Free Printable Literature Lessons from Scholastic Book Clubs

Scholastic Books - the Clubs, the Website and the Products Run, don't walk to find your nearest Scholastic Book Fair or catalog or go online to http://www.scholastic.com/ . If you haven't accessed the deluge of great inexpensive and free resources at Scholastic, then what are you waiting for? Review of one the finest companies dedciated to promoting literacy, education and learning. Read More

Free Printable Nobel Prize Lesson Plans

Subbing in an economics classroom, I was left without lesson plans. I checked online for emergency and discovered that Nobel Foundation has free printable high school lessons and games on economics, as well as educational activities in all the Nobel Prize categories--medicine, science, physics, literature and humanitarian efforts. Here are free printable lesson plans based on the work of Nobel Prize winners.

The Nobel Prize crosses every geographic, political, social and racial boundary in the world. Winners of the prize called 'Laureates', hail from all over the globe. Past winners include Pablo Neruda, Pearl Buck, Desmond Tutu, Marconi, Enrico Fermi, William Golding, John Steinbeck, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Barack Obama, Elie Weisel, Mother Theresa, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, and many others.

Free Printable Little Critter Coloring Pages, Mercer Mayer Activites

Mercer Mayer is one of the world's most beloved children's' book author and illustrator. He is probably best known for his children's book series about a lovable furry character named Little Critter. This adorable little “monster” gets into all the usual childhood mishaps with his mother, father and little sister. Little Critter learns about sharing, being afraid, having patience and have fun with his friends and family.

Little Critter books are excellent resources to help children understand and cope with life's many little issues. Children can laugh at their own foibles seen in his antics. Mercer Mayer has also written a series about Little Monster. If you like these characters you want these free printable  Little Critter activities.

Start by printing the free printable Little Critter coloring pages that the author has kindly provided on his website. There are lots of fun pictures from the books for you to color. Little Critter is always surrounded by lots of animal friends, like cute spiders, friendly snakes, cuddly kittens, sweet puppies, cheerful bugs and other...well... little critters!

Next get a whole booklet of free printable Little Critter activity pages, games and puzzles. Then you have to scoop up the free printable Little Monster coloring pages and games. Preschool kids will love the activities and coloring pages for car rides, rainy days and sick days. Babysitters, bring a supply of coloring pages with you when you babysit. Kids will love you. Check out the entire collection of Little Critter learning activities.

DL-TK has free printable Little Critter paper dolls. Scroll down for several outfits to print in black and white (and use as coloring pages) or in color if you prefer. Children will enjoy listening to the stories and then making their paper doll. Kids can retell the story using their paper doll to help. This craft is perfect for preschool, day care, summer reading programs, library story hour and day camp.

Little Critter and Little Monster have been loved by children since Mercer Mayer created them in 1975. I love the books but my favorite of his books will always be "There's a Nightmare in My Closet"and "There's an Alligator Under My Bed" and "There is Something In My Attic." Being an easily frightened child, I could relate to the no-nonsense coping skills used by the intrepid children in these whimsical stories. My children have always loved these books

Free Printable Reading Games, Online Spelling and Reading Games

Parents, does it worry you how much your kids play phone or online games? Do you worry that their reading skills will stagnate if they play too many online games? Well, here's a workaround--turn them on to online word games for kids and Internet reading games. Here are free online games for kids, including word games, reading games and spelling games. These reading games can be played on computers or cellphones. Teachers, use these online games for kids to boost not only reading skills, but spelling, grammar, syntax, vocabulary and writing skills. Playing online word games helps visual tracking, perceptual acuity and typing skills, too.

No matter how educational free online games for kids are, parents should still limit time spent gaming. 15-20 minutes of play between tasks is fine. Two hours sitting at the computer or playing on their phones is too much. Gaming should also be done in proportion to outside time and physical activity. For every hour spent on the computer, at play or work, there should be an equal amount of active time. So, here are the best educational free online games for kids to improve reading skills.

ABCya offers Super Word Toss, one of several free online games for kids to teach reading skills. These word games help children work with synonyms and antonyms to learn word meanings. Check out the other word games, reading games and spelling games on this site.

Arcademics has loads of educational free online games for kids. Visit the homepage to find reading games, spelling games, word games, math games and more.

Gamequarium is another educational site with thousands of free online games, There are over 1,500 reading games and nearly 1,000 ELA (English Language Arts) games, including reading games, word games, vocabulary games and spelling games.

From Addicting Games (another free online games site) comes Whizz Words and Whizz Words Deluxe. Kids will learn reading skills playing these crazy fun word games. These spelling games teach kids lightning-fast reflexes, quick thinking and super spelling skills. Whizz Words games combine the concepts of Boggle and Yahtzee. Players have limited time make words from a set of letters but they can only earn points in one category-- 3-letter, 4-letter, 5-letter and so on. The trick with these spelling games is to figure out which letter combinations offer the most of any given word length and then make only words of that length.

Free Printable Kevin Henkes Lesson Plans

Kevin Henkes has given the world of children's literature some wonderfully endearing stories. Most Kevin Henkes kids' books feature anthropomorphic mice facing typical issues that children face. Beloved Kevin Henkes characters include Sheila Rae the Brave, Chrysanthemum, Julius, Owen, Lilly, Chester, Wemberly and Wendell. His kids' book "Kitten's First Full Moon," won the coveted and prestigious Caldecott book medal for best illustrations in children's literature.

If you like this lovable children's literature author, you will want to visit his website and explore thefree printable Kevin Henkes book activities he's made based on some of his beloved characters. The website has free printable word games, puzzles and coloring pages. These are useful for summer enrichment activities, day care fun, children's literature lesson plans and homeschooling activities. Or parents might want to print them just for fun at home.

Kevin Henkes' publisher, Harper Collins has put some of the free printable activities on their website. You might like the free printable activity book for "Lilly's Big Day" Lilly eagerly awaits the best day of her life, being a flower girl in a wedding. She encounters the usual fears and drama. This activity book would be great follow-up or preparation for any event that your child is anticipating. Bibliotherapy, or problem-solving using literature is especially therapeutic for young or special needs children who struggle to find their own voice. Seeing a funny little mouse experience similar events and feelings is tremendously reassuring.

Lilly is the same mouse who so charmed with her purple plastic purse in the book of the same name. Scroll down the page here for all the Lilly and Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse printables Teaching Heart has free printable "Wemberly Worried" and "Chrysanthemum" activities. There are lesson plans from the Kevin Henkes book "Owen" too. Read these books your kids, parents, and you'll see why everyone loves them so.

Free Printable Chronicles of Narnia Coloring Lessons

Educators and homeschool parents, are you looking for free printable lesson plans on fantasy literature? Then you need to check out the Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis. If you're teaching Chronicles of Narnia books unit studies, here are free printable Narnia coloring pages and lesson plans. Children have loved the Narnia books for decades. in the 1980s, PBS Wonderworks made some of the seven books into movies. Films have been made for The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair as well. Check out the Narnia homepage for free printable Chronicles of Narnia coloring pages, lesson plans, games, puzzles, crafts and coloring pages to augment your book study. Get free teacher and homeschool resources, educational activities, printable Narnia maps, online games and more.

Here's a site with free printable Narnia coloring pages. Coloring Book has another set of free printable Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe coloring pages. Narnia coloring pages featuring the Pevensee children Edmund, Peter, Susan and Lucy, their cousin Eustace, Prince Caspian, Reepicheep, Drinian, Rince, the Dragon, Aslan and others. Websites feature detailed, realistic images from movies Prince Caspian, and The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe movies. Here are Narnia crafts and Narnia coloring pages from the books series. Activity Village has free printable Narnia coloring pages and games galore! Print word search games--great for book study guides and tests--from each book in the Chronicles of Narnia series:

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Magician's Nephew (the first book chronologically in the series)
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Last Battle.

There are is also a free printable mouse mask for Reepicheep, free printable dragon crafts and coloring pages (no spoilers, but SOMEONE--not saying who--turns into a dragon in a wonderful allegorical twist!) There's a Many-Coloured Sugar recipe (such as Caspian ate at the feast), a shield craft, sword craft and a castle craft which could be Cair Paravel.

Homeschool Giveaway lists links for free printable Chronicles of Narnia lesson plans, crafts, worksheets, book study guides and games. Here are free printable vocabulary lesson plans from Narnia books. And here are lots more teacher- made lesson plans for The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe book study guides

Free Printable Twilight Lesson Plans--Eclipse, New Moon, Breaking Dawn Lesson Plans

"Twilight" is the first in the Twilight books series and that was made into box office smash movies. Twilight movies set off both vampire fiction and reader mania. Here are free printable Twilight coloring pages and Twilight movies and book activities. Fans of Stephanie Meyers and her Twilight books, including "Twilight", "New Moon", "Eclipse" and "Breaking Dawn" will enjoy coloring pages of Edward and Bella and other characters.

Hello Kids has dozens of free printable Twilight movies character coloring pages along with vampire fiction coloring pages. Here's another older site with free printable Twilight coloring pages. Most are fan-made coloring pages designed free hand or from movie photos. They're quite good. This blog has lots more free printable Twilight books coloring pages in a variety of styles.

Teachers and homeschool parents may like this complete free printable Twilight movies and books unit with 23 pages of literature based lessons, questions, journal response activities, puzzles, rubrics, study guides and lots more. Note Twilight movies and books should be used only for English classes 8th grade and up. This lessons print in pdf, so you will need to have Adobe Acrobat installed. None of these websites require user ID or password to access or print lessons.

Be careful if you use the Twilight movies and Twilight books as classroom lessons or activities. Some students may be frightened by the content. It's possible that parents will object to vampire fiction or sexual content in Twilight books. Horror is a genre studied in the reading curriculum in schools. And Twilight was a very popular book series that literally ushered in the niche genre of vampire fiction.

But you will want to prepare students for this type of content and be sensitive to their response to the literature. Just because you may love the series, remember that the movie was rated PG-13. Never belittle or admonish a child who is not comfortable reading any type of literature. Not wanting to read Twilight, vampire fiction or horror genre books does not imply immaturity; some children are very sensitive about what they read. This is usually because they are in fact very thorough readers and not desensitized to violence. You will also need to clear this book with department heads and let parents know that you plan to use the book series in class. 

Free Printable Captain Underpants Activities, Dav Pilkey Coloring pages

March is National Reading Month--time to celebrate kids' books and their authors. Today's featured book guy is Dav Pilkey, a very silly man with a middle school juvenile sense of humor. Who is Dav Pilkey you ask? Well, adults might not know the name, but kids will recognize him as the author/illustrator of graphic novels and kids books, notably Captain Underpants.  Pilkey has many well-loved kids books and graphic novels to his credit. But his most enduring is the supremely ridiculous "Captain Underpants" stories. Oh and grownups, graphic novels are stories told in cartoons or comics, not dirty books! Jeff Kinney author of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series is another graphic novels writer.

So Captain Underpants is a farsical superhero, but then anti-heroes are kind of en vogue right now with Deadpool. And Kylo Ren--kids love that Star Wars bad guy almost as much as his evil dad Darth Vader. People must be tired of the schmaltzy superhero good guy. Captain Underpants is a good--but very weird--guy. Along with his sidekick, Super Diaper Baby he battles The Wicked Wedgie Woman, The Lunch Ladies from Outer Space, Bionic Booger Boy (!) and Professor Poopypants. Children (especially boys) adore the title alone. As you might suspect the Captain Underpants stories are filled with (gross, just heard it!) puerile humor so loved by lower elementary school students. So how about some free printable Captain Underpants fun, to get your "fill" of silly, slightly sickening second grade comedy?

Dav Pilkey has several another popular series stories: Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot, The Dumb Bunnies, Big Dog and Little Dog, Dragon and two which are almost as popular as Captain Underpants--Kat Kong and Dogzilla. Pilkey uses pictures of his pets in these books. They too are very immature and goofy. The author has written and illustrated quite a few non-series serious books that are well-loved also. His book The Paperboy was chosen as a runner up for the prestigious Caldecott picture book award.

His website is full of fun stuff to do. Web pages are laid out like graphic novels and feature his messy handwriting font. There are fun Dav Pilkey kids book games. There are severalfree printable flip-o-rama kids book games that show how a movie is made from scenes or sketches. Best of all, Dav has put about twenty free printable Captain Underpants coloring pages and coloring pages and other kids book games. on his website. This site has a free printable Captain Underpantsbookmark.

Dav Pilkey gets some cr*p for his potty humor (pun intended) but maybe children's literature needs more silly stories, to un-stuffy it. It's good to see authors not only writing and but creating kids book games and activities based on their works. Enjoy these free printable kids book games activities and read his books. For more free printable kids book games, crafts, activities, coloring and lesson plans visit the Grand Rapids Parenting Examiner blogs Free Printable Lesson Plans and Free Coloring Pages 4U and Kidz Literature.

Free Printable File Folder Games

March is National Reading Month. Here's a great lesson plan to teach reading with file folder games. Students can learn just about any subject using file folder games to reinforce content and practice skills. Here are free printable file folders games online. Besides reading, teach math, reading, spelling, grammar, phonics, science, social studies and more. Print games for all ages and ability levels: preschool, kindergarten, elementary, special needs, middle school. Use for homeschool, too.

File Folder Fun has over 100 free printable file folder games in content areas across the curriculum. Search by age, grade level, theme and subject. File folder themes include animals, foods, flowers, weather, ocean life, circus. Themes teach math, reading, science, social studies, phonics, spelling, math, ELA (English Language Arts) history, music and other preschool and elementary school subjects. Click the games you want. The click "download." And voila, a screen appears with game background, pieces, cards, all materials you need, free.

File Folder Farm has gobs of free printable file folder games for math, English, reading, writing, spelling, science, social studies and more. Games can be used with varied ages. Click the game you want. The print, cut out and and assemble. Or better still, print in black and white. Have students color, cut and paste and assemble. You get two activities--craft, lesson plan and game--all in one!

Cindy's Autistic Support has free printable math file folder games. Use to teach counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division file folder games. You can make individual games for each math fact (times table) family.

To make file folder games:

Print game board and glue to inside of file folder. Write instructions on outside. Laminate or cover with contact paper. Make a spinner by drawing a circle. Divide like a pie. Label segments with game advancement options. Place paperclip on paper fastener (brad). Poke fastener through center of circle. Spin paper clip.

Store game cards or pieces in zippered plastic bag or envelope stapled to folder. File folder games store upright in filing cabinet or drawer. Get extra craft mileage from free printable file folder games by assigning students make them.

Free Printable Diary of a Wimpy Kid Lesson Plans

Jeff Kinney was named one of Time Magazine's top 100 most influential people a few years ago. And I'm going to guess that unless you're in middle school, you've never heard of him. What has Kinney done to merit such a nomination?

Besides sharing a last (maiden) name with me, Kinney is the author of the wildly popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid kids book series. The Wimpy Kid in question is Greg Heffley and the "diary" is his personal journal of life in middle school. What makes these books resonate so with kids? They're graphic novels (educationally correct name for cartoons).

Pictures poke fun at everyone in Heffley's young life, including himself. We empathize with Greg's intimidation by tuned-out teen brother Roderick and annoyance at lisping, ever-innocent younger brother Manny.

Series includes Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Last Straw, Roderick Rules, Dog Days, The Ugly Truth, Cabin Fever, Third Wheel, Hard Luck, Greg Heffley's Journal and a Do-it-Yourself Book. The Long Haul came out in November. Here are free printable Diary of a Wimpy Kids activities for Children's Book Week 2015, May 4-10.

Fun Brain has an online Diary of a Wimpy Kid book to read. Parent site Poptropica has free Diary of a Wimpy Kid printables. ESL Printables has free Diary of a Wimpy Kid worksheets. Here's a Diary of a Wimpy Kid quiz to print from Quiz Moz. Ed Helper has a make your own Diary of a Wimpy Kid word wall.

Teacher Vision has a free printable Diary of a Wimpy Kid unit with writing activities, reading extensions, text to text questions, text-to-life connections and text to self connections based upon the book series. These sites have free printable Diary of a Wimpy Kid coloring pages. Here's the other list of Diary of a Wimpy Kid pages to print.

Free Printable Leveled Readers, Phonics Workbooks

Your new reader has just mastered her phonics lessons; she's reading with some fluency. But summer vacation is here. She won't have access to classroom readers. Do you buy a set of classroom readers to keep up her momentum? You can but you don't need to; there are free printable reading books, phonics books, spelling, vocabulary and grade leveled readers right here on the Internet. Or maybe you need some summer enrichment writing activities for your reluctant reader. He's not too crazy about reading to start with, and you are concerned about how the long summer will affect his phonics and reading skills. Certainly you need some reading and writing activities that your children will enjoy. You will also want free printable reading books, phonics books, spelling and writing activities that are easy to manage.

The sole reason many people hire a tutor for their children is that they feel inadequately prepared to teach them. It's important that if you elect to tutor your child at home, you feel confident and prepared. As a teacher, parent and former homeschooler myself, I can assure you that you can tutor your children at home. With the multitude of free printable reading books, spelling, writing activities and phonics lessons available, all you really need to do is assemble some materials for your child, spend a few moments each day on the writing activities, monitor his progress, and most importantly, relax and have fun.

This link offers over 30 free printable reading books and leveled readers to cut, color and assemble. Making booklets will be fun for you and your child to enjoy together. Print these booklets free of charge by simply submitting a valid email address. There are no fees. Naturally, Reading A-Z hopes that you may purchase more of their fine materials. That is your choice. Meanwhile you may enjoy the free booklets. These books are written according to grade level. There are stories that introduce science, social studies and other school content, while practicing phonics, syllables and spelling patterns. Enchanted Learning has more free printable reading books and leveled readersand booklets. DL-TK has many free printable reading books and leveled readers for preschool, emergent reader and early readers.

Free Printable Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Activities

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a wonderfully whimsical children's story written by Judi and Ron Barrett in 1982. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a modern tall tale. Here are free printable Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs activities and lesson plans. There are reading lessons, writing activities, literature extensions, lessons in hyperbole, genre study and even a weather unit based on the book.

Ed Helper has several free printable Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs lesson plans. Check here for more free printable lesson plans based on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. This site has free printable Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs weather science activities.

Click here for free printable vocabulary and reading lesson plans from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Here's a site with free printable vocabulary lessons based on Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. And last but not least, for a little fun from all that study, free printable Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movie coloring pages!

Free Printable Polar Express Party Planner Kit

Here's a Christmas holiday party for kids with literature connections. Print a free party kit from "The Polar Express" complete with games, crafts, party decorations, invitations, greeting cards, party favors and more. This party theme kit is based on the beloved book "The Polar Express" by Chris VanAllsburg and the hit holiday movie.

This free printable Polar Express party kit is perfect for those looking to host a secular Christmas holiday party and avoid religious Christmas themes.
Houghton-Mifflin, publishers of Vanallsburg's original book offer free Polar Express activities, coloring pages, crafts, games, coloring pages, Christmas tree ornaments and holiday decorations.

Here are just a few of the free printable activities--a Santa hat, poetry frame worksheet, Christmas card, North Pole sign, winter holiday party garland and patterns for snowflakes. Games includes puzzles, word search, fill in the blank and matching. Make Polar Express recipes including mint cookies and of course, hot chocolate! For healthier versions, make snowballs (popcorn balls), edible snow (popcorn with Parmesan cheese), Rudolph punch (cranberry and blood orange juice) and reindeer food (carrots, celery and sliced apples). String jingle bells on red ribbon or yarn for party crafts and give as party prizes. Make bird feeders by spreading peanut butter on pine cones and rolling in bird seed

Free Printable Series of Unfortunate Events Activities

A Series of Unfortunate Events, is an endearingly popular children's literature series. It's penned by the mysterious and elusive author Lemony Snicket. Despite the gloomy author's grim predictions that no one will like these kids books, millions of children and adults continue follow the Baudelaire children, Klaus, Violet and Sunny. Why not read this wonderful children's literature series with your students or homeschool kids? Here are free printable Series of Unfortunate Events worksheets and activities to supplement.

Lemony Snicket has over twenty different free printable Series of Unfortunate Events games, activities, coloring pages, word games, trivia, ciphers, crossword puzzles, fill-in-the-blanks, anagrams and activities based on works of children's literature. You'll love the activities using Sunny Baudelaire's baby talk to translate messages. Harper Collins, publisher of Lemony Snicket Series of Unfortunate Events free printable 20 page literature guide and activity book based on the Series of Unfortunate Events kids books. The illustrations come from the book and can be used as coloring pages. They lesson plans are called Lamentable Lesson Plans.

This site has free printable Lemony Snicket activities and games based on ASoUE kids books. Notably, there is a link for a free download of the complete Series of Unfortunate Events game for PC. There are also complete free printable Series of Unfortunate Events reading guides for the 13 kids books (of course he had to stop at unlucky number 13!) Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler) is one intelligent dude. This link to Quiddich show that despite being children's literature, there are many adult allusions to history, literature and world events in the Series of Unfortunate Events kids books. These volumes of children's literature make excellent classroom literature for read-aloud and reader's workshop and teen novel study. The vocabulary is challenging, plots are complicated, characters are engaging and the concept riveting. Explore them in your school, library summer reading club, homeschool or book discussion group. The movies have been quite popular too.

Free Printable Shel Silverstein Printable Activities

Shel Silverstein is a beloved poet, children's author, musician and artist. He's given the world of children's literature dozens of books, poems and funny illustrations to enjoy. Shel passed away in 1999, but children's literature will never forget his charming, silly poems and books. A Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Runny Babbit, The Giving Tree, Don't Bump the Glump, Lafdacio, the Lion Who Shot Back, A Giraffe and a Half, The Missing Piece, Falling Up are just a few of his delightful works of wit and whimsy. InSilverstein's poems, animals talk, grown-ups are silly and children rule the world from cardboard pirate ships. If you would like to play in his wonderful world, here are free printable Shel Silverstein activities, coloring pages and lesson plans.

There are free printable Shel Silverstein lesson plans, games and poetry writing prompts and activities for National Poetry Month in April. There are online Shel Silverstein games you can play.They each feature the funny characters from favorite Shel Silverstein poems. He's made free printable poetry writing prompts and activities booklets as well. These poetry writing prompts are perfect for classroom lesson plans, homeschool and library reading clubs But you don't need to be a teacher, librarian or even an adult to enjoy free printable lesson plans. His website is devoted to his favorite people: kids!

For young artists, cartoonists and poets, Silverstein designed a free printable poetry writing prompts and activities for children to illustrate. Kids will love creating their own poetry prompts and activities book about "Kate's Scissors" and all the funny things Kate cuts with her scissors. There's another poetry writing prompts activities booklet called "Eight Balloons" for children to make. There are Shel Silverstein themed crafts too. Here are free printable Giving Tree lesson plans. This Sweet Life is a blog with a free printable Shel Silverstein activities packet. Print crossword puzzles, word search, coloring pages and more. Teacher Vision has free printable Shel Silverstein activities, too.

Free Printable City of Ember Lesson Activities

The "City of Ember" book series, by Jeanne DuPrau, (2003) is a science-fiction post-apocalyptic fantasy series loved by students and educators alike. Many elementary, intermediate and middle schools are incorporating City of Ember books into their classroom curriculum. With the release of a movie version students can read and study the books and follow up with the film version for comparison. Here are free printable City of Ember book activities, movie study guides and lesson plans.

The series chronologically is City of Ember, People of Sparks, Prophet of Yonwood and Diamond of Darkhold. Not all have been made into film so there are movie study guides only for City of Ember. But there are book activities for all books. Here are free printable lesson plans for teaching the City of Ember book series. Lesson Planet is a pay site with some free book activities to print. Here arefree printable City of Ember lesson plans. Scholastic also charges for many of their printables. But here is a City of Ember book discussion guide to print free. Here are more free printable City of Ember lesson plans for teachers of middle school and homeschool parents. The movie study guides are really helpful for preparing book activities.

This free printable lesson plans kit includes story maps, worksheets, book activities, character webs, comprehension questions, movie study guides, vocabulary, grammar, symbolism, cause and effect, analysis and application questions, synthesis and evaluation questions, book activities, games, reading response rubrics, charts, quizzes and more. The City of Ember books are a dystopian series that tells of a people that has suffered depletion. They've gone underground, to re-emerge at a given time in the future. City of Ember is Orwellian science fiction, reminiscent of 1984, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. Use book activities and movie study guides for units on science fiction.

Free Printable Inkheart Activities, Lessons

March is National Reading Month, and what better time to explore best loved children's literature classics? The movie Inkheart was based on a trilogy of books by Cornelia Funke, including Inkheart, Inkspell and Inkdeath. This wonderful set of medieval type fantasy literature continues to thrill readers as the film did in 2009. Destined to become a children's literature classic, here are free printableInkheart lesson plans, fantasy coloring pages and activities based on the Cornelia Funke collection. Check EdHelper for free printable Inkheart book activities. Scholastic has a free printable Inkheart literature guide for Cornelia Funke books Inkspell and Inkdeath and companion movies.

The movie website at Warner Bros. has downloads including a free printable Inkheart activity booklet. Keep the Inkheart magic alive with beautifully illustrated word puzzles, word games, crossword, mad-libs, maze, hidden messages, design a fantasy butterfly and more. Each activity page can be enjoyed as a coloring page as well. The drawings are intricate and whimsical and will help readers respond to Inkspell and Inkdeath as they read them.

Beyond that, there aren't too many Cornelia Funke Inkheart, Inkspell or Inkdeath coloring pages available online, so here are general fantasy and medieval coloring pages. Here's a page of free printable Inkheart activities and lesson plans as well. Here are a few Inkheart lesson plans that cover Inkspell and Inkdeath, too. Cornelia Funke has written a literary classic which became a much-loved movie with Brendan Frasier, Andy Serkis Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent and Paul Bettany. Lovers of fantasy books will love joining Mo, Meggie, Dustfinger, Farid, Resa and all the fantastical characters of Inkheart. And maybe filmmakers will make Inkspell into a sequel?

Free Printable Tale of Despereaux Activities, Lesson Plans

The Tale of Despereaux is a charming children's literature book which has been made into a movie. It's an epic medieval love story of mouse sized proportions! 

Here are free printable Tale of Despereaux lesson plans, including a book discussion guide from Scholastic. Here are free printable  packet of activities from the Tale of Despereaux with core English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum connections. Printable Worksheets also has free printable Tale of Despereaux ELA lessons packet. Activity Village has free printable Tale of Despereaux coloring pages, a mouse mask, games and puzzles. Coloring Book Info has Tale of Despereaux coloring pages featuring the pint-sized medieval hero.

Here's one more packet of ELA lessons from The Tale of Despereaux. This story could work with ELA lessons on the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. DL-TK has some cute free printable mouse crafts and coloring pages to use for Tale of Despereaux ELA lessons. Here are free printable fantasy coloring pages and medieval crafts and activities to supplement ELA lessons and activities.

Free Printable Spiderwick Chronicles Lesson Plans

March is National Reading Month, time to focus on the best in children's literature. Today's featured genre is woodland folklore fantasy books. Does your spine tingle at the mention of sprites, pixies, brownies, ogres, hobgoblins, faeries and gryphons? Then "The Spiderwick Chronicles" is just the book series/movie for you! The first book Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide just celebrated its 10th birthday. Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi wrote and illustrated the The Spiderwick Chronicles. There are five more Spiderwick Chronicles stories: The Seeing Stone, Lucinda's Secret, The Ironwood Tree and The Wrath of Mulgarath. Spiderwick is Lord of the Rings for elementary school. There are three more books from Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles called The Nixie's Song, A Giant Problem and The Wyrm King.

If you enjoy The Spiderwick Chronicles, book and/or movie, or fantasy books in general, how about some free printable Spiderwick coloring pages? Here are Spiderwick coloring pages depicting Hogsqueal, Mulgarath, Thimbletack, Jared, Simon, Mallory, Spiderwick Estate, sylphs, faeiries, ogres, hobgoblins and a griffin. DL-TK has free printable fantasy books coloring pages. Use these for folklore lesson plans.

Spiderwick is the homepage of the woodland fantasy books series is loaded with fun stuff! Click the Downloads link for printable hobgoblin mask, crafts, coloring pages, Spiderwick gameboard, trading cards, puzzles, game cards and more. You can collect creature trading cards but you have to watch for them; they aren't easy to spot. Look for brownies, boggarts, unicorns, dwarves, elves, pixies, sprites, the Phooka, Stray Sod and other creatures of the woodland night. Teachers, you can print off free writing strands, vocabulary words, folklore lesson plans, journal exercises, and other free folklore and fantasy books lesson plans. The sound effects and graphics on this sites are enchanting. Hogsqueal that rascally hobgoblin takes you on a tour of the site.

Tony DiTerlizzi has created a pdf booklet of free printable Spiderwick activities. First are several pages of faerie coloring pages and paper doll clothes straight from the beautiful art of Tony DiTerlizzi. There is also a whimsical recipe for yummy faerie porridge, a riddle making game and a creative writing page. Each activity has pieces of Tony DiTerlizzi's artwork in black and white decorating the pages. These make perfect coloring pages also! Here are free printable Spiderwick Chronicles lesson plans from ESL Printables. Here are more Spiderwick activities and activities on fantasy books.