Have you ever thought of using a read aloud to teach your students about goal setting? We think Lita Judge’s book, Flight School, is a great mentor text for doing just that. Not only will this book start a conversation about goal setting, it will inspire students to never give up on their dreams. Between the silly storyline and detailed illustrations, this is definitely a picture book you want to add to your classroom library. - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
SUMMARY
Penguin arrived at flight school excited to finally accomplish his dream of learning to fly. Despite his teacher, Flamingo, and her confusion to see a penguin in flight school he joined the class anyway. Penguin went through all of the lessons with his classmates and it was finally time for their first flight. When it was his turn though, Penguin didn’t soar into the air like the others. Instead he fell right into the ocean. Discouraged, Penguin decided it was time for him to go home.
As he was leaving, Flamingo called him back and had a plan. She allowed Penguin to experience flying by pulling him behind her. Although Penguin fell out of the air during flight, he was thrilled he finally accomplished his goal of soaring through the air. Soon after, Penguin returned to flight school with his friend Ostrich, who wanted to learn to fly too!
USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
Flight School is a great mentor text for teaching students important reading comprehension strategies, writing skills, and grammar concepts. All of our book companions come with activities that relate to these subject areas. Check out just some of the skills included in our book companion!
- Practice identifying important plot features such as problem and solution.
- Have students practice making predictions as you read the book.
- Integrate informational writing by asking students to research and write penguins.
- Ask students to get creative and write their own spin-off of the book.
- Use examples from the book to teach a lesson on irregular verbs.
- Teach a lesson on nouns and articles.
- Have a class discussion about goal setting.
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 resource is all you will need when it comes to planning your read aloud for the book Flight School. Gone are the days when you have to brainstorm discussion questions, look online for student activities, and spend hours gathering resources. Now everything you need is included in this book companion allowing you to make choices on what you want to use with your students.
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will also love these similar books:
- The Thing Lou Couldn’t Do by Ashley Spires
- After the Fall by Dan Santat
- Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle
- Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall
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!
