Download this Word Detective Template that you can use to develop your children’s vocabulary through the books they are already reading. Instructions for how to use the template are included and for more ideas, read Five Tips for Teaching Vocabulary in Children’s Literature.
Download the printable booklets, games, and writing prompts and make sure to check out the post, Celebrate Thesaurus Day in Your Homeschool.
Check out these vocabulary lists for some of the books mentioned in Children’s Books to Build Vocabulary. Words chosen are Tier II words listed by chapter and will help you plan vocabulary activities while reading these books! Related post: Five Tips for Teaching Vocabulary in Children’s Literature.
These Poetry Notebooking Pages can be used to study almost any poem and are perfect for elementary school children.
Grammar Notebooking Pages: These modules are the beginning of a full set that will eventually allow children to explore grammar through the elementary and middle school years. The pages are meant to be used with text your children are already reading for school. To learn more about them, read the guest post Falling Back into Homeschool with Grammar Notebooking on In All You Do.
Download this editing checklist to help your children edit their writing. There is a Helper’s Guide to give you ideas of how to cue your children to make it as painless as possible!
Download these notetaking sheets and use them with any fiction book you are reading as a read aloud or for independent readers that you would like to take notes while they read. Suggestions are given for how to use them for your particular needs. They were originally included in the post James and the Giant Peach: 13 Fun Activities. Note: They also contain the Descriptive Language Cheat Sheets below.
Grab these 58 Tier II vocabulary words that are found in James and the Giant Peach and make a word wall! They can also be found in the James and the Giant Peach Word Detective: A Literature-Based Vocabulary Unit.
These reading comprehension bookmarks can be used with any Magic Tree House. Check out Teaching History with Magic Tree House Books to see the books organized by historical period.
Download the Multicultural Book Reading Guide, part of our Create Your Own Homeschool Curriculum with Literature post.
Your children can use this descriptive language ‘cheat sheet’ to remind themselves of the definitions of imagery and figurative language. Examples also included.
I am not a fan of children writing a book report after every book they read. I think that squashes the desire to read in many children. But there is a time when it is good to review a book in a more formal way. I created this book report to target reviewing the character, setting, problems, solutions and themes of books in a way that lets a child express his opinions. You can read the questions to younger children so they can focus on discussing the book and not on writing skills. You could have older children complete independently.
These cheat sheets contain the 20 most used prefixes and suffixes along with their meanings and examples. With them you will be on your way to understanding 97% of prefixed words and 99% of suffixed words. For other vocabulary ideas, check out Five Tips for Teaching Vocabulary in Children’s Literature.
