Free and Easy with Sarah, Plain and Tall

Did you know my Sarah, Plain and Tall Comprehension Packet is my featured freebie on TPT and has been downloaded nearly 20,000 times? That number still staggers me. I just kicked off the year with with this Comprehension Packet with my own class, and I'm here to share six free, fantastic ideas for teaching this beloved book.

The first reading skill I focus on each year is genre, and this novel provides an excellent yet accessible example of historical fiction. What I mean by that is that other than I Survived books, which I love!), many of my students come to me with limited experience with historical fiction. Many upper grades historical fiction books are tough reads, but this one is manageable in most any third, fourth or fifth grade classroom. This book short (58 pages),  has a low word count (under 10,000) and has less than ten chapters (nine to be exact).

The story takes place in the late 1800's in the prairie lands of the midwestern United States. If you haven't read this book, the premise is that a widower with two children places an ad for a wife and a lady named Sarah (who is plain and tall) comes from Maine to give it a shot. The first day we read, we talked about how this seemed like such a strange concept and definitely let us know the story was set in the past. But then I asked, "How is this similar to dating practices today?" It took my kids NO time to make the connection to dating websites and idea #1 was born...

I made a quick, simple Google slide and pushed it out to my kids (we are a Google school system). They had so much fun creating a "dating profile" for either Papa (Jacob) or Sarah (their choice) and called it PrairieMatch.com which the kids thought was hilarious. This was their first attempt at a Google slide to be shared in class, and they did a good job considering. I even included one box where they had to insert a photo that they believed could represent what Papa or Sarah looked like. If your students don't have access to Google, you could use this simple template and delete the text boxes and "insert photo here" before printing.  Click here to access!

A big theme of this story is patience as the narrator, Anna, waits to see if Sarah will like life on the prairie with her family or if she'll return home to Maine, which she talks about often. We looked at these two locations on the map, but I wanted my students to have an even better sense of the contrast of the two settings, so we did some research.

If you don't have Epic set up for your classroom, why not? It's an amazing, FREE resource for online viewing of books, and it has a wealth of nonfiction easy reads. I went on and searched for Sarah, Plain and Tall and immediately found a saved collection by a third grade teacher. I saved the collection to my library, shared the "shelf" with my students, and they did some quick research while making a Venn diagram comparing Maine and the prairie. It was so easy and informative!

One of my favorite (and SIMPLEST) novel activities is to have the students choose a character (animals count!), setting or object from the story, create it and explain its significance to the plot on an index card. This activity makes an eye-catching hall display and gives those artistic learners a chance to express themselves. This works with any book, just wait until you are almost done or completely done reading. Which brings me to my after reading activities...

I have Kahoot quizzes for vocabulary of many of my Novel Units.  We played Kahoot for the first time this past week, and this is a screenshot of my Instagram story that day. My kids were literally squealing with excitement over playing this online game! To access my Sarah, Plain and Tall Kahoot, make sure you have a Kahoot account and click here.

This next idea is the only one that isn't entirely free (unless you count the fact that you must have technology to play Kahoot), but it's WELL worth it! There is a Sarah, Plain and Tall full length Hallmark movie that was made in 1990. I don't always show the movie every time we read a book for which one exists, but this one is a must-show! It's rated G and it follows VERY closely to the plot of the book, often using exact quotes and vocabulary words. It stars Glenn Close (one of my students said, "That's the lady from 101 Dalmatians!") and Christopher Walken. Right now, it's showing on Amazon Prime for only $8.49! To order your own copy on Amazon, click here.

I also created a Movie Companion for my students to follow along with as they watched the movie. You can download a free copy by clicking here.


Last, but not least, download my FREE Sarah, Plain and Tall products on TPT! They are truly everything you need to teach this book effectively. Once you click on the link for the packet, you'll also find links to FREE vocabulary activities and a final test. Please feel free to share feedback, questions or suggestions. I truly love this book and believe you and your students will too!

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Teaching Plot Using Esio Trot

"The distance between their balconies might not have been more than a few yards, but to Mr. Hoppy it seemed like a million miles." (p. 10)

There aren't many love stories that would entice my fourth grade class full of boys, but earlier this month Esio Trot by Roald Dahl did just that.  Perhaps a lesser known and definitely shorter book by the timelessly popular Dahl, this story is just as enchanting as his better known works. It's the perfect length for teaching plot because it's easy to get a handle on the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution.


While the book title might seem a little intimidating, it is a good hook for curious kiddos who find out right away that esio trot is simply tortoise spelled backward. Mr. Hoppy, who is in love with his downstairs neighbor Mrs. Silver, makes up a magic spell to help her tortoise Alfie "grow" which involves reverse speak so-to-say. We listened to the story on audio from Audible.com (included in a collection called Fantastic Mr. Fox and Other Animal Stories) and each time Mr. Hoppy's "magic" words were spoken, quiet giggles could be heard throughout my classroom.

Even if you are a Roald Dahl and Esio Trot fan, you may not know that the BBC released a made-for-television movie adapted from this story in 2015. I have yet to get my hands on a DVD copy (its currently only formatted for UK DVD players), but my students squealed with delight when I shared this movie trailer:

All my products for this novel can be found FREE in my TPT store.  

(The Comprehension Packet has been downloaded almost 4,000 times!) 

             

One of my favorite parts of my Novel Units is the Constructed Response included on every Final Test.  This writing component allows me to have a grade for both reading and writing when we take a test, and it allows me to get a glimpse of how deeply the students really became invested in the literature. Their passion for Mr. Hoppy's passion for Mrs. Silver was quite clear in their Constructed Responses for this test, which I'll leave you with today.  The prompt was: "As far as we know, Mrs. Silver never found out what Mr. Hoppy did. Imagine that he decided to confess to Mrs. Silver once they were married. Write a letter to Mrs. Silver from Mr. Hoppy explaining what he did and why he did it. Make sure to include details from the story."

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Pirate Day

*Check out my Instagram (Just_MrsJones) to see a featured story of our day.

When I first started teaching 4th grade over a decade ago, four out of five teachers on my grade level had two years or less teaching experience. We were young and energetic, clueless but passionate. Some days we managed to make our classes somewhat behave, most days we taught them most of what we were supposed to, but every day we found new ways to have fun. My favorite idea we dreamt up lives on to this day each fall on Pirate Day.

Fourth grade social studies curriculum in North Carolina focuses on state history, and pirates are a big part of the history of our coast. At the end of first quarter, we spend a whole day learning about the pirates of North Carolina coast, including but not limited to Blackbeard. We allow the students to join us in dressing like pirates (short of anything that resembles a weapon), and we rotate to the different classrooms doing pirate math, reading pirates and playing pirate games. It's my favorite day of the year!

Our local chamber of commerce generously awards thousands of dollars in grants at the beginning of each school year and this year I was fortunate enough to receive a grant to spice up Pirate Day with a new game. My husband and I enjoy playing the strategy board game Catan with our friends, and I recently discovered Catan Junior is pirate-themed. This game features social studies, math and reading skills (vocabulary, resources, supply and demand, trading 2:1, etc.) and I got to spend the day teaching all the fourth graders to play this year. We look forward to playing it more this year, as the kids loved it!

While playing Catan Junior, one of my reading students said, "Wow! This is so much fun. And I thought you'd just read us that book," pointing to a book I'd had on display all week. He wasn't all wrong; I am a sucker for reading a good book, and I did enjoy the book with my homeroom class at a different time during the day. The book is P is for Pirate by Eve Bunting, and you can download a free Book Walk I created to accompany the read aloud here.

     

I am also a sucker for cute things at Target, and this year I splurged on a pirate ship for the hallway. For years, we've made a 2-D pirate ship display on the wall, and my last year's students were quick to come by on Friday and say, "You got them a real pirate ship?!? No fair!" It was a pretty big hit, and I took each child's photo in the ship and sent to their parents on Class Dojo. I also had printed pictures before Pirate Day, filtering them using an app called Pirate Pix so students could have their Pirate Picture on display all day.

One of my favorite resources for Pirate Day is this DVD from National Geographic. It has some great bonus features, and I always show the first ten minutes to my students to give them a more accurate representation of pirate life than what they've been exposed to up until this age.  I use the following discussion questions after watching those first ten minutes:

 

No themed day is complete without a fun snack. We enjoyed Pirate's Pot Luck at the end of the day.

Themed days are so much fun; we do another in the spring called First in Flight Day.  You can read more about that here.  I'm currently trying to think of one more for winter time-- perhaps a Lost Colony murder mystery? Does your grade level do themed days? I'd love to hear about them in the comments.

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Five Reasons to Teach The Lemonade War

I know the The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies has become very popular over the last few years (maybe even too popular because it's hard to find kids in fourth or fifth grade who haven't already read it).  However, it's for good reason and that's why I chose it as my Summer Giveaway book.  Whether you win the giveaway, already have a class set, or have never heard of the book, I wanted to share a few reasons why this novel really is worth your time if you teach grades 3-5.

1.  The Lemonade War has direct correlations to standards in economics and personal finance.  Each chapter begins with an explicit definition of a word related to these social studies areas.  Then, the chapter illustrates that term with a kid-friendly situation in the plot of the story.  It really brings economics to life!

2.  The author changes perspective each chapter.  Point-of-view and perspective is an important standard in the upper elementary grades.  Reading a book that stays in first person limited but switches back and forth between the two main characters is a great opportunity to reinforce these skills.

3.  Davies' figurative language game is strong!  This book is chocked full of similes, metaphors, and idioms and even throws in an adage or two.  Some of my favorites (featured in my Comprehension Packet) include, "It was like having a chestful of bats, beating their wings, fighting to get out." (p. 4) and "Evan was a straight shooter." (p. 17)  And, of course, who could argue with Evan and Jessie's grandmother's voice in their heads warning, "Pride goeth before a fall?" (p. 96)  So many teachable moments!

4.  You can also easily integrate math into reading this novel, and my Comprehension Packet does just that.  From calculating how many cups of lemonade the characters can make to how much money they earned on any particular day, there are math problems scattered all through the book.  I often catch my students checking behind the math or arguing about the way the characters solved a problem.

5.  Last, but not least, who doesn't love a book or lesson that calls for a food and/or drink treat?  Once you finish the book, you must enjoy lemonade together.  That's a non-negotiable.  Even if you're like me and just buy the cans so you don't have to squeeze it or mix it X 24ish. That smile says it all!

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N.C. Historical Fiction Must-Reads

I love all genres of children's literature.  I grew up on realistic fiction, dreaming of being a member of The Baby-sitter's Club.  I love fantasy; I rank Roald Dahl at the top of my favorite children's authors and I'm a huge Harry Potter fan.  As a teacher, I've seen the power other genres like mystery, graphic novels, and informational text has to attract reluctant readers.  But perhaps no genre of children's literature is more powerful than historical fiction.

We've heard it said many times: "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." I've invoked the famous quote once or twice in my classroom when my students ask "why" we have to learn about a particular topic or read a particular book.  I believe it, and I also believe the best way for children to learn from history in a way that makes as impact is to immerse themselves in it.  There's no better way to accomplish that than with a good book.


This summer I've been reading through the North Carolina Elementary Battle of the Books (EBOB) list and I recently finished Blue by Joyce Moyer Hostetter.  Any book that has me wiping tears on the beach on vacation deserves a nod and this one did just that.  I read a lot of children's books but only once in a while does the content truly change my personal outlook.  I want to share with you three historical fiction novels rooted in North Carolina that impacted my views on racial, political, social and/or physical oppression. These books shaped a little corner of my heart, and I believe they'll do the same for yours and any children with whom you share them.

We'll start with the one I read first and know the best.  You may notice this copy is well-worn, and that's for good reason.  Five years ago, my grade level heard about Soft Rain by Cornelia Cornelissen and we decided to start teaching it every year in every classroom.  We had all just missed it as kids (it was published in 1998) but we didn't want our kids to miss it.  I wrote a Novel Unit for it and we ran with it.  It's a simple book and definitely the easiest read of these three, but it truly has changed the way I feel inside every time I hear the phrase "Trail of Tears."  It is written from the perspective of a nine-year-old Cherokee girl named Soft Rain who, along with her family, is driven West from their North Carolina mountain home.  Year after year, we read this book and students cry out for reasons ranging from worrying about the main character's dog left behind to asking with big eyes, "How could the government do that?"

There are plenty of present day examples we can use to talk about tolerance, diversity and quality with children.  However, there are also age-old examples like this one that serve to show 1) we have made so much progress as a society but 2) in order to sustain that progress, we must be vigilant.  I tell my students every year it is up to them to be aware of what's going on around them, look at situations from other people's points-of-view and most importantly, to stand up for those who aren't being treated fairly.  I always hope that they'll remember their frustration at not being able to help Soft Rain when they find themselves with an opportunity to help someone else.

Next is the book that took me by surprise on my vacation.  I always take my Kindle when we travel, so didn't have any idea what this book was about when I started it on the beach that day.  Blue by Joyce Meyer Hostetter is the story of a young teenage girl named Ann Fay Honeycutt who lives near Hickory in 1944, as her father goes off to fight in World War II and polio strikes her small town, including her family.  This book is beautifully written, and Ann Fay's plight took hold deep in my heart as I turned those pages.  I just kept thinking how daunting these challenges were only 75 years ago and how fortunate we are to live not only in a time of relative peace but also of medical advancement.  This book offers much needed perspective today for the young and the old.

Added bonus: I just found out there's also a sequel (Comfort) and it's in my Amazon cart now!

I read Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper school year before last when my EBOB team made it to the finals.  It was a pretty new release then, published in January 2015, and was one of the books we analyzed together.  The more I studied this novel, the deeper impression it made on me.  It is set in the 1930s and focuses on the daily challenges faced by an African American girl alongside her family and community.  We focus in schools on times of slavery, including the Underground Railroad and the Civil War.  But what happened next?  Reading this book goes a long way to fill in those blanks and to give children a deeper understanding of the long, hard and tense battle fought for fairness, respect and equality.  You can hear more from the author here...

Whether there's still some room on your summer reading list, you're lesson planning for next school year or you just want to enlighten yourself or your own children, I highly recommend getting your hands on any of these three novels.  As Sharon Draper writes in Stella by Starlight, "Words fall out of the sky like leaves, girl.  Grab a couple and write 'em down." (p. 156)  In this case, grab a couple and read 'em, share 'em, learn from 'em... It'll change your heart!

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First in Flight Day

There's nothing a teacher loves more than a themed day.  Crazy sock day, twin day, book character day... you never know what you might find when you walk into an elementary school.  My teammates and I love to plan themed days related to the curriculum for our grade level, and today was one of my favorites: First in Flight Day.

Here in North Carolina the Wright Brothers are an even bigger deal than the Super Mario Brothers.  Many of our students have visited the Wright Brothers Memorial at the Outer Banks and if they haven't, they've at least noticed our license plates say, "First in Flight." North Carolina history embodies most of our fourth grade social studies curriculum, and the story of the Wright Brothers is too much fun to shortchange so we devote a whole day each spring to the topic.

This is my favorite book for teaching about the Wright Brothers.  It's long for a picture book so I read a little throughout the week so the students can use it as a reference in a learning station on First in Flight Day.  My resources for that station are from this amazing product by Monica Parsons on TPT. Other stations include checking out this video and article from History.com (I used this product from History Matters on TPT) and a really cool virtual tour of the Wright Brothers Memorial from our school's subscription to Discovery Education.

By far, the most popular activity on First in Flight Day is paper airplane flying.  This year for the first time I used a very affordable book from Usborne called 100 Paper Planes to Fold and Fly.  It was well worth the $7.99!  I had each group choose three different designs to create and we tested which ones flew the farthest using the recording sheets in this product from Teachers Are Terrific on TPT.   If you don't have an Usborne contact, mine is Deanna; click here for her website.

  

Differentiated passages from the Bow Tie Guy and Wife have become one of my go-to resources on  TPT.   The Wright Brothers Differentiated Passages are a must for First in Flight Day.  This resource allowed me to justify targeted learning on an otherwise fun and fluffy day.

We ended the day up by doing a group poster activity using a poster size print out of this resource form Heart 2 Heart teaching.

 

Next week we'll start this exciting book for homework, and the kids will be ready!  You can download my FREE Reading Guide here.

Last but not least...what's any good themed day without food?  My recommendation for First in Flight Day is these adorable kite brownies from Little Debbie.  They are seasonal and sometimes hard to come by...especially if you're at the Wal-mart in my town this week because I may have bought 20+ boxes on Tuesday night...

But it was worth it!  These days are always a lot of work but they are so much fun!  And... they're what your students will remember.  What fun themed days do you have at your school? 

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