Mae Among the Stars 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
Â
SUMMARY
"Mae Among the Stars" by Roda Ahmed is a picture book inspired by the true story of Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman to travel in space. The story follows young Mae, who dreams of becoming an astronaut and exploring the stars. Despite facing doubts from others, Mae remains determined to pursue her passion for space exploration. With the support of her parents and her own unwavering belief, Mae works hard and perseveres, never giving up on her dreams. The book beautifully captures Mae's journey from a little girl with a big dream to a trailblazing astronaut. It emphasizes the importance of imagination, resilience, and the power of believing in oneself. Through its inspiring story and vibrant illustrations, "Mae Among the Stars" encourages young readers to reach for the stars and follow their own dreams, no matter how big they may seem.
 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.
- Discuss the different characters in the story and analyze their thoughts and actions.
- Help students to analyze what the author’s purpose for writing the book might be.
- Teach a lesson on making connections to enhance comprehension.
- Identifying the theme, message, or moral is an important skill that takes a lot of practice. Use this story as an opportunity to help your students with this reading strategy.
- Identify different examples of common nouns in the book.
- Lead a class discussion on goal setting.
- Discuss what it means to persevere and why it is important.
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
- 30Â 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.
- Before She Was Harriet by Lesa Cline-Ransome
- Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle
- Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre by Anika Aldamuy Denise
- Shark Lady by Jess Keating
- The Tree Lady by H. Joseph Hopkins
- The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles
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!
