We love the nonfiction Thanksgiving book Balloons Over Broadway because it teaches students a story many people might not know about. Balloons Over Broadway is about Tony Sarg, the man who helped to make the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade into the event we know and love today. Most students have seen this parade on television and will be excited to learn more about the floats. I always found that my students were so engaged with nonfiction books because they loved learning new information they could share with their families. We love that this book because it is so different than your traditional Thanksgiving read aloud and teachers might even get to learn something new, too! - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
SUMMARY
Balloons Over Broadway tells the true story of Tony Sarg who was the original puppeteer of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Even when he was a young child, Tony enjoyed making and creating things. As he grew up, he started to make marionettes when he noticed people were no longer making them for children. He became known for his puppets and Macy’s asked Tony to help with their window displays. They liked his work so much they asked Tony to help them create a parade. Tony worked to design parade floats that everyone on the streets could see and enjoy. His work became so popular that Macy’s decided to have the parade each year, what we now know as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Students will love this nonfiction book that teaches the history behind this popular parade.
USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
It is so important to read nonfiction texts to students because they need opportunities to practice reading strategies on this type of writing. Nonfiction books like Balloons Over Broadway are great mentor texts for teaching writing and introducing new grammar concepts.
- Identify the main idea of the story and discuss how the author conveys the message.
- Have students practice their character analysis skills with nonfiction information.
- Engage students in their own informational writing by teaching others about this story.
- Practice narrative writing as students make connections between the book and their own lives.
- Discuss the different adjectives and action verbs used in the book.
- Introduce a new form of punctuation, the en dash.
- Discuss how Tony Sarg was a problem solver.
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
We know that teachers and students are going to love Balloons Over Broadway. You will definitely want to use this resource is your classroom this Thanksgiving.
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will also love these similar books:
- Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty
- Thanksgiving at the Tappletons by Eileen Spinelli
- A Plump and Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman
- Turkey Trouble by Wendi J Silvano
TRY OUT A SAMPLE COMPANION
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