We can't wait to share one of our favorite spring read alouds, Cloudette. This is such a sweet story and teaches the important lesson of self-esteem. It is a great fictional book to pair with a unit on weather and clouds. . - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
SUMMARY
Cloudette was a small cloud, much smaller than the other clouds. She enjoys some of the advantages of being small, like fitting in tight places and always finding a spot at the fireworks. However, at times Cloudette wished was big and important. She watched the other clouds do things like rain, thunder and make rainbows and wished she could do that. She felt like no one needed a small cloud like her. Cloudette dreamed of creating a waterfall or causing a snow day.
One day, there is a strong wind storm and Cloudette is blown from her neighborhood. She finds herself in a new place and she comes upon a small puddle with frogs nearby. Cloudette puffs herself up and rains onto the puddle. She rains so much it turns into a pond and the frogs thank her. Cloudette learns that even if she is small she can do big important things.
USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
One of the reasons we love Cloudette is the variety of skills it can be used to teach. Whether you want to focus on reading comprehension, grammar, or writing, this makes a great mentor text. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Read the book to students without showing the pictures to help them practice their visualization skills.
- Teach a lesson on genre and discuss what genre Cloudette is and the features of this type of genre.
- Integrate informational writing by having students write about the different types of clouds.
- Ask students to write poems about clouds or the weather.
- Teach a lesson on irregular verbs using examples from the text.
- Explore the various ways authors use commas in their writing.
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
If you are planning on reading Cloudette with your students, you will love our book companion. This resource comes with everything you could possibly need to teach this read aloud.
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will also love these similar books:
- Spork by Kyo Maclear
- Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall
- Chopsticks by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
- Naughty Mabel by Nathan Lane
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!
