Adrian Simcox Does Not Have a Horse 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
Â
SUMMARY
"Adrian Simcox Does Not Have a Horse" by Marcy Campbell is a heartfelt story that explores themes of empathy, understanding, and the power of imagination. The book follows the perspective of a young girl named Chloe who becomes skeptical of her classmate Adrian's claim that he has a horse. Convinced that Adrian is lying, Chloe becomes determined to expose his supposed lie. However, as Chloe spends more time with Adrian and learns about his challenging home life, she begins to question her assumptions. Through their growing friendship, Chloe realizes the importance of empathy and accepting others' differences, ultimately embracing the power of imagination. "Adrian Simcox Does Not Have a Horse" beautifully highlights the impact of compassion and challenges readers to see beyond surface appearances to understand the experiences and dreams of others.
 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.
- Encourage students to use their summarizing and retelling strategies.
- Practice making inferences throughout the story and after reading.
- Teach a lesson on making connections to enhance comprehension.
- Help students to analyze what the author’s purpose for writing the book might be.
- Teach students how contractions are used.
- Talk about empathy in the book and classroom.
- Discuss friendship and the qualities that make a good friend.
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.
- A Bike Like Sergio's by Maribeth Boelts
- Last Stop on Market Street by Matt De La Pena
- Maddi's Fridge by Lois Brandt
- Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts
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!
