CHESTER THE BRAVE activities and lesson plan ideas

 Save yourself time and engage your students with these Chester the Brave activities. This jam-packed book companion is quick and easy to use - Just print and go!

Read on to learn more about all that is included in this standards-based interactive read aloud packet based on the children’s book, Chester the Brave by Audrey Penn.

TO SAVE YOU TIME, WE'VE DONE ALL OF THE WORK FOR YOU!

1. We chose vocabulary words & kid-friendly definitions.
2. We selected mentor sentences & specific grammar skills for each.
3. We wrote 30 book-based writing prompts (that cover 10 genres of writing).
4. We identified an SEL focus / character education topic based on events in the story.
5. We constructed strategy-based reading comprehension questions and created no-prep, print-and-go reader response worksheets.

YOU ONLY NEED TO DO 3 QUICK & EASY STEPS:

STEP 1: PLAN

Simply customize your Chester the Brave lesson plans using the ideas in the teaching guide and choose from the 15 standards-based activities.

STEP 2: PREP

Prep can be as simple as printing the activity pages (or assigning the included digital version) and finding a free video of the book being read aloud online.

OPTIONAL: If you want to dive deeper into a book study, you’ll find our teaching ideas and slides make it easy to create mini-lessons, anchor charts, and slideshows.

STEP 3: TEACH

Engage your students with an interactive read aloud by reading or streaming the picture book. Practice reading comprehension strategies with text-based discussion questions. We even wrote the Chester the Brave comprehension questions for you!

Some teachers like to assemble and assign independent work packets. Others prefer to dive deeper into the story with vocabulary, grammar, SEL, and writing lessons that can span over several days.

The best thing about our 500+ book companions is the flexibility they provide you. We’ve packed them with a variety of teaching ideas and activities so you have the option to use them in the way that works best for you and your students!

THE CHESTER THE BRAVE BOOK COMPANION FOCUSES ON:

◼️READING SKILLS

☐ ANALYZING CHARACTER

☐ AUTHOR’S PURPOSE

☐ IDENTIFYING THEME | MESSAGE | MORAL

☐ MAKING CONNECTIONS

☐ MAKING PREDICTIONS

◼️GRAMMAR

☐ POSSESSIVE NOUNS

☐ PREPOSITIONS

☐ VERB TENSE

☐ ADJECTIVES

◼️SEL

☐ COURAGE

CHESTER THE BRAVE SUMMARY

Chester loves sundown, when he can snuggle with his mother before school and listen as she tells him a story. In the book, Chester the Brave, Chester’s mother is telling him a story about the little robin who lives in their tree. 

In his mother’s story, the little robin was too afraid to fly. He thought he wasn’t being brave like his brother and sister, who both flew on the first try. The little robin’s father explained that being brave means you still try to fly, even if you are worried. The little bird even worried about reciting his flying lessons in front of the class. Chester had a connection to this part of the story. He too, was afraid to recite lessons in front of the class.

Chester’s mother taught him three words that would help him be brave: think, say, do. She explained that when he thinks he can’t do something, he should say that he can, and do it! When it was time to recite in front of the class at school, Chester thought of his mother’s advice and recited everything in front of the class! He demonstrated just how much courage he had!  

Audrey Penn’s book is a great way to discuss bravery, courage, fear, and anxiety with students.

THIS COLLECTION OF ACTIVITIES and LESSON IDEAS INCLUDES:

➜ Comprehension Questions categorized by reading strategy; text-dependent
➜ Social Emotional Learning guidance lesson ideas & discussion topics based on the story
➜ Vocabulary Activities with kid-friendly definitions
➜ Grammar Topics selected to align with the text
➜ Focus Sentences use the book & author's craft as a mentor text to improve writing
➜ Lesson Planner summary, background info and planning space

➜ Story Mapping Printable identify character, setting, problem and solution

➜ Making Words Activity Page use any word from the book

➜ Focus Sentence copy work, identifying elements of the sentence, rewriting)

➜ Design a New Book Cover demonstrate understanding of the text by creating an illustration

➜ Predicting Activity primary-ruled and wider-ruled versions
➜ Summarizing Somebody → Wanted → But → Then → Finally

➜ Comparing and Contrasting using a Venn Diagram

➜ Cause and Effect analyze how events affect one another

➜ Visualization illustrate visualizations from the story and support thinking with text-based evidence

➜ Making Connections identify text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections

➜ Thematic Writing Paper Use with the Writing Prompts... Makes a Great Bulletin Board

➜ 2 Sequencing Activities First → Next → Then → Last and Beginning → Middle → End

➜ 2 Vocabulary Activities Vocabulary Booklet and Word Mapping

➜ 2 Character Trait Activities listing traits and supporting traits with text-based evidence
➜ 30 Text-Based Writing Prompts 3 prompts for each of the following types of writing:

• narrative
• persuasive / opinion
• descriptive
• expository / informative
• creative / story writing
• procedure / how-to
• list making
• letter / postcard writing
• poem
• book reviews

INCLUDED DIGITAL ACTIVITIES:

➜ 5 Teaching Slides to use for instruction (add questions, vocabulary, instructions, etc)

➜ 15 Student Pages for use in Google™️ Classroom or as editable files to create customized printables