Literature study with comprehenstion questions and a few activities - need ideas!

[Woodland_Mom]

I am looking for a literature program/curriculum for next year that has a few comprehension questions (with answers) that I can ask aloud along with a few fun activities and/or worksheets that will compliment the books my boys read. I would prefer NOT to purchase a separate guide for each book we study, because the cost adds up so quickly. Any recommendations? BTW, my boys will be in 4th & 2nd grade. Thanks!

[teamturner]

I'd like to know this too, so I'm posting to bump your post.

Thanks,

Michelle

[AprilTN]

I've always loved the guides from Veritas, but since you would like more than one book covered in a study guide, you might like these from LOGOS Press.

 

http://www.logospressshop.com/index.php?p=catalog&parent=32&pg=1

 

Hope this helps!

[Woodland_Mom]

I have found a resource called "Inside Stories". There are a total of 5 volumes. Each book contains about 10 study guides. I believe they are for 3rd - 8th grade. Click HERE to look at volume 1 it on Amazon.

 

Has anyone used these? They look interesting.

[LadyAberlin]

I like the looks of the Upper Grammar guides. My kids are too little to use them, but we may when they are older.

 

 

http://rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?sid=1241410854-1861314&subject=6&category=1380

[clementine]

There aren't a lot of book choices here, but it's free & if you add your own activities it'll give you a start :)

 

http://gardenofpraise.com/lesson.htm

[LunaLee]

I have found a resource called "Inside Stories". There are a total of 5 volumes. Each book contains about 10 study guides. I believe they are for 3rd - 8th grade. Click HERE to look at volume 1 it on Amazon.

 

Has anyone used these? They look interesting.

 

If you are wanting Comprehension Questions, these are good. There are more questions than activities though, and no worksheets.

 

I personally like the Literature Units from Teacher Created Material:

 

http://www.buyteachercreated.com/estore/search/searchResults?SEARCH_TERM=literature+units&WHICH_FORM=powersearch

 

There are a ton of titles, and the price could add up, but they are a reasonable $8.99 each. Cheaper than any others I've seen. They have "Quizes" that are basically comprehension questions and they usually cover about 3 chapters at a time,so your not completely overwhelmed with them. But best of all they have worksheets and projects/activities. Love, love, love these. If you buy them directly from TCM or Curriclick you can download them as a PDF so that saves shipping, plus you can get them as you go. No feeling like you have to order them all at once.

 

Or you could try their Thematic Units which are literature based, so each one uses a couple of different books. The formats are the same.

 

Also, you could try something like:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Independent-Reading-Response-Activities/dp/0439309611/ref=pd_sim_b_12

 

http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Reading-Response-Activities-Grades/dp/0439098459/ref=pd_sim_b_7

 

http://www.amazon.com/Awesome-Activites-Teaching-Literary-Elements/dp/0439163552/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b

 

These or most of them can also be downloaded at Currclick.com. Sometimes at a discount. And you can use them with any book.

 

Good Luck!

[momtotkbb]

http://www.sldirectory.com/libsf/resf/bookplans.html

http://www.proteacher.com/070027.shtml

http://www.kenton.k12.ky.us/TR/elemlit.html

http://www.lessonplanspage.com/

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary

 

These are all resources I've used at various times to find lit. guides, activities, comp ?, etc. to go with books we've read. I've also had luck with just typing in the name of the book and doing a search for lit activities.

 

I've used the Inside Stories listed above and it has ?, vocab, and some suggestions for activities ---but there are no answers.

[ConnieB]

I have found a resource called "Inside Stories". There are a total of 5 volumes. Each book contains about 10 study guides. I believe they are for 3rd - 8th grade. Click HERE to look at volume 1 it on Amazon.

 

Has anyone used these? They look interesting.

 

I have used several of these. There are 5 stories in each volume....each story has probably 8-10 pages...but they are double spaced and lots of white, so it's not nearly as deep of a study as 8 pages might imply. They have vocabulary, questions and some ideas for activities. There are no answers to the questions because they are pretty open ended questions....I'd call them more discussion questions than comprehension. Why did the character do this, was it right or wrong, how do you feel about it.......that type of thing. It definitely helped guide a discussion about the book, but you have to come up with the answers or should I say, you need to have read the book as well to be able to discuss the answers intelligently with your children. For 2nd and 4th that shouldn't be a problem, but the older grades you may not always be reading along with your child and then if you don't know the story well it's difficult to really gauge if they "got" it or not.

 

Check with your library for these, but check by Janice Montgomery, the author as they had another title when they were originally published Novel Ties or something like that. My library has the whole set, so you may also want to try an Interlibrary Loan, as I know our library participates.

 

I have also used many many of the Teacher Created titles.....my library also has a great deal of these. They are definitely geared for a school setting, but it wasn't too difficult to take their ideas and adapt them for use with just a few students. Each of these books are about 40-50 pages, and have much more information inside them. Of course, some of that information is "about the author" and "about the story" which you can usually find on the back of the book itself. That probably takes up 4 or 5 pages. They also have a lot more in the way of activities for each book than Inside Stories does. They are also a bit more worksheet oriented. These should definitely be available at almost any teacher supply store, so you may want to go look them over before buying. Each volume that I've used is set up pretty much the same, so even if you are only able to preview a story that you don't intend to use, you'll be able to get a good feel for what they are like. Sign up for their online newsletter as they often have discounts and specials.

 

We liked the Logos books quite a bit more than Inside Stories. They have what I consider true comprehension questions, but also the open ended discussion questions. They seem "meatier" (of course many of the books chosen are too).

 

Other publishers like Evan Moore and Carson Dellosa have a few titles, but they also have a lot more activity type books if not for the book itself for the subject matter. Scholastic has quite a few titles but seem rather superficial the few that I tried.

Edited May 4, 2009 by ConnieB

[DB in NJ]

I have found a resource called "Inside Stories". There are a total of 5 volumes. Each book contains about 10 study guides. I believe they are for 3rd - 8th grade. Click HERE to look at volume 1 it on Amazon.

 

Has anyone used these? They look interesting.

 

I just ordered Book 2 from Rainbow Resource. I'll be using it as a read-aloud guide. THANKS!!!

[Woodland_Mom]

Thanks, everyone, for your ideas! The upper grammar literature books look pretty good, but my son may not be ready for all of the books. I didn't know that the Logos books had discussion questions that were a little more open-ended. I was under the impression that all of the questions were straight comprehension.

 

The author of "Inside Stories" used to publish similar material in a series called "Novel Ideas". I found them as a download on Currclick.com. Each download is for only one novel, but they are all less than $5. Yeah! I think I might like them better than "Inside Stories" because answers are included!

 

The Teacher Created literature guides look very good! Thank you for the recommendation! I believe most of them are available on currclick for under $8. I like the activity ideas that are included.

 

I found one more interesting resource, but it would be for straight comprehension. It is called "Quizes for 220 Great Childrens Books" Take a look at Amazon:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Quizzes-220-Great-Childrens-Books/dp/1563083833/ref=wl_itt_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=IXOM9DPP4GT2P&colid=37BRF9ZIFGM9

 

I'm thinking about ordering it. Has anyone heard of it or used it?

 

Thanks!