JUNETEENTH FOR MAZIE activities and lesson plan ideas

This JUNETEENTH FOR MAZIE 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, JUNETEENTH FOR MAZIE by Floyd Cooper, 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

☐ ASKING AND ANSWERING QUESTIONS

☐ AUTHOR’S PURPOSE

☐ IDENTIFYING THEME | MESSAGE | MORAL

☐ SUMMARIZING | RETELLING

◼️GRAMMAR & LANGUAGE CONCEPTS

☐ PROPER NOUNS

☐ PRONOUNS

☐ IRREGULAR VERBS

☐ CONTRACTIONS

◼️SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING TOPICS

☐ INCLUSION

SUMMARY OF THE MENTOR TEXT:

Mazie is feeling grumpy because there are many things she is not allowed to do and many places she is not allowed to go. Her father tries to make her feel better by telling Mazie about the celebration they will be having tomorrow. He explains that they will be celebrating the day her Grandpa Mose and many others crossed into liberty.

Mazie’s father goes on to explain what life was like for Grandpa Mose and others when they were slaves. They were not allowed to quit and often thought about their hopes for freedom. He explains that Juneteenth celebrates the special day that a brave president made a proclamation that gave freedom to Black people.

Despite the proclamation, things were still not easy for Black people. They were not treated as equals and had to fight hard for equal opportunities and rights. Mazie’s father explains that Juneteenth is an important day to remember what their ancestors did and celebrate freedom and liberty.

Floyd Cooper’s book, Juneteenth for Mazie, is a great way to introduce readers to Juneteenth and discuss concepts of freedom, inclusion and equality.

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