small gray spider named Charlotte A. Cavatica. Charlotte turns out to be a wonderful friend. She listens to Wilbur and enjoys his child-like ways. Soon he finds out what might happen to him when the cold weather comes. Charlotte promises to find a way to save his life. Through the wondrous writings in her web, Charlotte does save Wilbur’s life. And because he is her true friend, Wilbur saves Charlotte’s future.




The Trumpet of the Swan - Literature Kit Gr. 3-4


Book Description

See how hard work and perseverance can help someone overcome their shortcomings. The higher level questioning in this comprehensive novel study works great with small groups. Students are prompted to think about their future and imagine what they want to be when they grow up. Put events in the order they occur when Sam meets the swans. Describe what the teacher's first reaction to Louis was when he decided to go to school. Predict how the campers will react to Louis. Students write a poem about something they love, similar to what Sam did for the Head Man at the zoo. Label and describe the different parts that make up the anatomy of a Trumpeter Swan. Aligned to your State Standards and written to Bloom's Taxonomy, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: The Trumpet of the Swan tells the story of a young swan without the ability to talk. Louis is a trumpeter swan. Unfortunately, he is unable to talk to other swans. Louis decides he needs to learn how to read and write so that he can properly communicate. He goes to his human friend, Sam, for help. Sam takes Louis to school with him, where he learns how to read and write, and is gifted with a slate and piece of chalk. When he returns to his family, Louis quickly learns that this method won't work, as other swans can't read what he writes on his board. In an effort to help his son, Louis' father steals a trumpet from a local music store. Finally, Louis is able to trumpet like the rest of the swans. However, now he faces a new problem—his father is a thief. Louis decides to leave the nest in an effort to earn enough money to pay for the stolen trumpet and restore his father's honor. What follows is a series of events that entwine Louis in the lives of several humans.




Fantastic Mr Fox - Literature Kit Gr. 3-4


Book Description

Demonstrate the power of determination with this tale about a clever Fox who outsmarts the surrounding farmers to feed his family. Our consistent vocabulary, comprehension and short-answer format makes this resource easy to use. Written in such a way so educators can choose to use a small part as supplemental material with their existing unit. Introduce students to grade-level words they will come across during their reading. Test comprehension by answering true or false questions about the farmers. Find a quote in the novel that demonstrates foreshadowing. Become a news reporter and come up with 10 questions to ask the farmers about why they dig up the ground. Complete a character sketch of Mr Fox by identifying what he thinks, hears and loves. Aligned to your State Standards and written to Bloom's Taxonomy, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: Fantastic Mr Fox is the classic story by Roald Dahl of a fox who outsmarts a few farmers to steal food from them. Mr Fox lives underground with his wife and children. At night, Mr Fox visits his neighboring farmers and robs them of their livestock. The farmers retaliate by waiting for Mr Fox by his hole, ready to ambush him when he leaves. When that fails, the farmers then try to dig up Mr Fox's home. When that fails, they decide to starve out the Fox family. Mr Fox then comes up with a plan to get food. He gets the help of his friend Badger, and the pair dig their way to the farmers' food. Their success leads to Mr Fox creating an underground neighborhood where all the animals can all live together in safety.




Sarah, Plain and Tall - Literature Kit Gr. 3-4


Book Description

A unique view on a survival story helps students to value the need for companionship. The comprehension quiz works great as a study guide for a final exam. Students begin by imagining the hardships with living as a pioneer on the American prairies. Answer true or false questions about Sarah's letter to Anna and Caleb. Complete sentences from the story with their missing vocabulary words. Do some investigation to learn about mica, something that Sarah says her dune sparkled with. Use events from the story to inspire a tercet poem. Students imagine interviewing Sarah about her experiences. Aligned to your State Standards and written to Bloom's Taxonomy, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: A story filled with wisdom, gentle humor and the practical concerns necessary for a satisfying life. This Newbery Medal-winning story is based on the true adventures of a family living on the vast prairie in the early years of the 20th century. The story begins when Anna and Caleb—missing their mother who died—wish for another woman to make their father laugh again. Sarah responds to an ad, stating she will come by train, wearing a yellow bonnet and that she is plain and tall. And into their lives comes Sarah—with her own needful loneliness and searching—to help them create a whole family. But life on the endless prairie can be hard and unforgiving, taking all a person's strength and courage just to survive.




Babe: The Gallant Pig - Literature Kit Gr. 3-4


Book Description

Anyone can overcome their destiny in this story of a pig who saves himself from the table. Great discussion questions engage students to think deeper about the text. Students explore the concept of prejudice and give an example of this from their own experiences. Write sentences using the vocabulary words from the story. Identify statements about Babe herding ducks as true or false. Brainstorm reasons why Farmer Hogget never named his pig. Conduct an interview with Babe for the London Times. Create a trading card for one of the characters in the book. Aligned to your State Standards and written to Bloom's Taxonomy, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: Everyone is astonished when sheep farmer Hogget brings home a pig from the county fair. Shortly after his arrival, the piglet is adopted by the sheepdog. Destined for the oven, Babe changes that destiny by becoming skilled at the process of sheep-herding. Babe is taken to the Sheepdog Trials, where he astonishes the judges and spectators by excelling at herding the sheep. Babe: The Gallant Pig is a charming story with an unforgettable cast of characters. A number of positive themes run throughout the novel including the dangers of prejudice and stereotyping, leadership styles, and the positive results that can come through hard work, perseverance and courage. Set in rural America, other themes are those of farm life, sheep, sheepdogs, pigs and sheepdog trials.




M.C. Higgins, the Great - Literature Kit Gr. 3-4


Book Description

Follow one boy's struggle as he faces many challenges that threaten the safety and livelihood of his family. Students fully comprehend the language of the novel with vocabulary practice. Explore the idea of phobias while relating it back to the character, M.C. Describe the tragic event that was narrowly averted due to the carelessness of the mining company. Predict how M.C. and the girl will make it to the end of the tunnel. Do some research and write a report on yodeling. Identify what is a fact and what is an opinion in the novel. Aligned to your State Standards and written to Bloom's Taxonomy, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: M.C. Higgins, the Great is a Newbery Medal-winning story about a young boy who is overcome with many challenges while living with his poor, African-American family on Sarah’s Mountain. M.C. Higgins must overcome the prejudice that surrounds his best friend with the help of a mysterious girl who appears on the mountain. Also, M.C. tries to get his mother’s singing voice recorded so he and his family can leave the mountain. The greatest challenge M.C. must face is a coal mining company that have been strip-mining the area above their house, leaving a huge pile of slag (spoil heap) piled dangerously on the mountain above their house. M.C. is convinced that the pile will one day give way and bury their house and everyone in it; therefore he stands guard by sitting on a high pole.




Owls in the Family - Literature Kit Gr. 3-4


Book Description

Your students will get a hoot out of this story about a boy and his adventures with two owls. Target your students' need for independent reading skills. Demonstrate any prior knowledge on the subject of owls before reading the book. Find the word that best matches the vocabulary word from the novel. Show comprehension with multiple choice and true or false questions. Explain why the owls didn't know how to fly, and why Billy didn't show them. Convert inches to centimeters to find out how tall Wol is and how wide his wingspread is. Rewrite a passage from the book in Weeps the owl's point of view. Complete a web to show Wol's encounters with each character from the story. Aligned to your State Standards and written to Bloom's Taxonomy, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: This is one of Farley Mowat’s funniest books about a boy and two rescued owls named Wol and Weeps. Billy loves all animals. He has rats, mice, over thirty gophers and two dogs. It only seems natural that Billy and his friends search the sloughs and bluffs to find owlets. The boys rescue a pair of owlets from an untimely death, and end up keeping them for over three years. The adventures Billy, his friends and the owls have together are not typical. Participating in the local Pet Parade, owls following him to school, and having an owl arrive for dinner with a skunk are only a few funny incidents in Owls in the Family.




Charlie & The Chocolate Factory - Literature Kit Gr. 3-4


Book Description

Understand how to overcome one's poor situation with kindness and a positive attitude. Help students gain a better understanding of the book so they can really enjoy reading it. Test critical and creative thinking skills by conducting a character study of Willy Wonka before even reading about him. Gain a sense of Charlie's hardships with tailored true or false questions. Discuss the pros and cons of having a No-Gum policy at school before getting together for a class debate. Invent your own chocolate bar with a list of ingredients, a slogan and commercial. Create an acrostic poem puzzle for a partner to solve using unique words from the book. Aligned to your State Standards and written to Bloom's Taxonomy, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: Who would believe that Charlie Bucket’s life would take such an unusual turn? Charlie and his family are very poor, and food is never in abundance. The world is on a frenzy trying to find one of the five Golden Tickets. By getting one of these tickets, the winner will visit the inside of the mysterious Mr. Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Charlie finds a dollar bill and buys himself a chocolate bar that contains the last Golden Ticket. Along with four other children, they visit the factory and meet up with the Oompa-Loompas who are the hard workers of the factory. At last, Mr. Wonka tells Charlie that he has won the whole factory, and the brave and true Charlie and his family will never starve again.




The Family Under the Bridge - Literature Kit Gr. 3-4


Book Description

Expose your students to the hardships of poverty and the power that comes with family. Multi-leveled questions and prompts will have students digging deeper while making connections. Investigate the setting to determine what is already known about the historic country of France. Explain what is ironic about Armand's words to the pigeons. Recall what was read by completing a paragraph from the novel with its missing words. Predict what will happen with the children's request to Father Christmas after a cliffhanger. Research information on Provence, Saint Sara or the Tournelle Bridge and create a report with interesting facts on these places mentioned in the novel. Complete an analysis of the novel, detailing the conflict, setting, point of view and theme, among others. Aligned to your State Standards and written to Bloom's Taxonomy, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: The Family Under the Bridge is a Newbery Honor winning story about the Calcet family—a mother and her three children—who end up living under a bridge on the Seine River. Here, they befriend the carefree Parisian hobo, Armand. When two nosy women appear at their makeshift home, and it appears that the authorities have been summoned, Armand takes the family to live with a community of gypsies. Here, they are befriended and their relationship with the old hobo deepens. After promising the children a new home for Christmas, Armand decides his only option is to seek employment, and he manages to get a job as the caretaker of an apartment building, which offers the family a place to stay. Here, they determine to live as one big family, with Armand serving as the grandfather the children never had.




The Cricket in Times Square - Literature Kit Gr. 3-4


Book Description

Be uprooted and dropped into a busy and overwhelming city to learn about friendship and belonging. Take all the work out of planning a lesson so there's more time focused on comprehension and engaging hands-on follow-up activities. Do some research on the importance of crickets in the Chinese culture. Compare Chinatown with Times Square by listing three differences. Describe Chester's dream and what he did in response to it. Find the words the author used to represent sounds and explain what sounds they represent. Imagine what it would be like for Harry and Tucker to visit Chester in the country. Get into the 'skin' of Tucker to tell how he would act if he found money in Times Square. Aligned to your State Standards and written to Bloom's Taxonomy, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: The Cricket in Times Square is the Newbery Honor-winning story of a cricket who finds himself taken away from his country home and dropped right in the Times Square subway station. Chester Cricket enjoys his home in Connecticut; however, one day he is brought to the city and immediately misses home. While in Times Square, Chester meets Tucker Mouse and Harry Cat, who quickly become friends with the musical insect. Chester is also adopted by Mario, a young boy who's family runs a small newspaper stand in the station. Throughout the story, Chester finds himself amidst many obstacles and struggling to prove he belongs in the big city.