Diary of a Spider 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
SUMMARY
"Diary of a Spider" by Doreen Cronin is a delightful and humorous story that follows the adventures of a young spider as he navigates his spider life. Through the format of a diary, the spider shares his thoughts, experiences, and funny anecdotes about his everyday life as a spider. From learning how to spin a web to avoiding squishing humans, the spider provides entertaining insights into the world of arachnids. Along the way, he also develops friendships with insects like a ladybug and a worm, despite their differences. The book combines humor, educational tidbits, and relatable situations to engage young readers while teaching them about spiders and their unique characteristics. With vibrant illustrations by Harry Bliss, "Diary of a Spider" is a charming and entertaining read for children who are curious about the natural world.
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.
- Practice comparing and contrasting after you read the book.
- Teach a lesson on making connections to enhance comprehension.
- Have students sequence the important events in the story. This is an important skill when it comes to retelling a story.
- Review nouns using examples from the story.
- Explore the different ways words can be made plural.
- Discuss friendship and the qualities that make a good friend.
- Explore examples of inclusion in the story.
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
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.
- Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
- Anansi the Spider by Gerald Mcdermott
- I'm Trying to Love Spiders by Bethany Barton
- The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt and Tony Diterlizzi
- The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
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!
