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It all started one afternoon when I was digging around in my team’s resource pod looking for a new chapter book to read with my thirds. I am blessed to be at a school that has put so much money into books, as my pod is literally ceiling-to-floor shelves of chapter books. I wanted something that the kiddos could relate too, have a good storyline, and have *just* enough humor to keep ’em interested.
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That’s when I found a whole class set of this gem!
You can check out this book and so many other fabulous Beverly Cleary books here on Amazon.
Introducing Beezus and Ramona through Sibling Drama
Such a great way to illustrate the strained relationship that often happens between older and younger siblings! We discussed how Arthur felt about his sister during in the beginning of the clip and how he had changed at the end. Then at their table groups, students discussed how they felt about their younger siblings. If they didn’ t have a younger sibling, when it was their turn to speak, I had them share how they think they would feel having a younger brother or sister.
On the heels of that discussion, I passed out copies of “Beezus and Ramona” and gave a very brief description of the story and the characters. Then we jumped in and read the first chapter.
Teaching Content Vocabulary with Beezus and Ramona
While the students read, we discussed the word “exasperating.”
This word is used a lot in the book, I knew it was a perfect chance to stretch our vocabulary. Our first discussion of this word was mostly about what it meant. As we progressed through the book, we studied how Beezus felt that way about Ramona and why the author chose that word over “annoying”.
Compare and Contrast with Beezus and Ramona
On day two of our close reading, we jumped into chapter two and learned more about these two sisters. After finishing the chapter, we created this chart to compare the two girls.
Then we made some connections to the text and compared ourselves to Ramona and Beezus. Were they more like Beezus or Ramona?
Their answers were just too cute!
Of course, most of my kids identified more with Beezus, but their reasons were precious!
Building Reading Comprehension with Beezus and Ramona
For the third and fourth days of our close read, we used my Literary Discussion cards to discuss the text more.
I loved how the kiddos used the text as a reference in defending their opinions on the questions! Using this structure provided a meaningful activity after reading, but not always having to do something big and formal. You can grab these here in my TpT store.
Responding to Text with Close Reading
On our last day of the close read it was time for students to share their opinion of little siblings. To complete the assignment, students had to answer the question and provide at least three pieces of evidence from from the story. Students could also draw upon their own personal experiences to support their position. I took this as a writing grade.
You can grab this little writing response sheet as part of the Applicious Resource Library. Sign up at the end of this post! You will find this and tons of other amazing resources!
Responding to Text with Beezus and Ramona
Want to grab this resource and tons of other reading, math, science, and social studies activities? Join the Applicious Teacher Resource Library to grab these resources and tons of others just like it!
Other Amazing Ideas for 3rd Grade!
Want more perfect content for third grade? Check out these other posts!
