If you’ve stumbled here from Pinterest, or some other site … welcome! While each of these books/lessons can stand alone, they are also a part of a year-long series that we have taught at our homeschool co-op. Each lesson builds in part on the one before. Some stories also have similar themes with the books that go before/after them. If you are interested in more information, or to see the complete booklist, check out our main page, More FIAR – Inspired Literature-Based Lesson Plans, especially for homeschool and homeschool co-ops. Thanks for looking around, and welcome to the site!
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*We did this book early on in September. Where I live on the Eastern Coast of the USA, September is usually filled with afternoon thunderstorms, and usually a hurricane or two will drop through and leave at least a large trail of rain and flooding during this season if nothing else. If you have the flexibility (or predictable weather patterns to know you are expecting storms), this would be a great time to do this book.
Storm in the Night
by Mary Stolz
Things I Need
Storm in the Night Book
Storm in the Night Handwriting Sheet (Printable version here)
Storm in the Night Onomatopoeia Sheet (Printable version here)
Storm in the Night Onomatopoeia Sheet (Printable version here)
Introduce the Book:
Get the class thinking about their own fears with these questions:
What kinds of things are you afraid of? (the dark, the night, spiders, storms, etc)
What about storms? We’ve had a lot of storms this week, right? Is anyone afraid of thunder?
Have you ever been afraid of something … but not wanted to tell anyone?
When you are afraid, what do you do?
Is there any special person or thing you like to be with?
What makes you feel safe when you’re with your _____?
The main character in our story today is a boy named Thomas. There is a storm going on outside of his grandfather’s house, where he is staying and he says he’s not scared. But do you think he might be scared? Would you be scared?
Read the Story
Because of the amount of dialogue in this book, there are soooo many language concepts that could be introduced and searched for as you are reading. There are a number of similes, and onomatopoeia words. There are also many sections with quotes and italics. Because many in our combined K/1st class were not yet reading, and even fewer thinking about writing, I chose to introduce the concept of onomatopoeia. Plus … come on, this one has to be the most fun. Especially for younger kiddos.
Learning Onomatopoeia Together
This video was a fun one we found online to quickly introduce the class to these fun sound-effect ding-dong, ping-a-ling, bong bong BONG words …
See if you can make a list of words together with the class. Here are a few to get you started:
Aww. Blech! Caw-Caw! Drip Drop! Ewww. Eeeeek! Phooey! Yikes! Zippedy-doo-dah … etc.
Think Little Blue Truck for some awesome animal onomatopoeia or Dr. Seuss’, Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? I also have always loved The Read Aloud Bible Story Book’s by Ella Lindvall. Beautifully simple stories, made super fun to read because they use so much onomatopoeia.
Okay, so have them raise their hands or clap or jump or shout the word or do something fun when they hear an onomatopoeia word as you’re reading. There are number of them, but not so many that it will distract from the story to point them out.
By the end of the book, the whole class may still not be able to pronounce onomatopoeia, but they will surely be able to pick out the words that are.If you want a fun worksheet to use, as a way to practice the ABC’s, Onomatopoeia, and handwriting in one, check out the one below. Have them fill in the words with different color crayons, markers, pencils, etc. Or cut the sheet into pieces and have your kiddos practice acting out their word.
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| Click here for printable version |
After you finish the Story
What kinds of things make Thomas like his grandfather?
(his grandfather doesn’t judge him, is honest about his own fears, tells him stories, helps him feel safe in the storm, holds him close in the storm, listens to his heart, doesn’t make him feel bad about his fear)
Do you have anyone like Thomas’s grandfather that makes you feel safe when you’re scared?
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| Click here for printable version |
Handwriting Sheet
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| Click here for printable version |
That’s it for this week! To see what we’ve done so far in our Homeschool Co-op’s Literature Series this year, click here. Each lesson builds on the one before and seeks to cover basic geography within the book, historical contexts, a handwriting sheet and a language arts lesson, as it applies to the book.
Or, you can check out the complete Learning the ABC’s through Literature Series, which is a similar series that we did with this same group of kiddos a year earlier. Both of these series of books have been inspired by the Five in a Row curriculum, with many of the books being the same. The ideas, implementation of it for a co-op, and printables are all my own.
