Language Arts books & activities
Activity #1
The teacher will read the story The Lion And The Bird (Dubuc, 2014) to the student using a document camera. After, the teacher will use the SMART board to follow up with an activity. There will be several pictures from the story posted on the SMART board out of order. For example, there will be pictures with the lion before he met the bird, there will be pictures of the lion and the bird together, and there will be pictures of the lion alone again. These picture specifically travel through the seasons so that will help guide the students when putting the story in order. The students will have turns to come up to the SMART board and drag the story in the right time slot. The student who drags the picture in the slot must explain their reasoning with support from the picture they chose. The class will discuss whether the move was followed in sequence or not and make corrections based on the discussion if necessary. The students will receive an understanding of what points in the story the Lion and the Bird were friends and at which parts they were apart.
Activity #2
The teacher will read The Lion And The Bird (Dubuc, 2014) to
the class during circle time. The teacher will stop reading the book on certain
pages and ask the students to make inferences as to what will happen next. Some
prompting questions to engage conversation further may include “how do you think
Lion feels? How do you know?” Students are able to make inferences by using the
visuals for support when the author doesn’t tell us with words. The prompting
questions may lead into a further discussion about how Lion feels when Bird is
gone and how the two feel when they are together. This leads into a deeper conversation
about friendship. Consolidation involves a group-sharing circle using a talking
stick to go around the circle and ask each student what true friendship means
to them and how they feel when they are with their friends.
Activity #3
The teacher will read Bad Apple (Hemingway, 2012) to the class at the carpet. A guided discussion, using the SMART board, will follow. The questions that will be covered are: Who’s perspective is the story told from? What would happen if the orchard friends told the story instead? How would the story change if the worm told the story? The answers to these questions will be written on the SMART board. Following this discussion, students will get into groups of 4 and will perform a group oral storytelling skit to the class. Each group will get the choice to tell the same story from either the worm’s perspective or the orchard friend’s perspective and then they will present it to the class. After the activity, the student’s will get a chance to reflect through turn and talk on which perspective they liked better and why. The main idea is that student’s will be able to understand perspective as well as interpret what it means to be a true friend based on the skit performances and discussion.
Activity #4
The teacher will read I’m the Best (Cousins, 2010) to the class at the carpet. The teacher will lead a guided discussion while reading the book. For example the teacher may stop reading after the page where the dog claims he is the best at everything and may ask the students “what do you think of the dog?” and “how would you feel if you were the dog’s friends?” The teacher will stop reading the story after Dog’s friends say “I feel sad. Me, too. Dog is the best at everything. I wish I were as good as Dog. Actually...”. The teacher will hand out the rest of the pages of the book randomly to each group table (groups of 4). The students will try to determine as a class the order that the rest of the book goes. There will be 7 slots open on the board where the students will be able to place their excerpt. Each group will determine together where their page goes by reading it and looking at the picture. The teacher will guide the class to help determine if the order is correct. The teacher will follow this activity by asking “what message do you think that the author was trying to tell you about friendship?” Students will then be instructed to write in their journals, anywhere in the room, what they think they are the best at and they will also write what they think their friends would say they are the best at.
Activity #5
The teacher will read I’m The Best (Cousins, 2010) to the class during carpet time. Whenever the teacher gets to a page stating “I win. I’m the best.”, the students will chant along together as a class orally saying this statement. Next, the teacher will direct the students to return to their seats (groups of 4). The teacher will instruct students to make their own page of what they are the best at. For example a student’s page may look like “I am good at dance. I win. I’m the best.” The students can draw a picture to go with their texts. Following this activity, students will collaborate with a partner and get to know what personal skills their partner likes to do. Once the students have gathered enough information, each student will write a page about their partner proclaiming their personal skill and finishing the sentence with “I win. I’m the best.” This activity will be formed into a big book for the whole class to enjoy about each student. Students will end this activity with reflecting in their journals about some surprises they may have had about their partner, why talking is important within a friendship, and what the phrase “I win. I’m the best” means to them.
The teacher will hand out several different excerpt from books (possibly read in class already) to each group. Each member in a group receives their own excerpt. The students job will be to guess which book the excerpt is from and discuss it with their group members. After the first discussion, students will change groups and bring their excerpt with them to discuss with other people in a new group.
My Teacher's Secret Life
This activity involves students to write a page about what they think their teacher does when they are not at school. Students will also draw a picture to go with their write up allowing this activity to cross language arts with art. The teacher will encourage students to be creative and think outside of the box as much as they can. The story does not have to be realistic whatsoever.
Class Reading Tracker
This is a great way to encourage students to read starting from the beginning of the year. Get students to take books out of the library up to their reading level. At the end of every week or so, have the students say if they finished reading a book and also name the title. The teacher will put a sticker on the poster to keep track of the amount of books the class has read together. If the class were to reach 100 books read by the end of the year, the teacher will reward them with something such as a class party or they get a treat.
Teacher Resources
Here are some books that would help with language arts activities. The book on the left has several worksheets that teachers could use so that student understanding of grammar can be increased. The book on the right contains strategies of how teachers can structure guided reading groups, writing activities, etc.
Activity #3The teacher will read Bad Apple (Hemingway, 2012) to the class at the carpet. A guided discussion, using the SMART board, will follow. The questions that will be covered are: Who’s perspective is the story told from? What would happen if the orchard friends told the story instead? How would the story change if the worm told the story? The answers to these questions will be written on the SMART board. Following this discussion, students will get into groups of 4 and will perform a group oral storytelling skit to the class. Each group will get the choice to tell the same story from either the worm’s perspective or the orchard friend’s perspective and then they will present it to the class. After the activity, the student’s will get a chance to reflect through turn and talk on which perspective they liked better and why. The main idea is that student’s will be able to understand perspective as well as interpret what it means to be a true friend based on the skit performances and discussion.
Activity #4The teacher will read I’m the Best (Cousins, 2010) to the class at the carpet. The teacher will lead a guided discussion while reading the book. For example the teacher may stop reading after the page where the dog claims he is the best at everything and may ask the students “what do you think of the dog?” and “how would you feel if you were the dog’s friends?” The teacher will stop reading the story after Dog’s friends say “I feel sad. Me, too. Dog is the best at everything. I wish I were as good as Dog. Actually...”. The teacher will hand out the rest of the pages of the book randomly to each group table (groups of 4). The students will try to determine as a class the order that the rest of the book goes. There will be 7 slots open on the board where the students will be able to place their excerpt. Each group will determine together where their page goes by reading it and looking at the picture. The teacher will guide the class to help determine if the order is correct. The teacher will follow this activity by asking “what message do you think that the author was trying to tell you about friendship?” Students will then be instructed to write in their journals, anywhere in the room, what they think they are the best at and they will also write what they think their friends would say they are the best at.
Activity #5
The teacher will read I’m The Best (Cousins, 2010) to the class during carpet time. Whenever the teacher gets to a page stating “I win. I’m the best.”, the students will chant along together as a class orally saying this statement. Next, the teacher will direct the students to return to their seats (groups of 4). The teacher will instruct students to make their own page of what they are the best at. For example a student’s page may look like “I am good at dance. I win. I’m the best.” The students can draw a picture to go with their texts. Following this activity, students will collaborate with a partner and get to know what personal skills their partner likes to do. Once the students have gathered enough information, each student will write a page about their partner proclaiming their personal skill and finishing the sentence with “I win. I’m the best.” This activity will be formed into a big book for the whole class to enjoy about each student. Students will end this activity with reflecting in their journals about some surprises they may have had about their partner, why talking is important within a friendship, and what the phrase “I win. I’m the best” means to them.
Let's Have a Tea Party!
The teacher will hand out several different excerpt from books (possibly read in class already) to each group. Each member in a group receives their own excerpt. The students job will be to guess which book the excerpt is from and discuss it with their group members. After the first discussion, students will change groups and bring their excerpt with them to discuss with other people in a new group.
This activity involves students to write a page about what they think their teacher does when they are not at school. Students will also draw a picture to go with their write up allowing this activity to cross language arts with art. The teacher will encourage students to be creative and think outside of the box as much as they can. The story does not have to be realistic whatsoever.
This is a great way to encourage students to read starting from the beginning of the year. Get students to take books out of the library up to their reading level. At the end of every week or so, have the students say if they finished reading a book and also name the title. The teacher will put a sticker on the poster to keep track of the amount of books the class has read together. If the class were to reach 100 books read by the end of the year, the teacher will reward them with something such as a class party or they get a treat.
Teacher Resources
Here are some books that would help with language arts activities. The book on the left has several worksheets that teachers could use so that student understanding of grammar can be increased. The book on the right contains strategies of how teachers can structure guided reading groups, writing activities, etc.
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