WHEN I WAS EIGHT activities and lesson plan ideas
This WHEN I WAS EIGHT Activities and Interactive Read Aloud Resource Book Companion Packet includes lesson plans, reading comprehension questions, vocabulary, grammar, phonics, writing and word study activities with both printable and digital student pages.
Following an interactive read aloud of the picture book, WHEN I WAS EIGHT by Christy Jordan-Fenton, choose from the included collection of either printable activities or go paperless and use the digital activities to practice standards-based skills. We've even included editable teaching slides themed to match the book!
THIS READING UNIT FOCUSES ON USING THE MENTOR TEXT TO TEACH:
◼️READING STRATEGIES
☐ ANALYZING CHARACTER
☐ CAUSE AND EFFECT
☐ MAKING CONNECTIONS
☐ MAKING PREDICTIONS
☐ POINT OF VIEW
◼️GRAMMAR & LANGUAGE CONCEPTS
☐ SUFFIXES
☐ POSSESSIVE NOUNS
☐ ADVERBS
☐ CONJUNCTIONS
◼️SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING TOPICS
☐ PERSEVERANCE
SUMMARY OF THE MENTOR TEXT:
Olemaun is an eight year old Inuit girl who can do many things. However, she can’t read the outsiders’ books like her sister can. Although her father doesn’t want Olemaun going to the outsiders’ school, she eventually persuades him.
When Olemaun starts at the new school, the nuns cut her hair and changes her clothes. She doesn't feel like herself but is excited to learn to read. The girls at the school have many chores to do, and they work until they are sore and tired. Olemaun’s teacher in particular is very mean. She gives Olemaun extra work, but it doesn’t stop her from wanting to learn to read their words. Olemaun spends her time studying the words and letters.
One night, the nun locks Olemaun in the dark basement. Although she is scared, Olemaun thinks of her father. She starts thinking of words she knows and spells them all while she waits. The next day, the nun gives Olemaun a green reader like the older girls have. Olemaun is nervous, but she is able to read in front of the whole class! She is proud of herself and feels victorious.
This inspiring book by Christy Jordan-Fenton is based on a true story.
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