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Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts

Bibliotherapy with Vintage Children's Literature: Lesson Plans Using Old Kids' Books


Greetings from the Omschool! Teacher Omi (grama) here with lesson plans using vintage children's literature. I was an avid reader pretty much from day 1. I grew up being read to, reading and and then reading to others, as a parent, teacher and grandparent. I have a huge memory bank and now library of old kids' books from my childhood and earlier.  Here are ways to use vintage children's literature as bibliotherapy. 

First, think back to favorite books from your childhood. If you can't remember the title or author, ask a librarian. This is how I unearthed "Mr. Miacca: An English Folktale (Evaline Ness, 1967). She was able to do a Google search and found it because I vaguely remembered that it was written by the same author as another favorite "Sam, Bangs and Moonshine." Another librarian helped me find my beloved book "The Doll of Lilac Valley." I knew the name but not the author and since it was withdrawn from circulation, it seemed lost in time. Which brought me to the next step. 

Do your own searches with Advanced Google Book Search, or Google Books just Google, using details I recalled from other works of children's literature I'd loved. This is how I found "Walter the Lazy Mouse" (Marjorie Flack, 1937). I'd been read this story at around age 4 and could only remember that it was about a mouse who moves to an island and makes furniture. 

Use picture memories. Many of my earliest books memories are of the illustrations. Before discovering Walter, anyone I'd ask would suggest "Stuart Little." I knew that wasn't the one because I recall the image of Walter making a stick bed and table. My mental image was a little blurred with Stuart Little but when I saw Walter's furniture, the illustrations fit my memory image perfectly. 

Begin (or continue) collecting old kids' books. Through garage sales, library book sales, thrift stores and now Thriftbooks and Amazon, I've amassed over 1,000 kids books, most written in the 1960s or before. Some were from the Little Lending Libraries. I rarely pay more than a buck or two per volume. I've had to pay more for a few of them because of age and the fact that they're collectibles. "Mr. Bear Squash-You-All-Flat" a classic my dad and I both loved, was going for about $50 but finally, I was able to purchase it for $8 at Thriftbooks. 

Find old kids books at Thriftbooks and Amazon. These sources have the best pricing for purchasing used and vintage children's literature.  As part of our travel quest, my husband and I rediscovered Uzbekistan, specifically Tashkent and Samarkand. He'd not heard of these cities but I remembered reading of them at about age 5, in my grandmother's Childcraft series. 

Try to recall as many details as possible. The Childcraft books were a children's encyclopedia set. My husband had not heard of these so I thought maybe I'd gotten the name wrong. All I remembered was that they were white or silver books with a dark red banner. I searched and found that the Children of Many Lands was volume 5 (with the Uzbekistan stories) but the cover didn't look familiar. I kept searching and found that Grandma Langerak had the 1961 collection with the covers exactly as I had remembered. I was able to locate and purchase volume 5. I've not received it yet so I don't know for sure if the stories of Taskent and Samarkand are in it but I will update you!

Keep digging. My husband had a favorite book called "The Big Book of Real Trains" that was lost. It took us awhile to locate, first because he forgot the "real" trains part. Then we discovered it had about 6 editions as trains changed over the years. We finally located one based on his memory of the cover. The illustrations were close but not exact. So we'll keep pursuing till we get the correct volume. 

Be prepared for some culture shock. I'll talk more about this is upcoming posts. Just to summarize, your beloved kids books will likely contain some things that might be uncomfortable or even offensive to you now.  Depending on time period, many kids books contained racial profiling, cultural appropriation (or misappropriation) and inappropriate depictions. I recently found a recording of one of my favorite albums "Aunt Theresa Please Tell Me a Story."  I cringed at how missionaries were portrayed as so superior and condescending to those they were missioning to. The racism, bigotry, inaccuracies and Messiah Complex in "The Stick of Wood That Talked" was rampant. 


Story party ideas for children's literature based lesson plans: snacks, games, crafts


Psst, homeschool parents, want wow-worthy lesson plans for all ages? How about book-based story parties! A story or book party is suuuper easy to organize and costs next to nothing, compliments of your recycle bin, library bookshelf, snack cupboard, free printables and child ingenuity! Kids can do almost all the planning themselves, thereby getting some extra learning cred! Or you can throw an impromptu book party anytime the spirit moves! Here's how to do a story party (with children's literature crafts, snacks, games and cross-curricular connections)--for ages pre-K to middle school, any occasion--and why you should! 

For the impromptu kind, simply announce a book party. Is the weather wet or too cold or hot? Got a sick kid or three? Or maybe everyone's just a leetle crabby. Perfect story party time! Take an hour or two off and read to kids. Turn off the phone, computer, music and television. 

For the planned kind, like for a children's birthday party, choose a literature-based theme--adventure, mystery, vehicles, nature, animals-- and let each child choose several of their favorite books, if pre-K to first grade, or one for older kids. Or keep it open-ended. Or follow the unit theme for the week. You'll be amazed at how students can draw literature based connections between books. Themes might be nursery rhymes, fairy tales, fantasy (even older kids will love this).

Decorate the house. Put energetic kids to work making storybook based decorations of scenes from kids stories. You can get really crazy and decorate the entire house on your book theme.  My now-grown son did this with his college roommates for a Dr. Seuss themed going-away party. They decorated rooms in different biomes: mountains, desert, rainforest. Click this link for for free printable kids book crafts from DL-TK. 

Make costumes and let kids dress up (it is a party after all!). Just use your dress up bin. No need for anything fancy. The point is for kids to use their imagination and create their own. Stay tuned for upcoming posts on easy, DIY, no sew costumes. Here are links for free printable masks (perfect for the youngest learners!)

Make a pillow pile (crucial step). Pile the couch and floor with pillows and blankets. Invite stuffed animal friends. Kids enjoy getting snuggly, especially if they're not feeling well. My children and now grandchildren LOOOVVEE Omi's pillow pile story parties! They've developed a somewhat gestalt cult following LOL! 

Make book-based crafts. Don't buy anything. Don't even plan ahead. This is where your children's fabulously inventive minds get to cut loose. Task kids with planning craft projects based on the books you read. For printable crafts and craft project ideas, have them Google the name of the book plus crafts (for example "Harry Potter crafts"). Set out the recycle bin, crafts supplies and decorative collage items. 

Act out the story. Have kids write a script based on the book and then create costumes, props and scenery. This could take several days to a week. Provide dress-up clothes, bedding, towels, boxes, camping furniture and craft supplies. Just use what you have. The old blanket over chairs works great! Your recycle bin is a good resource for scenery. 

Make up interactive games to play at the book party. The best book-based game formats are scavenger or treasure hunts (with child-drawn treasure maps), LARP (live-action role play) and choose-your-own adventure. You can also make life-size board games based on books you read. Trouble, Monopoly, Clue or Chutes and Ladders work well as formats. For example, if reading The Hardy Boys, make up a Clue game on the book. 

Make snacks. Ask kids to think up snack and story pairings to. Make foods listed in kids stories, such as Little House in the Big Woods (cornbread) or The Boxcar Children (vegetable soup). Some, like American Girls, have accompanying cookbooks or recipes listed in the back. We once had a vintage Winnie-the-Pooh party with haycorn (pecan) pie, succotash (squash) and honey cake. But again, don't buy anything special. Half the fun is seeing the creative literature connections they come up with. Let them experiment. Oh and you must serve "coffee" (chocolate milk) or "tea" (juice) in fancy teacups like grownups do at their book clubs. Kids love pretending to be adults. 

Keep kids engaged.  Preschoolers and special needs children might illustrate kids stories they hear. Let kids draw and color while they listen. This keeps fidgety ones busy. Also mix up reading with activity. If they're getting bored, do something else. Fit the party to the child, not the child to the party. Don't make is too schoolish. Keep the focus on fun. Children who like writing might write a journal entry about the storybook.

Here are my children's and grandchildren's book recommendations. Harry Potter (thank you, Molly), "The Chronicles of Narnia" (a personal favorite), Arthur from PBS (Emma's fave), "Aesop's Fables" and "Grimm's Fairy Tales" (Jake's suggestion), "Mike Mulligan" (husband's suggestion) "The Hobbit" (Albert's contribution), Beatrix Potter, Dr. Seuss, Bible stories, superhero stories (grandsons Moses and Silas, this one's for you!) Disney princess stories (granddaughter Lola, lookin' at you here), Eric Carle books (Lucian, this one's yours!), Thomas the Tank Engine (for you, Milo) and baby Ezra's Pooh Bear But that's only the beginning! 


Free printable Scrabble games and homemade Scrabble and Boggle word games


Looking for hands-on spelling lesson plans? Here's a fun, easy DIY language arts game to make using homemade Scrabble or Boggle dice. Use manipulatives with preschool through high school, in reading, writing and spelling activities. Here are free printable Scrabble games plus instructions for a homemade word game I call Babble (Scrabble plus Boggle). The site gives free printable Scrabble tiles if you want to play the traditional game too! 

I love the word games Boggle and Scrabble in which players make words from random letters. Both Scrabble and Boggle are superb word games for spelling and reading practice. So I invented a game called Babble, that combines the scoring of Scrabble with the letter mix-up of Boggle. Use with the free printable games I've linked to, in reading lesson plans, spelling games and writing activities. Here's how to make and play Babble.  

You will need

12 dice: Recycle die from old games like Kismet or Yahtzee.
Dice can be purchased at almost any store for under $2).

Permanent markers

Blank stickers (round or square white stickers are best)

Note pad

small pencils

watch or timer

small box


To make Babble: (Scrabble plus Boggle)

Affix a sticker to each of the six sides of the die.

Label each die side with a different letter. With 12 dice times six sides you will have room for 72 letters. Since some letters are more popular, label dice this way. It makes no difference where on the dice you put which letters, Just be sure to get this many letters in.

  -four times each, letters: A, E, I, O, U, R, S, T, L, N

  -three times each letters: B, C, D, F, G, H, M, P

  -one time each, letters: J, K, Q, V, W, X, Y, Z

  -dictionary to check spelling


To play Scraggle:


Distribute pencils and pads. Players take turns shaking box with letter dice, to rearrange.

Player open box and make sure all dice are flat and showing letters.

Time players for three to five minutes, to see how many words they can make with letters showing.


Scoring is as follows: 

  -3 letter words = 5 points

  -4 letter words = 10 points

  -5 letter words = 20 points

  -6 letter words = 50 points

  -7 letter words = 100 points

  -8 letter words = 200 points

Players should check each others words for accuracy.

Use the free printable spelling worksheets plus this game for learning on the go! Do spelling lesson plans in the car, at the store, on a place, while waiting in line; anywhere you go it goes. 



Free printable make your own reading booklets with coloring pages


Educator Jonathon Holt says children learn best when they are actively involved. So here are free printable mini books, miniature coloring books and preschool activity booklets for children to color. Subjects in mini books include letters, words, seasons, animals, science, Bible, holidays and lots more. These coloring books make excellent preschool lesson plans for classroom and homeschool lessons for ages 4-7 years old. These free printable activity booklets are especially good for special needs children.

To print coloring books, visit DLTK-Teach. This page lists all the themes for free printable mini books and activity booklets. There are 26 alphabet mini books, one for each letter. They are titled "What begins with the Letter (A, B, C, etc.)?" Words are shown in one color and the letter being explored shows as a different color. If you print in black and white, the letter will appear in a different shade of gray. Ask the child to color the letter a different color than the other words to emphasize it. There are also suggested reading activities to teach each letter using the free printable mini books.

Other subjects for free printable coloring books include Bible: Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark, Creation, Life of Jesus and Men of the Bible. There is a series of free printable activity booklets for preschool lesson plans called "All About Me," in which the child personalizes to book to himself. There are booklets about "My family," too. These mini books work well for preschool lesson plans on social studies and health

There are several science-themed free printable activity booklets, too. Subjects include: birds, farm life, nutrition and vehicles. Use the free printable seasons booklets for science, too. "Fall" explores leaves and trees; "Winter" covers water and ice: "Spring" looks at new life and seeds and "Summer" covers plant growth.

Seasonal topics for free printable coloring books for preschool lesson plans include: Halloween (gentle, non-scary images of pumpkins), Veteran's Day, (patriotic), Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, St. Patrick's Day and Earth Day. These work well as preschool lesson plans too. Each of the activity booklets weaves in reading skills and some basic counting activities. Activity booklets are 10 pages long. Pages print half-sheet (two pages on each printed page). Each page can be printed in color or black and white. If you print the booklet in black and white, the child can color each page. This extra exposure will help to reinforce the concept begin taught. As she colors, you may ask her to repeat the words printed on the page.

Some of the mini books are available for Spanish speaking children also. You'll like that these preschool lesson plans multitask. As children cut and paste, they learn eye-hand coordination. Coloring helps build fine motor skills. As they make their books, they learn to read and follow directions. Assembling the booklets is good for sequencing and organization. There's lots of learning going on when children make these free printable books.For more free printable reading activities visit Free Printable Lesson Plans.

Free Printable Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Activities, Lesson Plans, Coloring Pages


 "A told B and B told C, I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree." And so begins the beloved children's book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin Jr. Kids love the zaniness that ensues when the other letters of the alphabet follow! This best-loved ABC book tops preschool reading lists. 

Here are free printable Chicka Chicka Boom Boom activities, lesson plans and coloring pages for kindergarten and early childhood classrooms. 1+1+1+1 has a booklet of free printables with alphabet, reading and counting math lessons. Kids can extend lesson plans using the activities as coloring pages. 

Making Learning Fun is always a must-stop for free printable preschool activities. Check out the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom story felt board pattern printables. There are free printable crafts, games, puzzles and other educational preschool activities. 

Here's a pdf with free printable ABC patterns and templates from Chicka Chicka Boom Boom from KIDZClub. Super Coloring has several free printable coloring pages from this children's literature favorite also. 

Use these activities to create a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom unit or host an ABC party. Assign each child a letter of the alphabet and have them create costumes. Act out the story. Play Race to the coconut tree. Use alphabet shaped cookie cutters to make ABC sandwiches or cookies to celebrate! 

Free printable connect the dots educational games, dot to dot puzzles


DL-TK Coloring has free printable connect the dots games. Get connect the dots picture puzzles for every letter of the alphabet. There are free printable dot to dot puzzles that count by ones and skip count by twos, fives, tens, as well as connect the dot educational games using letters. Children learn words that begin with certain letters and practice number and letter order as well.
All Kids Network offers free printable connect the dot educational games of varying levels of difficulty. Free printable dot to dot picture puzzles feature vehicle, animal, nature and cartoon characters including Pooh Bear, My Little Pony and several other favorites. After children finish connect the dots puzzles, they can color the picture.

Print Activities has 70 different free printable dot to dot puzzles. There are different levels of number connect the dot educational games with up to ninety numbered dots to connect. There are around twenty free printable connect the dot letter puzzles. There are free printable dot to dot worksheets with animals, seasons, holiday, sports, medieval, princess, pirate, outer space and general picture puzzles. Papa Jan, has 44 free printable connect the dots coloring pages. Scroll through as only four are shown on each page. 

Free printable felt board patterns, book stencils, story templates for preschool reading

 March in National Reading Month. To teach emergent readers, preschool educators use felt boards to illustrate books and tell stories. Here are free printable felt board patternsstencils and felt board reading lesson templatesfrom First Palette. First Palette has free printable stencils and templates of shapes, animals, nature, leaves and trees, flowers, numbers, letters, people, clothing, cars, transportation, food--any pattern you need for any preschool unit!
DLTK Coloring has over 50 free printable felt board stencils. Templates include geometric shapes, animal outlines, solar system, seasons, weather, holiday, snowflake patterns, food and other preschool theme shapes.
Childcare Land has over 150 free felt board themes. Each theme has free printable felt board patterns, stencils, templates and activities. A helpful teaching video demonstrates how to use each lesson. Each kit has free printable stories. Pattern themes include months, animals, holiday patterns, seasonal, weather, children's literature, clothing, body parts, food, transportation, toys and games. Use free printable felt board patterns for science, social studies, reading, writing and math lessons.
Making Learning Fun has a gigantic assortment of free printable felt board patterns. This site features complete children's book themed felt board patterns: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?, Cat in the Hat, Clifford, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, nursery rhymes, fairy tales, fables and more.
Sunday School teachers used a similar tool called Flannel-Graph. To make felt board pieces, print stencils and cut out patterns. Trace pattern outlines on felt. Or trace templates on flannel. Cut out felt board shapes. As you tell a story, add felt pieces to story board to illustrate. Use as patterns to cut fabric shapes for Halloween costumes, craft appliques, paint stencils, cookie cutter templates for baking or playdoh.

Free Printable Reading Response Journal Activities and Rubric for ELA (English Language Arts)

Kids get tired of doing the same ho-hum book reports and worksheets. The best way to teach any subject is with hands-on activities. Teach reading and literature study with interactive, personalized reading response journals. Get students interact with books, to take stories apart and live them, to explore characters, themes, symbols. Here are 50 printable activities to do that. They're multi-sensory, and employ HOTS (higher order thinking skills). I've included a template for a student activity calendar to organize response activities. Note. One of the activities is to create Facebook social profiles for characters. Optional Activities for an ELA (English Language Arts) Response Journal Rubric

Free Printable Easter Bunny, Peter Rabbit, Velveteen Rabbit Lesson Plans


Easter is probably the most quintessentially preschool holiday of all. Baskets, candy, egg decorating, bunnies, baby animals, spring--for young and young at heart, here are free printable Easter bunny crafts. I've included printable activities based on my two favorite bunnies Peter Rabbit and the Velveteen Rabbit, too. Parents and teachers, you'll want these for preschool classroom fun. 

Printable animal masks from Classroom Jr. Everything is more fun when you're in costume. So let's start by making a printable Easter bunny mask. Here are more animal printables from First Palette. Print on plain paper and transfer to recycled cereal box cardboard to make mask more durable. 

Vintage Easter Bunny crafts Now that you are properly attired, let's make some Easter baskets and greeting cards. The Toymaker has free printable egg baskets, bunny cards and an egg roll game (like they play on the White House). Why not make cards and baskets and fill with Easter eggs or candy and deliver to a lonely senior neighbor (wearing your mask, of course). The Easter bunny loves his older friends, too! 

3D Paper Bunny Crafts The calendar may say spring, but Easter is often cold and damp. Settle down to an afternoon of serious rainy day crafting with free printable 3D bunny-themed paper toys from Craft Jr. I'm partial to the old-fashioned diorama. 

Paper Bunny Toy Mania DL-TK, those wonderfully crafty folk, have an Easter blowout of bunny coloring pages, masks, paper ears, stand-up toys, pop up crafts and much more. I love how easy these are to make. Perfect for young and special needs children who need no-fail activities. 

Peter Rabbit fun Peter Rabbit has his own page, along with other Beatrix Potter friends. The Velveteen Rabbit (Margery Williams) has a page on Making Friends. It's part of a complete page of free printable bunny-based coloring pages, games, puzzles, dot-to-dot, count by number and other activities. I like the felt board games and printable felt board patterns. First School has an educational Peter Rabbit unit with learning games, literature activities, writing prompts and stories. 

Happity, Hippity, Hoppity Easter! 

Preschool Animal Alphabet Themed Snacks from A-Z Plus ABC Printables


Teachers, here’s a month-long menu of alphabet-themed snacks. Use these for interactive reading lesson plans. Use Alpha-Bits cereal, letter pretzels, cookies for letter shape. Make character sandwiches using any spread and leave open face. Use pretzels or matchstick carrots for whiskers. For eyes, use Cheerios, spray cheese, raisins, olives, banana or kiwi slices. Make ears, nose and mouth from apple bits, pimentos, pepper pieces, triangle chips or crackers. Use pretzel sticks for legs. For cookie creations, use candy or fruit to make faces.  

A-Z healthy school lunches recipes, monthly planner of alphabet foods

In 31 years, I've taught every age and subject, including homeschool, preschool, Montessori, special needs and adult ed. I make lesson plans hands on and fun. Food is a great teaching medium. Here are A-Z healthy lunches and snacks.

A
--apples and almond butter
--ants on a log (celery spread with cream cheese and raisins) 
B
--banana animal boat: Peel banana. Cut a slit; add animal crackers.
--bunny bites (baby carrots, broccoli)
--berry blue blaster (blueberry or blackberry yogurt) 
C
--cheese and crackers
--C3 crudités  (celery, cauliflower, carrots with cream cheese) 
--Cheery cherry cat cookies (frosted cookies with maraschino cherry eyes and nose)
D
--dill pickles
--dolphin crackers
--dog chow (square and round breakfast cereals--Life, Cheerios, Kix)
--duck duck goose (marshmallow Peeps, animal crackers)
E
--elephant eggs (deviled eggs) 
--Cadbury Eggs
To read the rest of the alphabet snacks and recipes, visit my Teachers Pay Teachers site. 

Free Printable Summer Reading Activities, Book Crafts, Literature Games


March is National Reading Month, kicked off by "Read Across America." Schools abound with reading opportunities. But what about those long summer months? Here are summer reading enrichmentactivities to keep kids' noses in books year-round! Included are interactive reading response activities, ELA (English language arts) lessons, book-based crafts and literature response lessons. Use these multi-sensory, cross-curricular Montessori-based lessons for Readers Workshop, special education students, reluctant readers and divergent learners too.
Entrepreneurial reading. Research, plan and organize summer money-making or nonprofit fundraising ventures: yard sale, babysitting, lawn and pet services, knitting and craft sales, housecleaning. Host a lemonade stand. Lemonade Day shows how.
Book-based crafts. Scholastic has free printable book crafts, games and literature response activities. Access Scholastic publishers' vast data base of children's literature. Get games, crafts and printables from favorite kids' books.
DIY summer reading camp. Have kids start their own summer reading club. Education.com has free printable reading activities. Utilize materials and your local library. Host book club activities in your backyard! Discuss favorite books, make crafts, play games, act out stories and enjoy book-themed snacks!
Book recipes. Make foods described in books. Look for companion cookbooks to favorite books: American Girls, Little House on the Prairie, Haunted America, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs have cookbooks with recipes from the stories. Invent recipes based on books. We made Winnie-the-Pooh "haycorn" (pecan) pie and honey cookies.
Readers theater or puppet show. Make book character puppets. Have kids retell story. Or let them write their own stories using homemade puppets. My kids wrote a puppet show using puppets from Mercer Mayer's "There's a Nightmare in my Closet", Mike Mulligan's steam shovel (from Virginia Lee Burton's book) and "Word Bird" (Jane Belk Moncure).
Reading response journal. Have kids track reading and complete activities. Check my blog Free Lesson Plans 4U and Free Printable Lesson Plans and Kidz Literature for tips to make literature response journals and activity suggestions. Here's a free printable reading calendar from PBS.
Rewards and incentives. Participate with Pizza Hut Book-It program. The first week of March is the "Let's all Read" program, partnered with One More Story. Kids read and get pizza, plus they donate to RIF by reading! Double good! Incent reading with books. Join Scholastic--get free books for ordering. Give as prizes for completed reading.





Hands-On Homemade Reading Crafts, Book Activities, Literature Games


March is National Reading Month, starting with the NEA's "Read Across America." Looking for ideas to inspire a life-long love of books? Here are reading response activities, interactive ELA (English language arts) lessons, book-based crafts and literature response lessons. Book activities are hands-on, multi-sensory, cross-curricular Montessori-style. Use for interactive Readers Workshop, special education students, reluctant readers, divergent learners and summer reading enrichment.

Reading response journal. Have kids create personalized reading logs, respond to literature and complete book-based activities. Check my blog Free Lesson Plans 4U and Free Printable Lesson Plans for tips to make literature response journals and activity suggestions. Here are free printable reading activities and calendar tracker from PBS.

Homemade books. Cut book covers from cereal box. Cover with scrap wrapping paper or wallpaper. Cover with magazine picture collage. Decoupage by painting pictures with watered-down school glue, front and back. Cut lined paper pages (for text) and blank paper (for illustrations). Or use scrap paper and draw in text lines.

Book-based promotional materials. Have kids play marketer for their favorite book or author. Make posters, book covers advertising literature. Create 3-D sculptures, models or dioramas based on books. Make book-based merchandise: toys, snacks, food, games. In homeschooling, my 6th grade son designed a "Hobbit Holes" cereal box designed on his favorite J.R.R. Tolkien novel.

Book diorama. Create scenes from books using recycled products. Arrange scene in shoe box. Use small dolls (Lego, Fisher-Price, Little Tikes, Polly Pockets) as characters.
Story-reading audio/video presentations. Make audio recordings of kids reading books. Covert to mp3 files for iPod. Videotape students reading and story-telling. Upload videos to Youtube.

Story-telling. Students read aloud to younger students. Students act out children's books and present to younger or special needs classes. In high school, our oldest daughter acted out a Shel Silverstein's poem "Noise Day" for special education kids. They loved when she skateboarded across the stage!

Book-music connections. Create music playlists based on books. Select metaphorical songs. Kids will love choosing modern songs to represent story themes. Our family saw a production of "Macbeth." The play was set to Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance," "The Decemberists "This is Why We Fight" and "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" by Cage the Elephant. It really resonated with students and helped them understand and relate to Shakespeare.For more reading response activities, visit my blog Kidz Literature.

Free Printable Super Why Coloring Pages, Reading Worksheets, Games

Super WHY! is an animated PBS preschool learning cartoon for kids ages 3-6. This interactive television show teaches children language arts, reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary and word skills. Use these free printable Super Why lesson plans, games, crafts, coloring pages and worksheets at home, in day care, at school or in summer enrichment. I've included companion activities.

* There are 44 pages of free printable Super Why games , coloring and crafts on the website. It's laid out similar to Webkinz, but doesn't cost anything to play. The activities page features videos and music. Kids learn best when they can see and do. I homeschooled my kids and they learned phonics using simple, repetitive songs set to motion and dance. Encourage preschoolers to memorize songs, sing along, dance and play with Super Why characters.  Scroll throught for the Free Printable Super Why Coloring Pages, Reading Worksheets, Games and check out free printable Super Why coloring pages on Parents magazine. 

Free Printable Super Why Coloring Pages, Reading Worksheets, Games

Super WHY! is an animated PBS preschool learning cartoon for kids ages 3-6. This interactive television show teaches children language arts, reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary and word skills. Use these free printable Super Why lesson plans, games, crafts, coloring pages and worksheets at home, in day care, at school or in summer enrichment. I've included companion activities.

* There are 44 pages of free printable Super Why games , coloring and crafts on the website. It's laid out similar to Webkinz, but doesn't cost anything to play. The activities page features videos and music. Kids learn best when they can see and do. I homeschooled my kids and they learned phonics using simple, repetitive songs set to motion and dance. Encourage preschoolers to memorize songs, sing along, dance and play with Super Why characters.  Scroll throught for the Free Printable Super Why Coloring Pages, Reading Worksheets, Games and check out free printable Super Why coloring pages on Parents magazine. 

Free Printable Murder Mystery Games, for Mystery Genre Lesson Plans

Teaching a unit on mystery in ELA? Then I've got a treat for you. Just in time for Halloween, free printable murder mystery games. English language arts teachers and homeschoolers, feast your eyes on this plethora of free murder mystery games and murder mystery play writing prompts.  Print murder mystery party games and use as a companion American or English literature lesson plans. These activities would nicely supplement lesson plans on Agatha Christie, Edgar Allen Poe, Cornell Woolrich or other classic crime fiction. There's on that dates back to Elizabethan England to Shakespeare's time. Perfect for Readers Workshop, Writers Workshop or whole-class activities. From a vintage literati-mysterati, happy sleuthing!  "The Raven" (2012-John Cusack) is rated R, but could be a good connection movie in appropriate high school settings. Read on Read on

Free Printable Apple Lesson Plans for Fall Preschool Activities

Apples are a popular theme for preschool fall lesson plans. Looking for apple activities? Have I got a great "sweet" treat for you--a plethora of free printable apple-themed fun. This booklet includes apple math activities, science puzzles, social studies lessons and history extensions. There are printable creative writing prompts, word games and more. Read more

Free Printable World Literature Activities--Tolkien, Beatrix Potter, Pippi Longstocking


In honor of Roald Dahl Day (a U.K. observance) on September 13, here are links to free printable lesson plans based his books. Do you love Roald Dahl books? A better question might be which are your favorites? If you said The BFG (Big Friendly Giant) then give three cheers because Disney brings out The BFG movie (with uber talented Mark Rylance) July, 2016! To celebrate, here are free printable BFG coloring pages and also free printable coloring pages from other Roald Dahl books to movies. Many Roald Dahl books have made it big as movies: Danny the Champion of the World, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox and, of course, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, twice over! Did you like Johnny Depp or Gene Wilder better as Willie Wonka?
Activity Village has several free printable activities from the Fantastic Mr. Fox book and movie. First, create the a free printable fox mask template for the sartorial gent. Print two fox masks so that you can design one for Fantastic Mr Fox and the other for his fantastic wife, Mrs. Fox to act out scenes. There's also and origami fox that looks just like the book version of Fantastic Mr Fox when folded. Print two foxes and use as hand puppets. There are Willie Wonka coloring pages too.
Scholastic has several free printable Fantastic Mr Fox lesson plans for Roald Dahl Day. Here arefree printable Fantastic Mr Fox worksheets. The get some free printable Fantastic Mr Fox coloring pages, puzzles and games from Twinkl. These are samples for paid printables. The best lesson plans come from the Roald Dahl website. Get free printable Roald Dahl books lesson plans based on The BFG, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, Willie Wonka, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, Esio Trot, Boy, The Twits, The Vicar of Nibbleswick (funniest ever) and more. Print games, worksheets, puzzles, literature homework help, crafts and more.
Here are free printable BFG and Roald Dahl books coloring pages. Fans of the books will be glad to know that most of the Roald Dahl coloring pages are from book illustrator Quentin Blake. Here areMatilida coloring pages. Here's an assorted collection of Quentin Blake illustrations to color including the enigmatic Willie Wonka and other characters.

Roald Dahl has the distinction of giving children some of the best-loved characters, like Willie Wonka, the BFG, Fantastic Mr Fox and others, but also of writing books that grownups frequently ban and challenge! How fun! James and the Giant Peach frequently comes in for a pasting as does The Witches. The Witches is laugh out loud and adults mayn't like so much hilarity, or noise. Or maybe their shoes are on too tight. At any rate, here are activities to keep you busy till the BFG movie and Roald Dahl Day arrive!

He is one of the 15 best-selling kids' book authors in the world. In order (sales wise) top 10 best are: Enid Blyton (Noddy), (tied for second) Dr.Seuss and Gilbert Patten (of dime novel boys' adventure Frank Merriwell fame), JK Rowling (note with only 8 Harry Potter books), R.L.Stine (Goosebumps), Stan and Jan Berenstain and JRR Tolkien (Hobbit). Tied for 7th place are Ann M.Martin (Babysitters Club), Richard Scarry and Beatrix Potter. Next are Astrid Lindgren (Pippi Longstocking) and Stephanie Meyer (Twilight), Norman Bridewell (Clifford) and in 15th place, Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox, BFG, Twits, Matilda). 

Free Printable Preschool Games, Hands on Activities, Lesson Plans


Parents, are you looking for free printable paper crafts activities for older children? Teachers, how about free printable lesson plans for upper elementary? Homeschool parents, maybe you want free printable educational activities for older kids? Little ones are easy to find printable activities for, but older children--not so easy. Older children are super sensitive to being patronized or (heaven forbid) bored. Older children want to act young, be treated older and still play with (shh don't tell) younger kid activities like coloring and craft projects.
Here 20 safe, school-approved websites free printable paper crafts and educational activities for kids that will challenge and be fun and won't bore, Some websites require subscriptions or charge fees for premium activities have many free printable activities for older children. Free printable activities for kids over 7, including learning games, puzzles, coloring pages, learning activities, crossword puzzles, Sudoku, skill builders, cut and paste paper crafts, dioramas, paper dolls, paper toys and worksheets for subject you can name!
American Girl has free printable activities, learning games, scrapbooks, games, maps and paper crafts based from American Girl. This site includes many historical and cultural activities activities to print.
Apples 4 the Teacher has free printable activities educational activities for kids including worksheets, lesson plans, units, educational games, puzzles, flashcards, maps, paper crafts for all subject matter.
PBS Kids has free printable paper crafts, activities for older children and learning games from Arthur, Peg + Cat, Dinosaur Train, Cyberchase, Design Squad, Super Why, Odd Squad, Ready Jet Go, Wild Kratts, Fizzy's Lunch Lab, Sid the Science Kid, Sesame Street, It's a Big, Big World, Jakers, Postcards from Buster, Maya and Miguel, Reading Rainbow, Cat in the Hat, Oh Noah!, SciGirls, Martha Speaks, Bob the Builder, The Electric Company, Dot's Story Factory, Wilson & Ditch Digging America, The Greens, Dragonfly TV, Eek World, Kart Kingdom, Word Girl, Between the Lions, Clifford, Caillou, Hooper, Plum Landing, Barney, Berenstain Bears, Curious George, Fetch with Ruff Ruffman, Cyberchase, Boobah, Teletubbies and more! Each show has it's own site with lots of activities.
Barbie Kids has free printable educational activities for kids from Mattel characters Barbie, Polly Pocket, Bratz, MyScene and more. You'll find cut and color paper dolls with all sorts of clothing, shoes and accessories you can design. Everything girl also has stationary, calendars and more to print.
Activity Village might be the best site for free printable holiday educational activities for kids, It's got all the world holidays with printable paper crafts, worksheets, puzzles, jigsaws, social studies lessons, around the world coloring pages and learning games.
There are Printables for Kids galore at this link, dedicated to free printable educational activities for kids.
DL-TK is the best site for free printable educational craft activities for kids. There are free printable coloring pages, cut and paste paper crafts, dioramas, mini books, paper dolls, on every theme of childhood.
Kidz Page is the free printable educational learning games for kids site. Print crossword and jigsaw puzzles, worksheets, mazes and clipart. Kids love the bright colorful comic book style layout.
ABC Teach boasts 5,000+ free printable worksheets making it tied for second in educational activities for kids. Get activities for math, reading, language, social studies, culture, geography, science, holidays. Includes flash cards, learning games, puzzles, Sudoku, booklets, word searches, crossword puzzles and more.
Enchanted Learning is the best in free printable paper crafts and educational activities for kids with booklets, science lessons, biomes, maps, languages, famous people, works of art, etc.
Dover: Sign up for email notices with links to free printable paper crafts and vintage educational activities for kids from Dover's vast collection of vintage books.
Scholastic has dozens of free printable activities for kids up to eighth grade based upon the wonderful books from Scholastic. This site is excellent for middle school students also. You'll find Charlie Bone, Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, Manga, Magic TreeHouse Series, Captain Underpants, and so much more.
First School is a leader in free printable crafts and educational activities for kids 7-10 on Bible, religion and holidays.
First Palette leads the way in free printable crafts patterns, templates, clipart and educational coloring pages.
Creative Kids at Home has free printable science projects, learning games, crafts and fun! You can also access the site to get archived newsletters with loads of easy stuff for all ages to do at home, school, day care, etc!
Making Friends has lots of free printable educational crafts and activities for kids but the specialty is free printable paper dolls from around the world.
Free Kids Crafts specializes in free printable educational crafts templates and activities for kids.
The Toymaker is queen of free printable vintage toys and educational crafts for kids.

Disney Family specializes in everything free printable Disney crafts for kids. Look for activiteis from all your favorite Disney characters including Frozen, Zootopia, Star Wars, Toy Story, Cars and more.

Free Printable Lesson Plans from The Hunger Games Books


It's an understatement to say that "The Hunger Games" book trilogy, by Suzanne Collins, has taken the world by storm. "The Hunger Games" movie blasted to top spot when it came out in book and then movie. The saga continued in "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay" which don't stay long on book shelves. All four movies The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part 1 and Mockingjay Part 2, were wildly popular. If you're planning to teach a unit on The Hunger Games books or movies, here are free printable Hunger Games lesson plans and activities for several different content areas. As for age level, the movie is acceptable for kids over eight but the books are a bit graphic. Read The Hunger Games books series with kids over 12.
This education blog has links for free printable Hunger Games lesson plans that you can download and use in class. No sign-up is necessary, so homeschool parents can access Hunger Games printables for personal use too. There are writing activities, graphic organizers, comparison-contrast charts, story sequencing activities, Hunger Games simulations, problem-solving lessons, survival skill games and more. Here's a list of free printable Hunger Games book activities from Fabulous Classroom
This is a 20 page packet of free printable Hunger Games activities based on core curriculum objectives. Hunger Games lesson plans fall primarily in literature and reading, but there are some science, social studies and marketing lessons, too. The Hunger Games book activities could provide a good allegory for labor struggles, economic revolutions and political theory. Here are many more free printable Hunger Games lesson plans, movie and book activities based on Mockingjay and Catching Fire as well as Hunger Games. Here's a really cool game based on Panem the Capitol.

The Hunger Games movie fan page has games you can play or use for lesson plans, based on Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Here are free printable Hunger Games coloring pages. There are some nice ones of the Mockingjay and from Catching Fire. These books appealed first to middle school and high school students but lots of adults are getting hooked on the Mockingjay too! Readers who favor utopian/dystopian novels put "The Hunger Games" right up there with "Brave New World," by Aldous Huxley, Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" and "1984" (George Orwell). My husband reads mostly arcane books of history and technology. Rarely does he pick up a work of fiction. He'd not heard much about "The Hunger Games" until we took our teen and young adult kids to see it. I thought he'd find it juvenile, but he loved it and is reading the books. Happy Hunger Games! And "may the odds ever be in your favor."