My Father's Dragon

Have you read My Father's Dragon?

It is seriously one of the cutest chapter books ever!  I decided to start my year with it this year because it isn't too heavy.  The kids will love the story and I can focus on teaching them how to respond to reading instead of focusing on the deeper meaning or difficult vocabulary.  The best part?  The book is free!  Yes free!  Keep reading to find out where to get it...

I made a reader's response journal to go with the book and then I kept adding more to the packet like a story summary sheet, writing paper with characters on it, a booklet so kids can continue the adventure, retelling pieces, a puppet, and more!

I am so excited to do this with my class! 

How cute is this puppet?!? And it's not even painted yet! 

Each chapter has a question/questions for students to respond to.  I really want to teach my students to restate the question, write in complete sentences, answer all parts of the question, and use details from the text.  With each chapter, I model how to do one of those skills.  By the end of the book the students really have the hang of answering questions.  The questions aren't overly complicated so the students can become familiar with answering questions completely.  There is a rubric for grading the responses too.

Each character also has a circle map that I include in my journal.  I've included circle tabs to make it easier to find different sections in the journal (response, characters, quick checks).  Speaking of quick checks, I've included a mini quiz for each chapter (3 questions).  All of the questions are "right there" questions.  I really just want to make sure they understood the basic events of the chapter.

I added some simple story maps for students to fill out as well as writing paper.

I made 3 different book marks for you to use with your class.  Pick the one you like (one is black and white so they can color it).  Add ribbon to the top if you'd like.  I made the book marks because they are all getting their own copy of the book!  

My Father's Dragon is old enough to be in the public domain so it is available for free online here.  I copy & pasted the text into word and then spaced it so new chapters start on new pages & added a cute cover.  I included the book in my packet too.  I love this because it means my kids can write in the books.

By the time we finish the book (10 days), I am usually ready to have centers up and running so I included some writing paper & books for students to work on during centers.  I'm still working on what reading centers will look like next year but I know I'm going to have a retelling center so I included pictures to put in that center:

I didn't laminate them yet but once I do, I'm going to glue them on Popsicle sticks or clothespins and just store them in a ziploc bag.

If this is something that interests you, click on any of the pictures to grab it!  It will be 25% off for 2 days only! 

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