The difference between an average and an unforgettable writing can lie in the author's word choice. The figurative language in Chapter 2 of Christopher Paul Curtis's Newbery Medal Winner, Bud, Not Buddy, is the focus of a series of...

Here’s a reading strategy that can be used with any text. Class members examine portions of a novel, and make predictions about the theme or subject matter of the book. Although designed for Christopher Paul Curtis’s Newbery Medal...

Readers of Bud, Not Buddy demonstrate their knowledge of the Great Depression with a list, group, label vocabulary strategy. Included are complete directions for the activity that will also introduce class members to the new vocabulary...

Collaborate with another class (or school) and have your learners share ideas about their reading through the use of email. Perhaps you'll create a specific question or a few questions for writers to choose from. Not only will they...

After your class finishes reading Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, they use the Venn diagram here to compare two characters from the novel, in this case Bud and his grandfather Herman E. Calloway. Examples of qualities on which...

Before you embark on reading Bud Not Buddy with your class, have them imagine they are in Bud's shoes. They must prioritize which of 13 items listed on a printable worksheet they would take with them to survive as a Depression-Era...

Walk in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark as they discover the wonders, beauty, and dangers of the American frontier. After gaining background knowledge about Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase, young explorers use primary...

Develop readers’ awareness of the visual power of language with a guided imagery exercise. Set the stage and create the mood with dim lights, soft music and potpourri. Then read the provided section of Bud, Not Buddy. Next, invite...

Why should your class complete a story map? After reading Bud, Not Buddy, divide your class into pairs or small groups to complete the included worksheet. They list the main characters, the conflict, main plot events, the resolution, and...

Hoover flags? Hoover blankets? Hoovervilles? Drawing upon prior knowledge of the Great Depression class members respond to the prompts on an anticipation guide for Bud, Not Buddy, Christopher Paul Curtis’s tale of Bud Caldwell’s quest to...

After reading chapter 14 of the story Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, scholars take part in a read-aloud of the poem If by Rudyard Kipling and compare it to the reading of Bud, Not Buddy. Learners then go deeper into the poem...

Bud followed a series of rules from Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. The question is, how did he use those rules to thrive or survive? After a grand discussion, class members explore the novel to locate and cite textual...

Take the last step in writing a literary argument essay using Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis in an activity focused on feedback. Using the stars and steps revision method, pupils consider teacher and peer feedback to revise...

Does Bud use his rules to survive or thrive? That is the driving question of a lesson plan following the reading of Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. In an argument essay prewriting activity, pupils use textual evidence to...

Begin the drafting phase of the writing process with a lesson plan focused on logically writing three body paragraphs. Then, revise the writing to make it more formal after a teacher-directed mini-lesson plan. Each paragraph highlights...

Here is a lesson that provides scholars with two opportunities to stretch their compare-and-contrast muscles. First, learners compare and contrast their experience reading the fourth stanza of If by Rudyard Kipling to listening to the...

Pupils take part in a close reading of the poem, If by Rudyard Kipling, in which they delve deep into its meaning and identify its rules to live by. As the grand discussion progresses, learners then relate the poem's rules with those...

Just as Bud, from the novel Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, had rules to live by, so does the poem, If by Rudyard Kipling, but how do the two relate? Pupils delve deep into the poem's third stanza, participate in a grand...

Take the next step in the writing process with a lesson plan geared towards the completion of writing an evidence-based essay about a rule to live by, as Bud did in Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. Pupils collaborate with their...

Here is a fabulous set of activities for your young scientists. Each lesson contains map, hands-on, and game activities that will help the class understand why and how animals migrate from one place to another. First they'll examine the...

How does one's experience reading a poem's text differ from listening to its audio version? Delve into the insightful question with the poem, If by Rudyard Kipling, as pupils compare and contrast their experience using a note-taking...

Learners analyze experimental data and draw conclusions. They are able to comprehend that not all microbes are harmful--they can be helpful to humans. Students are able to comprehend specific examples of cases in which microbes are...

Take a trip to the Colombian rainforest through the sense of touch. Here, class members discover what's inside a mystery box: wood, cinnamon, Brazil nuts, a banana, and orange. Then, the class takes a trip outside for a tree rubbing...

Learners use corduroy to make a creative name board. They are read to from a corduroy book and draw pictures based on what they heard.