Little House on the Prairie - Literature Kit Gr. 3-4


Book Description

Find out what life on the prairie was really like with this retelling of actual events. The thorough and comprehensive questions are great for small group work. Students put themselves in Laura's shoes as she experiences the hardships of living on the prairie. Test student comprehension of key vocabulary words found in the novel. Students explore what they learn about life on the prairie, particularly with how Pa builds the log cabin. Challenge students to describe Laura's surroundings while living on the prairie. Reenact your favorite scene from the novel in small groups. Complete a story map graphic organizer, following the events that take place during Laura's time on the prairie. 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: Little House on the Prairie follows one family's journey to a new home and new beginnings. Laura lives in a house in the Big Woods. But the area is becoming too crowded. Her father decides to uproot and move out to the prairies, where the land is vast and plentiful. On their journey, the family must cross two great rivers before the ice melts. They camp out alone with very little between them and their harsh environment. Soon they arrive on the prairie and choose a place to settle. But their hardships don't end there. While they build their new log cabin and get used to their surroundings, the family must survive illness, fires, wolves, and an increasing native population. As they finally settle in and prepare to plant their first crop, the family's year living on the prairie comes to an end. Little House on the Prairie is an educational story about what life was like in the American Midwest during the 19th century.




Matilda - Literature Kit Gr. 3-4


Book Description

Explore the power of the mind and how anything is possible if you put your mind to it. Challenge students by expanding their vocabulary and testing their comprehension with writing prompts and assessment questions. Test comprehension with multiple choice questions that explores the character of Matilda. Expand your character study by reflecting on Matilda's view of C.S. Lewis' novels, and what she considers to be a drawback in them. Show understanding of tricky words from the book by matching them to sentences where they make the most sense. Conduct an interview with a partner to find out what they think of the novel. Compare physical and character attributes of two people from the story in a Compare/Contrast chart. 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: Matilda is the charming story of a very unusual little girl who, despite having two very horrible parents, learns how to read by the age of three. There are many other things about Matilda that are very special. She can solve arithmetic problems very quickly in her head, and she can move things about with the power of thought. Despite all of this she is a most pleasant little girl who is well liked by her classmates and by her wonderful teacher, Miss Honey. Matilda discovers the headmistress of the school, Miss Trunchbull, is actually Miss Honey‘s aunt and has cheated her out of her inheritance. Matilda sets her mind to work, and in the end Miss Honey recovers her stolen inheritance and adopts Matilda.




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.




Nineteen Eighty-Four - Literature Kit Gr. 9-12


Book Description

Visit a dystopian society to see what an alternate 1984 could have looked like. The variety of engaging activities can easily be broken up for students over several weeks to coordinate with assigned reading. Use what you know about Winston’s memory of his mother to describe what family relationships are like in Oceania. Predict what will happen to Winston based on what you know of the world he lives in and the consequences of his actions. Identify statements about Winston and Julia’s first meeting as true or false. Use what you have already read about room 101 and predict how Winston will react to his experiences there. Describe what the word “betrayal” means to you, and how it relates to the events in the novel. List events from the book that connect to the plot’s major themes. 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: Nineteen Eighty-Four is the year of an alternate dystopian era in which there are three ruling nations: Oceania, Eastasia and Eurasia. The former are partnered together in a war against the latter, and that’s how it’s always been. Or has it? Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth office. His job is to alter the history books so they line up with whatever the Party wants its citizens to believe. Everything is controlled by the Party, including language. Those that dare to have free thought are dealt with severely. Winston begins to question the Party and how things are run. He starts to rebel by purchasing a diary to write his thoughts in, beginning a relationship with a mysterious dark-haired woman, and seek out the Brotherhood who would like to see the Party taken down. But with the unseen eye of the Party leader Big Brother always watching, it’s only a matter of time before Winston is caught.




The Hundred Penny Box - Literature Kit Gr. 3-4


Book Description

Students gain a new sense of respect for age and the treasures that accumulate with it. Helpful outlines of activities makes this resource easy to implement into any classroom. Find facts about the city of Atlanta, Georgia. Draw and color a picture of what the penny box may look like. Students explain the sentence "you worry me to death to play" in their own words. Complete a chart by matching vocabulary words to their meanings. Predict what like will be like for Michael with Aunt Dew for the next few months. Write a story describing Aunt Dew's move to Michael's home in her own point of view. 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 Hundred Penny Box is the Newbery Honor-winning story of a boy and his great-great aunt. Michael has a 100-year-old great-great aunt who keeps an old wooden box full of 100 pennies, one for each year she's been alive. Attached to each penny is a memory of what happened in Michael's aunt's life the year each coin was minted. Born in 1874, her first coin represents the Reconstruction. The 1930 penny represents the death of her husband. Michael enjoys to hear the stories attached to each penny, but soon finds that his great-great aunt is as old and feeble as the box that carries them.




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.




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.




James and the Giant Peach - Literature Kit Gr. 3-4


Book Description

Gain a sense of wonder as you travel across the Atlantic in a giant peach. Help students understand reading comprehension and aid them with higher-order thinking questions. Make predictions about what will happen next, and get into the heads of the characters by explaining what they mean with their dialog. Think about the magic power that changes the peach and imagine how it would affect a person, insect or animal. Write a sentence using alliteration to describe an object or event. Complete a KWL Chart on one of the creatures 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: A humorous and entertaining fairy tale about the adventures of a boy named James and his insect friends. An old man gives James green magical crystals that do wonders on a peach as it grows bigger than a house. With his insect friends, James flies from England to New York City with the help of 502 seagulls, and lands on the pinnacle of the Empire State Building. His friend, Old-Green-Grasshopper, becomes part of the New York Symphony Orchestra. Silkworm and Miss Spider set up a factory and make ropes for tightrope walkers. Ladybug gets married to the Head of the Fire Department. Glow-worm becomes the light inside the Statue of Liberty. Centipede is made Vice-President of a high-class firm of boot manufacturers. Earthworm makes commercials for a face cream company.




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.




Roller Girl - Literature Kit Gr. 5-6


Book Description

Escape into the thrilling world of roller derby with Astrid, as she faces new experiences and the loss of a friend. The activities in this resource are geared for a mix of small group, partner and individual work, allowing teachers to determine student comprehension of the book’s content and vocabulary. Students make predictions about key plot points before reading the chapter. Answer multiple choice questions about Astrid’s time at roller derby camp. Determine the reason behind Astrid’s motives for lying to her mother. Identify synonyms of key vocabulary words found in the story. Imagine what it might be like for Nicole to be friends with Astrid. Put yourself in Astrid’s position and come up with a plan to apologize to Zoey. Describe and compare the different settings depicted in the story. Aligned to your State Standards and written to Bloom's Taxonomy, our worksheets incorporate a variety of scaffolding strategies along with additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key. About the Novel: Roller Girl tells the story of 12-year-old Astrid, who discovers that people change as they grow older. Astrid is best friends with Nicole. They do everything together. One day, Astrid’s mother takes the girls to a roller derby bout. Astrid falls in love with the sport, and suggests she and Nicole sign up for the summer camp. However, Nicole doesn’t want to do roller derby; instead, she wants to go to ballet camp. Because of this, Astrid and Nicole start to drift apart. Astrid has high hopes for roller derby, but soon finds out that it’s a lot harder than she imagined. As she practices day and night, trying to get better, she learns valuable lessons on managing expectations and friendships. In the end, Astrid learns that there’s nothing wrong with friends growing and following their own path. Roller Girl is a graphic novel depicting the journey every young girl finds themselves while growing up.