I have yet to meet a Kevin Henkes book that I don’t like. His stories are wonderful for lower elementary grades because he writes about the challenges our youngest learners face. This week we are spotlighting Kevin Henkes book Chester’s Way. This book is a great choice when you are teaching about friendship or if you have some students that only want to be friends exclusively. - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
SUMMARY
Chester and Wilson have their own way of doing things, and they did everything together. They did everything the same way each time. This all changed when Lilly, who has her own way of doing things, moved into the neighborhood.
Lilly tried to get Chester and Wilson to play with her and to do things her way, but they would not talk to her or engage in her playful activities.
One day, some boys came up to Chester and Wilson and were not being nice to them. Lilly, disguised as a cat, helped them get free of the boys. The three mice realize they have lots in common and become great friends.
USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
The great thing about Kevin Henkes books is that they can be used to teach so many skills! I find that his books are great to use when teaching comprehension skills and serve as mentor texts for student writing. Check out some ways we planned to use Chester’s Way in the classroom.
- Help students to make connections to the story. This increases student engagement and makes comprehension easier.
- Explore the author’s purpose for writing the story. Get students thinking about what the author wanted students to learn from the story.
- Encourage students to form an opinion about the book by writing a book review.
- Get students writing by encouraging list making.
- Introduce possessive nouns and pronouns.
- Teach students about plural nouns.
- Celebrate the importance of individuality and friendship.
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
Chester’s Way is one of those books you will want to read to students year after year so it makes sense to have a resource you love to help teach it.
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will also love these similar books:
- Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes
- Enemy Pie by Derek Munson
- The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludqig
- Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
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!
