Otis 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
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SUMMARY
"Otis" by Loren Long tells the heartwarming story of a kind-hearted tractor named Otis who befriends a young calf named Pip. Otis spends his days working on the farm, plowing fields and helping his fellow farm animals. When a big, shiny new tractor named Elsie arrives on the farm and takes over Otis's responsibilities, Otis starts to feel forgotten and useless. However, when a dangerous situation arises, Otis proves that true friendship and loyalty are more important than appearances or abilities. With his courage and determination, Otis saves the day and proves his worth to the farm and his friends. The book beautifully captures themes of friendship, resilience, and the importance of staying true to oneself. The illustrations bring the characters and the farm setting to life, evoking a sense of warmth and nostalgia. Young readers will be inspired by Otis's story and reminded of the value of kindness, bravery, and the power of true friendship.
 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.
- Encourage students to use their summarizing and retelling strategies.
- Practice comparing and contrasting after you read the book.
- Have students sequence the important events in the story. This is an important skill when it comes to retelling a story.
- Discuss the books plot and examine the problem and solution.
- Explore prepositions and how they describe nouns or pronouns.
- Teach a lesson on multiple meaning words using examples from the story.
- Discuss friendship and the qualities that make a good friend.
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.
- Nightsong by Ari Berk and Loren Long
- Little Tree by Loren Long
- The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
- The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat
- Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle
- The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
- Corduroy by Don Freeman
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!
