Beezus and Ramona

I cannot tell you how much fun we had reading this book!  Another favorite third grade read aloud is Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary.  I remember reading about Ramona as a child and being so entertained.  Since the movie Ramona and Beezus came out not too long ago, I thought this would be a good time to read the story.  The story is about two sisters, Beezus is the older sister and Ramona is the younger sister.  From the first two pages, you find out that Beezus finds her sister "exasperating"!  The story is split into six stories which include many silly remarks and actions by Ramona.  The message of the story is that it is ok if you don't always like your siblings.

It is quite a long book so we had to split it into 12 sessions, reading half a chapter a day.  Every day I stopped there were groans.  "Can't we read more?" is music to a teacher's ear!  My students could not get enough of Ramona's mischievous actions.  There were many gasps when the students heard what Ramona did and many students happy that Ramona was not their little sister.  Since we've finished, one of my students has also started reading the other Ramona books by Beverly Cleary.

This book would be wonderful to use to emphasize word choice.  There are many words that had even my gifted students asking what they meant.  Right from the beginning when Beezus describes Ramona as exasperating as she rides her tricycle with her mouth organ, there are many new words and terms you could keep on a list.

Another activity would be to talk about Beezus and Ramona's character traits.  Using what the characters say and do, make a list of character traits for each girl.  Make sure to have students defend each trait they name with an example from the story.

Enjoy this book, I know your students will!

Extra Resources:

The World of Beverly Cleary website has information about the author, books, characters and some games!
http://www.beverlycleary.com/

Read It Before You See It: This has many fun activities including a crossword, door hangers, and a quiz: Are you a Beezus or Ramona?  Also lists all the Ramona books written by Beverly Cleary.
http://www.beverlycleary.com/docs/ramonaeventkit.pdf

The Enormous Crocodile

One of the first read alouds I did this year was The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl.  This is a very short, very entertaining book!  It is all about a crocodile going into the village to eat children.  It may seem scary but each of his plans backfires and the students always got away.  I split the book up into two sections, ending after the crocodile tells all of the jungle animals his plans and before he tries his first trick.

We had a wonderful time predicting what would come next in this book.  The crocodile would see a place where he wanted to hide and the students would guess how he would disguise himself.  Also, they would guess how the children would get away every time.  In fact, there were so many guesses and comments to share that it almost took us three sessions to read!

Another activity that would fit nicely is to have your students come up with their own trick for the enormous crocodile.  What else could he disguise himself as to get a child?  Have your students draw a picture of their ideas.

If you're a second grade teacher, you could easily use this book as well.  I would highly recommend this book for the humor and the excitement.  My class gave it two thumbs up!

Extra Resources:

RoaldDahlFans.com has a quiz your students could take after listening:
http://www.roalddahlfans.com/games/quiz.php?quizID=8

Unique Teaching Resources has a great art idea that asks students to review the four clever tricks.  This page has pictures and masters.
http://www.uniqueteachingresources.com/Enormous-Crocodile-Lesson-Plans.html