Postcards from Camp

Postcards from Camp by Simms Taback

Before You Read:

• Have you ever been to sleep-away-camp?
• If you've never been to camp, have you ever spent more than one night away from home?
• What kinds of feelings might you experience if you were to spend many nights away from home? (no, not pure joy--think negative. What is it called when you miss home a lot?)

While You Read:

• Use the pictures on the front of each card to infer what the card will be about.
• After reading each postcard, decide what the author's purpose is (to inform, persuade, or entertain). Each card will have a different purpose. 

After You Read: 

• How did Michael's attitude about camp change? 
• What is the theme of this book? 
• Why did the author create this book the way that he did? What was his purpose for using the postcards rather than just writing a story? 

If you would like more resources, click here. 

Clever Jack Takes the Cake

Clever Jack Takes the Cake by Candace Fleming

Before You Read:

• Review the elements of fiction (plot, setting, character, theme)

While You Read:

• What qualities do you admire in Jack?
• What problems did Jack encounter and how did he solve them?
• Make predictions about what you think will happen next as you read.

After You Read:

• Write a summary of the plot.
• What is was the setting?
• Who are the characters?
• What is the theme of the story? (There can be more than one). 
• Why is the book called Clever Jack? 

If you would like more resources for this book, click here.  

Thunder Birds: Nature's Flying Predators

Thunder Birds: Nature's Flying Predators by Jim Arnosky 

Before You Read: 

 Students will need a piece of colored paper and a pencil. Please follow these directions for folding the paper:
1. Tri-fold the paper (in thirds).
2.  While the paper is still tri-folded, fold it in half.
3. When you open the paper, you should have six boxes.

These directions are an example of _________ text.
 (Hint: What you have been studying for the last 2 weeks!)

Write the book's title and author in the first box. 

While You Read:

•  Listen for interesting facts about each type of predator birds. Write one interesting fact about the birds in each box.  
• Why did Jim Arnosky use fold-outs for this book? 

After You Read:

• What do you notice about Jim Arnosky's writing style? Is it boring? Why or why not? Does Expository writing have to be boring? How can you spice up your Expository writing like Jim Arnosky does?
• What is the author's purpose? How do you know that this is his purpose?

Teachers, in the example that I gave you, I only used 4 boxes for notes because I ran out of time when I did this lesson with 3rd grade. You can read the entire book and use all of the boxes, or you can  skip around like I did. 

If you would like more resources on this book, click here.