Pirate Boy

by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Julie Fortenberry

Pirate Boy is really a discussion between a boy and his mother.  The boy wonders “what if” questions and the mother responds.  When the boy asks what if he would go to live with the pirates and then want to come home?  Mother says she would find him no matter what.  The boy continues with “what if” questions (as children are so excellent at doing) and mother says she will use her magic spray to solve the problems.  No matter what, the mother will help the boy return home.

The mother in the story actually has some magic spray that she made that very day!  Using a spray bottle of water, some parents find this kind of idea comforts children.  Debbie Clement has a great post about using monster spray with her own family and a song about it, too.

I took the idea of the story and made a student writing frame and word bank so students could write stories about things they might like to try in their imaginations and be safe when exploring their thoughts. Children love to ask what if questions and this will put that talent to good use!  This PDF is free, of course:

FREE PDF What If Story writing frame

by Marc Brown

The Arthur series by Marc Brown are stories with life lessons.  Arthur Meets the President is the story of Arthur winning a contest and meeting the President in the Rose Garden.  The class enters an essay contest and Arthur wins, but is expected to memorize and recite his speech.  Arthur constantly worries about doing well, and Muffy doesn’t do much to help until the end when she provides some comic relief.  His entire class is invited to the event and some explanation of their tour of Washington CD helps students connect with famous places such as the Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument, the White House, the Capitol, and the National Museum of Natural History.  If you are wanting to provide some familiarity of Washington D.C. for a unit about Presidents or Patriotism, this book will help your students or children understand some of this at their level.

FREE PDF work page, answer key, and coloring page:  Arthur Meets the President work page PDF, free Happy reading and learning, Carolyn

Coloring page:

by Martha Brenner, Illustrated by Donald Cook

This book is considered an easy reader for the step 3 Step into Reading series by Random House.  It is easy to read but also does a  remarkable job of telling the story of President Abraham Lincoln.  I always admire stories that use few words and manage to say so much.  The facts in this nonfiction book are presented in a child-centered manner that students will remember.  I say this with confidence, because once I read this book as a fall read aloud and put it down without questioning the children or doing a follow up activity.  I though we would “study” Presidents in February.  Months later at a conference, parents remarked how impressed they were with all their child knew about Lincoln!  I actually hardly remembered reading the book to the class. But the parents told me all the facts remembered by the child, and then I was impressed.  After that, I was sure to include this book with some Lincoln activities. I made sure to never skip this story, and found students did remember the information well.

Here is my work page, answer key, word bank, and a little penny trick page I made for the book.  The PDF does not have a watermark.  Abe Lincoln’s Hat work page PDF 4 pages, FREE

Happy reading and learning, Carolyn

Ireland Snapshot Interactive notebook file for SMART board FREE presentation for school and home, FREE