The Dead Family Diaz activities and lesson plan ideas

The Dead Family Diaz Activities are now digital for distance learning with editable teaching slides and worksheets based on P. J. Bracegirdle's book. Read aloud the picture book then use the printables or go paperless with Google or Seesaw to practice standards-based skills.

THIS READING UNIT FOCUSES ON USING THE MENTOR TEXT TO TEACH:

◼️ READING STRATEGIES

☐ comparing and contrasting

☐ analyzing character

☐ analyzing setting

☐ plot | problem - solution

☐ sequencing

☐ cause and effect

◼️ SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING TOPICS

☐ friendship

☐ diversity

◼️ GRAMMAR & LANGUAGE CONCEPTS

☐ verb tense

☐ multiple meaning words

☐ synonyms

☐ antonyms

SUMMARY OF THE MENTOR TEXT:

The Diaz Family is getting ready to celebrate the Day of the Dead. Angelito is feeling nervous because it is his first time visiting the Land of the Living. All morning Angelito’s sister has been telling him how scary the Living are with their bulging eyes and long red tongues!

When Angelito steps out of the elevator and arrives in the Land of the Living, he realizes he has been separated from his family. He finds a friendly-looking boy about his age and the two become friends. They spend the afternoon coming up with a plan to protect themselves from the enemies, the people Angelito thinks are the Living. However, when Pablo suggests the boys take off their masks, Angelito realizes Pablo is one of the living! Both boys are surprised and Angelito runs away.

When Angelito reunites with his family, he reflects on all the fun he had with Pablo that afternoon. Thankfully, the two are able to reconnect and Pablo even makes sure to show Angelito’s sister how scary the Living can be!

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