Learning Resources
Each of our learning resources is provided by author and teacher, Kara Peterson. Each of these learning activities include a plan for teaching it, if the parent wants to get the maximum benefit from the lesson. These plans help the parent understand how to prepare their child for the activity, model expectations and how to end the lesson.
The plans are designed to pair with The Possum’s Tale, and include a myriad of methods to examine the book for use with teaching students English lessons and moral reasoning.
The learning resources and the book are designed to introduce these concepts in a non-threatening way in order to open up these topics for more thorough examination. Through further exploration, children can begin learning more about how their actions affect those around them.
In this lesson, students will explore some of the concepts of poetic writing. They will be tasked with considering words that rhyme and asked to devise their own. They will be engaged in intriguing ways to examine foundational understandings. They will explore words with multiple syllables and proper use of regular and irregular verbs. This learning resource is modifiable to suit a variety of grade levels with more difficult tasks posed to older children.
Vocabulary
In this plan, children are introduced to the concepts of contextual clues with thought-provoking methods of examining how this occurs. The words selected for this activity are best suited to third – fourth grade readers. In addition, this lesson includes understanding nuance and examining figurative language.
Comprehension
We examine here different methods of storytelling and multiple meanings of words. Students are tasked with learning how to determine main plots and underlying messages within stories. This lesson includes opportunities for group challenges and learning.
Writing
In this lesson, children are tasked with demonstrating their command of the English language. They are tasked with further examining point of view and chain of events. Students will be asked to produce some of their own written material in this lesson.
Traits
Students take a deeper look at character traits in this learning resource. They will examine characters through a series of lenses to better grasp their reactions to certain characters. This thought provoking activity can be a great introduction to some of the, “why,” questions that children have.