The book, My Name Is Maria Isabel by Alma Flor Ada provides the reader and teacher with a unique look at how differences between everyone can both divide...
Are you looking for a fun way to teach describing characters and character traits? Try this! Fold each side of a horizontal sheet of paper to the middle. Have the kids draw a picture of the character on the front. Put words to describe the outward appearance of the character on the outside. This can be things that are obvious from the text. Next, open the page up and write character traits and words to describe the character's emotions on the inside. These are things you have to infer about the character's traits based on the evidence from the text. It's pretty fun and these make a great display!
Read the summary of My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett at StoryboardThat. Free lesson plans bring the story to life with immersive activities.
Read the summary of My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett at StoryboardThat. Free lesson plans bring the story to life with immersive activities.
This Novel Study is packed with Chapter Summaries, comprehension activities, drawing, comics, vocabulary work, dictionary work, character comparisons, scene snapshots and much more. Perfect to go along with this wonderful book By Roald Dahl!
Anatomy of a Mushroom - Fun little 8.5 x 11 mini-poster for your classroom or educational tool box. Hand illustrated image with the basic parts of a mushroom identified. This listing also includes a student copy for assessment or hands on labeling practice. Looking for more mushroom resources? Check out my money saving Mushroom bundle -https://www.etsy.com/listing/734570046/mushroom-studies-bundle?ref=shop_home_active_5&crt=1 These are intended for personal use only and are not to be resold.
Read the summary of My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett at StoryboardThat. Free lesson plans bring the story to life with immersive activities.
Engage students with the story of a family fleeing war, in search of safe haven. In Gleam and Glow, despite being scared and leaving everything they know, a family finds refuge, hope, and make a remarkable discovery. This lesson is designed to be used with intermediate students as an interactive read aloud during one class period. Extensions can be taken over several days. The lesson objective is: Students will be able to determine the theme of Gleam and Glow by making inferences from the illustrations and text about the characters’ responses to the problem. (presented as an “I” statement to students) At the end of the lesson, after students participate in discussion about the how characters respond to the problem, two differentiated assessment options are provided to answer: What theme can be inferred from the characters’ responses to the problem in Gleam and Glow? In the lesson plan, target questions are posed along with expected student answers and scaffolding questions to support students as needed. The scaffolding questions are designed to help students organize their thinking and understanding in smaller chunks to reach the target question. The essential question, objective, and questions are in the lesson plan, but also in a printable format to be projected or posted for the lesson. Included in this download: Lesson Plan page with text’s big idea, essential question, objective, vocabulary list, assessment, and teacher language related to the objective Teacher's questioning guide with stopping points, questions, expected answers, and possible scaffolding questions Template to print questions/vocabulary on post-its and place in the book before teaching for easy reference. Quick print form of the questions to be projected/posted for students during read aloud Theme anchor chart to post for student reference anytime Optional student graphic organizer with lesson questions Assessment (2 differentiated variations for students’ varying abilities) Extensions and Extras to continue the learning: 12 vocabulary cards and 3 blank cards Student vocabulary graphic organizer to infer meaning of words and phrases and provide context clues Vocabulary 4-square activity options Students practice the strategy of visualizing. On the movie reel, students sketch the five most important events from the story that helped them understand the story. Then, label their sketches with key words from the text. Students complete a story map to track elements of plot. Students compare and contrast the setting (family home) before and after their return using a Venn diagram. Then, students describe how the setting changed over time. Students retell the story using vocabulary words. Students track the author’s use of vivid language and describe how it helps them better understand the story. Students participate in discussion with classmates using various discussion cards. Thank you for viewing! Please let me know if you have any questions before downloading! Other downloads you may be interested in: Differentiated Nonfiction Passages and Questions: Under the Sea The Bones of Fred McFee by Eve Bunting Interactive Read Aloud Lesson Plan Train to Somewhere by Eve Bunting Interactive Read Aloud Lesson Plan 5 Text Theme Bundle for Intermediate Classrooms! BUNDLE: Theme Interactive Read Alouds, fiction and nonfiction texts ********************************************************************************************************** After purchasing, you can receive TpT credits towards future purchases! Just leave feedback on this item and you will earn 4 credits to save you money on future downloads on TpT! **********************************************************************************************************
Read the summary of My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett at StoryboardThat. Free lesson plans bring the story to life with immersive activities.
The thing (story) should have plot and character, beginning, middle and end. Arouse pity and then have a catharsis. Those were the best principles I was ever taught. --Ann Rice Beginning, middle, end is easily defined as the 3 parts that make up a story. Let’s face it, you can’t have a story if you don’t have a beginning, middle, and end. There are many other elements that must be included in the beginning, middle, and end, and when they are all put together you have a complete story. If you have purchased or downloaded any of my products and it includes a BME (Beginning, Middle, End) portion then you will see this on the directions page. Identifying the most important event from the beginning, middle and end of the story helps a reader understand how organization, sequence, and plot make a good story. This can then be applied to their own writing. Let’s start by looking at each piece individually. The beginning – it is the first part of the story. It is where the writer captures the reader’s attention, either with a great opening line, a detailed description of the character or setting, or a glimpse into the topic, problem, or theme of the story. The beginning will also set the mood for the reader; will it be happy and exciting, dark and mysterious, or silly and entertaining? A good beginning makes you want to read more. The middle – it is where the bulk of the story rests. It explains the topic, gives important key details, and holds the reader’s attention, but most importantly it is where we reach the climax or turning point of the story. If the middle is good, it will start the reader thinking about how the story is going to end. The end – this is where the story comes to a close, it is the conclusion and solution to the problem. It is where the character learns a lesson or comes to terms with the events of what happened. A good ending will keep the reader thinking about the story, long after it is finished. A great ending leaves the reader feeling satisfied. In picture books, it is important to look at the illustrations. They can tell us as much as the text and can also help us focus in on what is important. We refer to the beginning, middle and end of the story all the time. We describe character and character change from the beginning, middle, and end of the story. When we sequence the story, we look at the beginning, middle, and end of the story. When talking about plot, we look at the events from the beginning, middle, and end of the story. When we look at important events from the story, we pick one from each the beginning, middle and end of the story. Problem and solution relies on events from the beginning, middle and end. What is the problem? How do you know it is a problem? How was it solved? How do you know it was solved? All from the BME. We summarize by looking at events from the whole story, the beginning, middle and end. When I teach BME, I like for the students to focus on what they think is the most important event from each section. For example: The most important event from the beginning of the story is usually some sort of description or action from the character. The most important event from the middle of the story is usually the problem, or climax in the story. The most important event from the end of the story is usually the solution, the message, or how the character feels about how the problem was solved. Once the students find the most important events, I then ask the question, WHY? Why do you think that is the most important event? Could the rest of the story have happened if that event, action or feeling wasn’t in the story? Does that event lead us to the most important event in the middle? In the end? Do those 3 events give a brief summary of the story? Let’s look at the book Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming. The most important event from the beginning happens 4 pages in when Mr. McGreely actually plants the garden that he has wanted for years. As the story progresses the local bunnies start to eat Mr. McGreely’s garden and Mr. McGreely gets angrier and angrier. The most important event from the middle is when he finally builds a wall that he is sure the bunnies won’t be able to go around, through or under. This also happens to be the climax of the story. The most important event from the end of the story is when Mr. McGreely finds that his garden is untouched by the bunnies - because of the wall he built - but he finds them in his basket eating the vegetables he just picked. If you look at the illustration at the very end of the book you find the bunnies and Mr. McGreely all munching on carrots, which makes you think that Mr. McGreely has conceeded and is now just going to share his garden with the bunnies. This illustration helps to solidify that the event I picked is the most important from the end - the bunnies are going to get his food no matter what he does, so he might as well just share :) How do my BME events work with the questions I ask my students? Let’s take a look. Could the rest of the story have happened if that event, action or feeling wasn’t in the story? Well, if Mr. McGreely never planted his garden, then he would not have had a bunny problem. Does that event lead us to the most important event in the middle? In the end? Mr. McGreely planting the garden brought bunnies to his garden which in turn, ate all his veggies. As the events unfold, we see Mr. McGreely trying many different things to keep the bunnies out, until at last, he builds the wall that keeps them out – the most important event in the middle. The wall that he built worked so well that the bunnies couldn't get in on their own, but they were able to get in and eat Mr. McGreely's food by hitching a ride in his harvest basket...giving them the opportunity to eat Mr. McGreely's freshly picked veggies. Do those 3 events give a brief summary of the story? Here are the 3 events that I picked. Let’s see how they work as a summary. Mr. McGreely finally plants the garden he has always wanted. When the bunnies keep eating his veggies he builds a big wall that will keep out all the bunnies. The next morning Mr. McGreely finds that the bunnies didn’t get into his garden to eat his veggies, but they were in his basket eating the veggies that he just picked. I think that this is a pretty good - not perfect - summary of what the story is about, which means I picked the most important events from each of the beginning, middle and end of the story. There are many different graphic organizers that can be used to record BME, or students can simply write Beginning, Middle, and End in their reading journal and write out the events. As mentioned above, once students can find the most important event for the BME from their books, you can use this to help them write their stories. Once they know the most important events from the BME of their own story they can fill in the details around those events - how did you get from event 1 to event 2, from event 2 to event 3? It really does work out so nicely! Now, after reading all of this, here is my question to you. What do you think is more important, the beginning, middle, or end of the story? What part of the story makes you buy the book, keep reading the book and/or finish the book? Is it that detailed description in the beginning that grabs you, or the twists and turns in the middle, or the ending when it is all wrapped up and you sit there for a few more moments going over what just happened at the end? Hmmm... I created a BME poster set as well as a graphic organizer to go along with this post. You can pick this up for free from either one of my stores. Happy teaching!
Thank You, Mr. Falker, Chicken Sunday, Pink and Say, and my very favorite, Thunder Cake. Patricia Polacco remains one of my very favorite children’s authors. Her books are written with so muc…
Littmus Lozenges Symbol in Because of Winn-Dixie | LitCharts
Are you looking for a fun way to teach describing characters and character traits? Try this! Fold each side of a horizontal sheet of paper to the middle. Have the kids draw a picture of the character on the front. Put words to describe the outward appearance of the character on the outside. This can be things that are obvious from the text. Next, open the page up and write character traits and words to describe the character's emotions on the inside. These are things you have to infer about the character's traits based on the evidence from the text. It's pretty fun and these make a great display!
The book, My Name Is Maria Isabel by Alma Flor Ada provides the reader and teacher with a unique look at how differences between everyone can both divide...
Literature Circles in the elementary classroom. How to do literature circles with 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students.
Celebrate the dark days with these easy paper luminaries that kids can help make too! Light up the dark afternoons with simple DIY lanterns.
Whether you're new to teaching or a veteran, this list has you covered for 4th grade.
The thing (story) should have plot and character, beginning, middle and end. Arouse pity and then have a catharsis. Those were the best principles I was ever taught. --Ann Rice Beginning, middle, end is easily defined as the 3 parts that make up a story. Let’s face it, you can’t have a story if you don’t have a beginning, middle, and end. There are many other elements that must be included in the beginning, middle, and end, and when they are all put together you have a complete story. If you have purchased or downloaded any of my products and it includes a BME (Beginning, Middle, End) portion then you will see this on the directions page. Identifying the most important event from the beginning, middle and end of the story helps a reader understand how organization, sequence, and plot make a good story. This can then be applied to their own writing. Let’s start by looking at each piece individually. The beginning – it is the first part of the story. It is where the writer captures the reader’s attention, either with a great opening line, a detailed description of the character or setting, or a glimpse into the topic, problem, or theme of the story. The beginning will also set the mood for the reader; will it be happy and exciting, dark and mysterious, or silly and entertaining? A good beginning makes you want to read more. The middle – it is where the bulk of the story rests. It explains the topic, gives important key details, and holds the reader’s attention, but most importantly it is where we reach the climax or turning point of the story. If the middle is good, it will start the reader thinking about how the story is going to end. The end – this is where the story comes to a close, it is the conclusion and solution to the problem. It is where the character learns a lesson or comes to terms with the events of what happened. A good ending will keep the reader thinking about the story, long after it is finished. A great ending leaves the reader feeling satisfied. In picture books, it is important to look at the illustrations. They can tell us as much as the text and can also help us focus in on what is important. We refer to the beginning, middle and end of the story all the time. We describe character and character change from the beginning, middle, and end of the story. When we sequence the story, we look at the beginning, middle, and end of the story. When talking about plot, we look at the events from the beginning, middle, and end of the story. When we look at important events from the story, we pick one from each the beginning, middle and end of the story. Problem and solution relies on events from the beginning, middle and end. What is the problem? How do you know it is a problem? How was it solved? How do you know it was solved? All from the BME. We summarize by looking at events from the whole story, the beginning, middle and end. When I teach BME, I like for the students to focus on what they think is the most important event from each section. For example: The most important event from the beginning of the story is usually some sort of description or action from the character. The most important event from the middle of the story is usually the problem, or climax in the story. The most important event from the end of the story is usually the solution, the message, or how the character feels about how the problem was solved. Once the students find the most important events, I then ask the question, WHY? Why do you think that is the most important event? Could the rest of the story have happened if that event, action or feeling wasn’t in the story? Does that event lead us to the most important event in the middle? In the end? Do those 3 events give a brief summary of the story? Let’s look at the book Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming. The most important event from the beginning happens 4 pages in when Mr. McGreely actually plants the garden that he has wanted for years. As the story progresses the local bunnies start to eat Mr. McGreely’s garden and Mr. McGreely gets angrier and angrier. The most important event from the middle is when he finally builds a wall that he is sure the bunnies won’t be able to go around, through or under. This also happens to be the climax of the story. The most important event from the end of the story is when Mr. McGreely finds that his garden is untouched by the bunnies - because of the wall he built - but he finds them in his basket eating the vegetables he just picked. If you look at the illustration at the very end of the book you find the bunnies and Mr. McGreely all munching on carrots, which makes you think that Mr. McGreely has conceeded and is now just going to share his garden with the bunnies. This illustration helps to solidify that the event I picked is the most important from the end - the bunnies are going to get his food no matter what he does, so he might as well just share :) How do my BME events work with the questions I ask my students? Let’s take a look. Could the rest of the story have happened if that event, action or feeling wasn’t in the story? Well, if Mr. McGreely never planted his garden, then he would not have had a bunny problem. Does that event lead us to the most important event in the middle? In the end? Mr. McGreely planting the garden brought bunnies to his garden which in turn, ate all his veggies. As the events unfold, we see Mr. McGreely trying many different things to keep the bunnies out, until at last, he builds the wall that keeps them out – the most important event in the middle. The wall that he built worked so well that the bunnies couldn't get in on their own, but they were able to get in and eat Mr. McGreely's food by hitching a ride in his harvest basket...giving them the opportunity to eat Mr. McGreely's freshly picked veggies. Do those 3 events give a brief summary of the story? Here are the 3 events that I picked. Let’s see how they work as a summary. Mr. McGreely finally plants the garden he has always wanted. When the bunnies keep eating his veggies he builds a big wall that will keep out all the bunnies. The next morning Mr. McGreely finds that the bunnies didn’t get into his garden to eat his veggies, but they were in his basket eating the veggies that he just picked. I think that this is a pretty good - not perfect - summary of what the story is about, which means I picked the most important events from each of the beginning, middle and end of the story. There are many different graphic organizers that can be used to record BME, or students can simply write Beginning, Middle, and End in their reading journal and write out the events. As mentioned above, once students can find the most important event for the BME from their books, you can use this to help them write their stories. Once they know the most important events from the BME of their own story they can fill in the details around those events - how did you get from event 1 to event 2, from event 2 to event 3? It really does work out so nicely! Now, after reading all of this, here is my question to you. What do you think is more important, the beginning, middle, or end of the story? What part of the story makes you buy the book, keep reading the book and/or finish the book? Is it that detailed description in the beginning that grabs you, or the twists and turns in the middle, or the ending when it is all wrapped up and you sit there for a few more moments going over what just happened at the end? Hmmm... I created a BME poster set as well as a graphic organizer to go along with this post. You can pick this up for free from either one of my stores. Happy teaching!
Although any time is a good time to teach children how to persevere, I think of this character trait at the beginning of The New Year. Character education can be taught alongside New Year's resolutions so children can form a deeper meaning of their goals. This post will delve
Are you looking for a fun way to teach describing characters and character traits? Try this! Fold each side of a horizontal sheet of paper to the middle. Have the kids draw a picture of the character on the front. Put words to describe the outward appearance of the character on the outside. This can be things that are obvious from the text. Next, open the page up and write character traits and words to describe the character's emotions on the inside. These are things you have to infer about the character's traits based on the evidence from the text. It's pretty fun and these make a great display!
Teaching plot elements to upper elementary students? Use a picture book to engage your students! Read it aloud, and then create a plot diagram!
Are you looking for a fun way to teach describing characters and character traits? Try this! Fold each side of a horizontal sheet of paper to the middle. Have the kids draw a picture of the character on the front. Put words to describe the outward appearance of the character on the outside. This can be things that are obvious from the text. Next, open the page up and write character traits and words to describe the character's emotions on the inside. These are things you have to infer about the character's traits based on the evidence from the text. It's pretty fun and these make a great display!
Featuring:Grandparents and Autism by Kimberlee McCaffertyA Weekend Away by B’s dadDivorce, Autism, and Blended Families by Nick MalcuitEvent Recap by Leslie A. BurbyHoliday Gift Giving Guide by Leslie A. BurbyFitting Fitness into the ASD Household by Eric ChessenRelax Bottle/Timeout Timer by Johanna SpauldingBook in the Spotlight: Rules by Trev’s MomSaving My Sensory Hide by Alyssa […]
Ready to teach text structure? Are you missing something? I have my top 5 nonfiction picture books to use for text structure.
Celebrate the dark days with these easy paper luminaries that kids can help make too! Light up the dark afternoons with simple DIY lanterns.
Inferential comprehension requires both emotional intelligence and cognitive skills, however instructional comprehension strategies typically underemphasize the emotional contribution. This article documents an intervention used by diverse third grade students which centers on teaching story comprehension through character perspective-taking (i.e., Theory of Mind).
Read the summary of My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett at StoryboardThat. Free lesson plans bring the story to life with immersive activities.
Check out my must-have guided reading materials and supplies for upper elementary grades and how I use them on this post.
Fall is a great time to go for a nature walk and collect leaves. Here are 11 easy ways to study leaves in your homeschool!
Gary Paulsen’s award-winning novel, Hatchet, is the classic survival story for elementary students. It recounts the adventures of Brian, who is on his way to visit his father in a small single-engine airplane when the pilot suddenly has a heart attack and the plane crashes. The fast-paced plot and use of character development make Hatchet […]
Graphic Organizer that analyzes a character's point of view. The graphic organizer analyzes a character's view of the main character, evidence from the text to support this view, what others think of the character, and what this character adds to the story. ...
