Kevin Henke's book, Chrysanthemum, is one that every elementary student should read at some point. We think this makes a great back to school read and teaching a lesson on kindness and bullying.It is also a great read aloud for building a classroom community. - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
SUMMARY
Chrysanthemum loves her name until she goes to school. The students in her class make fun of her for having such a long name and for being named after a flower. At the end of the story, Mrs. Twinkle, the music teacher, defends Chrysanthemum by telling the students she too is named after a flower. The students then start to envy Chrysanthemum’s long name and meaning of her name.
Students will enjoy this story about being true to yourself and loving who you are.
USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
Here are some ways teachers can use Chrysanthemum in their classroom.
- Identify character traits that describe the main character.
- Practice making personal connections to the story.
- Integrate poetry by having students write poems about their own names.
- Ask students to write a review of the book.
- Introduce students to interjections using examples from the book.
- Teach a lesson on the different types of punctuation.
- Lead a class discussion on bullying and jealousy.
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 think you will love these activities so much you will want to use them year after year! The good news is you can! They are geared towards first, second and third grade so even if you move grade levels you can use the activities.
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will also love these similar books:
- Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
- Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell
- The Recess Queen by Alexis O'neill
- The Name Jar by Yangscook Choi
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!
