Shanté Keys and the New Year's Peas is part of our Starts With a Story Collection, which includes more than 550 picture book companions based on high quality children’s literature that support you in delivering highly-engaging interactive read alouds with follow up activities. Learn more about this children’s book below! - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
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SUMMARY
"Shanté Keys and the New Year's Peas" by Gail Piernas-Davenport is a festive children's book that celebrates the tradition of eating black-eyed peas for good luck in the new year. The story follows Shanté Keys, a young girl who discovers that her family is out of black-eyed peas, a crucial ingredient for their New Year's Day meal. Determined to find some, Shanté embarks on a neighborhood adventure, visiting various friends and neighbors in search of the prized peas. Along the way, she encounters diverse cultures and learns about their unique New Year's traditions. Through vivid illustrations and engaging text, the book highlights the importance of community, cultural exchange, and the power of shared traditions. "Shanté Keys and the New Year's Peas" is a joyful and educational read that promotes unity and the celebration of diversity.
 USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
Our read aloud lesson plans for this picture book come with reading comprehension questions (with sample student responses), 30 writing prompts, teaching ideas for grammar skills, social emotional learning discussion ideas, and more. Check out our list below to get a sneak peek at some of the skills this resource teaches.
- Help students to analyze what the author’s purpose for writing the book might be.
- Cause and effect can be a difficult skill for students. This book is a perfect mentor text for teaching this skill.
- Practice comparing and contrasting after you read the book.
- Discuss the author’s use of rhyme and rhythm in this book.
- Explore the different ways words can be made plural.
- Use examples of possessive nouns from the book to teach a lesson.
- Lead a class discussion on the importance of individuality.
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
- 30Â 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
This book 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 love the similar books listed below, which can all be found in our free picture book list.
- Squirrel’s New Year’s Resolution by Pat Miller
- Freedom Soup by Tami Charles
- Ruby's Chinese New Year by Vickie Lee
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!
