Read Aloud Book Companion: The Turtle and the Monkey

This comprehensive supplemental resource serves as the perfect companion to the book The Monkey and the Turtle by Paul Galdone. It offers 31 ready-to-use reading activities, catering to a variety of student needs and academic competencies.

From exploring characters, pinpointing story elements, determining themes, plotting story events, comparing and contrasting, making predictions, inferences, and connections, to responding to questions that push their thinking beyond the text, students are thoroughly engaged. Not only will these fun and engaging activities be a hit with the students, but educators will also appreciate the time saved in searching for high-level resources to teach complex reading concepts.

These activities are specifically designed to encourage students to apply higher-order thinking skills, justify their ideas with textual evidence, and express their own thoughts and perspectives.

Included in this resource:

• ◾ Elements of a Trickster Tale Anchor Chart or Notes Handout: Color and B&W

  • ◾ Making Predictions: Before reading the book, students will make predictions about the text.

  • ◾ Elements of a Trickster Tale: Students fill in the chart with the details of the story that characterize it as a trickster tale.

  • ◾ Trickster Tale Tidbits: Students will answer the questions with details from the story that proves it's a trickster tale.

  • ◾ Story Elements: Students fill in the boxes with words & pictures to represent the story elements.

  • ◾ Sequencing: Students will retell & illustrate the important parts of the story.

  • ◾ Retell the Story: Students retell the beginning, middle, and end of story with text and illustrations.

    • ◾ Recalling events in Chronological Order: Students describe and illustrate four major events in the story in chronological order.

    • ◾ Plot: Students will answer the questions in each section of the plot map to help them identify the plot's key events (ANSWER KEY included).

    • ◾ Summary: Students complete the Somebody, Wanted, Because, But, So graphic organizer and write a summary of the story.

    • ◾ Story Event Sort: Students will describe a scene or event from the story that fits into each of the categories & explain how the event made them feel & how it relates to the category.

    • ◾ Making Inferences: Students use clues & schema to make inferences while reading the story.

    • ◾ Making Connections: Students make connections to an event from the story.

    • ◾ Problem & Solution: Students will answer questions related to the problem and solution.

      • ◾ Author's Message: Students describe four important events from the story in chronological order and answer the questions about the author's message.

      • ◾ Character Traits: Students choose the most important character traits that describe each of the characters and give 1-2 examples from the story that support the traits they chose.

      • ◾ Character Inside & Out (Turtle): Students include details from the story to describe what the character says, thinks, does, and feels.

        • ◾ Character Inside & Out (Monkey): Students include details from the story to describe what the character says, thinks, does, and feels.

        • ◾ Character Feelings (Turtle): Students describe how the character's feelings change throughout the story & give examples of the events that cause them to feel the way they do.

        • ◾ Character Feelings (Monkey): Students describe how the character's feelings change throughout the story & give examples of the events that cause them to feel the way they do.

        • ◾ Character Development (Turtle): Students select the character traits that best describe the character at different times throughout the story and provide examples from the book to support each character trait.

        • ◾ Character Development (Monkey): Students select the character traits that best describe the character at different times throughout the story and provide examples from the book to support each character trait.

        • ◾ Character Change (Turtle): Students will explain how the character changed from the beginning to the end of the story and describe the events that caused the change to happen.

        • ◾ Character Change (Monkey): Students will explain how the character changed from the beginning to the end of the story and describe the events that caused the change to happen.

      • ◾ Sketch a Scene From the Story: Students draw a scene from the story & explain why it's important to the plot.

      • ◾ Setting Influences the Plot: Students will draw a scene from the story that takes place in one of the settings and write about what happened there and why it was important to the plot.

      • ◾ Setting the Scene: Students identify three different settings in the story and explain how they know that the setting changed.

      • ◾ Setting Swap: Students draw a scene from the story in a big city setting and an underwater setting. Then, they explain what would change and what would stay the same.

      • ◾ Theme: Students answer the questions to determine which theme best fits the story and provide text evidence to support their choice.

      • ◾ Thinking About the Text: Students will answer the questions about the story & include examples from the text to support their answers.

      • ◾ Wait... There's More!: Students will write about what happens next in the story.

  • ◾ Book Review: Students color in the stars to rate how much they enjoyed the book and draw a new cover & their favorite character from the story. Then, they will explain why other kids should or should not read it.

  • ◾ All About the Philippines: Students will research to learn more about the Philippines country.

💡Need ideas for different ways you can implement these activities?

• ◾ Focus on different reading skills each day for targeted instruction, and have students complete a corresponding printable to check for understanding.

• ◾ During centers, students can independently read the story again and complete an activity that reviews a previously taught concept.

• ◾ Work with students on a reading concept they struggle with during guided reading or strategy groups.

• ◾ Students work with a partner or in literature circles to complete additional reading activities.

This resource is for extension read-aloud activities only. The book is not included.

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