If you are looking for a book that celebrates diversity and encourages students to be proud of their uniqueness, you need the book Elmer in your classroom library. We can’t say enough good things about this book! It makes a great read aloud for students in kindergarten through third grade. - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
SUMMARY
The story Elmer by David McKee is about a colorful elephant. Elmer is not elephant colored, he is patchwork. He always makes the other elephants laugh and smile, but he thinks it is because they are laughing at him. One day, Elmer slips off into the jungle and finds a berry bush. Elmer shakes the berries to the ground and uses the juice to turn himself elephant colored. When he returns to the herd, the other elephants are not smiling or laughing. Elmer shouts out BOO to surprise them. The elephants start to smile and laugh uncontrollably, and a rain cloud opens up and washes away the berry juice. The other elephants say that they knew it must have been him that shouted BOO because he is so funny. The other elephants declare that every year there will be an Elmer’s Day where the other elephants will decorate themselves and parade and Elmer will wear berry juice.
USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
Elmer is a book that lends itself so many great discussions about story elements and writing. We think this read aloud is a great way for students to practice their comprehension skills as well as learn new techniques.
- Practice identifying the main idea of the story.
- Explore the figurative language the author includes throughout the book.
- Engage students in a writing prompt focused on descriptive writing.
- Teach students about research skills by asking them to find information about elephants and write an informational paragraph.
- Review action verbs and adjectives with students.
- Teach students about quotation marks and how they are used in writing.
- Discuss the importance of appreciating diversity.
NO-PREP PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES:
If you are looking for “ready to go” activities for the first day of school, be sure to check out the book companion. With it you’ll receive all of the following resources to align with this specific book:
- comprehension questions
- 30 writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
Elmer is a must have for your school or classroom library. Your students are going to love completing these activities for the book and you will be impressed with how much they learn. You will want to read this book to your class every year.
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will also love these similar books:
- Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens
- Cloudette by Tom Lichtenheld
- Who Wet My Pants? by Bob Shea
- Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
TRY OUT A SAMPLE COMPANION
It's hard to explain how amazing the Starts with a Story book companions are because there is just so much goodness included in each one. It's best if you experience using one for yourself. Sign up below & we'll send you an entire book companion to try out for FREE!
