Tops and Bottoms activities and lesson plan ideas

 Our Tops and Bottoms Activities are now digital for distance learning with editable teaching slides and worksheets based on Janet Stevens' book. Read aloud the spring 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

☐ making predictions

☐ comparing and contrasting

☐ analyzing character

☐ ask and answer questions

☐ sequencing

☐ identifying theme | message | moral

◼️ SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING TOPICS

☐ teamwork

◼️ GRAMMAR & LANGUAGE CONCEPTS

☐ plural nouns

☐ pronouns

☐ contractions

SUMMARY OF THE MENTOR TEXT:

Hare and Bear are neighbors that live on a farm. The land is owned by Bear because his father left him all of his land and wealth. Hare has a wife and children and they are having a hard time with money. He and his wife come up with a plan to trick Bear and feed their children. Hare asks Bear to be partners with him and explains they will split the profit down the middle. Bear just has to decide if he wants the tops or bottoms. When the crops are ready to be harvested, Hare gives Bear his choice of the tops. Bear realizes he is tricked when Hare keeps the vegetables and gives him the stems. Bear tells Hare to plant more crops and this time he wants the bottoms. Again, Hare tricks Bear! In the end, Bear gives up and decides to plant his own crops. Hare is able to sell the vegetables he harvested and buy back his own land. Even though the two are still neighbors, they are no longer business partners.

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